budget Archives

4 Ways to stay on budget

February 19, 2018December 12, 2017Leave a comment

It is important to understand where your money is going in order to save money, and stay on budget. I like something called the “40/20/30 system” I will break it down for you in this blog post and hope that you can benefit from using it.

50% of your salary for monthly payments such as rent, bills, health, cell phone, internet, etc. You know those monthly bills that you hate to pay but are essential.
20% towards savings. This is meant for your savings or emergency account and isn’t meant to be spent unless it is an emergency.
30% for leisure savings such as restaurants, shopping, movies, etc. This is the stuff that might not be a monthly payment, but often times comes back around. This can be flexible spending since you might not go out each month, and would rather spend it on something else.

The first thing you need to do is write down every amount of money you spend. Your bank account overview doesn’t count, because it doesn’t show what you are buying. I hate looking at my bank account because I am be surprised at the end of the month. I get depressed seeing how much I spent, then I go back through the bank statement wondering where it all went and what was purchased and what was a necessary. I mean honestly, do we even know where our money goes?

I like the Envelope System

This is for you to have a different envelope for each spending category. You just need to add the cash in the envelopes in the beginning of each month. This is a great way to reduce your spending and know how much you can spend. You will be forced to not purchase anything on your card.Once the cash is gone, it is gone and you can’t spend it elsewhere.

I know this might not seem realistic or can seem overwhelming to many so here are seven Baby Steps to think about for spending:

Emergency fund
Pay off all debt but the house
Have 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
Save 15% of income for retirement
College funding for children
Pay off mortgage loan
Build wealth and give to others.

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Smart Ways to Save Money!

May 29, 2017August 20, 20174 Comments

We are in a constant battle of where our money is going and how to stop spending. My famous words are that its not about how much we make its about how we spend it. People can make millions and still not know how to manage their money and just in a financial burden; it doesnt matter.

I have to take a step back and re-evulate spending and budgets. We can be frugal and still have a good time. Often times people don’t want to go out because they don’t have the money, its all about how you budget it.

Let’s tackle this first topic.. you don’t need groceries. Now before you say uh we need to survive I am talking about about the excessive groceries. You know those that you buy on impulse or think you need. I constantly stock up on meat and there is no way we will ever eat it all. Plus sometimes there’s a good storm that comes by and causes us to lose power…. thus means losing money and food! Instead of purchasing all this processed food, why don’t you try making items? I know what you are thinking, uh I don’t have time. We are joining this journey of eating healthier food and eliminating processed food. Take off your list ice cream and make a smoothie instead with FRESH fruit. Take off that expensive cheese and get the cheaper cheese. Take off soda and try fruit drinks instead (add in lemon or limes, etc). Just because you eliminate these items doesnt mean you are going to starve. Trust me when I eliminate these items from grocery shopping I come home and think I hardly got anything.. Well.. the truth is that I didnt! I just eliminated processed food!
Set a budget for your groceries and stick to it! You have to! Otherwise it is pointless.. Shop around and find the better deals on certain items so that this way you can be sure that you have stuck to your budget. We like to have snacks, we do, but cut out the bad snacks like chips, cookies, etc. add in peanut butter and apples or rice cakes simple small things. If you like to bake you can always make cupcakes or bread! We like to make banana bread and freeze it!! We make about 4 loafs at a time so we take them out as needed.
Make a meal plan and pantry list. Always cook items at home. Use what you have!!! Do t buy things you won’t use simple as that! I tend to buy canned goods because it’s nice to have in stock but don’t over stock. Make a meal plan and prep for the week I promise you that your money will go to the right spot!!! Do it!!
Don’t go shopping every week.. you don’t need to! Go every two weeks. And go as needed for eggs, milk, bread, fresh veggies and fruits!! Why? Because if you have to think further ahead than two weeks you will be excessive and have wasted food.
Freeze left overs.. um thats your lunch in a few weeks or tomorrow. Use left overs for meal prep! Eat the left overs!! You need to. You can even re create meals from your left overs… if you have chicken make a chicken ceasar from it!

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Saving money 101, set goals!

February 22, 2017August 21, 2017Leave a comment

One of my New Years goal is to save money. I know I am late to the party, but I haven’t been myself in writing about my personal life; so what better time than now? I know this is super hard and everyone wants to do this. I have a 12 month budget started for the year 2017. I am excited and nervous about this. I think it super hard to follow this budget given that we like to spend money (who doesn’t). However after about the third months budget I realized that things can change quickly so it was foolish of me to think about a year budget at one time. I cut back on a lot of work and knew that my income would affect this.

It is hard to budget THAT far in advance and no one can do it. You can have estimates and ideas, but to really stick to it can be tough. You can lose your job, you can have a mega downfall such as medical bills or car expenses that affect your budget. Make your budget as realistic as you can.

I have decided to cut back wherever possible, for many things. One thing we cut back on was the kids food/drinks. My son was on organic milk that costs $6 x 4 days $24 a week on milk. Formula used to be way more expensive, but now that he is older we can cut this back and have regular milk. It seems to last much longer and saves us much more money. We are able to give him juice and water whenever he doesn’t want milk, so this helps also. We use milk strictly for nap time or bedtime this way we know he will go right to sleep. With his meals we use either water or juice since he is filling up on solids we know this will work!

You have to cut back whenever possible look at where you’re spending money and what you can cut back on. Look at how much you want to save a month and start small. You can’t save a lot all up front at once, don’t be foolish. My husband hasn’t used his gym membership and we have had it for SIX months… SO we cancelled that.. $40 a month, yeah we made that back!

Gas… this is the other tricky item.. We have to make sure that we budget accordingly for gas! We make sure that we ‘shop’ around for prices but yet are still getting good gas! Know that typically gas prices rise around weekends or right before a holiday so make sure to plan accordingly.

We are in FULL mode for meal prep! Like no lie.. This is about as real as it gets! This is one of the hardest things to do, especially on the weekends when you need motivation. However, I have realized how much time it saves us plus I can get excited for my food more during the week! It saves us money from going out to lunch where it is an added expense.

How do you cut back on your budget/bills — we’d LOVE to hear from you!

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Start Planning for Holidays NOW

September 2, 2016August 28, 20166 Comments

The holidays are coming and we all know what that means….. Gifts and money! If you haven’t started to save money, or shop for the holidays the time is now!

I mean if you are anything like me Christmas is stressful mainly because of how much money we spend! It’s crazy! From traveling home, to food, to gifts, to everything in between! Don’t get me wrong I love Christmas and love the family time but the money just goes right out the window! Here are a few quick ways to prep for the holidays!

I set aside a budget for each thing that we will need for Christmas (decorations, baking needs, gifts, traveling, dinners).
More importantly though, I search for sales.. And when I say sales I mean like really good sales. Not sales that people think are good. You have to be extremely careful for larger purchases around the holidays because companies tend to price them higher then lower them to lure into thinking you are getting a deal.
Know which stores will price match! This is a great thing to think about and become aware about! If a store will price match and you like their warranty or exchange policy better than someone else go for them then!
Lastly, with the holidays coming up make a list of people you have to purchase gifts for, how much you are spending on each person, and a list a of gift ideas for people. This will seriously help you stay on track, I promise! Check back once we get closer to the holidays for freebies and more tips!

For example: a 60 inch tv isn’t a good sale if it’s more than it usually is, then they drop it down in price for the holidays to make you THINK you are getting a deal. You have to be SMART! If you are buying a large purchase, make sure to look online at prices to see if it is over priced or if it is on point.

If it sounds like it is too good to be true, then it probably is. I rarely ever do any shopping on Black Friday mainly because I think that things are overpriced on that day! I find better deals throughout Sept/Oct/Nov + even online!