iFiscus - Family Budget Management

Project summary

Background

Family budget planning is important, and especially so during the financial crisis that is present all across the globe. Many people have never used a family budget, and with the financial crisis they are forced to start one. A budget planning template can help, because these usually offer an easy to follow layout where you can list all of your income and expenses, so that you can ensure your family budget stays on track and comes out correct. Family budget planning does not have to be complex or hard to do, but it does need to be thorough.

Cutting expenses is not pleasant to do, but it may be necessary as part of family budget planning. Because times are tough for most people due to the poor economy, budgeting is essential to making ends meet and avoiding unpaid bills and more debt. When family budget planning is done properly this can help many families to live within their means and budget, and help minimize the impact the financial crisis has on their home and finances.

Aim of the project

The main aim of the current project is to provide the necessary support and web tool to senior people for proper planning of their family budgets especially in the situation of financial and economic crisis.

This aim will be accomplished through the creation of a common web page /allowing creating personal profile/ for expenditures and savings, providing useful templates as well as good practices in family budget planning. Through the web solution senior citizens will be able to easily calculate and plan the domestic and/or family budget lines on a daily or monthly base. At the same time they will be able to manage their savings and find the best way for them to invest money in different places and activities. Moreover with this web tool, senior citizens will be able to create their own profile with their own budget lines and ideas where, when and how to save money and how much their costs are for some period of time.

Additional aims that accomplished with our project is improving the skills and competences of senior citizens in using personal computer, web applications and internet. The users of the project results will be able to use the web tool via creating an account in a website for planning domestic budget and management of personal costs and savings. For those who prefer to download the application/program and use it from their personal computers, phone, etc. the result of the project should present this option.

The participants of the project can be teachers and learners. Project partners will involve local citizens in tackling issues relating to inquire their social and cultural attitude about savings and expenditures, and how they face the economic crisis. The project foreseen realisation of a research - needs analysis from each country.

During the international meetings the partners of the project will show results from the research/surveys/debates on public questionnaires carried out. The diversity of the group guarantees that the course materials will be understood and useful for everybody. A full list of chosen good practices for money management will be published on the project webpage.

During the meetings the following activities will take place: discussions, screening of films, videos; results of the need analysis should be presented; decisions about the functionalities and design of the website. On section Good practises of the website will be collected life experiences, blended recipes for positive mixtures for money management (costs/savings) as well as the findings of the 6 meetings.

A User Manual with guideline on how to work with the internet tool for FBM (Familiy Budget Management) will be available in English on the project website. In order to disseminate the project aims and results, all partners will develop local printed/digital, etc. materials - each partner will decided about its specific set of local activities to be implemented. On the last partner meeting, a workshop will be organized where the project final products will be presented. Diversity group of people in terms of age, gender, health condition, social position and income will be invited. We expect senior citizens from partner countries to learn how to use the developed internet tool, to communicate, share information about using IT technologies, good European practices for saving and investing money; how to plan their expenditures better, to underline more and more the necessity of a better daily social integration and better lifestyle level, for which aims they need to communicate and travel between the countries.

Expected project outcomes:

• A website translated in each of the partners’ languages; published information about surveys made by each partner in their country - need analysis how and where to save during the economic crisis; good European practices for saving and investment also should be published.
• Web tool – program, application for planning costs and savings, which could be downloaded on personal computer, phone, etc.
• User manual – supporting project beneficiaries in using the web application and improving their computer skills.
• Need analysis - European recipes how to overcome the crisis, made during the national surveys, compiled all together by the partnership and published on the project webpage.
• Develop local printed/digital, etc. materials for dissemination.
• Conduction of international workshop - final event on which the outcomes of the project should be presented to the public, especially to senior citizens.