How do you take control of family finances?

Shop around and make sure that you are on the best deals for your bills . Cut debt or credit cards repayments by opting for low-interest rates deals. Make small changes to the way you spend and manage your money – over time they will make a big difference. Set financial family finances goals.

How do you manage finances responsibly as a family?

One of the most common family budgeting techniques is to use the 50/30/20 rule . The idea is to divide your income into three spending categories—50% on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings. Once you have prioritized your essential expenses, you can allocate funds for your “wants,” such as entertainment or vacations.

What is the 30 30 30 rule personal finance?

The 30-30-30-10 system allocates 30% of your money to housing, and another 30% goes for necessities . You devote 30% to financial goals and keep the remaining 10% for personal spending. This system's ease of use might make it appealing -- but it also doesn't leave much for fun spending.

How do I stop self sabotaging my finances?

Automate your good habits by setting up recurring savings transfers each month to avoid the temptation of overspending. If you budget around your current income and live within your means, that pay increase will feel even sweeter when it arrives.

What is the 50 30 20 rule?

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings . The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals.

How can I be financially independent from my family?

The fastest way to become financially independent is to establish a budget that aims to maximize your income and minimize your expenses . Paying down debt, building savings, and reducing your expenses can help you become financially independent faster.

What is a reasonable weekly allowance for adults?

To determine a weekly allowance amount, take your discretionary spending amount each month and divide it by four . That amount will be how much you can spend each week without blowing your overall budget—while still getting to indulge in some things you want.

What does it mean to be intentional with your money?

For myself and my clients, being intentional means doing things on purpose and being deliberate about what we spend money on, where we spend our money, and how we feel when we're making financial decisions .

Learning to be Intentional With Your Family Finances

Finances.Sigh. I’m assuming that if you are reading this, then you are struggling with finances in one form or another. Or maybe you are a young couple who wants to start out on the right foot with your bank account. Whatever the reason, finances are often one of our largest struggles as homemakers.

Welcome to the next part of our online book study ofSay Goodbye to Survival Mode. It’s not too late to jump in and join the fun! You can readthe introductionand see thefull schedule of topicsfor the next 10 weeks. Or jump in with today’s discussion!

As I shared in the last part of this book study, I struggle with self-discipline and that extends into finances, budgeting, paying bills, etc. My husband and I were young and in college still when we got married and both paid our way through college (and we have the student loans to prove it). This year we have set some pretty high financial goals for our future so finances and budgeting have been a popular topic in our house.

But I know it can feel overwhelming and daunting when you don’t know where to start or how to turn your finances around.

You First Have to Know Where You’re Going

“So many people dream of getting out of debt, paying cash for another vehicle, paying off their houses early, or giving more generously to others. Very few people, however, get beyond the dreaming stage. Instead, they drive around and around without a map, wishing they could go somewhere without ever determining where they want to go.” – Crystal Paine, page 109

Wow, that really puts it into perspective. Maybe you want to get out of debt: Okay, so what does that mean? When do you want to be debt free? In 3 months, in a year, in 5 years? How much do you need to be paying off per month to meet those goals?

1) Set Real Goals (and Write Them Down)

If there is anything I’ve really learned from going through Say Goodbye to Survival Mode, is the importance of making goals and writing them down! And this is true even for finances. Start thinking through your financial goals: paying off student loans, paying off credit cards, saving up to buy a car, saving up to buy a house, increase your emergency fund, save for retirement, etc.

Then, write down these goals! Crystal recommends putting your top 3 financial goals somewhere that you will see it everyday (on your bathroom mirror perhaps). I love this idea because it helps you to stay focused and motivated.

2) Establish a Budget

I know this sounds like basic advice, but for real, setting a budget will help you to meet your financial goals more than anything else. The months when we have made the most progress in our financial goals have been those months we’ve been super intense about setting our budget and really sticking to it.

But I have to be honest, this is something we are always working on. We are lousy at sticking to our budget! This is something we will be working on the next six months. We recently signed up for Mint.com (again – we tried it a few years ago and didn’t stick with it) and we are hoping it’s going to help make things easier.

3) Use Cash

We have gone back and forth on using cash to pay for things like groceries, gas, eating out, entertainment, etc. and we can definitely tell a difference when we pull out cash at the beginning of the month to budget for these things. It’s especially helpful for me when sticking to our grocery and eating out budget (which is the category that we blow our budget on the most).

Things are going to be a little funky for the next few months (we are due with twins in just a few short weeks) but we hope to really get back on track with our budget and using cash in the next six months or so.

4) Remember to Give

When going through tough financial situations or trying to save for a large goal, the first thing to fall off our budget is usually our giving. And while in certain seasons, this might have to happen for a short time (or at least your giving is reduced) it’s so easy to fall into a pattern of not giving.

It’s doesn’t have to be 30% of your income, or even 10%. I don’t think there needs to be a specific number, but give however you can. For a time, this might be 2-3% or $20 here and there when you can. But try to be consistent and as things improve, try to up that amount. Our dream is that one day we would be able to give far more than 10% of our income – first to our local church and then to other ministries. Here is a great sermon on God’s Plan for Giving.

Obviously the subject of finances goes a lot deeper than we are going to cover here in one short blog post. But I hope this gave you some encouragement to get going on those financial goals! If you want to dive deeper (which I encourage you to do), here are some awesome resources to get you started:

The Total Money Makeover – Dave Ramsey
The Dave Ramsey Radio Show
Christian Personal Finance – A WONDERFUL website full of resources
Mint.com – Online budgeting software
Financial Peace University– A great course to go through as a class if you can find one

Learning to be Intentional With Your Family Finances | (3)

In celebration of the new year and getting things into better routines and schedules, I will be going through a MYM challenge for anyone who wants to follow along.
Crystal’s grace-filled and simple approach to forming daily routines and rituals is a breath of fresh air. It doesn’t have to take a huge amount of time to transform your homemaking – in fact, if you can commit just 10 minutes a day, you can see a HUGE improvement in your homemaking. Check out the course today!
P.S. Crystal offers a 100% money back guarantee in case the course isn’t what you expected or wasn’t helpful. Now you literally have no reason not to go check it out!

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About Jami Balmet

Jami is passionate about making a home rooted and grounded in Christ. Jamiand Jason have 6 kids, 8 years old and younger (5 boys and a girl) including two sets of twin boys. She knows what it’slike to be burnt-out, overwhelmed, stressed and in the trenches of homemaking andmotherhood. As a result, she seeks to point herself, her family, and her blog all back toChrist all while finding joy, peace, and purpose within her home…all for God’s Glory. She isthe host behind the Homemaking Ministries Online Conference, multiple podcasts, many courses, and more!

Learning to be Intentional With Your Family Finances | (2024)