So I am a stay at home Mom and saving money where it counts is important to me. I try really hard not to spend too much but truthfully I do. So recently I worked on setting a budget for us which I haven't done in awhile. It is a way to get us back on track to feeling better about what we buy.
When I first left my job, we cut almost everything out of out lives that was extra. As we learned to live within that budget, well we added back in until the budget seemed to disappear and some old habits came back into play. I knew we needed to get back on track but honestly I didn't want to deal with it but I finally did it.
I have been looking through all the things we spend on and decided we needed to embark on a new way of thinking. I think we are going to be going to a hybrid of a cash system. I went online and inputted all of our information into Mint.com and well it easily gave me a budget on saving, paying off some debt, and what I need to spend each month on things like food. I did do some adjusting with some of the categories like I zeroed out the one where we have money allocated for bars. I think the last time I saw the inside of a bar was before kids so why allocate money for that.
I had already started prior to that working on a better budget for groceries because they have gotten so expensive. We have been doing for about six months a veggie/fruit co-op which helps so much in cutting that cost. I hope after we get back from our visit up north to start buying meats in bulk so that I have on hand the basics when I need them.
I also dipped my toes into more coupon clipping. I would love to one day be a “extreme couponer” but right now I need to start slow and see what coupons are offered and make my list according to that in order to save money. I also need to go back to planning meals out better. I do do Relish Relish which is a great site that was recommended to me, to plan meals which are reasonably priced and easy.
I notice if I am organized with my pantry and freezer (yes I have a list on my fridge with everything in the freezer) that I can be better with what I buy. I notice I tend to buy the same things all the time and than suddenly have a huge stock of weird things in there. I also have a large chalkboard on my fridge where I note all the things I need on the next trip to the grocery store.
So lets see how this goes for us on getting back on track. I am excited to live within this budget and truthfully it seems to not be to hard to live on. As we go on, I am sure we will adjust and well I plan on challenging ourselves in areas that we spend to much. I will keep you posted on how it goes for us!
Bio:
Rebecca Benson is a League City stay at home mom who has lived here since 2003 when her husband took a job on the International Space Station program. She followed soon after working on the same program for nearly six years when she started staying home with the kids. Rebecca loves to craft, scrapbook, sew, and embrace motherhood. Rebecca has a blog called Mommiedom ((http://queenmommiedom.blogspot.com/) where she talks about all the things in her life not just those “confessions”.
