Planning, savings and calculations: how to overcome debt in 2024

Even with the arrival of 2024, many families will still have to deal with debts incurred throughout 2023 and even before. In December, the National Commerce Confederation survey showed that 76.6% of families were in debt and 29% had outstanding bills.

The beginning of the new year can, however, be a time to rethink financial planning, in order to avoid debt and even save to achieve personal goals, such as travel and a better retirement.

The first guideline in this regard is to understand personal expenses, which is what several organizations that monitor consumption habits recommend, such as Serasa Experian, the Brazilian Institute for Consumer Protection (Idec) and the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban).

To do this, it is important to calculate fixed monthly expenses, that is, those expenses that have the same or very similar value every month, such as rent, condominium fees, electricity, gas and water bills. Furthermore, it is also necessary to estimate variable expenses, expenses with irregular amounts. To do this, Febraban gives the tip of writing down expenses of all types, such as clothes, restaurants, markets and leisure.

Serasa Experian recommends that an average be taken of the last six months to understand what these expenses represent. If the monthly income is not a fixed salary, it may also be interesting to calculate an average.

From monthly monitoring, it is essential to understand whether income can cover all expenses, or whether expenses are exceeding income.

Save

To save money and budget appropriately for your income, Idec has some savings tips. One of them is to try to reduce plans such as internet and telephone. Doing price research is another way to purchase goods and services while keeping expenses under control. Public transport can be a cheaper alternative to the car and can also help with your household budget.

Consumption control habits can be useful, according to Idec, such as leaving home with enough money for what you need, avoiding impulse purchases, as well as thinking about changing cell phones and glasses in advance, stipulating a minimum usage time of the items.

Set objectives

After understanding how much you spend and making adjustments so that expenses are lower than income, Serasa reminds you of the importance of setting goals, thinking about objectives for six months, a year and in the long term – beach holidays, a new television or a more comfortable retirement.

With this in mind, it is possible to get an idea of ​​how much you need to save over the months to achieve your goals. Idec highlights that money must be invested, to avoid the loss of purchasing power caused by inflation. Among the low-risk options for this are savings, fixed income securities – such as treasury bonds and the Bank Deposit Certificate (CDB) –, backed by the Credit Guarantee Fund, that is, which are protected in amounts up to R$250 thousand.

Be careful with credit

It is still essential to pay attention to the use of credit. Tools such as special checks, which have high interest rates, should only be used in an emergency. Payment in installments for card purchases must take into account the capacity of the family budget.

Idec offers tips and a spreadsheet to make it easier to monitor your personal budget in your pageas well as a eBook on how to plan.