(All posts may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy)
OK, so if you aren’t the best with numbers and figures, you may not realize that 3.142 is also known as Pi. Easy as pi(e), get it? Anyway enough of the bad jokes, what I’d really like to focus on in this post is how to get your family’s finances back on track. As it can be pretty difficult to stay in credit all of the time. So read on for some family finance issue advice that can help you do just this.
Keeping track of it all
One of the biggest issues that I see families face with their finances is that they find it hard to keep track of what has been spent and by who, as well as what still needs to go out. Some families find it so hard in fact that they just don’t bother to keep track of it all, but this a truly the road to ruin, and I warn strongly against it.
Instead, ensure that you know exactly what is coming in each month and what is going out as this video from Forbes.com suggests. Also, ensure that you log purchases and when you pay bills because what you think your outgoings are, and what they may be are usually significantly different. Especially if you have an unexpected bill or have to buys some clothes for the kids. By having a general idea and then a more specific running total, it’s much easier to keep on track with your finances and avoid getting into trouble.
To do this you can use a simple pen and paper, but it’s probably a lot more convenient to download an app like the ones listed at dailyworth.com on your phone. As then you will have it will you at all times.
Bad credit
Something that can put a real crimp in the family finances is having bad credit. As its a fact of life in modern society that you need a good credit score to be able to make some of the more major purchases such as property and vehicles.
To fix this, the first thing you need to do is to check your credit score. Then if it isn’t where you want it to be, use sites like repair.credit to get advice on how to improve it. This may include getting debt consolidation or getting errors on your score removed, as all of these can affect your final score. Then you will be free to make those more important purchase for your family, without coming across any trouble.
Not making ends meet
Another major family finance issue is often making ends meet, or having enough money for all the things you need each month.
There are two approaches to dealing with this. The first is to cut down on items that you can do without, so saving money to be put towards essentials.
The other is to look for special offers on both essentials and nonessentials. This works well because it means you can still live the lifestyle that you want, but spend a lot less on it. Making it much easier to afford everything and so make ends meet.
