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Archive for the ‘Budgeting’ Category

With Christmas quickly approaching, many people are figuring out how to purchase their Christmas gifts without blowing their budget and falling into debt. While giving is a great way to make your friends and family members happy, the consequences of giving more than you can afford usually comes back to haunt many of us in January, when the first credit card bills are received. Here are some tips on how to create a Christmas budget and avoid debt.

The most important thing you should remember is that you shouldn’t have to go into debt to please the ones that you love. If you can’t afford a specific gift, then choose an item that is more affordable. Your friends and love ones would rather see you financial healthy than in debt due to gifts.

One way you can avoid debt this Christmas is to create a budget for gifts this year and stick to it. Unfortunately, it is just not enough to give yourself a rough estimate to stay within. Make sure to realistically come up with an amount that you will spend. Simply stating that you will only spend $200 on presents for all your friends, family members and co-workers might not be realistic, choose an amount that it is feasible, too low and you will feel guilty for easily surpassing it, too high and you might not restrain yourself from needless spending.

How much do you spend on food on a day-to-day basis? For most people, the simple answer is too much. It’s not just the extra bag of chips or the impulse trip to the diner. There’s also the cost of gas, electricity, and production time involved in getting food to your table. But saving money on food doesn’t mean going hungry or giving up nutrition. Often, it only takes a few simple tricks. Here are five you can try today.

Make a weekly menu: Knowing what’s ahead for the week will keep you from buying things that aren’t on your shopping list. Or if you do buy stuff on impulse, you’ll be able to keep it under control. It also saves those quick trips to the store for last-minute ingredients, which cost you time, gas, and money.

Take advantage of sales: If something’s on sale, go ahead and stock up-but not more than you can consume before it goes bad. Get vegetables in bigger packs, bigger cans of broth, an extra pack of meat. You can always use the extras to liven up other dishes or even make a new dish altogether.

1. When peeling shrimp make sure not to throw away the peels - use them to make stock. Cool down the stock and freeze it. You can use it later for shrimp cream or gumbo or stew. Here’s what you need to do for one pound of shrimp peels:
• Wash the peels (if you have heads as well that is better).
• Quarter two medium white onions and two lemons.
• Chop up two stalks of celery and one medium, peeled carrot,
• Finely chop ¼ bunch parsley.
• Coat the bottom of a stock-pot with a little bit of olive oil and heat.
• Add all the veggies and the shrimp peels. Keep the lemons for later.
• Cook until the vegetables start browning about five minutes.
• Add four quarts of water, one teaspoon dried oregano leaves, four bay leaves, one teaspoon dries basil and one teaspoon dried tarragon. Season with salt and pepper.
• Bring stock to a boil, skimming off the foam as needed, and simmer for at least one hour. Cool down the stock.
• Strain the shrimp stock and refrigerate or freeze.

The typical American household budget percentage breakdown looks like the list below. For most of the categories a range is shown. A range makes more sense to help you see where your personal budget fits (or doesn’t fit.) If your budget doesn’t fit the typical American household budget, rejoice! The average American household budget is jacked up - we carry too much debt and we just don’t save enough. We’re so worried about our neighbor’s new pool, our co-worker’s new car and our friend’s new designer shoes that we spend more than we earn to try and keep up. But take heart! Review the percentages below, compare your household budget and then read on to find out how you can move yourself into the elite minority of Americans who have mastered where their money goes.

Typical Household Budget Percentages

33-38% Housing (59%-66% of this is on shelter - mortgage interest, property taxes, repairs, and rent, and other items) 15-19% Transportation (up to half of this is vehicle purchase - 2 cars per household average) 13-14% Food Budget (55% at home, 45% away) 0-2% Alcohol 0-3% Tobacco and related products 0-2% Caffeine related products 4-5% On clothing and related services (drycleaning) 4.5 - 6% on out of pocket Health Care 9% Personal Insurance and Pensions (breakdown: 1% life and other personal insurance, 7.5% Social Security, .5% investment 5% Entertainment 2.5% Charitable Contributions 2% Reading and Education 1% Personal Care products and services 2% Miscellaneous 4% Credit Card, Consumer Loan Interest

Many people who are creating a family budget aren’t sure where to start. It can be a confusing mess of numbers and uncertainty that can be overwhelming for those trying to start. There’s no reason to be confused. Read on and discover these 5 simple tricks for creating a family budget.

1. Figure out how much money you make each month. Gather three months of your paychecks and get your average monthly earnings.

2. Gather three months of your monthly bills. Be sure to include fixed expenses like house payment, rent, phone bill, car payments, credit card and credit card payments. Also, do the same for groceries and other expenses that may vary from month to month. Add them up and get the average.

3. Compare the results of averages. Subtract your average income from your average monthly expenses. If you come up with a negative number, then you have more going out than coming in. You’ll need to make some adjustments in your expenses. Cut back on some items that are really unnecessary. For example, do you really watch all of those television channels? Are you paying too much for car insurance? How could you reduce your grocery bill?