Managing household budget is an art in itself. In this time of recession a person must have a hold on his or her household budget. When you create a budget for your family, you clearly know the expenses against your monthly income. This helps in taking decisions about your family spending. A household budget spreadsheet is the most efficient tool to deal with the different aspects of personal financing.

What is household finance?

It is said that life is full of ups and downs. One must always be prepared to face the different challenges of life. Creating a family budget helps in avoiding financial problems in the future, thus giving your family the ability to handle unforeseen events. Putting a family budget takes a lot of time and effort. Here comes the importance of a household budget spreadsheet.

The first and foremost thing before preparing your household budget is to gather information. One must have a track of the family income which includes the income of both husband and wife. It will also include details regarding any additional incomes if any. This should be followed by having a track on your expenses. Gather all of the household monthly bills including cell phone bill, electricity bill, loans, rent, water usage bill, cable bill, school fees and other miscellaneous expenses.

Contents of a household budget

The first step towards creating a household Budget Spreadsheet is to select a budget template that best suites ones household expenses. Wide varieties of household budget spreadsheets are now available in the internet which you can download without incurring any cost. One can even design a budget spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel. If you are not well versed with Microsoft there are many websites which will guide you to do the same in an easy and understandable way.

A household budget spreadsheet will basically have columns for income, expenses which will include both fixed and variable expenses, and then at last your net income. Your net income will be calculated after subtracting expenses from income. Fixed expenses will include loan, insurance, rent, tax, school fees etc. While variable expenses will include electricity bill, water bill, gas bill, groceries, telephone bill, cable or satellite bill, auto maintenance, medical bill, clothing, dry cleaning etc. One can always customize a household budget spreadsheet. Once you have made a template of the same, you only need to enter the exact numbers and in a second you will get your monthly net income.

Provision for months and year should also be made. Thus a household budget spreadsheet helps you in analyzing your expenses and incomes so that you can curtail unnecessary expenses thus saving for the future. This will in turn help you in making investments. The increased importance of spreadsheet has lead to an increased amount of budget spreadsheet that is now available in the market.

A household budget spreadsheet is a tool to manage income and expenses. It is a versatile medium to keep track of your expenses which is a must for your future. Moreover, it is an important instrument for financial planning.