Everyone falls upon hard financial times at least once in their lifetime. The majority of the population is just one or two paychecks away from being homeless according to several studies. There is something everyone can do, however, to make a financial time a bit easier. By budgeting the important elements, you know how much money you need each month to survive with the least amount of hardship. Let’s explore the five most important things to include in your budget now.

Mortgage Payments/Rent – Above all else, you need to keep your home. Without a place to stay, all the other things become non-issues. This category also includes utilities such as heating, lights and water. All these are necessities.

Food – Food is yet another necessity. While this can be a flexible category with adjustments to brands and overall content of meals, it is a category that you can’t cut out.

Health Insurance – Illness does not wait until you can afford it. With the stress involved during a financial crisis, you want to make sure your family remains covered for medical expenses.

Transportation – Whether you own a car that requires gas and insurance or you depend on public transportation, you need to know you have a way to get back and forth to work, or job interviews and the kids can get to and from school.

Incidentals – This category is very flexible, but no matter what else is going on in your life, there is always a need for things like cleaning supplies and personal items such as bathroom tissue and hygiene products for the family.

The above are the absolute necessities to include in a budget. Most should include things like savings, big purchases and emergencies, but that isn’t always possible. With the above, your family can survive any crisis.