Budgets are an essential element of well-managed household finances. It’s easy to forget that budgeting isn’t about depriving yourself. Budgeting is about setting limits and sticking to them. Just as you know that if you overeat too often, you’re going to gain weight, you should know that if you don’t set limits with your spending, you’re going to end up in debt.

Your financial health depends on your ability to set a realistic budget and then to maintain that budget. There are some specific steps you can take to get your budget off the ground.

1. Set up budget categories

Set up categories for your budget, such as automobile maintenance, home maintenance, groceries, dining out, cleaning supplies, income taxes, toys for the kids, toys for the adults, and any other expenses you think you might have. Fill these categories with genuine and true estimates. If you know you’ve spent $500. on groceries in the past month, it’s a sure bet you’ll spend that much or more next month. See the sample household budget for examples.

2. Know your income

Calculate your income from previous months. In this category, it’s better to underestimate than overestimate, but don’t be afraid to be as accurate as possible. Fake numbers aren’t fooling anyone. Fake numbers also make a budget worthless.

3. Don’t panic, yet

Don’t try to trim your expenses until after you’ve completed your first budget. You want to see if you’re overspending or underspending BEFORE you decide what you need to do about it.

4. Know your bottom line

After you’ve subtracted your expenses from your income, you can begin to panic. Give yourself no more than 5 minutes for this, because in truth, panic won’t help you. And if you’re lucky enough to discover that you have money left over every month, decide how you want to celebrate. For the rest of us, this is the time to see where we can realistically expect to be successful at cutting back our expenditures.

5. Trim your expenses

It’s easy to chop away at the grocery and gas categories, but it’s unrealistic. Most of us aren’t overspending in these categories. Look hard at the leisure categories, the toy categories—for both children and adults, the dining out and the cell phone bills. These are the categories that will have the least impact on your household in the long run. You can’t cut back home maintenance—in fact, most people don’t set aside enough in this category, or in the auto maintenance category.

6. Put aside excess, and if there’s no excess, create some

When you do have money to spare, save it. If you budget for a splurge, you’re much more likely to enjoy it without feeling guilty! If there’s no money left for saving, then you haven’t cut enough flab from your budget. Saving should be your number one goal.

Now you have a working budget. You know how much money you have coming in and you know what you’re going to spend. Stick to it. Don’t think of it as a review, think of it as a spending plan. Look at it tomorrow and every day after, and spend your money where you said you would.

The purpose of your budget is not to show you where you spent yesterday’s money, but to guide you as you spend today’s.

Here’s a sample household budget of income and expenses with sample categories already set up.

Post from: Home Management Tips

6 Steps to a Working Budget

My weight-loss story

Successful weight loss is difficult to achieve, but far from impossible. Over a period of 18 weeks I lost 20 pounds. My secret?

I counted calories for 18 weeks. Truthfully, as I learned better eating habits, counting became something I do only when I’m concerned that I might have eaten too many calories on a particular day.

My family looked at me strangely (and some laughed) when I pulled out the measuring cups, even at my in-laws’ home, but this is one of the big secrets that helped me lose twenty pounds.

I can blame my weight gain on the usual suspects. I’d never had weight trouble until I had children. Pregnancy and then nursing kicked my appetite into the nether reaches of space. After my second child, the weight didn’t come off, and I carried around 30 extra pounds for a few years. Then I added another 10 to that over the next 4 years.

Then one day I woke up and knew that if I didn’t lose weight now, I might never lose weight. I still don’t know what exactly made a difference this time but I could feel the change in me. I still feel it today.

I have 20 more pounds to lose, but I see it coming off at a slow and steady pace. And because of this, I know it will stay off. My eating habits have changed. I don’t need as much food to feel full, and I don’t crave “the bad stuff” nearly as often as I used to.

—Lynn, homemanagementtips.com executive editor

My tips for successful weight loss

1. Count calories

Yes, it’s restrictive and time consuming, but if losing weight is a serious goal, it’ll take some serious commitment. Keep a food diary. I use a spreadsheet to track my progress. I also recommend FitDay. I’ve used the program (the online version) and it is excellent. I only wish I had found it when I was actively working to lose weight.

You can download a copy of my simple daily food log and calorie counting spreadsheet.

If you’re ready for something a little more robust, check out my low-cost Calorie and Food Log, which tracks your foods, your calories and your weight. I even have charts built in so you can get inspiration from a quick overview of how you’re doing.

2. Measure, measure, measure

Until you see with your own eyes just how much food you’re eating, you’ll never understand why you’ve gained weight. I used to think I didn’t eat that much more than I had before I put on my extra pounds. Measuring my food and drink helped me see that I was wrong. And doubly important, when you start putting calorie counts with visible, recognizable portion sizes, you look at food in a whole new light. Related article >

3. Never give up

There’s never a day where you can say “I’ve messed up, so I guess I’ll have to try again
tomorrow.” Try again today. Now. I’ve stopped myself halfway through a cookie before. Don’t feel guilty for throwing the rest away. Your stomach isn’t a garbage disposal, so why should you treat it that way? Besides, who are you really helping when you “finish your plate”? Certainly not yourself.

4. Until you get past the sugar cravings, keep a low calorie, sweet snack on hand

My choices? Fudge bars at 110 calories each, and orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream bars at 90 calories each.

Finally, if you have extra weight on you that you want to lose, start losing today. Every day that you continue with bad eating habits makes them that much harder to change.

Post from: Home Management Tips

Weight Loss