lapoissonne

For the novice budgeter (like myself) what are some tips you can offer up that would make both a drastic and small changes?

Bensmom

One thing that makes a pretty big difference for me is only grocery shopping once a week and having a list. Even with a list, I usually make an impulse buy, or two- but if I'm only there once during the week there are less opportunities for the extras. I'm not much a shopper by nature- so that is a major cost savings with little effort. DH does all car maintence/repairs- which I bet saves us about $5,000 a year and much more in the long run because we are able to buy used cars since he can do the upkeep- and new cars depreciate so quickly. But obviously that's not a choice for everyone. Since I became a stay at home mom we eat out less than once a month (but we do order in pizza every sunday) No more gym membership- it's jogging and DVD workouts for me now. And when I do shop for myself- it's usually Target now unless it's a special occassion outfit.

baseballmama

Meal planning
Buying the store brand at the grocery
More veggies = less meat = cheaper meal (& fewer calories)
Go on a shopping hiatus (I saved sooo much money when I gave up shopping for Lent last year)
Use your cell (with free minutes) instead of paying for long-distance
Cut out the extras on cable
Paint your own toenails
No extra running around, which uses more gas
Stay out of Target/mall
Don't shop online

symesa

I have been so anti-budgeting. I just hated the idea of the restriction. I grew up so poor and my mother reminded me CONSTANTLY that we couldn't afford things so the *idea* of that just bugs me! Unfortunately, when I decided to be a SAHM our household income was cut by a little over half (yup, I was the biggest bread-winner). That was a HUGE hit...and it continues to be! But even after that I was not ready to budget...once again, the idea of restriction like that just upsets me. BUT...I am biting the bullet. I figure, I have bit the bullet with my weight budget, I can bite the bullet with my financial budget! And in the end, with both those things, I will be much happier for it.

So, this month is our first official month on a budget. I'll have to update you on the progress...as I'm sure it will require a lot of tweaking. But, right now, we are going to start dividing DH's paychecks into subcategories (all on paper, not for real) and only take the money out of the appropriate category. This will be a big adjustment on a few things -- like any of those "little" stops at Target that start adding up or sales I find for Isabella's clothes. I will actually "save" my money for Isabella's clothes...not just blow it whenever. And while there is nothing novel in that approach, the implementation will be the trick!

Oh, and even though we always pay our credit cards off each month in full, I am switching over to only debit card use for a while...at least until I am better at this budgeting thing.

sarasuzy

We used to have a pretty well laid out budget, but we got lazy, so we're in the process of re-doing it. We are starting by actually tracking our expenditures for a few months...to see how much we are currently spending on everything now. (It's easy with the bills because we pay them all online and our bank has the last 3 months of every bill saved). Once we've got all of that info, then we'll sit down and figure out where we're spending too much and start cutting back. My guess...kids clothes and eating out. (Duh).

We use Quicken to track everything and make sure to really select categories for everything (like instead of making "Target" one category, I separate it out into Diapers, Toiletries, Clothing, etc). That way you can tell what is necessary and what isn't.

Oh, and some of our cost saving measures...call all of your providers (Cable, Phone, Cell phone, etc) and ask them if you can switch to a different plan or cut something out that you aren't using to save money. When I did this, our cable company just flat out gave me a discount for asking. I agree with shopping with a list...it helps me a lot. I shop a lot at the end of the season for kids clothes on sale for the next year. I already pretty much have Sam's complete fall wardrobe--all purchased last spring on sale. It makes for more expenses now, but in the long run will cut costs!

And it goes without saying...don't eat out unless you have to or as a treat. That is where a lot of our $$ just goes out the window.

Good luck! I HATE the budgeting process and worrying about money. But if I'm ever going to get that new house, we're going to have to cut things here and there. Unless we win the lottery or Sam gets discovered as the next child modeling sensation.

quigs

In addition to creating and sticking to a budget, we're trying to pay w/cash for almost everything. Obviously whatever bills we can we do on line. But we're using cash for Target, groceries, and gas and fun $$. We have so much budgeted for each category and when the $ is gone for the month then you don't get to spend anymore.

We're going through some seminars through our church designed by a guy named Dave Ramsey. It's really helped us see how much we're spending in a certain category. So far it's working for us, hooray!

BigNutbrownHare

Most of my budgeting tips have already been mentioned.

But I have to say that none really worked for us. The reason?! DH can't stick to a budget. We are complete opposites on how we even set up a budget, let alone whether we stick to one. It drives me insane. We are 1 month away from me taking over the family finances entirely. I told him he has a certain amount of time to make his way work, and that amount of time is almost up.

MissPitchy

I say this everytime this topic comes up....you have got to get Quicken or Money and track your spending. It will blow your mind. You set up all of the categories you could possibly spend money in...Groceries, Dining Out, Entertainment, Gifts, Salon Services, etc. Then you save every single receipt (dedicated a pocket in your purse/diaper bag). Once a week you enter them into the program, print out your pie chart and cry. I thought I was frugal until I did this. It was so much easier for me to change my spending habits once I saw this.

Also, we have the most basic cable plan which just gives us the local and public channels. It cost $10 a month. The only cable channels we were watching before this were Nick Jr and Disney. But with trying to cut back on kids TV and just using all of our DVD and VHS tapes, we haven't missed it at all. We get two PBS channels now. And we "splurged" on a Netflix subscription. We also got rid of all of our "premiums" on the phone - no call waiting, caller ID, etc. Our phone bill, long distance included (b/c we use try to use our cells for LD), is less than $15/month.

I get a mani/pedi twice a year and both times it is with gift certificates for Christmas/birthday. It's a treat for me. And then I do my own nails and can justify buying OPI polish.

baseballmama

That is so true. I've been tracking all of our expenses on Money/Quicken for several years and every month I print out a report - OUCH!

Lynni

A lot of the tips have already been mentioned. I never had to budget in my life, then I became a SAHM when RS was born. I became a very quick learner.

Meal planning was a biggie for me. I have 2 markets that I prefer. I'd check the ads for what was on sale at both then make my meal plan based on what was on sale. I use coupons, but only for what I know I'm going to buy. I shop at a market that gives double coupons on $0.50. When I was super dilligent about this, I would do major grocery shopping once a month and only run out for milk, bread and produce 2 other times a month. My freezer was my friend. I figure out what I saved based on in store savings and coupons. When DH would get paid, I'd take the amount saved out in cash and set it aside. If we wanted to eat out, go for ice cream, me a pedicure, etc. I'd use that money. Then I wasn't taking it from the "budget".

Both DH and I get $40 every 2 weeks for our "fun money". It is for lunches out, coffees, OPI nail polish, car washes etc. Things that we don't "need", but want. Pre budget, my fun money was easily triple that. I never realized how quickly that little stuff added up. Now, I think twice before going out for lunch when I have something at home. It forces me to prioritize little treats.

We also cut our cable/phone/internet in half. I found a bundle plan that actually gave us more features then we had before.

Costco! A 3 lb bag of coffee beans for $10 vs 2 1/2 trips to Starbucks - saves a ton.

I really need to revisit this. I have become lazy about it this summer. Rs's tuition is double what it was last year and I really need to pay more attention to this. The old saying is true, the more money you have the more you spend. I swear our standard of living hasn't changed that much. When we were first married, we had money, then we had RS - not so much money, now we are back to being more comfortable and yet our "lives" haven't changed that much. We do put something away for retirement and savings, but I want to make it more of a priority. I'm going to start using Money too.

Oh the joys of being a grown-up.