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Creating a family budget might not sound like the way you want to spend your next block of free time. Doing it for yourself might sound bad enough without having to involve the entire family. The truth is that while creating a budget may not sound like the average person’s ideas of fun, it can have a number of benefits.

You’ll know where your family’s money is going and what you need to do to reach your goals.

You’ll know when you can actually spend money without guilt and when you need to rein it in.

Perhaps most importantly, family budgeting is one of the best things that you can do to give  your kids a head start in life. The tips below can help you begin and stay on track.

Make a Budget

It’s never been easier to make a family budget with so many apps to help you. However, if you’d rather do it on a spreadsheet you make yourself or even on paper, that’s an option too. The principle is basically the same no matter what.

Essentially, you need to add all the money coming into the house and figure out what’s going out. This second part can be especially tricky because it’s easy to forget to allow for infrequent events, such as needing a new tire or buying laundry detergent.

On the other hand, having a big miscellaneous pool can lead to the temptation to spend more. Even if you throw together a quick budget to start, this is why it’s such a good idea to track your spending over several months to see where your money is going.

You can then start to make adjustments. If you’re spending more than you earn, you’ll have to figure out how to either earn more or cut back. Ideally, you should also be able to build an emergency savings fund and put away money for retirement.

Explore Creative Solutions

Financially speaking, life for young families today is a lot more complicated than it was for their parents and grandparents. Jobs tend to be less stable, and sometimes it can be tough to make ends meet. This is one reason the gig economy has flourished, and if you need a few extra dollars, these types of jobs are not the worst way to top up your family income.

One of the places that there can be real challenges which previous generations didn’t face is in paying for medical care. This can be particularly true for dental care, which is often not included as part of health insurance packages.

Dental care for kids provides them with an important foundation for oral health and good habits, so you don’t want to neglect this. One option is an installment plan that lets you get treated now and pay monthly, being able to split big costs into smaller payments. You can apply online for a zero-interest payment plan without hurting your credit score. Your dental practice can provide you with a unique application link, or you can find it online. With this, you can get your kids the dental work that they need without having to wait.

Get Kids Involved

There are many advantages to getting your children involved in the family budget. First, it teaches them financial literacy, which is a valuable skill that they’re unlikely to learn anywhere else. But there are a couple of other good reasons to involve kids in the process.

One is that it can be a bonding experience. It really does build the sense of a family unit working together toward a goal.

The other is that it gives them a realistic picture of what you can and can’t afford. If you’ve ever had your kids roll their eyes at you as you tried to explain why something they wanted was too expensive, you’ll appreciate this one.

There are age-appropriate ways to teach about money, but children of almost any age can benefit from receiving an allowance. This helps them start saving, planning and budgeting for things they want. When they’re very young, you can let them participate in things like planning the grocery shopping. Give them a choice between several items of equal choice. They can also help plan family activities or portions of vacations based on a small budget.

As they get older, you can give them money for things like school clothes and let them make their own purchases out of that budget. In addition, help them open a bank account, and talk to them about money. If they ask you financial questions that you don’t know the answer to, you can research it together.