Women Today

Gina Nytes, Kaukauna branch manager for Citizens Bank, brings us this week's financial tip:

A budget is a basic and important money management tool for getting or staying out of debt.

If you and your family are serious about improving the state of your finances and avoiding future problems, it’s important to establish a workable budget.

Developing a budget and sticking to it is something that you and your family should do together, so be sure to involve your kids in the process, too.

Sit down as a family and talk about why your family needs to live on a budget and what budgeting involves.

Show your kids the income and expense you incur each month. Additionally, share your current income and spending figures with them, let them know how much less your family needs to spend each month to reach your family goals, and ask your kids for budget cutting ideas, including the things they are willing to give up.

Also discuss any budget cuts you plan to make that will directly affect them.

At the end of each month, sit down as a family and compare your budgeted spending to your actual spending.

Celebrate if your family's spending is in line with the budget by doing something inexpensive together.

If your comparison shows that your family spent more than was budgeted, talk about why you went over budget and what all of you can do to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

Getting everyone involved will help you stay on budget and also teach your children valuable money saving lessons.