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.
Wii Want to Play
Posted 01-09-2009 at 08:23:18 PM by kmmmom
Let me preface this by saying, I am not a big video game player. I love to play boardgames like Life and Clue and Scrabble. I have spent many Saturday afternoons playing Risk or Yahtzee or Monopoly with my children. I love the time my family has spent bonding over the cards or dice or pencil and paper in Pictionary. But then, the children got older. The days of sitting with Mom and putting together a puzzle became further and further apart. I was loosing my appeal. There was a new game in town. It was electronic.
Why was this new game so appealing? Naturally, it is wonderful for the kids to just be able to play whenever they want, not when we can all find the time. There is the fast action on the screen. There is Mario and Luigi, Donkey Kong and Pikachu, and that guy on Halo. Lots of new friends, available at anytime to jump in and play all hours of the day or night. There were flashing lights and fast growing scores. There was a whole new language to learn, that of a gamer. Try as I might, I just couldn't get into the games. I like the Zelda games from Nintendo, they are slow enough that I can keep up, but the Mario Party, I totally don't understand it. Maybe that's part of the appeal. The kids have this world all their own.
Only problem is, the games were all downstairs and I never got to see my kids (unless they were hungry). Then, the best game system I have ever seen or heard of hit the stores. We bought a Wii! I told my kids from the start, this game stays upstairs where we can all play together. The games are not over my head (for the most part). It is worth it to give up my space in my den in order to get to play with my kids again.
If you aren't familiar with a Wii, It is an interactive video game that requires the players to actually move. No more couch potato video games! We bowl, we play tennis, we box, we ski, we have a ball! This game system is a homerun! The children have risen from the basement. They have come out of their rooms. We are back to laughing and playing together. We are making a point of setting aside time to play as a family. It has been so much fun.
Yesterday, I received the Wii Fit program that my family had been coveting. I was so excited, I could hardly wait for everyone to get home so we could set it up. Who would have thought that I could have been that excited about a video game, for Pete's sake? My family didn't disappoint me. As soon as everyone got home, they all wanted to put their characters onto the game and play. Let the fun and laughter begin! We all want to play Wii together.
**********************
Spending: $43.22 (Kroger $42.71, CVS .51 cents, Walgreens $0 oop)
Savings today: $ 125.92
Spending YTD $98.53
Savings YTD $346.03
Why was this new game so appealing? Naturally, it is wonderful for the kids to just be able to play whenever they want, not when we can all find the time. There is the fast action on the screen. There is Mario and Luigi, Donkey Kong and Pikachu, and that guy on Halo. Lots of new friends, available at anytime to jump in and play all hours of the day or night. There were flashing lights and fast growing scores. There was a whole new language to learn, that of a gamer. Try as I might, I just couldn't get into the games. I like the Zelda games from Nintendo, they are slow enough that I can keep up, but the Mario Party, I totally don't understand it. Maybe that's part of the appeal. The kids have this world all their own.
Only problem is, the games were all downstairs and I never got to see my kids (unless they were hungry). Then, the best game system I have ever seen or heard of hit the stores. We bought a Wii! I told my kids from the start, this game stays upstairs where we can all play together. The games are not over my head (for the most part). It is worth it to give up my space in my den in order to get to play with my kids again.
If you aren't familiar with a Wii, It is an interactive video game that requires the players to actually move. No more couch potato video games! We bowl, we play tennis, we box, we ski, we have a ball! This game system is a homerun! The children have risen from the basement. They have come out of their rooms. We are back to laughing and playing together. We are making a point of setting aside time to play as a family. It has been so much fun.
Yesterday, I received the Wii Fit program that my family had been coveting. I was so excited, I could hardly wait for everyone to get home so we could set it up. Who would have thought that I could have been that excited about a video game, for Pete's sake? My family didn't disappoint me. As soon as everyone got home, they all wanted to put their characters onto the game and play. Let the fun and laughter begin! We all want to play Wii together.
**********************
Spending: $43.22 (Kroger $42.71, CVS .51 cents, Walgreens $0 oop)
Savings today: $ 125.92
Spending YTD $98.53
Savings YTD $346.03
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