From our archive. This article was published on 16 July 2020. Rules and amounts may have changed since.
Do you know how much you spend each month? Do you have an overview of your income and your expenses? Do you know where you could save if you wanted to? Especially in difficult times, we recommend that everyone does an exercise like this. Draw up your household budget as it is today and bring it to the structure and level you would like it to have.
An overview of all your expenses and income
First, make an overview of all your expenses and income: in other words, create a household budget and take an in-depth look at everything you spend. Use your bank statements, energy bills, memberships and subscriptions to do so. Find out whether you can cut certain things or whether you would be better off with other providers. Also take into account the costs of switching from one provider to another. Before you decide to switch, it is best to ask your current provider whether it can match or beat the other provider’s offer.
Budgeting is the key to a bright future
You create a budget to gain insight and you draw it up so that you stick to it, but budgets can also be adjusted and will certainly evolve throughout your life. Almost every major life event also has a direct financial impact on your assets, today or in the future. Even in a crisis, this is the moment to take a critical look at your spending and avoid unnecessary expenses. Going to a café or restaurant has become less of a given. The same goes for shopping and travelling. These are all opportunities to remain careful with those things for a while longer and so save extra money with a view to the future.
Build up savings buffers to arm yourself against a crisis
That brings us to your savings buffers, which also deserve special attention. If you do not have one yet, try to build one as soon as possible. Ultimately, try to save the equivalent of 3-6 months of net salary in your savings buffer. In a crisis, there is a greater chance that sooner or later you will have to use it to make ends meet if your income were to (partly) disappear. As long as you have sufficient income, you would do well to keep building up your buffer further, with the difficult times still ahead of us in mind. Think of the economic downturn that is under way now and the economic depression that may follow.
Take a financial well-being coach on board to draw up and review your budget together. Some of our coaches have even been specially trained as budget coaches. Click here to get in touch with the coaches of the Financial Well-Being Academy. Or contact one of our staff members without obligation via this link. We treat every message in confidence and put you directly in touch with someone who can answer your questions or help you further.
You can also always visit the website of Het Financieel Huis, where you can, as it were, use our own “search engine” for your assets to look for a person or organisation with the right skills and accreditations who can guide you and help you further in realising your plans and projects. Click here to find your adviser. Or simply send us a message by email (info@financialwellbeingacademy.com).