How to manage your budget when you are a newlywed couple?
Wedding planning and to organize the whole event is very exiting but after the honeymoon you’ll realize that it comes with lot of responsibilities as well and you’ve to be financially secured to manage all those things. May be you both have different financial goals and also have some debt also in your name but after getting married it’s high time that you both plan together and manage your budget.This will help both of you in managing your needs as well as saving money. However, you should note that planning a family budget may not be a piece of cake. You need to take various factors into consideration.
Planning a budget for newly-wed couple
Here are certain things which you should take into consideration while planning a budget when you are newly married:
- Sources of income: Both of you should first note down the sources of income that you have. This will help you know the inflow of cash. The sources of income may include the likes of self employment income, salaries and wages, rental income, investment income (which is not reinvested), etc. Once you know the inflow of cash, you will be able decide how much to save, how much to spend and how much to put down toward the debt payments.
- Note down your expenses: When you are planning to formulate your budget, the most important thing is to note down your expenses. You may need at least 3 months time in order to find out the various expenses that you have. You may have to pay down your money toward your home expenses like monthly mortgage payments, property taxes, etc. Apart from this, you will also have auto expenses, credit card debts, student loans, etc. Also, you will have monthly utility expenses, dining, clothing, entertainment, grocery, etc. Once you can track down these expenses, you will be able to allot money toward each of these expenses separately.
- Come up with an emergency fund: Now that you are married, it is very important to create an emergency fund. You should make sure that you and your spouse put a fixed amount of money in that fund and help it grow. You never know when an emergency can strike you or your spouse. An emergency fund will help you and your spouse manage any kind of emergency situation in a better way but if you don’t have any emergency fund and in any emergency situation, you need some urgent cash then you can also go online and get help from some valuable sites like Check ‘n Go to solve your problem.
- Take help of online budgeting tools: All the major financial websites offer budgeting tools. You can simply download those tools and use them to formulate your budget. You can simply put the required details in the budgeting tool and it will provide you with the result. If you wish, you can follow the exact budget or you may even customize it as per your needs.
- Follow the budget diligently: If you have prepared a budget, then make sure that you follow it as well. Unless you follow the budget, you will not be able to avoid debt problems. Moreover a proper budget will also help you save money and reduce unnecessary spending. This is of great help to newly-weds as they have already incurred a lot of debt at the time of their wedding.
Do not consider your budget as a punishment. It is just a way out to manage your finances and control your expenses in a better manner. You can change your budget on a regular basis as per your priorities.
