When I was growing up we lived on a fairly tight budget. They did a great job of never making us kids feel that pressure or realize that we had some hard times. There were two things my dad was pretty adamant about...family counsel and budgets. My dad is a financial advisor. I hated coming up with a budget and discussing finances when I got a job. I hated that I had to work to pay for all my sports and clothes. (I am now very appreciative!) However, I learned to be pretty tight with my money. When I grew up I knew that I was going to marry a guy that let me spend whatever and never gave me a budget! *Hello? Reality? Are you in there?*
Then I met my future husband. I knew one major thing about him that I liked, he was going to be a lawyer. I always understood they made big money. Cha-ching! I see that maybe I was a bit of a gold-digger. It was love! About a year and half into our marriage he was far enough along in college that he needed to declare a major. Guess what it was? Finance! I felt like doomsday had just hit me. Inside I was clawing my eyes out and screaming, "nooooooo!" On the outside I tried to remain cool. Karma gets ya! I've been on a budget my entire marriage. Sixteen years to be exact.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not as shallow as I sound. I love my husband for so many other things than his
I've learned I prefer the simpler things in life over the finer things.
TIPS
With all that being said, here are some of my tips in helping me stay in budget. They are nothing profound and probably apply more towards families with kids.
- February is one of the best months to plan
- It's short and normally a lighter month activity wise
- if you live in the South it is important to account for snow days because they always happen in this month :)
- this is a good time to stock without going over budget
- if you plan well you should have money left over.
- I spent my last bit of cash for this month's budget February 24th
- I was able to treat my boys to some Frosties this month, take five meals to my sister-in-law for her birthday, a meal for a friend who just had a baby, have company one night, buy a birthday gift (so I didn't have to take from other funds), buy a pair of pants, and eat out
- Last year I had enough money to apply to a makeover to my laundry room
- July and December are two of the longest months and commonly the hardest on the budget.
- It's a good idea to make sure you buy some of your higher priced items the month before or after
- These months your children (if in school) are normally home the most, rarely vacations, and big holidays which means for me--lots of company!
- Sometimes you can add May because of all the school parties, end of year activities
- Know your spending method: cash, credit, debit, check?
- Be honest with yourself on how well you keep track of your spending
- I am a cash girl--I can physically see it making it easier to keep track--I highly recommend this method for anyone
- If it's gone, it's gone--there is no going over budget
- it provides consistency because I always know what will be spent on food that month and year in general, no major fluctuation
- for a while I used a credit card when I lived near a Kroger to accumulate gas points and other points and Sam's accepted a master card so I could do all my grocery shopping on one card. I had to keep track of my budget constantly. Not my forte. I saved every receipt (a pain). It was very easy to go ever budget or easy to justify buying more things on sale that I didn't really need. Depleting my budget for the next month. Scratched that.
- In our early marriage days I would write checks. I was AWFUL at writing it down in the check book. No one needs anything extra to fight over in marriage. Scratched that.
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