Household budget for families: plan fixed costs and see what’s ahead

Why keep a household budget?

A household budget sets what comes in each month against what goes out. With children, there are many items, and they fall due at different times: rent every month, health insurance monthly or quarterly depending on the policy, taxes in instalments, car insurance once a year. If you only look at your account balance, you often notice too late that the month is going to be tight.

• The big picture: you can see at a glance how much is left after fixed costs for groceries, clothes, activities and savings.
• No nasty surprises: annual bills are planned for before they land in the letterbox.
• Better decisions: an extra day of childcare, a different car, a new subscription? You can talk it through with real numbers instead of gut feeling.
• Shared, not carried alone: when both parents see the same figures, one person no longer has to keep the whole budget in their head.

Typical items in a family budget

The table sorts the usual items of a family household in Switzerland into the categories JH FamilySync uses. Where Germany and Austria differ, the local term is given. Not every item applies to every family, but the list helps you miss nothing.

In Switzerland, most families pay their taxes themselves, in instalments or with the final bill the following year, so budget for them as a separate item. If you are taxed at source, or work in Germany or Austria where the employer withholds income tax, your net salary already accounts for it.

How to set up your budget

Work in this order and convert everything to monthly amounts so that items can be compared.

1. List your income. Enter all regular income net, meaning what actually reaches your account. Treat a 13th-month salary as a separate payment in December; otherwise the budget looks too rosy for eleven months of the year.
2. Pull fixed costs from your statements. Twelve months of bank statements show standing orders, direct debits and e-bills. They also reveal items that only come up once a year.
3. Spread irregular bills across the year. Divide annual or quarterly bills by the number of months they cover and set that amount aside every month. These sinking funds typically cover taxes, the health insurance deductible, the dentist, car insurance and holidays.
4. Estimate living costs. Set a monthly amount for food, clothes and household goods. Keeping receipts for two or three months gives you a realistic figure.
5. Give fixed-term items an end date. A car lease runs out, daycare ends when school starts, a loan is eventually paid off. Knowing the end date shows you when money will be freed up.
6. Compare every month. A budget only works if you put planned and actual side by side. When health insurance goes up in January, update the item.

How the household budget works in JH FamilySync

In JH FamilySync, the household budget is called Finances and sits in the Everyday section. It is built for what comes and goes regularly: salaries, rent, insurance, leases. Individual purchases are not recorded there; a classic expense tracker is the better tool for that.

1. Open Finances

   Tap Everyday at the bottom, then Finances. On a computer, Everyday is in the bar on the left. Only the family’s admins see the tile; at the top of the section, their photos and names show exactly who has access.

2. Add an entry

   With New entry, choose Expense or Income and fill in Name, Amount and Currency. Then pick a Category and a Frequency: monthly, quarterly, every six months or yearly. For a monthly salary, switch on 13th salary; the app counts the extra payment in December.

3. Set start and end

   Starts and Ends set when an entry begins and stops, or you leave it Open-ended. If an entry ends within the next six months, the month view lists it under Ending soon.

4. Get reminders

   Under Due on, choose the day of the month; under Remind me, choose when the app should remind you: on the due date or 1, 3, 7, 14 or 30 days before. If the entry is still open afterwards, it reminds you again. Reminders go to admins only and never show an amount.

5. Tick off

   Each entry has a circle next to it. Tap it to mark the entry as paid, or as received for income, with the date. If the amount was different, enter the actual one. Attach invoice adds a photo or PDF.

Three views give you the overview. Month shows what is due and what is paid, income, expenses and what is left over, plus a ring chart of where the money goes. Year shows the twelve months as bars. Outlook projects the next twelve months according to plan, lists what is coming up and shows, under Where money frees up, when an entry ends and how much more is left each month from then on. On a computer, the views sit side by side.

Each entry has its own currency: Swiss francs, euros, US dollars or pounds. The app calculates totals, charts and the outlook in the Household currency, which you choose from the menu at the top right; other currencies are converted at the European Central Bank daily rate. That is handy for cross-border commuters paid in francs who rent in euros. The same menu leads to Files, where all invoices and receipts are sorted by category, year and month.

Alongside Finances, the Everyday section has other tools for the whole family, such as the shared shopping list and the meal planner. If you work shifts, see Shift work in the family calendar.