Simple home budget tips to save money

If you’re wondering where all your weekly money has gone, chances are it has vanished into the mysterious void often referred to as household expenses. It’s a common mistake to underestimate the humble family budget instead of investing in a house or buying a car.

Budgeting for better savings without compromising quality of life takes careful thought and planning. As the old adage goes: It’s not what you do but what you do with what you do.

Take control of your household budget and learn how to stop the outflow of money with the following tips.

• Keep written or typed records: Although this may sound a bit cliche, it’s surprising how few people actually follow this sensible advice. It is not possible to remember where you spent money and how much on a day to day basis. It’s a much better idea to output the data to a journal or Excel sheet.
• Buy in bulk – large sizes often cost much less than smaller packs. Detergent, cooking oil, sugar or rice: buying in bulk will cost less and won’t go to waste; after all, you will use it now or in two weeks.
• Use coupons and discount offers: It’s a common trend to discard any coupon that offers, say, $5 off a product. But the little expenses add up. So save those coupons for your next purchase.
• Separate Regular Monthly Expenses: Expenses like phone bills or TV cable payments that recur monthly should have a separate budget allocated. This way you get to identify the remaining amount available for other unexpected expenses.
• Trade DVDs, books and CDs with neighbors and friends – this will be cheaper than buying or renting your own all the time.
• Turn on the heater at specific times – Purchasing an automatic timer can help keep energy costs in check by minimizing uncontrolled usage.
• Research phone and internet companies to find out which one offers the best value for money. There is often a significant disparity in fees that can end up costing quite a bit.
• Budgeting for better savings requires constant vigilance, monitoring and focus. But it comes with constant practice. A person can save between $300 and $400 a month by following these seemingly simple family budget tips. But if you do the math, $300 a month is $3,600 in a year and $36,000 in 10 years, all from savings at home.