Eight savings tips: Create a household book in 7 steps

Where has it gone, the money? If you don't know that, you could get a household book.

Eight savings tips: Create a household book in 7 steps

Where has it gone, the money? If you don't know that, you could get a household book. This gives you a better overview of your own finances and makes it easier to identify savings potential.

At the beginning of the month, many people are financially quite reasonable. But the more days that go by, the less money is left - often almost everything is used up long before the end of the month, not least because of the high inflation. How can that be? A question that many ask themselves.

A household book in which all income and expenditure are meticulously recorded can provide the answer. This gives consumers a financial overview, allows them to see potential weaknesses and take countermeasures. This is how it works in practice:

Step 1: Create a budget book

Whether it's an Excel spreadsheet, an app or the classic way with pen and paper: there are different ways to create a budget book. "Some will prefer a digital form because an app or program calculates the amounts itself," says Antje Kahlheber from the Rhineland-Palatinate consumer center based in Mainz.

When it comes to online offers, you should be aware that the data you enter is sensitive. "Here it is important to check what data protection looks like," says Sally Peters from the Institute for Financial Services (iff) in Hamburg. The offers should come from a trustworthy source and be uncomplicated and easy to use, so that users can easily integrate the entries into their everyday life over a longer period of time.

Step 2: Enter regular income

Enter the amount of your wages, salary, unemployment benefit or pension in your household book. Income such as child benefit, housing benefit, rental income or other income should also be included in the household book.

Anyone who has different incomes and now adds them up can see at a glance how much money he or she has available each month. List the respective totals both monthly and annually.

Step 3: Collect fixed expenses

Fixed expenses include costs for living (rent, real estate loan installments, ancillary costs), for mobility, telephone/internet, electricity/gas, insurance, subscriptions, broadcasting fees or memberships in clubs. Enter in your household book how much money you spend on each item each month and year. Now add up the expenses - once a month and once a year.

Step 4: Determine the amount for food, free time and the like

If you subtract the sum of the fixed monthly expenses from the sum of the monthly income, you get the monthly available budget - i.e. the amount that is still available for food, drink, household, leisure and Co. Assuming that the monthly income is 3000 euros and the fixed monthly expenses are 1800 euros, then an amount of 1200 euros remains for other, i.e. irregular expenses.

Step 5: Record irregular expenses

Write down every single expense that arises. These are, for example, costs for food and drink purchases as well as expenses for household, drugstore items, clothing and leisure time. Collect receipts for this and don't forget to include this expense item in your household book, even if you pay by card.

Whether it's ice cream, a cup of coffee or a t-shirt from your favorite shop around the corner: "Irregular small items quickly add up, you only notice it when you write down every amount," says Sally Peters. Writing it down doesn't take a lot of time. "It usually doesn't take more than five minutes a day," says Antje Kahlheber.

Step 6: Take stock

Now add up the irregular expenses and subtract this amount from your monthly available budget. So if you have spent 950 euros from your 1200 euros budget at the end, you can use the remaining 250 euros to create a reserve or invest the money.

Step 7: If necessary, rearrange the finances

Anyone who finds that he or she is more or less regularly slipping into the red with their money should check where exactly the problems lie. Is the spending high only temporarily or for many months?

Possible savings options: Put insurance contracts to the test and adapt them to a possibly changed life situation. Or use comparison portals on the Internet to find out whether there are cheaper providers. When it comes to groceries, too, you can often save when you go for the product on offer or the private label.

Anyone who cannot get their financial problems under control themselves should seek advice at an early stage. In the case of debt, the debt counseling service is the first point of contact. Many consumer advice centers also offer special offers for energy debt. And at the social counseling centers of the welfare organizations there are indications as to whether you can apply for social benefits.

Other options: Negotiate a salary increase with the employer. "Even small things like using bonus programs from health insurance companies or taking advantage of additional offers from employers, such as meal vouchers for the canteen, help to relieve the burden on the expenditure side," says Sally Peters.