Category: loans

Households Less Confident In Personal Finances

A recent loss of momentum in the U.S. economy has consumers less confident in their financial futures. Should an unexpected expense arise in the coming months, and you don’t have the available funds, you may be able to use bad credit payday loan to cover it. Only 36 percent of Americans currently think the economy is on the right track, with many stating it will continue in this trajectory during the next year, according to a recent survey conducted by Fannie Mae. However, there has been some positive sentiment regarding conditions in the housing market.

However, this activity may be stifled by uncertain expectations regarding the future of consumers’ personal finances. Specifically, in June it was found that 42 percent of respondents anticipate their financial situations to remain unchanged during the next 12 months. This was a decline of four percentage points from May when 46 percent of consumers had similar feelings.

Meanwhile, 18 percent of households revealed that their incomes have remained stagnant during the past 12 months. This was a also a decline of 4 percentage points from the previous month. While many families are still making the same amount of money, a majority claim their expenses have remained high during the past year, the report said.

Budgeting For A Household

Creating a budget for a household can be a much more complicated task than budgeting for a single person. However, the basics are fairly similar.

The basis of any budget is your income. But rather than just accounting for your own, you will need to include your spouse’s as well. Make sure to figure out how much you both make after federal and state taxes as well as Social Security and Medicare are deducted. This will be the foundation of your budget.

Pay Periods

Although having two incomes can make it easier to make necessary payments, if you have different pay periods, it can be slightly more complicated.

For example, if you get paid biweekly, and your spouse receives monthly paychecks, you may only have a certain amount of money available when certain bills are due. If this is similar to your situation, rather than calculating your total income, it might be easier to allocate each separate income to certain payments.

Account For Necessary Expenses

Necessary expenses can be easier to determine when you only have one person to worry about. Add a spouse and a few children into the equation and it gets bit more difficult. Start by setting aside money for your most important expenses. Number one on your list should almost always be for housing, whether it’s rent or mortgage payments.

Further, the more your family grows, the more expensive other payments can become. For example, your food bill can quickly grow as you add more mouths to feed. In addition, paying for education and clothing is also another expense you don’t have to worry about when you’re single, so be sure to add this in as well, if it applies.…