It is a fact that life expectancy is increasing, and the number of people who have lived to be 100 years old has quadrupled and is most likely to increase by the same percentage by 2035. There are a lot of factors that contribute to this increased lifespan. They, of course, include healthy eating habits, exercising daily, maintaining a stress-free life, etc.
Back in the day, people would say that if you want to live longer, make sure you eat healthily and get tested now and then, but today people say if you’re going to live longer to make sure you are managing your household finances right. Why so? Because once you have your finances sorted, you can live your life stress-free without worrying. As they say, stress is the mother of all diseases.
What do we mean by household finances? Household finances are the finances required to run your short-term and long-term household obligations. They include your utilities, mortgage, rent, grocery bill, credit card bill, etc.
Here are a few tips that can help you manage your household finances better and help you live to 100 years:
Calculate your inflow of finances
The first thing you need to do is figure out how much money you are making. Once you know how much money you and your household members are making, you will know exactly how much to spend on your obligations and leisure activities, and how much you can save.
Make a list of your obligations
Once you know the inflow of your finances, make a list of monthly expenses and obligations you have. Make a list of the following items you have to pay – utility bills, mortgage, rent, grocery shopping, personal expenses, etc.
Now you will have an idea of how much money you have to assign to your obligations, regardless of how much you make. After deducting your outflows from your inflows, you will know the exact amount of money you will be left with at the end of each month. This money can be used for savings, investing, or spending on leisure activities.
Make a budget
A budget will help you minimize your monthly expenses and help you save money in a stress-free way. You can maintain spreadsheets or an excel sheet highlighting your income and expenses. This way, you will be able to control yourself when you feel like splurging unnecessarily.
Take your family members on board
You cannot manage your household finances without the support of your family members. You need to sit your family down and talk to them about the monthly household finances and plan to manage them. Without their support, it will be impossible to manage your finances efficiently.
Try increasing your inflows and reducing your outflows
Now that you know your income and expenses, you can look for ways to increase your income and reduce your expense or maintain them. The money you save can be invested in different portfolios for a return. You can also invest in mutual funds or a fixed deposit. You can also hire a fund manager who can help you with different investing opportunities.
Keep your debt to a minimum
If your debt has been mounting and you want to manage your household finances efficiently, you should get rid of all your credit cards. Decide how you want to pay off your monthly minimum. If you don’t get free of your credit cards, you will end up paying more than you spend in the form of different penalties and interest charges.
Be realistic
This is the most critical piece of advice. The motto of managing your household expenses is to be stress-free in the future. But if you set an unrealistic budget, you will struggle with meeting your obligations, leading to stress and making futile the actual motive. Make a budget that will be easy to follow.
By following the above tips, one can easily manage his household finances and aim to live up to 100 years – the key is to be stress-free.
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