Thursday, March 08, 2012

Spring cleaning the budget


dust pan
Spring clean more than your house
Spring will be here in a few weeks and it almost the end of the first quarter of 2012!  It is a good time to relect  and do a little bit of spring cleaning not only in the closet but also  on the budget.  I know I planning on setting up a meeting soon with my husband to make sure he knows. 
Good financial practice means that family  budgeting should be something you already have under control. You should know exactly where your household money comes from, where it goes, and that all of your financial priorities and goals are being met.  How old is the budget that you have created?  1 year, 2 years or even more.  
When my husband and I were in major debt payout mode, we would have a monthly budget meeting.  Now that we are debt free, we have gotten lazy and should look at it more often Although you might think that your  money  are working at the best they can, if you haven't taken a look at your budgeting for the past year, the chances are that your budget could use a spring clean. Gas prices increases .  Income from a job  usually changes over the course of a year whether because of salary increases, or income tax changes.  Grocery store prices fluctuate making your food  bills higher now than they were when you set your budget in place. So unless your budget was made in the past  few months , it's probably time to dust it off and take another look at it.
Spring cleaning your household budgeting isn't just about ensuring that your finances are up-to-date however. If you are on a tight budget it's also a great way to motivate yourself into sticking within the financial boundaries you've set. Seeing the outstanding balances on your debts decrease is a surefire way of re-igniting your passion for your budget!
So don't let your budget stagnate. Make sure you schedule a time at least once a year for a financial spring clean just to make sure that your finances are working for you, and that your family’s budgeting plan is on track for a good financial future.

Do you spring clean your budget?

2 comments:

April said...

Ineed to spring clean ours...gas prices are going up along with grocery and pretty much everything else I seem to e coming up short

Admin said...

Thanks stopping by April.... I know the gas prices are really making me redo the budget.