Ok, I am really going to get a budget going and see if I can stay on it. Not something really outrageous, but something that is totally realistic. We live a rather simple life, not really anything extravagant at all, but I still think I waste money and that is not a good thing.
First off, I am going to look at some of the things I have committed to and see if I can trim those expenses down a little bit. The first one is the cable bill. Do I really watch all those channels, and no I hardly ever watch those movies, so if I cut those out, what can I save? What other bills can I trim down? We don’t really have a lot of bills, so if I just watch the A/C and Heating, that’s about all I can control, but that can save a lot. With the cable bill alone I can save $30 a month. That’s a good start.
Second would be the grocery bill. I usually do one big shop each week and only go back if I run out of something, but I don’t plan out meals and I don’t really watch the grocery budget. I like for the pantry and the fridge/freezer to be fully stocked with everything, so then whatever I want to cook, all the ingredients are on hand. I do read the ads, make a list and use the coupons that really apply to what we like to eat. It wastes money to use a coupon and buy something you really don’t like. We eat really well at our house, but I can trim a little here I think. For just the two of us I definitely think a budget of $100 week is more than ample, so I am going to stick to that.
Third is to not waste money on car gas just running around unnecessarily. I am the world’s worst at just hopping in the car and running here and there for no reason at all. I get 32 mpg with my new little car, so I don’t think about how much I am running around. If I plan to do as many errands as possible at a time, then I don’t have to waste a lot of money on car gas making unnecessary trips.
Fourth is to give myself an allowance. I know that I could be more frugal with my spending, but I just seem to buy whatever I want. Even if I do a ton of shopping at Goodwill and Thrift stores for most of my home decor, that really adds up, so I need to be more selective about what I buy. I need to really take a good look at our wardrobes and purge what doesn’t fit and only replace needed items and maybe an occassional something special. That will accomplish two goals. First I won’t have so much stuff and need to purge so often, and second, I need to use what I have. Ok, so if I set a goal of $100 a month for my allowance, that should be more than ample. Maybe I can even trim that back a little.
Now these are just four really easy and simple little things that I can do that will start off my goal of saving an extra $100 a month. Not a big deal, but it is something that I can achieve and then I can set bigger goals. Just need to take baby steps here. lol
Hopefully at the end of the year I will have this really big pile of cash sitting around, and way more than $100 a month.
Now I can probably trim some of this down even further, however I want to start small and not make it something that I hate and won’t do. So I am being kind of generous. How about you, do you have a budget and do you stick to it?
I am joining:
Sunny Simple Life for Sunny Simple Sunday
DIY Showoff for DIY Project Parade
