Do Not Avoid The Unexpected
If you do not attend to expenses early, they will end up costing you more money and you will have to scramble to get it paid. Everyone has expenses that are looming around. These expenses get very stressful because they are always in the back of your mind even though you hope they will just disappear. They never do but for some reason when they finally show up, they feel like they are unexpected.
List All of Your Upcoming Expenses
All you need to do is take 15 minutes out of your busy day and jot down any expense that are going to arise in the next year. Look through your calendar and make a list of any expenses you think will come up. For example, if your son has a dentist appointment in two months you are going to have to pay for the appointment and any costs that are associated with that.
Make sure you include any upcoming birthdays, graduations, anniversaries or baby showers. Also jot down costs for any vacations you have planned or events that you are going to attend. When you are done, ask your family members if there is anything that you might have missed.
You should also spend a little time inventorying your home. Are there any things in your home that are on the brink of breaking? Jot down the cars that you have and any upcoming maintenance you are going to need. Remember if you do not maintain things, the cost to fix them once they break is much higher.
Plan For The Expenses And Save
While it is hard to be 100% prepared for all of life’s surprises, it is better to be 50 % prepared than staying willfully ignorant. Create a ball park budget using your best guess and your last year expenses. Do not freak out if it is high because they might be covered by any wiggle room in your budget. See how much money you can set aside to cover your unexpected expenses.
If you do not end up using the money at the end of the year, you can treat yourself to something nice or you can lighten your budget for the following year. Either way it is a win-win situation. When something comes up, you will not have to stress out or spend your nights worrying about what to do.
You can just pay the expense early (before the cost gets out of control) and move on to the more important issues in your life. You will find that preparing for all of this surprises will make your family life more enjoyable.