Budgets and Sticking To 'Em!

Keepers of the Home – Topic No. 3: “Budgets and Sticking To ‘Em!”

Every family faces financial difficulty at one point or another.  Believe me when I say that my own family has faced its fair share of financial woes, as well.

To avoid some of the most common pitfalls in budgeting is to live within your family’s current salary/wage range…which isn’t easy when you live in a time of living paycheck to paycheck, or living within the boundaries of a single income (whether due to a layoff or whether due to your own desire for one parent to stay in the home).

Gone are the years when Americans can live off of their credit cards, stacking up the debt as they build their McMansions and drive their BMWs.  In today’s deflated economy, it’s wisest to live within your means, foregoing purchases with the high percentage-rate credit cards, and learning to downsize and think twice before making a major purchase.

As for savings, well, this is something that every household needs in order to save themselves should catastrophe of any kind hit.  But all too often, our modern families are so strapped for cash each month that just paying bills and buying groceries is a tough thing to do, let alone building up a savings account for emergencies.

So this topic is basically just about living within your budget, and some easy ways to do so.

First off, when creating a budget, you will need to know the exact amount of your family’s monthly income.  Then you will need to tally up all of your household bills and expenses.  If you’re savvy, or you haven’t fallen into hard times, your household bills and expenses will not exceed your total monthly income.

Here’s a link to an online budgeting program that will help assist you in discovering what your family’s true monthly budget is…or at least should be.  Please click the link to begin.  http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/fpu_monthly_cash_flow_plan_forms.pdf

Some helpful tips on reducing your monthly expenses:

1.       Eat meals in your home.  Reduce the number of times your family eats out.

2.       Cut down on your family’s gas consumption by walking or riding your bike, or by taking public transportation.

3.       Shop at second-hand or consignment stores for clothing, furniture, etc.

4.       Sell a vehicle with a high monthly payment for a vehicle that runs well but might be a few years older, thereby reducing your monthly debt.

5.       Instead of purchasing a brand new vehicle, purchase a solid vehicle that’s at least five years old.  When you purchase a brand new vehicle, just driving it off the lot will reduce its value by nearly 30%.

6.       Take a family stay-cation versus an expensive vacation out of state.  A stay-cation would be a vacation near your home.  Take advantage of the sights and activities and museums right near your own home.

7.       Turn your air conditioning up by 5 degrees in the summertime, or turn your heating down by 5 degrees in the wintertime.

8.       Use coupons or purchase items on sale at the store/grocery store.

9.       If you buy your coffee from major chains like “Starbucks” on a daily basis, reduce this to purchases to just two or three times a week.

10.   Create a weekly meal menu for your family.  Not only does this help save you time in trying to figure out what meals to cook after a long and busy day, but it helps cut your grocery costs at the supermarket since you will be purchasing items on your meal menu only, and not haphazardly throwing items into your shopping cart.

11.   Add up the dollar amount your family typically spends on entertainment each month, and try to find ways to reduce this amount in half.  For instance, instead of going to a 7:00 p.m. showing at the cinema, try a Saturday morning matinee (which tends to be half the price).  Or better yet, rent a movie through Netflix or through Redbox, pop some popcorn, bake a homemade pizza, and spend some family time in your own home.

12.   If you are paying for cable or satellite TV and your family is strapped for cash, I highly recommend cancelling your subscription the next time renewal process comes around.  My family has not had cable or satellite TV for years, and I have found that we spend more time reading books or playing board games.

13.   Instead of purchasing expensive detergents and cleaning agents, make your own!  They simple and easy to make, are safer for your home and your family, and tend to be friendlier with the earth, too!  Here’s a link for detergent: http://www.diynatural.com/simple-easy-fast-effective-jabs-homemade-laundry-detergent/  And here’s a link for cleaning products.  http://eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm

14.   Plant a garden.  Learn to grow your family’s favorite vegetables in your own backyard garden and save money!  If you live in the city, you can container garden.  http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/a/ContainerVeggie.htm

15.   Turn off your lights as you exit a room.

16.   Use a laundry line to dry your clothing.

17.   Cloth diaper your child.  This will save you hundreds of dollars each year.  And today’s modern cloth diapers are cute and so easy to use with Velcro covers and pretty designs.  http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/

18.   Bake from scratch whenever you can!  Boxed and prepackaged meals are not only filled with chemicals, but they’re expensive, too!  Learn to cook meals from scratch.  Learn to bake fresh bread, either in your bread machine or by hand.  http://healthyrecipes.oregonstate.edu/stretching-food-dollars-0

19.   If you are behind in making payments on your credit cards and monthly debt, I highly suggest you seek an appointment with Consumer Credit Counseling Services in your home town.  This appointment is free and a representative will help assist you in calling your creditors to reduce the annual percentage rates on your cards and/or reduce your monthly amount owed. http://www.cccsstl.org/

20.   The envelope system:  Basically, you label envelopes according to categories such as “groceries,” “utilities,” “daycare,” “gas,” “car payment,” “tithes,” etc.  Then you place your monthly amount budgeted for these categories within the envelopes.  If you have a surplus of monthly income, this would go into an envelope marked, “extra.”  And that is the ONLY money you can draw from when purchasing extra items.  I have found that labeling an envelope “groceries” helps me stick to my grocery budget better.  Handing over a stack of cash is hard to part with, so I find that I’m a more frugal shopper when I do so.

In short, there is a multitude of ways that you can help cut costs in your family’s monthly bills and reduce the stress when bills arrive in the mail.  Learn to live a more frugal lifestyle.  Reduce your monthly debt.  Live a more stress-free life!

http://frugaldad.com/2008/08/11/how-to-live-more-simply-and-why-it-is-so-important/

Questions and Answers to Share with Your Partner:

1.  Does your family currently follow a monthly budget?
2.  Name 3 ways you can help reduce the amount of debt in your home.
3.  After reading this week's topic of discussion, "Budgets and Sticking To 'Em," in what ways are you most excited to begin reducing your family's debt?
4.  What is your family's greatest downfall when it comes to sticking within your monthly budget?
5.  In what way can your partner pray for you and encourage you in regards to your family's budgeting practices and skills?
6.  How can YOU pray for your own family's budgeting practices and skills?