It’s always a great idea to use a financial tracker to make a living for your family. Yes, it’s possible if you do it right.
Raising a family isn’t big; it’s massive. If you’re a family of 4 and living in Washington, it could cost you $123.975 annually to make ends meet. That’s a massive amount for anyone with a bigger family and a lower income to spend for an adequate standard of living. On top of that, the cost of living is steeping even further with the COVID pandemic getting on the nerves of the world.
In April 2020, over 10 million people were laid off from their jobs due to the plummeting economy. To tackle the effect, some relied on the rainy day savings, most stated their business, and others went on to live frugally. Now that everyone’s securing the ways to bolster their finances and support their families of 2, 4, 6 or 8, it’s now the time to shift to better things that help you kill two birds with one stone.
It’s about time you and your family give a financial tracker chance to help you pluck out of those seemingly horrible situations that make you feel broke and stuck. Read on below to explore the ways My EasyFi has found out for you and your family to live comfortably without compromising the lifestyle standard.
A Financial Tracker Helps Save More Than You Think
So, you’re probably googling how a financial tracker can help you get on the road to financial freedom, not to mention about streamlining your life. Whether you’re a student who wants to avoid the debt burden later in life or a parent of 5, using a money tracker enables you to take a closer look at your current finances and pinch out anything that breaks your budget.
No matter what point you are at in life, it can help you save for your retirement plans. You can save much more than you think and keep all your expenses organized in one place. However, to keep your family finances frugal, here are a few ideas to use a tracker:
1. Focus On The Cost Of The Food
Food is one of the budget essentials that can never be compromised, but it can be difficult when the costs are too high, or there’s no proper planning for meals. While the food costs can swirl out of control, you can still add a structure or plan for the family eating habits.
If you’re someone with a big family, consider buying weekly groceries in bulk and create meal preps for the entire family. When going shopping, stick to cash to avoid spending extra. Create your food budget list and add the monthly expense on your tracking app. With a monthly overview, you will be able to see how you’ve been doing with your food expenses.
2. Bring In The Second Hands In Your Home
If you’ve planned to buy the new coffee table you saw at Etsy, don’t rush. You can still find second-hand furniture, books, and other items in mint condition at a lower price. Once your monthly budget exceeds the monthly limit, see if adding the second-hand item can make a difference.
There are several reasons why you should give second-hand things a chance. They could save you a great deal of money. You can even revamp those things. Or maybe resell them at a fair price. Keep track of those items in your expense list and note the difference they make in your finances instantly.
3. Keep All The Money Tracking In One Place
It could get tough to keep all the chits, receipts, bills, and ticket stabs in one place – especially when you’re on a budget. With an efficient money tracker by your side, you don’t possibly need to add paper clutter. Here’s the best thing you can do: get a tracker and add your finances to the app. All your data will be stored digitally, without having you to keep tickets and bills (keep them in case they are related to your house mortgage and business) in different spaces. You can save space in your house for other things.
4. Make Rules For Frugality In Your Home
When using a tracker, you will learn to organize things and see a transparent money flow; you will figure out more when switching to frugal rules in the family. You can introduce several rules, zero waste, value spending, energy conservation and so on.
These habits will allow you to minimize spending. Once you integrate these habits, you will see a shift in how you and your family see the finances. Make sure to keep the rules light and fun so your significant other and children are comfortable following them.
5. Invest In Frugal Family Fun
Vacations and costly trips can blow the budget cards quite strongly. If you want to invest in family fun, crop out expensive trips, and fill your budget tracker with some natural and healthy fun activities that don’t cost much or are free.
Swap the expensive movie ticket with a stargazing night You can go camping, hiking, bird watching, fishing, and do other activities that create memories. Take kids out to tips that don’t could provide healthy family fun.
6. Plan For The Holidays In Advance
Saving and raising a family on a budget calls for particular attention when it comes to holidays. You have to avoid the rush and end-time shopping in a frenzy, and you’ve to budget the gifts you have to get for the family. The simple idea is to create a list on your tracker, allotting a particular amount to the total expenses on the holiday season. See if you can create categories for each cost so you have complete control of the budget and can enjoy the holiday in full swing.
7. Teach Your Children About Saving
Financial education is the one that you don’t receive at school, but at home. People who receive financial training and education at home are way better with money than those who are not exposed to such knowledge in the early stages of life. If you’re one of the financial literates, it’s best to teach your youngsters about handling money matters.
Here, a financial tracker can help you teach your children the better way. Using tech helps keep you upfront in educating your children as a modern solution to saving. If you’re using the app, allow your children to explore the app themselves, and learn to save effectively.
8. Lead By Example
Children follow the footsteps of their parents. They adopt the habits of their parents and ingrain the ideas involved in their upbringing. If the parents aren’t setting financial limits, it will be hard for them to accept boundaries later in life.
For that reason, if you’re clear about your financial boundaries with your children, there’s a high chance your children will be careful about the things you taught were dangerous for their economic well-being. Your children will follow your example. You pave the way for them, so they don’t have to walk on eggshells later.
9. Review Your Expenses On The Tracking App
It’s always a good idea to keep a check on where your expenses are heading. Even if you have made the budget and are cruising smoothly along with it, better keep a check on your overall expenses to see if you’ve reached the milestones you had set for yourself.
Be smart about your expenses and see where you can tweak a saving opportunity. It will allow you to confide in your ability to save or learn from your mistakes if you’ve committed any.
10. Eliminate Expenses That You Don’t Need
From buying second-hand items to becoming waste-free, eliminating extra expenses can help you stretch the month easily without any worries. You probably might think about all your current costs necessary, but just for a minute, think about every alternative that can help you reduce those expenses.
Think hard about the things that you feel you and your family can live without. It’s better to define our needs and wants and create a budget with a tracker app that adds flexibility to your finances.
Conclusion
Raising a family is never easy, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done correctly. Frugality in finances comes naturally when you are adept at using technology for your advantage. With a finance tracker, you can create seamless budgets, track your money coming and going out of your account, and even earn cash on some. Giving it a try won’t hurt a bit. Are you up for raising a financially sound family?
