Finances

***I am apart of a mom's meet up group here in P-Town. There is a forum where all the moms go on to ask all kinds of questions. On one thread, they were asking for advice on how people save, especially during this hard financial time. This is what I wrote. I thought I'd post so I'd always remember this time in our lives.

Having a budget is key.
Know what's actually coming in and going out
And, sticking to your budget is the only way it will work.
Oh yes, and NO Credit Cards.
If you only spend what you have you will not go into debt.
We have been trying to pay off our debt for 12 months now. In 12 months we hope to have all of our CC debt paid off.
Yes, it means we need to make some sacrifices but it's so very worth it.

GROCERIES
We only spend $100 a week on groceries (that includes all food, drinks, cleaning products, bathroom products, etc.).
When we go grocery shopping we have a list and we take a calculator along.
We do not go over our allotted amount and only get what 100% necessary. We don't buy a lot of snacks or junk type foods or drinks, except for milk and juice.
I only drink water so that saves a ton-not bottled-it's much cheaper to get a water filter for your fridge plus water bottles are horrible for the environment.
And, we plan to make meals that require a lot of the same ingredients.
-We also go to Costco to save: Milk (same price for 2 as it is for one at Walmart), eggs, chicken, ground turkey and cheese....things that can be frozen.

PHONE
We don't have a home phone.
We only use our cell phones and my work pays a small portion of mine.

LIBRARY
We go to the library on a weekly basis...movies, books, CD's
Free is key!

GOING OUT TO EAT
We do not go out to eat, unless it's someones birthday or a special occasion.
We never get Grace a kids meal. She just nibbles off of our food and we bring some for her.
Eating in is much healthier too.

DATE NIGHT
We stay in.
We put Grace to bed at 7:30/8pm, then watch a movie, pop popcorn, etc. Or we play a game.
-We only go out if our "free' sitter is available and then we just hang out together.
We don't buy anything unless we've been given a gift card.
I love how simple we are. We simply enjoy spending time together. It's not about the activity, but about quality time together.

SPENDING
We don't buy anything unless it's really, really needed (which is different from "wanted").
This is one of the biggest sacrifices as it's hard to not buy something we just "want" but it's what we need to do for now.
We have gotten really good at looking and not purchasing. No impulse buying here, finally!

EXERCISE
We do not have a gym membership.
We go hiking, walking and biking.
We go for walks and just play, play, play with Grace.

FAMILY OUTINGS
We do things that are free or crazy cheap.
We love getting outside and exploring and the best thing about that is it's free.
Can't beat that.
***And, when we go out anywhere we pack a picnic so we don't have to buy food when are away from home.

SCOOTER
My husband has a scooter - 98 MPG
He rides it to and from work and only spends about $2.50 a week on gas.

COFFEE
My husband is a coffee drinker.
We make coffee at home vs. going out for coffee.
If he does get coffee out, he only uses tip money he made at work.

OUTINGS
When we do leave the house to run an errand we plan ahead of time and make sure we accomplish as much as possible in one trip to save gas

DEBT
We are trying to pay off our debt right now, so any extra money we have goes straight to that.


We've found over the years that we don't need much as long as we have each other.
Buying stuff for Grace isn't going to make her any happier-we are all the happiest when we are spending time together, just hanging out and being silly.
We don't feel the need to spend money to have a good time or to feel fulfilled and that is a great feeling as it's so very opposite from what our society suggests. It's a huge relief and it forces us to be creative.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!
We are blessed and we praise God for the jobs we have and that He always provides, even if it's in a different way than we expected.