THE concept of "Family Budget" is an alien notion for many of us in this part of the region. The irony is that during the good times, we become a nation of spenders, with no eye on the future. And this has brought about a series of issues when people suddenly realize that they have to tighten their belts, and do not know how. Sometimes I ask myself whether many of our families know what the term "family budget" means. Even though I know the mechanism of budgeting — allocating a fixed income for various expenses such that the income and the expenses tally without the person incurring a loss or being put in a spot, I had to search for its meaning to lay it out in layman's terms. I found it being defined as the following: "A family budget is a statement which shows how family income is spent on various items of expenditure on necessaries, comforts, luxuries, and other cultural wants... It shows the distribution of the family income over the various items of expenditure and how well the family manages it." After connecting the definition and the concept on a real time measure, I can safely guess that this is a practice that most Saudi families do not put into effect, for they do not know the concept of family budgeting and saving. What is more appalling is most families' dismissive attitude toward budgeting and saving, leaving these families to spend money without knowing whether they are in control or not. In most cases they are not and have to overcome monetary hurdles to stay afloat. The lack of knowledge about family budgeting will surely lead to random spending and a family will definitely find itself in dire situations half way through the month. It is then they realize how a simple family budgeting process comes handy. Recently, many government employees were hit hard when their salaries were readjusted with some allowances being cut. Some suffered nearly SR2,000 in salary cut while others had to give up amounts up to SR5,000. This hard hit in the salary coupled with the rising cost of living should have made them realize that life cannot go on in these merry ways. It should have made them realize that there is an immediate need to prioritize spending by adapting to family budgeting. I often see in American movies and teleseries a family sitting together to discuss what they are going to save and what are they going to spend. I believe many of these families too must have seen this. I just wonder why they have not taken a leaf out of such family sit-ins, and planned their family budget? In the West, there is high awareness of family budgeting and controlled spending. They always plan for the unplanned by setting aside a sum for such happenings, while prioritizing spending such that they would be able to save. There are even some computer software programs that help a family plan and budget their spending and savings. I am not saying that these programs are not sold here, but seriously I would like to ask, how many of our families are aware of them and using them? I know people who adopt this saying "spend what is in your pocket and money will come from nowhere to take care of future needs." Such people always end up not knowing where their salary disappeared. I know people who do not know the difference between necessity and luxury and to them every luxury is a necessity. I know people who believe that traveling to France or Switzerland every year is a necessity, despite the fact that they have debts to pay, rent on the way and large school fees looming on the horizon. They believe that traveling is a must every year and no matter what the situation, they will travel even if they have to add to the long list of money to be paid, by taking out a new traveling loan. This is one of the biggest issues facing many families. Some people believe that the easiest way to escape from a financial problem is to get a loan to fix it. They do not know that they have jumped from one hole into another deeper hole. Such way of financial thinking raises alarm bells of what the future holds for such families. For there is an urgent need to educate families about how to manage their finances. An economic expert told an Arabic daily back in 2013, that 85 percent of families do not care about saving. Such families, when they receive additional income instead of saving it, spend it on unnecessary needs. If this was the statistics back then, I wonder what it is now, and did it increase and by how much? Most economic experts indicate that families spend more than what they earn and they tend to get a loan or borrow money to cover the gap. Families with low income have no choice and may not be able to save. For there are large families with single earning member, whose salary may not be enough for bare expenses, let alone save money. Fathers of such family may have no choice but to take up additional jobs to survive. But there are families with middle income, and just one to three children, who are able to save if they manage their finances prudently. But some of these people do not and are ready to be saddled by the yoke of loans. We need to strengthen the concept of saving and avoid lavish spending. Planning our expenses is what is needed most. Is it difficult to identify the areas of expenses and set aside the amount to tide over the month by living frugally with the remainder? If people start small and plan to save then many would be able to live debt-free lives. I leave my readers with pearls that could help them take this concept and live it. Dr. Samuel Johnson, an English writer, moralist and lexicographer, said, "A man who both spends and saves money is the happiest man, because he has both enjoyments." Another adage too sustains this sentiment, saying, "Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship." And our noble Qur›an teaches us, "and eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allah) likes not Al-Musrifun (those who waste by extravagance)." While in another verse, "And do not make your hand (as) chained to your neck or extend it completely and (thereby) become blamed and insolvent." — The writer can be reached at [email protected] Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng
