The future can bring all kinds of changes. Some good, some scary. When you’re living on your own, you’re more open to those scary changes. However, when you add a family into the mix, they become all that much scarier. You can’t afford some of those nastier surprises. The one that we think to prepare for in particular is our finances. Thankfully, with the right forethought, future-proofing your finances to a degree isn’t impossible. All it requires is a bit of saving here and learning your finances inside and out. That way you can prepare for most of financial surprises life might have in store.
Establish an emergency fund
The first goal of any family savings plan is putting together an emergency fund. This is what you need when there’s no income coming into the home and you have to tide yourself over. Smartaboutmoney.org shows that it usually consists of the bare essentials. Everything you need to pay for food, fuel, bills and debts. But you should always add a couple hundred extra to that total. That way it can actually cover some emergencies as well.
Budget absolutely everything
A lot of debt can be gotten into by mistake. This usually happens by making a poor estimation of your spending and how much money you actually have. These kinds of wrong judgements should be avoided at all costs. Do this by establishing a strict set of rules on yourself. Budget your monthly costs and count up all your expenses. You can make this process a lot less painful by using apps like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
Prepare towards the far future
It’s not just about keeping funds for the immediate future, either. As parents, we want to make sure we don’t leave any financial baggage for our kids in future. Getting ourselves in debt is one way we might just do that. Clearing debt from the table makes it easier to keep money aside for them. The kind of insurance options shown at Gocompare.com can help, too. That way, you’re not making yourself a financial burden to anyone after you pass.
Finding more opportunities to make money
We know that if you’re working part time or at a job that isn’t providing enough, the stress can pile on. However, instead of despairing the situation, find other ways to make a bit more money. Regardless of your skills, there are always ways to raise that additional funding. Even if all you have to offer is a computer and your time.
Master saving
To put aside enough money to get those future-proof savings together, you need to become a master of frugal living. Finding deals and keeping an eye out for vouchers and coupons can add to a lot of saved money. Starting actual savings plans can help as well. For example, saving so that your kid can have a much better further education experience. Without getting themselves in even more debt, that is. Diversifying your savings, long-term and short-term. That way you can avoid the temptation of picking funds out from those long term plans and destroying your interest.
