Money and Ramadan.. 5 strategies for managing your budget and saving money

Highlights: Money and Ramadan.. 5 strategies for managing your budget and saving money. Many families face a great financial burden and a difficult challenge in organizing their expenses. Ramadan budget means planning all expected expenses during the days of the holy month. It is recommended to avoid shopping and purchasing in the first and last weeks of Ramadan. Recording everything is essential to adjust your budget accurately and avoid skimping on extravagance, Dr. Muhammad Abdel Sattar Jaradat says. The best way to deal with the various financial requirements of life is to develop a solid financial strategy and fully adhere to it.

Many families face a great financial burden and a difficult challenge in organizing their expenses, priorities and expenses during the holy month that follows Eid al-Fitr, which also has its own expenses and requirements.

Ramadan budget means planning all expected expenses during the days of the holy month (Shutterstock)

The blessed month of Ramadan will arrive in the coming days, and many people believe that expenses and financial burdens increase during the days of the holy month due to the large number of banquets, “invitations” and events, the large number of visits between people, and eating outside in restaurants, buffets, Ramadan tents, etc., and many families face a large financial burden. It is a difficult challenge in organizing its expenses, priorities, and expenses during this holy month that follows the happy Eid al-Fitr, which also has its own expenses and requirements.

Perhaps the most important question facing many heads of household is:

How can you manage your budget wisely during the month of Ramadan so that you cut a lot of unnecessary expenses and save money?

This is what we will learn about in this report based on the opinion of experts and specialists who spoke to Al Jazeera Net.

Ramadan budget means planning all expected expenses during the days of the holy month (Al Jazeera)

Successful financial strategies during the month of Ramadan

Perhaps the best way to deal with the various financial requirements of life is to develop a solid financial strategy and fully adhere to it, and this applies to the holy month of Ramadan. The most prominent of these plans and strategies are:

1- Establish a budget allocated for the month of Ramadan

The Ramadan budget means planning all expected expenses during the days of the holy month, and in this context, the expert and economic advisor, Dr. Muhammad Abdel Sattar Jaradat, says, “The budget determines the sources of income and its uses, and we must work wisely in managing these resources, taking into account the order of priorities, and dividing expenses logically, and we must All members of the family should participate in preparing it and determining its terms, taking into account the role of the mother, who is considered the primary player in family planning and rationalization of consumption, and has a fundamental role in shaping the habits of family members and instilling good values in them.”

2- Make a shopping list and strictly adhere to it

Before the advent of the month of Ramadan, you must make a special list that contains the actual needs of the family during the days of the blessed month, and buy what is on this list before the advent of the month of Ramadan, while fully adhering to what is on it, so do not buy anything outside of it, and the equation here is very simple, as you do not really need the things. Which you did not put on your list, if you really needed it you would have put it on your list from the beginning, but they are the temptation factors that push you to buy what you do not need.

3- Organizing and setting shopping times

Shopping times must be planned in advance and avoid shopping at specific times, such as:

Shopping during fasting
: Shopping during fasting may push you to buy products and foods that you do not really need because of hunger, which deceives you into wanting to eat excess foods. Therefore, it is preferable to shop after breakfast and not before it, unless absolutely necessary.
Shopping and purchasing in the first and last weeks of Ramadan
: Counselor Jaradat stresses “the necessity of avoiding shopping and purchasing Ramadan supplies during the first days of the holy month, due to the rush of people and increased demand, which leads to an increase in prices, which return to normal after the first week.”

It is recommended to avoid shopping and purchasing in the first and last weeks of Ramadan (Anatolia Agency)

The same applies to the last week of the holy month, when people rush to buy new clothes and Eid necessities such as cakes, sweets, etc.

It is preferable to buy these things in the middle of Ramadan and not in the last days of it.

Shopping during offers offered by major stores
: Many stores offer real offers and discounts that may reach 50% during the month of Ramadan. It is preferable to follow these offers, and organize shopping and purchasing times during them to save money.

4- Planning the invitations to break the fast and the obligatory banquets during the month of Ramadan

Such as inviting family and relatives to break the fast or suhoor. Here, record these invitations in a advance register, and calculate the number of people who will attend each invitation, and the basic food supplies you need for these banquets.

Recording everything is essential to adjust your budget accurately and avoid skimping, extravagance, or extravagance.

Here, Dr. Jaradat stresses the importance of “focusing on ensuring that the cooked quantities are appropriate for family members and invitees when preparing banquets.”

While the Jordanian economic writer Issam Qadmani emphasizes that the breakfast table should include “the actual need for food that each individual needs, because the excess of it will be destroyed, which means wasting money at the expense of expenses for the following days of the holy month.”

5- Limit eating outside

There are customs that have taken place among people, and many of them are considered a type of extravagance and extravagance, such as eating breakfast or suhoor in restaurants and Ramadan tents, or getting used to ordering breakfast and suhoor meals from restaurants.

If you want to control your budget and save, you must limit these behaviors, as eating at home is much more economical than eating out.

If you want to control your budget and save, you must limit extravagance and extravagance (Shutterstock)

In this context, economic writer Issam Kodmani confirms that “what is required of all families is to deal with the requirements of the month of Ramadan in the manner that Islam encourages, with kindness and to be merciful to ourselves, and not to exaggerate in spending and spending, as the month of Ramadan is supposed to remind us of others, their needs, and the circumstances they are going through.” Instead of bragging about where we eat breakfast, and in which Ramadan tent we stay up late or eat suhoor.

And then, the month of Ramadan is the month of love, communication, giving, giving, and sacrifice. It is a training for the soul to be patient with life’s hardships, and to face them with determination and faith. It is also the month of giving, charity, and helping the needy. It is not a month for boasting, bragging, exaggeration, and extravagance in food and drink, in compliance with the Almighty’s saying: (And eat and drink, and do not Be extravagant, for He does not like the extravagant.

Source: Al Jazeera