How to learn to do home bookkeeping
Money loves an account. This is a banal truth, from which many brush aside with a hand and a gray matter in the head. But at the same time they complain about the lack of means of subsistence. And sometimes they are surprised how a colleague lives on the same, and in some cases even on lower incomes.
Money must be respected. Only in this way will they begin to linger in the wallet. And respect for banknotes begins with home accounting.
Once upon a time, the future iron lady Margaret Thatcher compared the country's economy to managing household finances. Despite ridicule, this tactic enabled her to win elections, rule the UK and lead the country out of a protracted crisis.
Consider a banal example from life. One work colleague complains to another that there is not enough money to pay for a child's trip to a dance competition. Their children attend the same dance group, and the amount required for the trip is the same. A colleague advised him to quit smoking. To which the answer was received: yes, what does a pack of cigarettes cost?
Within one package – yes, the amount is insignificant. But if we multiply the cost of one pack by 30 days – usually smokers smoke 1 pack of cigarettes a day – then these funds would not only be enough for the child to pay for a trip to the competition, but also would be left for small souvenirs.
And there are many such examples. Doing home bookkeeping is not bad manners, but a sign of a reasonable person and a skilled housewife or master of her own life.
We start with the basics
Initially, divide all expenditure parts of the household budget into mandatory and optional payments.
Mandatory include:
– Communal expenses;
– possibly paying off a loan;
– Kindergarten, tuition fees;
– connection;
– in some cases, medical services and a list of essential medicines;
– food and essential goods.
All other costs are optional. This is gasoline, the use of transport, the purchase of a hundredth blouse or a pack of cigarettes.
Within a month, all expenses will fall into the line "expenses". At the end of this period, take stock. Sometimes they can be shocking, as they clearly show the cost items in a single household. This is especially true for small expenses such as a cup of coffee from a coffee machine.
After the first shock, some stop keeping track of their finances. And they blame everyone but themselves for the lack of funds. Others start looking for opportunities to reduce costs and pick up technical tools for home accounting.
Notebook for beginners
The simplest home accounting register is a checkered notebook or notepad. Everyone chooses a template for keeping records on their own.
At the beginning of the period, it can be a week, a month, data on household income are entered. Most of the bookkeeping in the notebook will be given to costs.
Calculating household finances requires scrupulousness, honesty, and some violence against yourself. Because you have to write down all income and expenses, even that little candy eaten over coffee with a colleague. And collect checks.
For analysis, cost accounting will have to be kept for at least 3 months. Income, as a rule, is a fairly constant value, and does not require special attention.
A sample cost item would look like this:
1) Food – this category should be divided into groups. For example, meat products, milk and dairy products, cereals, soda and juices, sweets, vegetables and fruits. A separate cost item in this section is eating out.
2) Household and hygiene products, cosmetics and care products.
3) Payment of utilities.
4) Other obligatory payments – payment for the garden, financial obligations to banks.
5) Books, CDs, stationery.
6) Clothes broken down into expenses for each family member.
7) Services of a cosmetologist, hairdresser, manicure.
8) Medicines, services of commercial medical institutions, payment of medical insurance.
9) Transportation costs – gasoline, taxis, bombed services, public transport.
10) Entertainment, including gifts and toys.
Subcategories are filled daily. For example, "milk – 150 conventional units", "meat – 300 conventional units", "payment for kindergarten – 1000 conventional units".
Once a week or a month, expenses by category are summed up. At the end of the month, the total cost and the financial result are displayed. The numbers will show the deficit or surplus of finance. The second is preferable. Surplus funds can be set aside for summer holidays.
The advantage of using paper financial registers is their low cost. In this case, no additional equipment is required – a personal computer, tablet or phone. The disadvantage of keeping a budget in a notebook is the multi-page and low overall visibility. Because of this, useful information may be lost.
Use of technical devices
How to do home bookkeeping? A phone or PC will help in this matter. Currently, many programs have been developed that serve home bookkeeping.
Telephone
If there is not enough time and desire to collect checks confirming expenses, then a smartphone will help you. Android supports expense tracking software.
Popular phone software:
1) AndroMoney;
2) Expense Manager;
3) Family budget;
4) EasyMoney;
5) CoinKeeper.
The software is downloaded from the Google Play app store. Most of the software is free, except for CoinKeeper. The CoinKeeper functionality will work for free for the first 15 days, then you will have to pay for the full version.
A computer
PC users are offered freedom of choice – either independent creativity or ready-made software.
In the first case, an Excel spreadsheet will help. The template of the accounting register is invented independently. It is recommended to keep records not by a common tape, but by periods. For example, name the first sheet "01.01.17-07.01.17". On this sheet, enter all income and expenses for the first week of the year.
Home accounting in excel is formed according to the same principle as in a notebook. Expenses are broken down into categories and subcategories. The columns are filled daily.
At the end of the sheet, the line "Total" is formed for each cost item. To automate the process, use the autosum formula.
The last line of the sheet is the financial total. It collects the total amount of income and expenses for the period. If expenses exceed income, the user receives a deficit of funds, otherwise, a surplus.
If there is no time for amateur performance, then it is easy to download software for home accounting on the Internet.
Popular Free PC Software:
1) HomeBank;
2) Family Budget Lite;
3) Family Accounting;
4) CashFly;
5) Home Accounting Lite.
All software tools have their own accounting template. The advantages of such tools are availability, ease of accounting, the ability to work with Word and Excel, the ability to analyze and print reports.
How to keep a home account? Meticulous and methodical. Only in this way can you identify black holes into which the funds you earn are flowing. And then everything is simple – either on the basis of the information received, you go from a budget deficit to a surplus, or abandon accounting and continue to complain about the lack of money.