Managing Your House

Home economics is a class that is all but taken seriously in school as students see it as cooking, health education and an easy "A", but what teachers aren't doing is preparing students to take into account the needs and upkeep necessary to keep your house running, and running well.

What I remember from my home economics classroom is learning how to cook. I've posted before about the importance of cooking, but that's not my point here. In the grand scheme of things, cooking takes a back seat to managing your finances so that you afford to have food to cook. Some people believe that this belongs in a math class, and that's probably true, but while children are struggle to get through functions and where "x" is, students should also be learning basic accounting.

Now, as far as accounting goes, I'm not one for terminology. What people are calling the same thing doesn't interest me and is only going to confuse everyone. The real meat is your budget: what is going in and what is coming out.

Something that I have learned is that it is easy once you get into a rhythm, but it is hard to get started. Recently, my wife and I have tried to get everything organized in our home; buying food, getting the car fixed, and getting everything for school. As tempting as it was to fill the pantry, the fridge and the cabinets with goods, it wasn't in our budget. Since we've moved in, we take opportunities to buy condiments and ingredients each week. Piece by piece we put things together.

Accounting requires upkeep. If you let it go too long, you'll lose track of information and that makes your budget slip through the cracks. You need to be aware of all of the information which describes your life and how things change once you act in a certain way.

One of the biggest problems that people have and what leads them to the most debt is not being able to cover their expenses. People are not aware that their outflow is more than their income. As credit limits rise, so does their spending. This continues until mountains of debt pile up and pleas for help take them all the way to the bank. As the pressure builds, so does stress and that is no way to live. All of this could be managed by keeping a budget.

Every one has a different method which they prefer varying from keeping different receipts in folders or envelopes while some prefer to keep maximum spending limits in certain areas using accounting programs. If you're using USAA, they have a budget program that you can use with your account to track your budget. Whatever your method, be sure that it works for you. Be sure to have your savings, but also keep an emergency fund. This will help keep you from falling into disaster all at once during the first storm of the season.

Whatever the method, be aware of how you're spending, don't give up and think that it isn't worth it. It all comes in managing your house. It's hard work, but it's worth it.