Free From Broke

A Personal Finance Blog for Regular Folks

Budget

How to Get Your Spouse More Involved in the Family Finances

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In many marriages, there is the financial geek who enjoys setting the budget, paying the bills,  and managing the money. 

Often the other spouse wants no part of the finances.

While this is not always the case, it is true for many marriages.

This arrangement may work well for awhile, but over time, the spouse who handles the money may feel burdened by being the sole financial executor, especially if the family struggles with debt.

While the financial geek may never get his or her partner as excited about finances as he or she is, there are some ways to get your spouse involved more.

How You Can Get Your Spouse More Involved in the Family Finances

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Budgeting for Christmas Shopping Before it’s too Late

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Yes, it is only just Fall and the leaves are barely starting to change color but before any of us realize it, the snow will be on the ground and Jingle Bells will be playing at the mall (OK, the holiday music will start once Halloween is over).

Budgeting for Christmas shopping now may sound like a chore but it can be the life line you need to avert debt.

Typically when a person goes Christmas shopping and there is no budget, then this gives the illusion of having no limits – and no limits often leads to January credit card bills that hurt.

According to a Gallup poll in 2013, Americans polled expected to spend about $700 for gifts during the holiday season.  Do you have that in your savings, ready to spend on gifts?

Designing a budget helps you to avoid that steep downhill in January; and this helps to keep the happiness of the Christmas holidays lasting well into the new year.
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Can’t Pay On Time? Change Your Due Date!

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Way back in the dark days when my credit card debt felt like a ball and chain around my neck I would have problems paying my credit card bills on time.

And man, was I so close a lot of those times!

I’d miss the due date by a day here, three days there.  See, my budget was timed badly such that my paycheck and my credit card due date were within days of each other (I was living paycheck-to-paycheck for a while).  By the time I could get my bills out they would already be late.  You can always ask the credit card company to waive a late fee but I had too many to ask anymore.

One day I found out I could ask the credit card company to move my due date.

“They would do that,” I thought?  I mean, why would they work with me since I owe them money?
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How to Create a Budget for Variable Income

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With people increasingly using technology to make money from home, it is becoming more common for many of us to live on a variable income. The problem for many, though, is how to create a budget for variable income?  Whether you have a stable base of income, with some variable elements, or whether your entire income is variable, you need to have some sort of plan for your money.

Estimates: Break Down Your Monthly Income and Expenses

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