Children Are Priceless, Raising Them Is Expensive

Ask any parent and I'm sure they'll agree, children are priceless. As a parent myself, I know the joy brought to me by each of my children. But along with each bundle of joy comes a list of bills and expenses. The experts agree, raising a baby to adulthood can cost upwards of $10,000 annually!

If you're a family on a budget, it can be daunting to think of starting a family, or adding to your growing family. Before you give up on your hopes for your growing brood, let's look at some ways to trim expenses.

Housing: Housing is the single biggest expense of raising children. While every parents dreams of giving their child their own room, in some cases that's just not financially feasible. Your child will grow into a safe and secure child, regardless of whether they have to share a room with their siblings.

Other tips:

- Consider refinancing when the rate is more than a percentage point below your current mortgage rate.

- Challenge your property tax bill if you think it's too high.

- Make your home as energy efficient as you can.

Food: Food accounts for the next largest overall expense as anyone with teenage boys in their household will easily agree. While it's difficult to cutback on an essential expense, there are a few things you can do. Set limits on the more discretionary forms of food spending. Tell your children they can spend no more than $10 a week on fast food (McDonalds, junk food and soda). Or eliminate junk food from their diet all together.

Consider joining a warehouse club such as Costco, BJ's or Sam's Club. They're not suited to everyday shopping, but they let you stock up on certain items in quantity, often at substantial savings.

Clothing: Anyone with a teenage daughter knows that clothing costs can increase significantly as the years go buy. Why not borrow a tip from the newborn and toddler years and save and share clothes amongst family and friends. Does your child have an older cousin with hand-me-downs or a girlfriend who has had a growth spurt and outgrown the pair of jeans your child always had her eye on?

Other tips: Buy neutral-colored clothing that can be shared easily among siblings, regardless of gender. Shop sales, and shop at the end of season, so you're not paying a premium for your children's clothes. And once your child is old enough to start generating income, make it clear to them that if they absolutely must have a Lululemon sweater or designer jeans, they'll have to cough up at least part of the cost, if not all of it. You'll be teaching them a valuable lesson in budgetting and saving if you do.

Top 5 Bookkeeping Secrets

Now that year end and tax season is over, I have time to get back to updating this blog. I love tax time but not for the reasons you may expect. I love it because it gives me a chance to connect with my clients (I'm a virtual bookkeeper specializing in bookkeeping for Internet Marketers) and help them implement some simple tricks and strategize to help get their books in shape.

Here are my top 5 bookkeeping secrets:

1. Keep an audit trail: I know, fancy bookkeeping word (scary to some because of the word audit) but an audit trail is simply a record of all your invoices, checks and expenses in numeric order. Does it sound daunting? Don't worry - there are many options to choose from when it comes to bookkeeping software. My personal favorite: Quickbooks.

2. Due date reminders: Use your Outlook calendar, Trumba, Google calendar, wall calendar... anything! Be sure to set reminders for bills that are due, tax remittance deadlines, payroll remittance deadlines. You could save thousands of
dollars per year simply by paying your bills on time (not to mention keep your credit rating in check).

3. Bank statements: With the advent of the internet, e-bills are all the rage. Sure it's eco friendly but if you ever get audited, the auditor is going to want to see physical copies of everything, not digital. So at the very least, you should request a bank statement be mailed to you.

4. Keep good records: Too many business owners don't keep good records. Bookkeeping is the glue that keeps your business together. Without good books, you can't make
financially sound decisions for your business.

5. Computer software: The biggest mistake people make is not taking the time to set up the software correctly when they install it on their computers. If you want a financial report you can trust, you will need to be sure it is set up correctly from the start.

A detailed checklist on how to set up your bookkeeping software and other bookkeeping secrets can be found in my ebook: Bookkeeping Secrets Revealed. Don't struggle with your bookkeeping - order my ebook today!