What is the Kakebo method to save in your day to day and enjoy a big vacation
Saving is a privilege. One of those, who, at least, one third of Spanish households that do not reach the end of the month – according to the Spanish Network for the Fight against Poverty – cannot access.
It passed before and now happens, with the increase in inflation, which has caused, in turn, the increase in the percentage of population at risk of social exclusion, reaching 26.5%, five tenths above 2022 and three tenths more than before the pandemic. All these ingredients result in The average savings of the Spaniards are only 7.6% of their incomecompared to the European average of 12.7%, according to Eurostat data.
It is a worrying situation that requires structural changes. However, There are some methods that can help us manage our economy and cope with the economic crisis.
Kakebo method: Promote the economic independence of housewives
The economic independence of women is the first step for their emancipation. This was one of Motoko Hani’s certainties, the first journalist woman from Japan, back in 1904, and Creator of the Kakebo method, designed to help housewives to register family expenses in detail and save effectively, providing them with a simple tool to have control of domestic finances.
However, what was born as a method of finance for women who managed the home, evolved, extending to a broader audience, and now, with the Global interest in minimalist and conscious life practices has gained popularity.
What is the Kakeb method like?
This “Book of Accounts for the Domestic Economy” seeks to become aware of the income and expenses through the meticulous record of all of them. The key to this method is the use of pencil and paper, or spreadsheets, or digital documents, because it is Through hand writing how brain connections and memory are reinforced of finance.
Thus, as if it were an agenda, the Kakebo method is structured for months, weeks and days. The idea is to point the daily expenses: bars, meals, water bottles, tobacco and other extras for, At the end of the month, take stock and add all weekly results.
Although more than a savings method, Kakebo could be considered a philosophy about conscious consumption: learn to spend on what we really want to spend and promote the habit of reflecting before making a buy, Because perhaps, before doing so, we can share a product with friends or family.
How to start with Kakebo
Although there are savings agendas of the kakebo method ready to buy, it can also be done only with a paper and a pencil:
Every month:
Fixed income and expenses. The first step is to point our income at the beginning of the month. Those with fixed salary will have it easier than those who have variable income. Then, fixed expenses such as rent or mortgage, insurance, platform subscriptions, gym … from the amount that results from subtracting the expenses of the income can decide how much we can save every month.
Daily:
- Variable expenses. This is a daily record: electricity, gas, water, pharmacy, transport, food should be pointed every day in a section of the agenda. In another column, leisure expenses will go: drinks, trips, whims … and then another column for cultural expenses such as cinema, theater, concerts …
- Unforeseen expenses. This column will be intended for expenses such as the repair of the boiler, a puncture of the car wheel or other derivatives of how the repair of the car.
Every week:
On Sunday, at the end of the week, a balance of variable expenses is made, adding the columns of essential, leisure, culture and unforeseen expenses, and They will be subtracted from the budget available until the end of the month.
This same balance will be repeated at the end of each month: the variable expenses of each week will be added to check whether or not we have reached the amount provided at the beginning of the month to save.
