Awhile back one of
my readers messaged me and asked what do I do to get a little more wiggle room
in my budget. And then not t0o long
after that my dearest friend asked me how I was able to get the money together
to adopt both of my girls. Since then
I've thought a lot about both of those questions. So how do I create "wiggle room"
when the budget is tight. Honestly, I do
A LOT of different things.
To begin with I pay
my bills first and early, well ahead of their due dates, and meet my savings
obligation that I have set for myself.
Each pay day I put a set amount into my retirement savings and my
regular savings. Whatever is left after
that is what I have to work with.
I set budgets. Amounts of money I'm willing and comfortably
able to spend on certain things like groceries ($150 per month), non food items
($25 per month)dining out/entertainment ($35 to $50 per month), miscellaneous
($50 per month), etc. And I am willing
to transfer those funds around if I need to.
For instance last month was band competition so we ate out once and I
bought tickets with our dining out/entertainment budget, but then I went to
dinner with a friend so I used some of the miscellaneous money. If the monthly bills are higher than expected
we make up the difference with the dining/entertainment or the miscellaneous budget,
sometimes both and we dial it down on the dining out or miscellaneous spending
that month.
I keep plenty of
food in our home and am constantly replenishing our stock each month which
allows me to keep our grocery budget extremely low. Almost everything I buy is on sale and
whenever possible paired with a digital or paper coupon. Same thing with dining out. I hunt for deals and coupons to lower the
cost. I also sign up for rewards cards
and "clubs" if you will. It
allows us to receive a lot of free offers, not only with groceries, but meals
at restaurants as well as extra deals and coupons. If something unexpected comes up I always
have enough food on hand that if I needed to skip a month or two of grocery
shopping or even more, I could do that.
I love to go to
thrift stores and sometimes yard sales.
Often I'll come across an item that I know I can sell on eBay and I do
that to earn extra money to save up in my PayPal account. I often use that money to purchase items we
need or want. If there isn't anything to
purchase I transfer that money to my savings account.
I save my change and
toss it in a jar. Once it is full I use
coin wrappers and wrap it up. No
Coinstar or counting machines for me that charge you to use them. I want it all! Ha!.
In fact my change jar is going to make up the bulk of my spending money
for our Disneyland trip.
I'm not afraid of
the odd job. For years we helped our elderly
neighbor by collecting her mail, setting her trash at the curb each week, raking
leaves and shoveling snow. She paid us a
flat $35 a month and we took good care of her for quite a long while. I also do some bookkeeping and tax prep on
the side and when I have time I make craft items to sell on Etsy. Unfortunately I haven't done much of that
recently but I hope to get back to it sometime soon in the future.
The biggest thing
that saves us from spending is that we keep our needs and wants very
simple. Our wardrobes, our home and its
furnishings, dishes, meals, toiletries, etc., we just don't overdo or
overcomplicate things. As a result I
don't find myself stretched so thin that we are struggling to make ends meet.
You do a lot of the same things I do and in many cases it is what we don't do (like vacations). I budget for utilities and if my bills come in less, that money is immediately transferred to savings - no questions. Those little dollars have started to add up and who knows what I did with the bits before I was diligent to start this? When I did it was a time of extreme budgeting - I work for my State and we had not had a raise in 10 years. I was taking the same money trying to make it work with two children. I had to do some drastic things during that period to save money and keep everything going. I sacrificed a lot of things and we kept everything bare bones but thankfully I was able to get a raise this last year. I am by no means raking it in now and still have to be careful - especially as of lately I have noticed prices are increasing a lot in my area. The secret is - there is no magic bullet just a lot of sacrifice, budget, and living below whatever you make. That is the key, it isn't always pretty or fun but sleeping at night is a huge payoff. (loved this topic!)
ReplyDeleteI have co-workers that are in debt up to their eyeballs. They don't sleep at night and they worry a lot. Unfortunately they choose not to do anything about it. I've given a lot of helpful advice to people over the years, but at the end of the day it is all about the choices we make with our $$.
DeleteSo happy to hear you finally got a raise. Lord knows you earned it! Keep up the good work Candace. You are a fantastic mama and provider.
Small amounts add up! I sell outgrown kids clothes and toys and keep the money in my garage sale envelope. I also used to buy, clean, then resell strollers on Craigslist and facebook.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! It is always good to have a little side hustle for extra cash.
DeleteHi Dana,
ReplyDeleteThere's a great deal of wisdom in your words: You are a real inspiration.
I am trying to be more frugal but I find myself faltering here and there. For example, as I type, I'm on the subway to watch my team playing football (well, soccer). This is definitely a "not necessary." So, very much a work in progress. But, when I am firmly lodged on the right path, it will be by following your great example.
Hope you and the girls are having a lovely weekend.
Heloise xxx
We all falter from time to time. I'm certainly not perfect. But the key is to keep trying. Eventually we get it right. Don't feel guilty about going to a football game either. It may not be "necessary" but if you really love it it becomes important.
DeleteHi again, Dana, you are genuinely a lovely person. I don't think you have a judgemental bone in your body.
ReplyDeleteActually came to tell you that my team, Newcastle United, currently boasts a United States international player, DeAndre Yedlin. He had a world class game yesterday and was instrumental in our win!
Xxx
I'm flawed, just like everyone else.
DeleteYay! And he is kind of cute too! :)