January 6th, 2008
This year has definitely started off better than last year. I finally have some goals set. I have given myself some parameters within which to operate. Watching Jane4girls and her $800 a year grocery budget really made me start to think about setting goals and how to reach them. So, for this year, I have made some goals. I will not call them resolutions, those are just made to be broken, kind of like diets.
First and foremost, each month I will have a written budget for that month before the month begins! Ala Dave Ramsey, spending every dime on paper. Sticking to that budget 100% and if something has to change, knowing that I will have to move it from somewhere else (another category). Any money left over at the end of the month will be moved to savings.
I have started a savings category for bills that will come occasionally, like car insurance and property taxes and will take them out monthly so there is not a problem (read:panic) when they are due.
Things like car maintenance and clothes and furniture replacement....these all need to be funded, but just a little at a time. And, I will keep an emergency fund that is truly designated just for that. A true emergency.
Now on to the food budget. Right now, I'll admit, I am a little chicken. I have it set higher than I think I need it. I set it at $300 a month for our family of four. (2 teenage sons, dh and myself) We do have a fair amount of things stockpiled, but I have not been keeping track of anything for the last 2 1/2 months and I want to make sure we are in good shape before I lower it. Does that mean I will spend that much? I sure hope not! :shrug7: I am aiming a lot lower. I just have to get dh back in the habit of not running to Walmart and overpaying for cokes.
This year has definitely started off better than last year. I finally have some goals set. I have given myself some parameters within which to operate. Watching Jane4girls and her $800 a year grocery budget really made me start to think about setting goals and how to reach them. So, for this year, I have made some goals. I will not call them resolutions, those are just made to be broken, kind of like diets.
First and foremost, each month I will have a written budget for that month before the month begins! Ala Dave Ramsey, spending every dime on paper. Sticking to that budget 100% and if something has to change, knowing that I will have to move it from somewhere else (another category). Any money left over at the end of the month will be moved to savings.
I have started a savings category for bills that will come occasionally, like car insurance and property taxes and will take them out monthly so there is not a problem (read:panic) when they are due.
Things like car maintenance and clothes and furniture replacement....these all need to be funded, but just a little at a time. And, I will keep an emergency fund that is truly designated just for that. A true emergency.
Now on to the food budget. Right now, I'll admit, I am a little chicken. I have it set higher than I think I need it. I set it at $300 a month for our family of four. (2 teenage sons, dh and myself) We do have a fair amount of things stockpiled, but I have not been keeping track of anything for the last 2 1/2 months and I want to make sure we are in good shape before I lower it. Does that mean I will spend that much? I sure hope not! :shrug7: I am aiming a lot lower. I just have to get dh back in the habit of not running to Walmart and overpaying for cokes.
Freezing for a Cause
Posted 01-08-2009 at 08:34:09 PM by kmmmom
A couple of weeks ago, I got my electric bill in the mail. I'm on the budget plan and our settle up month is in March. Our bill is high. It's always high. I have switched to the new light bulbs. I follow people around turning things off. But this month, our already high bill had risen another $27 a month to cover the projected shortfall on the account.
We have gas heat on the main floor of our home, but the downstairs has baseboard heaters. My husband also keeps a little space heater in the garage. (his man cave) I know I have said it over and over to everyone here. I have tried to explain that every little bit helps, and please turn off the tv or the computer or unplug the phone charger or take shorter showers (electric water heater) or turn down the thermostat on the heaters during the day. So, of course, it's time for another family conference.
Since my 16 year old son was the only one home when I opened the bill, he became my first "victim" of the budget talks. Since we had talked about the bills being high before and that didn't seem to be getting through, I decided on a different approach. I told him, in order to pay this bill, you would have to work 40 hours at a job making $8.25 an hour. That is an entire week of work, just to pay the electric bill. That doesn't even touch any of the other bills, like the mortgage or water or food.
For some reason, this analogy hit home. It made sense to him. He started turning out lights. He started turning off the tv and reading a book instead. He wasn't playing his video games so much. I was so impressed.
But then, last night, as I was sitting on the computer at 2:00 am, playing around, he comes upstairs. He is wrapped up in a blanket and is shivering. I touch his hands and they are ice cold. The poor boy had been trying to sleep without any heat on downstairs. It is really cold here right now. I made him some hot tea and tried to explain the difference between frugal and fanatic. I told him how much I appreciated what he had done, but it was never my intention to cause him physcial discomfort. With the wind blowing against the house and the ice already formed on his windows, I told him to bundle up and sleep on the couch. I gave him some more tea and he finally got comfortable and fell asleep.
I stood there looking at my dear sleeping son who had gone that far just to help us out. I am so proud of him for trying so hard. I really hope that we see a difference in the bill in the next couple of months so I can show him how all his hardwork paid off. But even if it doesn't go down, one thing did happen. My son grew up a little more. Now I just have to convince the rest of the family to be as diligent as my son. Well, maybe not quite that diligent.
I really don't want anyone to freeze.
We have gas heat on the main floor of our home, but the downstairs has baseboard heaters. My husband also keeps a little space heater in the garage. (his man cave) I know I have said it over and over to everyone here. I have tried to explain that every little bit helps, and please turn off the tv or the computer or unplug the phone charger or take shorter showers (electric water heater) or turn down the thermostat on the heaters during the day. So, of course, it's time for another family conference.
Since my 16 year old son was the only one home when I opened the bill, he became my first "victim" of the budget talks. Since we had talked about the bills being high before and that didn't seem to be getting through, I decided on a different approach. I told him, in order to pay this bill, you would have to work 40 hours at a job making $8.25 an hour. That is an entire week of work, just to pay the electric bill. That doesn't even touch any of the other bills, like the mortgage or water or food.
For some reason, this analogy hit home. It made sense to him. He started turning out lights. He started turning off the tv and reading a book instead. He wasn't playing his video games so much. I was so impressed.
But then, last night, as I was sitting on the computer at 2:00 am, playing around, he comes upstairs. He is wrapped up in a blanket and is shivering. I touch his hands and they are ice cold. The poor boy had been trying to sleep without any heat on downstairs. It is really cold here right now. I made him some hot tea and tried to explain the difference between frugal and fanatic. I told him how much I appreciated what he had done, but it was never my intention to cause him physcial discomfort. With the wind blowing against the house and the ice already formed on his windows, I told him to bundle up and sleep on the couch. I gave him some more tea and he finally got comfortable and fell asleep.
I stood there looking at my dear sleeping son who had gone that far just to help us out. I am so proud of him for trying so hard. I really hope that we see a difference in the bill in the next couple of months so I can show him how all his hardwork paid off. But even if it doesn't go down, one thing did happen. My son grew up a little more. Now I just have to convince the rest of the family to be as diligent as my son. Well, maybe not quite that diligent.
I really don't want anyone to freeze.
Total Comments 4
Comments
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WOW! Lisa you should definitely be proud. Not too many teenagers give a crap about how much things cost these days. Pat on the back to you for raising such a considerate child.Posted 01-08-2009 at 10:11:50 PM by ELLE-TN
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Aww! What a little sweetie!Posted 01-09-2009 at 08:17:36 AM by ssigafus -
It is a good thing for him to understand that it takes work to pay the bills and your example of 40 hours a week at $8.50 was a good way to illustrate that to him. And while we don't want our kids to be cold, go hungry, or go without sometimes a little "discomfort" can prove the point even more. I
I remember growing up that my parents never discussed money, bills, income, credit, investing or anything around us kids. When it came to money it was always "hushed" and spoken about in whispers. I think this attitude around money might be the reason that all of kids are/have been in some sort of debt. There was this secrecy about money and none of us were ever taught to manage it.
With my own family we discuss it openly. When a bill comes in we talk about it. I don't exactly always point it out to the kids. But I am not afraid to talk to my husband about things like "hey, I am writting a check for $250 for the city bill, can you put it in the mail tomarow" or "You check hit the bank today, it was XXXX" or "we really need to stop eating out so much, we spent XX dollars this week on eating out"
I am hoping that letting them hear casual conversations about money that they will not grow up with the notion that money is secret and something they need to hide and pretend does not exist.Posted 01-09-2009 at 07:07:11 PM by queenofthehivemomof5 -
I totally agree with this. Money was never discussed in our home. I had no clue when I grew up how to balance a checkbook or even write a check. I am still struggling with investing (although I am still in babystep 2 of the Dave Ramsey plan, so not a whole lot of investing happening right now)
I have made sure to talk about budgets and bills so my children don't end up clueless like I was.Posted 01-09-2009 at 08:22:47 PM by kmmmom
