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!
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!
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.Start Planning Early!
Posted 01-14-2009 at 06:03:17 AM by kmmmom
I am not a planner. My youngest is going to college in the fall. He is very bright and we are searching for the right fit for him to continue his education. I've always heard that you need to start planning in their Junior year. I figured we had plenty of time. Now all the sudden, we are running up against deadlines and we really have no clue where he wants to go. I hate for him to apply at tons of colleges (and have to pay the application fees to each one) if they are not the right ones for him. We are going on our first college visit next week.
Then, after we find the perfect school, we have to find a way to pay for it. I could have started a college fund, but it's too late for that one. He took his ACT and got a 32 on it, which is a fantastic score and it has already gotten him some offers for scholarships. But, they aren't going to pay for everything, and since I think a kid needs to live on more than peanut butter and probably needs somewhere to sleep every night, I spent the entire night searching for scholarship options.
With the internet, it is so much easier to search than when I was a kid, but because we have waited so long to start, many of the really good scholarship's deadlines have passed. And the National Merit Scholarships, that was just dumb of me not to make him take the test to qualify for that. (You have to test for it by your Junior Year) He excels at that kind of test and we wouldn't be running around at the last minute trying to come up with the funds.
I found a really cool site during my searching last night that is a cross between monster.com and facebook. It is specifically geared towards getting the information out to colleges about the student so the college comes looking for the child. It's called Zinch
College Search - College Admissions - College and University Admissions - Zinch - Home
It allows the student to truly personalize their page to get the attention they need. I'm going to have him fill out his page this week. I looked at the colleges that use this site as a reference tool and was quite impressed with the list.
So, now I have my list of about 30 scholarships for him to apply for. I know he is really excited about the ones he gets to write an essay for. (note the sarcasm there) We will systematically work through them one by one. I will encourage him to apply for whichever colleges he thinks he might want to go to. The application fees aren't terrible really, and I do have some money put away for the "college search" fund.
I just wish I had begun this earlier. Now I am stressed about it instead of enjoying the process of helping him choose. Deep breath. ***sigh***
If I had it to do over, I think I would have started planning when he was in the third grade. Hmmm...that sounds about right. Nice and early.
**********************
Spending: $0
Then, after we find the perfect school, we have to find a way to pay for it. I could have started a college fund, but it's too late for that one. He took his ACT and got a 32 on it, which is a fantastic score and it has already gotten him some offers for scholarships. But, they aren't going to pay for everything, and since I think a kid needs to live on more than peanut butter and probably needs somewhere to sleep every night, I spent the entire night searching for scholarship options.
With the internet, it is so much easier to search than when I was a kid, but because we have waited so long to start, many of the really good scholarship's deadlines have passed. And the National Merit Scholarships, that was just dumb of me not to make him take the test to qualify for that. (You have to test for it by your Junior Year) He excels at that kind of test and we wouldn't be running around at the last minute trying to come up with the funds.
I found a really cool site during my searching last night that is a cross between monster.com and facebook. It is specifically geared towards getting the information out to colleges about the student so the college comes looking for the child. It's called Zinch
College Search - College Admissions - College and University Admissions - Zinch - Home
It allows the student to truly personalize their page to get the attention they need. I'm going to have him fill out his page this week. I looked at the colleges that use this site as a reference tool and was quite impressed with the list.
So, now I have my list of about 30 scholarships for him to apply for. I know he is really excited about the ones he gets to write an essay for. (note the sarcasm there) We will systematically work through them one by one. I will encourage him to apply for whichever colleges he thinks he might want to go to. The application fees aren't terrible really, and I do have some money put away for the "college search" fund.
I just wish I had begun this earlier. Now I am stressed about it instead of enjoying the process of helping him choose. Deep breath. ***sigh***
If I had it to do over, I think I would have started planning when he was in the third grade. Hmmm...that sounds about right. Nice and early.
**********************
Spending: $0
Total Comments 2
Comments
 |  Wow this is really hitting home....We were just talking about that the other day and our son is a freshman!!! Thanks for letting us others know of your discoveries! |
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| | I my self is really going to try to save more I just started a year ago and miss hap happen the man in my life Died after 14 years and left me nothing and trying to raise his daughter but on the brite side i think I'am going to be fine with people like you teaching me new thinks now that i moved back to my old apartment I have to start all over again with coupons and learn all over again and put my self together from the start and collect coupons oh well I hope I can do it will to kids and bills bills that need to be paid I need glasses walking around with broken glasses lost my hair but its growing great thanks for the info i learn alot |
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