MONEY MANAGEMENT How to maintain a healthy household budget

WHY CREATE A BUDGET? Creating a household budget is vital to healthy money management. Healthy money management is vital to the success of your family. With wise budgeting, you will know how much money you have coming in, how much is being spent, and where it is all going. Wise money management will help you prioritize your finances in order to maintain a stable household every month.

CREATING A BUDGET The Budget Worksheet you have been given will help you create an accurate household budget. To create an accurate budget you must be ready to include as much detail information as possible You will need to gather all your monthly statements and your monthly EXPENSES (money you spend) You will also need to gather all your monthly INCOME (money received) and subsidies (utility assistance, childcare assistance, SNAP assistance, etc.) Please use accurate amounts. Guessing about your total monthly expenses will make your budget inaccurate and ineffective.

BUDGET WORKSHEET On your Budget Worksheet indicate ALL your monthly EXPENSES in the boxes on the left side of the worksheet List each EXPENSE separate (remember to list miscellaneous items like, nails, hair, gasoline, bus fare, etc.) Example EXPENSES AMOUNTS Groceries $100 Utilities$60 Car Payment$200

BUDGET WORKSHEET On your Budget Worksheet indicate ALL your monthly INCOME in the boxes on the right side of the worksheet. List each INCOME separately Example INCOME AMOUNTS Child Support $200 Utilities$60 Work$500

BUDGET WORKSHEET Once you have all your amounts noted, in both the INCOME and EXPENSES boxes, total both columns at the bottom. If your INCOME total is larger than your EXPENSES total, you are doing well every month. Extra INCOME should be put into a savings account for emergencies. If your EXPENSES total is larger than your INCOME total, you will see your total in RED and you will need to adjust your monthly EXPENSES to fit your INCOME level.

ADJUSTING YOUR BUDGET Think about items in your EXPENSES boxes that can be reduced or eliminated for each month. The idea is to keep the items on your EXPENSES list to items you NEED as opposed to items you WANT. Example If you have a cable bill of $75, you may need to call your cable provider and reduce (or eliminate) your package to a less expensive one.

A GOOD HOUSEHOLD BUDGET A good household budget will have an INCOME TOTAL that is LARGER than the EXPENSE TOTAL. Example MONTHLY BUDGET TOTALS TOTAL MONTHLY INCOME 900 TOTAL MONTHLY EXPENSE 600 BETTER OR WORSE 300 (If total appears in the red you will need to adjust your Household Budget)

MONEY MANAGEMENT TEST 1.Healthy money management is vital to the success of _________________. A.My Wallet B.My Friends C.My Family 2.Wise money management will help you maintain ___________________. A.Many Friends B.Nice Neighbors C.A Stable Household

MONEY MANAGEMENT TEST 3.If my INCOME total is larger than my EXPENSES total, my household budget A.Is All Wrong B.Is Doing Well C.Needs Adjustment 4.If I am having difficulty with money management or any other social service need, I should ask my _________________ for help A.Taxi Driver B.Resident Services Coordinator C.Friends