Rajeev Verma, self-written and published in 2011
Income is limited and the needs of the family are many, yet every family wants maximum satisfaction from its income. For today’s struggling life, it is very important that this budget expenditure system be given practical form and the income be spent in such a planned manner that the expenditure remains within the limit of income.
“Tete paan pasariye, jeti lambi saur” means a person should spend within his income. Family budget is an estimate of the income and expenditure of the family or a forecast of income and expenditure for a certain period is called budget. The rule of money is that it starts getting spent as soon as it comes into hand.
Hidden artificial needs tempt and feel like buying luxury items. In our society there is a status and a position in proportion to the income. If we do not spend according to our capacity and spend more on passion, false display or extravagance, then it is certain that our life will always be burdened with false burden and development will stop.
In India, not only the rich class but also the people of ordinary status and lower class have feelings of extravagance and false display, who want to present an exaggerated and false image of themselves in front of others.
There are many forms of misrepresentation, such as:-
* Extravagance to maintain reputation among friends.
* Wasteful expenditure in marriages, festivals and rituals of birth and death.
* Spending more than your income on donations, dowry, etc.
* Spending on bright, gaudy clothes.
* Spending wastefully on various types of pleasures under the influence of cigarettes, tea, alcohol, betting, gambling, cinema, adultery, etc.
The less a person knows, the more irrational and ignorant he is and the more he exhibits externally. The feeling of false performance is a reaction to smallness, narrowness, shallowness and superficiality from the psychological point of view.
Spending money thrift and carefully increases reputation. Spend less than your income and keep saving a little for future needs.
To raise the standard of living, one needs restraint and control of senses. The second element is education. With common sense and economics education they will be able to avoid artificial needs. If they develop their powers and imitate the lifestyle of good people, they can live well.
First buy survival items, then use more skill items and finally use relaxation items. We can consider a budget outline which could be as follows:-
1. Expenditure on food 25%
2. Expenditure on clothes 10%
3. Expenditure on house rent/improvement and maintenance 20%
4. Expenditure on savings 15%
5. Expenditure on self-improvement 10%
6. Contingency expenditure 15%
7. Expenditure on entertainment 5 %
From the above budget we can reach the following conclusions:-
1. Families with low income spend more on subsistence items.
2. Apart from laborers and lower class, middle and rich families spend almost the same amount on clothes.
3. The poor get some benefit in house rent.
4. People with higher income often spend more on education, health, entertainment, education, etc.
5. People of Naman category often spend a lot on intoxicants.
One who does not have money saved can never sleep happily. Even if it is just a little, it is wise to keep something towards savings. Savings should always be kept in the form of cash.
Even if you remain hungry at times, you must save something. On festivals, Shraddha, weddings, donations, travels, endowments, jewellery, etc., one should be presented with minimum amount.
Three long envelopes for ordinary household expenses and write on them:-
1. Current expenditure rupees.
2. Sudden expense money.
3. Relevant expenditure and saving rupees.
The above three envelope saving system was adopted by my senior colleague, who has retired. Put different rupees in these envelopes according to your income. In times of crisis, be prepared to reduce your expenses when your income is low. It is in your hands to make your habit.
Let us keep the following things in mind:-
1. First of all reduce your entertainment expenses.
2. Don’t throw away waste papers.
3. Reduce alcohol, gutkha, liquor, fashion, cigarettes. If there is vacant land in the house, then plant vegetables in it, along with physical labor, money will also be saved.
4. Instead of sending your children for tuition, teach them yourself.
5. Sleep early and wake up early, it is healthy.
6. After filtering the tea, collect the remaining leaves and dry them. You can take their decoction and use it for cleaning the furniture before polishing it.
7. Don’t waste orange peels. By drying them in the sun, they can be prepared into fine powder and used for fragrance in various dishes.
8. If you fall ill, do not take quack medicine on your own and consult a good doctor. Money will be saved and chronic illness will be avoided.
9. If things need to be repaired, it is better to get them repaired as soon as possible. As soon as things and sick people get spoiled, they expect sympathy. If you stay even for a short period, this loss will get strengthened and will require more expenditure and contemplation.
10. Dry the laundry soap daily. Dry soap wears out relatively less.
11. Stick the last remaining bit of bath soap on the new soap.
12. Keep small pieces of laundry soap in a box and dissolve them by adding water to it, clothes can be washed with it.
13. Do not throw away the water used in the washing machine, it can wash the floors.
14. Cut the match sticks down the middle with a sharp razor blade. The match will double.
We face two types of expenses every day:-
1. Current expenditure
2. Sudden expenditure.
Current expenditure has to be incurred every month. There cannot be any reduction in this. This includes food budget, housing expenses like electricity, water, repair or rent expenses, children’s school fees, servant expenses, expenses on clothes, washerman, petrol, insurance policy, milk, soap, paste, tea, gas, and so on.
Under sudden expenditure, apart from the daily permanent expenditure, there are also some such things in which a person has to spend. Those expenses suddenly fall upon man. If we do not have money for this item then we may face the problem of debt. Expenses under this head include – illness, sudden hospitality, sudden need to go somewhere, travel expenses, any other objection, like litigation, or having to give a loan to someone. Or expenditure due to uncertainty if someone dies, house collapses, theft occurs in the house, etc.
Apart from this, there are many accidents in life for which you may need money.
In the end, the opinion is that while making family expenses, estimate all the expenses carefully. Those which are permanent expenses, do them at the beginning of the month. By paying food and fixed expenses in the beginning, happiness lasts till the end of the month.
Self-control and restraint will help you during festivals and celebrations. Stop spending on pilgrimage, marriage, Brahmin feast, pleasing the community. Similarly, serving guests is your religion but taking hospitality by taking loan is foolishness.
Avoid deaf tip top. Be thrifty, not stingy.
Please share your views and suggestions in comments below.
RAJEEV VERMA 