Create a household budget step by step

First decide who the budget covers. Income and expenses must refer to the same people. If you budget for the whole household, include the income of everyone covered.

Enter the amount that will actually be paid to you after all deductions. Depending on the situation, this includes wages, pensions, family allowances, maintenance contributions and other regular income.

You can enter a 13th salary as annual net income. Only include a bonus if it recurs reliably. DeinBudget divides annual amounts by twelve for planning. If your income varies greatly, a cautious average of the past twelve months is more useful than one particularly good month.

Take care not to enter the same income twice. If an allowance is already included in the net payment used, do not add it again as a separate item. Do not re-enter AHV, ALV or pension fund contributions that have already been deducted from your salary.

Fixed costs arise regularly and can usually only be changed to a limited extent in the short term. Typical positions are:

• Rent including the additional costs listed in the rental agreement
• Heating and additional costs are charged separately
• Mortgage interest and other fixed housing costs for home ownership
• electricity
• Health insurance premiums and other insurances
• Internet, mobile phone, household media fee and subscriptions
• Public transport subscriptions, vehicle insurance, leasing and parking
• Maintenance payments, memberships and other contracts

Whether an invoice comes monthly, quarterly or annually does not change the allocation. For example, record electricity with its actual billing period. DeinBudget converts the amount to a monthly value.

For housing and communication costs, check whether an amount is already included in another bill. This is how you prevent double counting.

Variable expenses change from month to month. These include, for example, food, household items, mobility, clothing, personal care, meals out, leisure time and expenses for children or pets.

When it comes to a vehicle, leasing, insurance and parking are part of the fixed costs. Fuel or charging are variable expenses. You create a reserve for service, tires and repairs.

If possible, check several past months and form a realistic average. A first value may be inaccurate. Adjust it later based on your actual spending.

Many budgets only appear balanced because there are missing bills that don't arrive every month. You reserve a partial amount each month for such expenses.

You also plan a monthly savings amount for an emergency fund or another savings goal. You can also plan voluntary payments into pillar 3a or 3b here. Fixed premiums for life insurance, on the other hand, are part of the fixed costs.

Reserve, savings target and freely available

A reserve is set aside for an expected future expenditure. A savings goal finances a future purpose of your choice. Only the amount that remains after expenses, reserves and planned savings goals is freely available.

A positive amount available to spend means there is still some room after all recorded items. However, this amount is only as reliable as the figures entered. First check that annual bills, healthcare costs and irregular expenses are included.

If the result is negative, proceed in this order:

1. Check for missing, duplicate or incorrectly scheduled amounts.
2. Replace uncertain estimates with actual values.
3. Check larger variable expenses first.
4. Adjust the budget so that it remains realistic in everyday life.

If you would like help organizing your budget, you can find it here Budget advice Switzerland personal advice. If you can no longer pay bills or are already in arrears, contact one as early as possible non-profit debt counseling center in your region. DeinBudget does not replace personal advice.