Campus News

Develop a money management plan to cut back on family spending

The following steps can help you to develop a plan for reducing family spending:

  1. Start by cutting back in one or two problem areas at a time and work on those areas for several months. Once your new spending habits become an established part of your routine, you can tackle additional problem areas.
  2. Involve everyone in the household. You are more likely to be successful when everyone in the household participates in accomplishing the same goal. 
  3. Ask family members for suggestions and encourage everyone to come up with a suggestion for how to cut spending. 
  4. Develop an action plan. Review the suggestions and select several to implement. Whatever you decide, write down your action plan and have everyone in the family sign it.
  5. Post your plan where everyone in the household will see it so it is a constant reminder of your common goal. 
  6. Evaluate your plan and your overall spending periodically. Every few weeks sit down with family members to see how you are doing. 
  7. Make sure everyone in the family enjoys the rewards.