It is that time of year. The time where people get all grateful for what they do have and what they were able to get through. I think that gratitude should be something that you do every day, not just something that you do once a year. I think in turn it helps a person remain more humble, but it also keeps you in a more positive frame of mind. Which considering how stressful people make Christmas, maybe it is a good thing that Thanksgiving is right before.
Thanksgiving day is on Thursday, and we're not having it at my house this year. My sister-in-law wants to have it at her house this year. She did Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. We're splitting them this year. So we're going to have Christmas at our house. She is having a turkey and a ham and all the usual trimmings. And I'm looking forward to having a meal with everyone, my family and hers included. I miss the big family gatherings we used to have when my Gramma was still alive. But as with all families, unless they are all close throughout the year, when the Gramma passes away, holidays will be infinitely smaller.
Lil Mr. V will be 2 next month. The time really is flying by so quickly. I'm still trying to figure how he could be 2 already. I'm excited for his birthday and Christmas. Last Christmas, he could really care less about things, but this year, he'll be so excited and it'll be hard to keep him from tearing everything up. :) But I am so excited. I'm also happy that I've gotten almost all the shopping finished. Mr. V has to get his family and closest friends something, and I have to get my brother and his wife something. Which really, I'm making their present, so it's not so bad. I also have get my brother his birthday present.
Why do people choose to stress so hard over the holidays? Is perfection that important? For me, I'd rather spend the time with my family with a few gifts and decorations and a typical dinner than to break myself and my bank account for everything to be perfect. Just the other day, I received some junk mail from a loan company asking me to take out a loan for Christmas. Is that what this world has come to? Let's put ourselves in debt just so Jr can have better toys than his friends and that my house could be the prettiest on the block and that my dinner is bigger and better than whoever threw it last year. No thank you. I like knowing that Christmas will come and go and I'll be in the same position financially.
This is a rather random post. And for that I apologize. It's just what comes off the top of my head. I guess we need these purging sessions every now and again.
Showing posts with label frugal living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugal living. Show all posts
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Money Mondays...Be aware of what you're spending and where....
It's another Money Monday and no I don't have any great bargains for you, or where to get free stuffs, etc. I won't be putting that stuff in here. There are a WHOLE lot of other blogs out there just for that purpose. Last week, I mentioned living below your means as a way to accomplish debtlessness (is that even a word?). That is SO much easier said than done. Does that mean that you eat only beans and cornbread and bologna all week long? Not in the least. Does that mean that you might not get a new console game every month? More than likely. Most people want to put aside a little money for emergencies, or their children's college tuition, or even for their retirement. Really when you think of it, you will have one savings for retirement, one for emergencies, one for each child's future tuition, before you know it, you'll not have any money for bills. And unfortunately, unless you can afford to do that AND eek out a current living, that's not a very practical stance to take. You might even say that you cannot afford to save any money because your current living expenses out weigh your income. That's when you need to evaluate what's important to you, and what you can let go, and what you can pay off early to relieve yourself of your monthly debt. You might even want to keep an expense journal for 30 days just to see how you DO spend money. But for that 30 days, you should just keep the receipts for all your transactions, and your bank statements as well as your payroll checks. This way you see exactly what you have coming in, and just what you spend going out. This means even that 89cent burrito from Taco Bell. Keep that receipt, because this adds up over a year's time.
After your 30 days is up, go through all those receipts. Get you some envelopes, mark them, "household", "entertainment", "car", "grocery", "eating out", and "misc.". In the "household" envelope put your rent, utilities, and home insurance (if your car insurance is also attached here, that's fine, put it here in the "household" envelope)/renter's insurance, etc. The "entertainment" envelope, will carry your cable, internet, movie stubs, games, rentals, netflix, gamefly, etc. "Car" envelope is car maintenance, car payments, car insurance (if alone), and gas. "Grocery" is just that, groceries, that you purchase at the store. "Eating out" should be self explanatory, and is NOT to be placed in the "groceries" envelope. If you can't cook, there are THOUSANDS of sites on the web that can help you, and this is infinitely cheaper than eating out for a week. The "misc." envelope is for things that don't fit in here like if you pay your health insurance out of pocket, savings, etc. After you separated those receipts, you should tally up each envelope and see where the bulk of your money goes. You might be surprised just how much actually goes to entertaining yourself, or what goes into the "eating out" envelope.
After you figure out HOW you spend your money, next you should look at it and evaluate just what you need to do to lower some of these expenses. Generally, your household and car are pretty fixed. Depending on what's in your misc. on whether or not that's flexible. Otherwise, groceries, entertainment and finally eating out are the most flexible. You could cut out your eating out to just 1 meal a week. Decide how much an average meal is, and put that amount aside. The rest is surplus to go towards groceries, because more than likely, you'll be spending more money here. HOWEVER, with careful planning, and smart shopping, this expenditure could go down as well. I have friends who've given themselves spending limits on the flexible expenses.
One friend uses an envelope system. She allots herself only $"X" for groceries per month. And she splits that over the 4(average) weeks per month, and that's all she takes the store with her. This buys all her groceries as well as her toiletries, etc. And she can adhere to that, because if the cash isn't there, she can't spend it. This same friend also relies upon her menu to help her out. I'll talk more about menu planning next week and how it can greatly save you money.
Just being aware of how you spend your money could greatly reduce how much you actually spend.
After your 30 days is up, go through all those receipts. Get you some envelopes, mark them, "household", "entertainment", "car", "grocery", "eating out", and "misc.". In the "household" envelope put your rent, utilities, and home insurance (if your car insurance is also attached here, that's fine, put it here in the "household" envelope)/renter's insurance, etc. The "entertainment" envelope, will carry your cable, internet, movie stubs, games, rentals, netflix, gamefly, etc. "Car" envelope is car maintenance, car payments, car insurance (if alone), and gas. "Grocery" is just that, groceries, that you purchase at the store. "Eating out" should be self explanatory, and is NOT to be placed in the "groceries" envelope. If you can't cook, there are THOUSANDS of sites on the web that can help you, and this is infinitely cheaper than eating out for a week. The "misc." envelope is for things that don't fit in here like if you pay your health insurance out of pocket, savings, etc. After you separated those receipts, you should tally up each envelope and see where the bulk of your money goes. You might be surprised just how much actually goes to entertaining yourself, or what goes into the "eating out" envelope.
After you figure out HOW you spend your money, next you should look at it and evaluate just what you need to do to lower some of these expenses. Generally, your household and car are pretty fixed. Depending on what's in your misc. on whether or not that's flexible. Otherwise, groceries, entertainment and finally eating out are the most flexible. You could cut out your eating out to just 1 meal a week. Decide how much an average meal is, and put that amount aside. The rest is surplus to go towards groceries, because more than likely, you'll be spending more money here. HOWEVER, with careful planning, and smart shopping, this expenditure could go down as well. I have friends who've given themselves spending limits on the flexible expenses.
One friend uses an envelope system. She allots herself only $"X" for groceries per month. And she splits that over the 4(average) weeks per month, and that's all she takes the store with her. This buys all her groceries as well as her toiletries, etc. And she can adhere to that, because if the cash isn't there, she can't spend it. This same friend also relies upon her menu to help her out. I'll talk more about menu planning next week and how it can greatly save you money.
Just being aware of how you spend your money could greatly reduce how much you actually spend.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Blog plans
Ok, so I'm going to start working on theme days. Mondays will be "Money Mondays". This is my accountability of spending as well as my diary of becoming debt free. Tuesday will be "Reuse, Reduce, Recycle Tuesdays". This goes in with my new take on frugal low key living. It's also my take on getting back to basics and reducing my negative impact on the Earth. Wednesdays is "Wednesday Hearth" this will be baking and gardening and all other of homemaking stuffs. Thursday is "Thimble Thursday" this is where I'll be posting all my crafty goodies and projects. And Fridays are "Food Waste Friday." This will cover other wastes as well. Things I can't reuse, reduce, or recycle. Hopefully there won't be much here. So I hope to see you on this trek of mine. If you have any input, please by all means, tell me, and I'll be sure to answer or respond as best as possible.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Food Waste Friday
This week we had a little food waste. I had made some homemade chicken gravy. I have learned that it doesn't hold up well in the fridge. So it was chucked. As well as some sour cream that the remnants went bad before we had our fajitas last night. Thursdays are the leftover day. And we had plenty of bells cut up, so I made chicken fajitas to use them up. For my first bunch of fajitas, I did rather well I think. I have a goal of spending 75$/week for groceries, and so far we're sticking to that rather well. Now this does NOT factor in how much Mr. V spends. Because he buys those energy drinks sometimes and he will buy something for his lunch if he doesn't feel like eating what I've sent with him. So, as far as the grocery bill goes, we're in budget.
As for sewing news....I got a really pretty burgundy outer cloth shower curtain and some interesting striped sturdy cloth for a whole $1.99. I think I'm going to make my modified Tiny Happy Bag out of that. I want more organization in my bags. I hate carrying a purse and a diaper bag and etc etc. I feel like a bellhop. So I'm going to create 2 pockets in this bag, one for a couple of diapers and some wipes and maybe a sippy cup and small toy. And the other pocket will have pockets to hold my spare car door key and my wallet and a cell phone. And I'll have a loop with a small carabiner to hook my keys. There will be a few things loose in the bottom, but nothing like otherwise.
As for sewing news....I got a really pretty burgundy outer cloth shower curtain and some interesting striped sturdy cloth for a whole $1.99. I think I'm going to make my modified Tiny Happy Bag out of that. I want more organization in my bags. I hate carrying a purse and a diaper bag and etc etc. I feel like a bellhop. So I'm going to create 2 pockets in this bag, one for a couple of diapers and some wipes and maybe a sippy cup and small toy. And the other pocket will have pockets to hold my spare car door key and my wallet and a cell phone. And I'll have a loop with a small carabiner to hook my keys. There will be a few things loose in the bottom, but nothing like otherwise.
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