Thank you to TurboTax for sponsoring my writing about household finances. Learn more about how TurboTax can help you find every tax deduction you deserve. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.
I loathe talking about money and finances. My husband and I don’t argue over it. We just hate thinking about it.
The other day I received the letter in the mail that tells you how much money you’ll get when you retire at 62, 65 and 70. HA! Do they have an 85 option because I think I’ll have to work that long just to make enough money to live out my old age. I have been a stay at home mom for 14 years, with the exception of the two years I worked part time for the school district and odd gigs here and there. I think one year I made about $900 for the ENTIRE year. Needless to say I didn’t earn enough to help me afford anything when I’m older. Sigh…
I think it’s very important for families to have a budget in place. You can’t go through your life willy-nilly with your money. You need to know where your money is going to or risk a devastating financial future.
My sister in law and her husband have this belief that since you can’t take it with you, you might as well spend it all. And they did. Then they almost lost their home because of it. They LITERALLY spent all their money, and then some. Now their credit is totally ruined.
My biggest suggestion to anyone is DON’T use a credit card to make purchases. No way! Banish the credit cards. It’s OK to keep one handy for emergencies but put is some place safe and NOT in your wallet.
If you need to make a purchase, big or small, it needs to be “cash and carry”, meaning if you don’t have enough cash then you can’t afford to purchase it. This is REALLY hard for most people to do. I know people who put EVERYTHING on credit cards, from grocery shopping to purchasing gasoline. I have seen people put measly amounts on their cards, like $5 for a couple of lattes. Yikes! That is not good.
About six years ago my husband and I found ourselves in debt hell. Literally! We had too much credit card debt. It seemed almost impossible to dig out from under it. We would take cash advances to pay off the minimum balance on another credit card. It totally spiraled out of control. We finally jumped off the credit card bandwagon and have been living debt free (for the most part) ever since. We do have normal monthly bills and expenses (mortgage, electric, car insurance…) but we don’t have credit card bills, bank loans or car payments.
We have a gasoline credit card and a Sears account. We don’t have the actual Sears card. We cut it up. But they do have our account on file. We figured we needed the Sears account just in case we needed to replace an appliance, which we have in the past. But we made sure to pay it off right away.
My husband wanted a new TV for well over a year. We could have put it on our Sears charge but we didn’t because it wasn’t worth getting into debt. We just had to save for a whole year until we could afford to get one. Now we’re saving up to buy a faux fireplace/TV stand.
If you are in credit card hell PLEASE speak with a legitimate debt counselor to work on a plan to get them paid off ASAP. Trust me, you will feel so much happier and less stressed out if you don’t have any debt looming over your head.
Another way to save money is of course coupons. Some people amaze me with their coupon skills. I WISH I could save 90% of my grocery bill in coupons. I haven’t mastered that…yet. But I’m trying.
My husband and I figured out what our average weekly grocery bill is. Whenever we save money from using coupons we take the difference and put it into savings. It might not be much but every little bit helps.
Say for example you normally spend $200 per week on groceries. If you use coupons and find some terrific sales and your total comes to $168, put the $32 difference in your savings account. You could easily save $100 or more each month doing that.
There are many great coupon blogs found on the Internet. You can also visit your favorite brands websites for coupons you can download.
Many towns across the country have a program called Freeshare or Freecycle. Do a Google search and ask around to see if there is one in your area. My family has received so many great things from Freeshare/Freecycle over the years. It has saved us a lot of money. It’s also a great way to rid your home of things that you no longer have a use for. I have received bikes for my kids, skateboards, books, games, a crate for our dog when he was a puppy and more over the years. It has saved us a lot of money. It’s nicer to get a bike for FREE rather then go out and spend $100 on one.
Organize a “swap” with family, friends, your mommy-and-me or church group. Have everyone bring their kids outgrown toys and clothes and “swap” with others for things your kids need or want. You could even do this with adult items too.
When it comes to planning your family meals for the week take a look at what products are on sale that week. Stock up whenever possible. Learn to get creative with your meals. For example we buy those Ramen Noodles which are usually 5/$1.00. I don’t use the flavor packets that come with them. Instead I use other things to flavor the noodles like butter or sauce and use them as a side dish. You can also cook them in chicken or beef stock/broth to add flavor too.
Are you looking for something fun to do with your family this weekend? Why not check out what is happening in your own town, or even a town or two over from where you live. Most towns have things going on, especially in the warmer weather. Last year we enjoyed free concerts in the park. Our local state park has a zoo that costs $1.00 for adults and .50 cents for children to visit. The Bronx Zoo, which is a larger zoo not too far from here has free admission on Wednesdays.
Most libraries offer movies on DVD and Blu-ray that you can rent for FREE. Why pay extra money at the local video store when your library card gets you the same movies for free. Our local library is good about getting new titles as they become available.
Consider bringing your own lunch from home. Chances are what you prepare at home will also be a lot healthier for you. It’s less expensive to bring soup and a sandwich from home then to hit up a fast food joint on your lunch break.
Do you like lattes and cappuccinos? You can prepare them at home for a fraction of the cost. Tassimo makes great cappuccinos, lattes and espressos. The “pods” cost well under $1.00 compared to a $2-$3 drink at the local coffee house. Just think about how much money you could save each year! If you make your own specialty drinks at home and saved on average $1.00 a day, 5 days per week, you would save roughly $240.00 a year!
I know some people say that purchasing from a warehouse is not really cost effective but we find that it really does save us money. We stock up on non-perishables whenever possible. We find that some products are indeed a lot less costly then what you purchase in the grocery store.
Unplug appliances that use electric when not in use. Even if your DVD player is not in use it’s still drawing electricity, which is adding to your bill. Unplug everything and only plug it in when you need it. The only things in our home we leave plugged in all the time are both TVs and my lap top docking station. Everything else is unplugged until needed. The only reason why we don’t unplug the TVs is because we have a satellite dish and whenever we unplug the TVs it messes things up.
None of my ideas are necessarily original. You can find these tips in books and on the Internet. There are dozens of ways you can buget your family’s finances.
Do you have any family budget ideas you’d like to share? I would love to hear from you!
Kimberly
Teresa says
I agree with all you have to say, about six years ago we started getting rid of debt by having more taken out of are tax’s and at the end of the year we would get a nice size of money back from are Fed. income taxes. We paid off credit cards, second mortgage and now we have the extra money to buy what we need once a year or we can invest it. I am so glad we did this and we did it on are own. Right now we are both looking for jobs and that money is still helping us to get thru the ruff times ahead untill we can find new jobs. I’m not big into coupons but I do buy whats on sale and it helps. Have a great day.