Household budgets are one of those things we know we should do but often avoid. But taking the time to draw one up can make a huge difference to your spending. With some modern tools it’s a much easier job!

Sit down with a budget planner and go through all your bills etc, electricity, gas, phone, water rates and write down what they all are.  Work out what you spend each month on food items and petrol and also include what you pay out for rent/mortgage. We have free financial tools with a built in budget planner here.

Once you have determined how much you are actually spending then you will know how much you have as surplus or if you are overspending.  Once you have done this then you can plan ahead what you would like to do with your surplus e.g. go on a nice holiday at the end of the year.  Or if you are over spending you will need to look over where you can make cuts so you remain in your household budget.

It’s a good idea to draw up a budget every year to get an overview of your finances but keeping track of your spending so you can stick to your budget is also important. Xero Personal is an excellent tool for this purpose. It syncs with your bank accounts and automatically assigns most of your spendings to categories, making keeping track of your spending very simple. It does cost $5 a month but can save you a lot of time. >>check out Xero Personal

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