home economics: part 2

In my last post, I promised a couple of “neat and nerdy” things to share. Welcome, nerds! If you haven’t read the previous post (home economics: part 1) I recommend it because it will provide the foundational explanation for these tools. I hope you find these ideas useful!

1. This has calmed my heartburn—our laminated ledger:

I created this in Word and got it blown up, printed, and laminated at Office Depot for under $5. And, yes, it is on the refrigerator. The concept is that after we sit down and do our two-week budget in our Excel spreadsheet, we write down how much money we've set aside in each "category" (bills, groceries, entertainment, personal care, etc.). Then, at the end of every day, we will deduct our spending (how much, where, date) from the various categories. And finally we will keep a running balance of what remains in each category. 

There are two main reasons we like this: it provides a perfect avenue for planning and accountability. Remember that since we’re doing a bi-weekly budget and having regular budget meetings, we are talking and planning together (see previous post).

This tool also soothes both of our biggest stressors. Chaz's biggest need is to be able to see what bills are being paid and when and how much money we have remaining in a certain category. My biggest need is to put pen to paper. I tried using Mint.com, and, while it is a great tool, I realized I am an old-school kind of gal. I have to do the math with a calculator and write down my spending like in the old checkbook ledgers our parents used. I know that you can do this with the envelope system (a la Dave Ramsey), but we found that that didn't work for us because we would move cash around to other categories too easily, and it left little accountability to one another because we had separate envelope systems (but this is a great system if you are on your own or if you and your spouse are very diligent about checking the balances together). Anyway, seeing it all up there on the refrigerator makes it real and helps us to stay accountable to one another. 

So far we both feel better emotionally knowing what is going where and actually seeing it on paper. We've been talking about our money more, and not in those long-winded, heated conversations, but the short ones in which a decision is quickly made. We’re three weeks in and, as stated earlier, it’s calmed some anxiety. I do have a clean copy of this in Word if you'd like one to manipulate to suit your needs. 

2. Warning! This might make your mind explode—our two-week menu:

Two years ago my mother-in-law proposed the idea of writing out a weekly menu so that I could be less stressful come dinnertime. I scoffed at the idea at first, but as we became poorer, I saw it as a way to save trips to the grocery store thereby saving money. 

I've been planning a weekly menu for several months now, also planning my once-a-week grocery store trip around it. But I've noticed several hiccups in this plan. First, I did it alone and I hate planning meals, so this was always a source of stress for me. Second, I found that many of the things I'd buy, especially meat in bulk (cheaper) would last more than just one week. I'd end up going over budget for one week and into another week with groceries. This isn't necessarily bad, but it didn't all add up on paper and that drove me crazy. Third, Chaz would always want things that I didn't get because I didn't know he wanted them, so he'd end up going on his own for "a few things" and come back home with ten. Arguments ensued over pickles. That's just silly!

Now the plan is that I will make only ONE main grocery store trip in a two-week period (this includes toiletries, paper, and cleaning products). Chaz and I sat down after our budget meeting and planned a two-week menu. This was so much easier than going it alone because my sweet husband enjoys cooking and being part of deciding what's for dinner. I know not everyone is so lucky, but I encourage you to try it anyway--you might find it to be fun! 

It made so much sense because I try to buy meats in bulk, so we always end up using the meat into the next week (bag it and freeze it). The menu planning became easy as he rattled off possible meals and I filled in the days on paper. It was clear that a bulk package of pork chops could last us at least three meals, so I spread the days out in between and the two weeks started filling up fast. 

I'll note that as we decided on the meals, we consulted the weekly grocery ads everyone gets in the mail. We found that a few of our staples were cheaper at HEB because of some deals going on, and a few things were cheaper at Kroger. I mainly shop at Kroger because it's closer and I can get their online coupons and fuel points for gas. 

All in all, we spent $130 LESS than our average grocery spending in the first two-week period that we tried this strategy. We’ve made a great start on this next period, so I’ll let you know how that goes, too.

I truly hope that these ideas spark creativity within your inner nerd. And remember that this is not as much about pinching pennies as it is about managing your resources. 

home economics: part 1

I've never been much in the area of home-making, but this past week I finally broke down and did some really crazy things: I planned a two-week dinner menu; I "shopped" the grocery store ads for the best deals; and I--da, da, daaaaa!--clipped coupons. I didn't go all crazy on the coupon thing (someone please direct me to the nearest mental hospital if I start hauling a 3-inch wide coupon binder to the store). I will say that as mundane and tiring all of that seems, I completely enjoyed it. I will even say that I felt liberated. Let me explain. 


A couple weeks ago, Chaz and I started our budget anew. We began with a clean slate on how we will now approach our budgeting. I'm going to share our new strategies with you because I know many of you are living on one income or are very conscious of your budget, but please be aware that none of these concepts are new; I got all of these ideas from several different places. For the most part I have tried different things for a while until I found they didn't work for us for whatever reason. The main thing I'd like to communicate in this post is this: find what works for you and your family. Communicate with your spouse and always be honest about your finances. Don't hide anything! Marriage is hard enough without hiding that $36 you spent at Wal-Mart on beer, candy, and a few DVDs from the $5 bin. Seriously. And just remember that if you don't get real with your spouse about your financial situation then you'll end up LIKE US!!! Don't do it!!! 


First, we realized that we did not have regular conversations about our money and where it was going. Our discussions usually came about because something bad was about to happen and one of us just wanted to give the other a "head's up." Well, that's no way to live, especially when you don't have money to spare. So, our first strategy was to plan a regular meeting time to work on our budget. Don't let the "b" word scare you! A budget is simply an organized way of telling your money where to go. We decided that the best time for us to do this is every other Friday afternoon after Chaz gets paid; he gets home early from work on Fridays, so this gives us ample time to work together.


Second, we decided that during this "budget meeting" we must talk about our budget. It's a fairly well-known concept that in each relationship there is a tightwad and a free spirit. I am the tightwad in this marriage. Usually, I would plug all our bills and planned expenses into my Excel spreadsheet and assume Chaz would look at it. I did most of the planning, and we never really consulted each other about the details of our budget. Then I'd get mad when he spent money that hadn't been allocated in our budget. It was really dumb to call it "our" budget when I was the only one who knew about it (just another control issue I have). We did lots of other stupid things mainly because we didn't talk about our money on a regular basis. Now I am still plugging everything into the spreadsheet, but I tell Chaz what bill is due when and for how much. Then we decide together how much we'll need to set aside for other expenses like groceries, clothes, entertainment, etc. And we decide how much extra to put toward our debt at the beginning of the pay period instead of waiting to see how much we have left, because if we wait the money will get spent. And as a side note, I'm the one who does all this figuring and data-mining because I'm simply more of a nerd, and I enjoy doing it. But I found that I enjoy it more now because we are working together and we're on the same page. 


And on another side note, if you are on a seriously tight budget with no wiggle room like we are, realize that talking together is your best chance of survival. It may begin awkwardly. You may get all tense and want to punch a hole in the wall. There may even be heated arguments. But talk about it anyway. Eventually, as you work through these things together, you will become a team. 




Third, we decided to do all of this on a bi-weekly basis because Chaz gets paid every other week. So our budget and all the subcategories are only planned for two weeks. It just makes sense for us. One really nifty thing about budgeting within a shorter time frame is that it becomes easier to plan for all those little surprises that usually kill your budget (birthdays, bringing snack for group, having people over for dinner, date night, etc.). So, even if you get paid only once a month, I'd encourage you to try budgeting on a shorter time frame for a while. Maybe it will end up making your budgeting simpler. 


I know that most of this probably comes to you as a humongous "DUH!!", but we truly didn't know how important all this was until we hit bottom. I'd say we are currently about two feet from the bottom and I don't know how far it is until we get to the top, but at least we've begun climbing out of our pit. And for others, planning in this way seems like a nightmare. I promise that as you budget and plan you will find it becomes second nature. And you'll really get motivated when you find all the money you save when you tell your money where to go. 


I've got a couple more neat and nerdy things to share with you, but I will put those in separate posts, as this is about to get too long. One last thing before I end: a couple days ago I had a really, really bad day. It was just one of those days where I wanted to give up and say "screw it all." Lots of things happened that caused these feelings, and I won't go into them. But after lots and lots of prayer and getting some encouragement from my best friend who has walked with me through this past year, I felt better and had a good day. And another good day. Remember that the bad days will feel like they are going to suck the very marrow from your bones, but a good day will come again. Ask the Lord to remind you of his truth and what he has brought you through already. He is faithful!