It is barely half way through the month of January and we are already facing a budget crisis!! Although it's not near as bad as the country's!!
I don't make New Year's Resolutions, mostly because I never keep them. However, as we have entered 2011, I find myself reflecting on what I want for myself and my family for the new year. Since the odds are stacked against us to win the lottery, I have faced the fact that I need to come up with a better, more solid plan. So, here is my plea to all you smart people out there....
How do you budget? I honestly don't even know where to begin! (Sad, I know!) We usually get paid, pay what HAS to be paid and are out of money by the end of the weekend. It has to stop! We are always broke and I feel like we will NEVER be ahead!! I toyed with the idea of getting a part time job in the evenings, but haven't heard back for a single place! And, realistically, I can't work most weekends. So I really feel like the best thing to do is to figure out this budgeting thing. I am embarrassed to admit but our current method of budgeting is "fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants." I don't recommend it.
Also, what are ways you have cut back? I have tried the couponing thing before and (don't get mad Marie) I just didn't feel like it was worth it. Maybe I was doing something wrong. Things I am not willing to cut back is with my kids sports stuff. They want to play, they will play. I feel very strongly about that, which is a whole other post! And we are facing the possibility of having to pay a lot of out-of-pockets costs for therapy for Jackson. So, I am willing to try just about anything. Please help!!
7 comments:
So there really isn't anything you could do to make me mad at you (: However, I don't agree on the coupon thing. I will do better about helping you with it, because when you have so much food in your stockpile that you don't need to go to the grocery store for weeks, you are going to be singing my praises!! In the meantime...
1. You can't budget if you don't know where your money is going. So besides the majors (rent, car etc) start writing down what you buy. Even if it is a .50 cent candy bar out of the machine. You need to know what you are spending your money on.
2) Once you know where it's going, you and Travis make a budget together. You need to be bringing in more than you use!
3) If you have credit card debt, start attacking it! If you have more than one, pay off either the one with the highest interest first or the one with the lowest balance. Once that is paid off, use the money you were paying, and use it on the next one. Does that make sense?
4) You've already decided you don't want to skimp on sports. That is fine. We all have our own priorities. But what are you willing to get rid of? Maybe cable? Or do you need a cell phone and a home phone? Do you have any memberships you can get rid of?
Other ways to cut costs:
do you make Travis lunch every day? If not, do it!
Have at least 1 or 2 nights a week when you don't use meat. It will save you $$ on groceries. You can make it a breakfast night or make your own cheese pizzas...
Reuse, reuse, reuse.
Honestly I could write forever about this. Maybe I should turn it into a blog post...
Your friend Marie is a genius! Daniel and I have been doing our own "budget" for a while, so this is a suject I feel comfortable with. I do a profit/loss statment every month. I list what came in and then list (specifically) what went out, then subtotal it. So I list every trip to the grocery store, then total it. When you see a grand total of how much you're spending in a particular place, it's painful! :) For us credit cards are a good thing, but we pay the balance off EVERY month and never carry a balance or pay interest. It allows us to float money when things are tight and it allows me to keep very specific track of what we're spending. But you have to decide up front if that will work for you.
Things we've cut back on when we had to: we have never had cable. We only had one car for almost a year. It was a lot easier than you think. It also helps you spend less money because you're home a lot more. I'm a scrooge when it comes to clothes and the grocery store. Our date night has been a hot dog at costco and some wandering. My sister-in-law gives her kids their sports and other activities as presents for Christmas and birthdays. It works well because they're still getting an awesome present, and you're going to pay for it anyway. . . .type up a coupon on the computer and you've just hit two birds with one stone. :)
Um yeah, that was a lot that I typed fast, hope it makes sense. I'd be happy to talk more if you want, you can email me: kellipiano@yahoo.com.
My best advice, pay your tithing and pay it first. We have seen IMMEDIATE blessings as we have paid our tithing.
Good Luck. :)
PS Have I mentioned how cool I think you are? I am why too proud/shy to ever share as much as you do! :)
Thank you Kelli! I too love the idea of having grandparents pay for sports! The other nice thing about that? You don't have as many toys cluttering up your house!
You and Travis should also have an "allowance". Money that is just for you, that doesn't have to be accounted for. Maybe it's only $5. But, that is your $5. For diet coke or a magazine...whatever. It's yours.
and yes pay your tithing first!
Beth,
There are many Scholarships out there for thyrapes Just call me and I will let you know of the ones I know about or who you can contact.
kacie
Hey Beth,
Have you checked out that coupon book I sent you, I learned alot from it on the coupon working!! Also ther is another website that Doreen likes and it's from The Cheapest Family in America they have alot of tips on budgeting! They also have a book!
I have to commend you on your strength and wanting to do this for your family, and asking for help from your family and friends!! Love ya tons:).
Can I just say amen--especially to what Marie said? That's about what I would have told you, too. Two other things, though, First, pay your tithing--no matter what! And second, pay a generous fast offering. We were challenged a while back to double our fast offerings and promised that if we would do it, that we would be blessed. We were struggling at the time, and decided to do it, and we were very blessed for putting our faith in the Lord.
I think you are amazing!
Love ya!
Lisa
I know you posted this a while ago, but I"m just catching up. :) Your friend, Marie, had GREAT advice. One other thing we just started doing is cash envelopes. I pay tithing, then all of the bills first, and figure out what is left, and then I seperate it into about 20 envelopes. Tyler has bonuses, so we don't know HOW much will always be coming in, but we know the bare minimum of what we will get. So, after paying the bills, I then figure out how much is left, and separate it. Our first month we were out of money by the 3rd week. The 2nd month we did much better. It works out nicely because you see how much money you have, or don't have. We did Liz's BLow, Tyler's blow, kids blow $$ so we have spending $$, but some months that is only $20, others its a little more. we even have envelopes for Christmas, Birthdays, New car, kids extras (dance, music, baseball) etc. I can e-mail you all of our envelopes and amounts, if you want. I like it because then we don't have any fighting about what is being spent. I can also pay more off in debt, and if we do get extras, we can put extras in the envelopes, and it's a bonus!
Sorry, that was long. Anyways, if you want more info, e-mail me. I can send you more. I'm not an expert, but I have seen great results, so far. :)
One other thing....I use coupons. It takes some planning, but when I can get free pasta and meals for my families, it makes my groceries envelope less, and gives me more to spend in other places!!
That's my 2 cents!
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