New to Budgets & all....

Hi,

My name is Terri.  I am a new member to this group.  I am also entering into a phase of my life.  My hubby-BB- and I are determined to be debt-free.  We had one of those "soul cleansing" conversations and came to the conclusion that we are up to our eye-balls in debt.  So, off to the library I go to find a book about how we can turn it all around.  I am looking to anyone for advice, tips, etc to help us stay focused on our goal.  I appreciate any & all information I can get. 

Thanks for listening,

Terri B.

Hi Terry, I'm like you just starting to be conserned about what I'm spending.  My hisband and I just bought a house and are struggling.  I have started to make things the old fashioned way!!!!  Making my own breads, and I am trying to billed up my pantry with stuff so I can do everything homemade to save money.  I also found a site friday  couponmom.com  This lady teaching you how to shop and save using coupons and the store specials!!!  I found it very exciting!!!!

The first thing I would suggest is to get rid of your credit cards if you have any. Then pay those bills off as quick as you can.

Make a budget and stick to it. If you have a garden can your produce.

Cut back on eating out. Wash your clothes in cold water and hang them out to dry.

Have your airconditioner set at 80* if you have it on. That way when you go outside it doesn't feel as hot and you'll get use to the heat easier.

Get books and magazines from your local library.

I am sure others have tons of ideas.

Hi Terri! I am also new to the site. My DH and I have six kids and have been  tightwad's for most of our marriage. One of the books we like the most is The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. You can usually find it at the library but since I refer to it almosy daily I highly recommend purchasing it. It is set-up in newsletter style and contains many tips from Amy and her newsletter subscribers. I like it because it does not just tell you one way to do something it has multiple ideas and base recipes that you can substitute what ingredients you have on hand for the lowest cost meal possible.

We have found it helpful to right down our financial goals, big and small and then to refer to these whenever we are trying to make a financial decision. It really helps to see our wants next to our needs to bring us back to reality!

Through the use of double coupons, marked down meat and smart shopping I am able to feed my family of eight ( three of them teenage boys!) for $350-$450 a month. We eat at least one meatless meal a week and use almost no convience foods. We have a small garden and I can And freeze as much as possible. We save all leftovers (not that we have much left over with 6 kids lol) and use them in other meals. My DH jokes that I am the only person he knows that can make a meal for 8 out of one piece of leftover chicken.

I have a bread machine (purchased for $2.00 at a yard sale) that I have owned for 16 years. I make all my bread, rolls, cinnamon rolls, pizza crust and buns in it. I buy my yeast and flour in bulk and store it in the freezer and refridgerator. My family eats better and has more food then anyone we know and we spend almost half of what they do and most of them have only 2 kids.

Remember this is a lifestyle change and with all change it is not always easy. Just focus on your goal and try to make it as fun as possible!

Tammy K.

HI, Terri!! I'm Keisha, new to the group also, and have gotten some fantastic ideas from the folks on here. I've always been frugal, but am stepping it up as we are buying a home and our goal is to have it paid off in 10years. We have 5 children, ages 2-16. My folks bought us a book by Dave Ramsey and it has helped us straighten things out ALOT ( i actually think i have another copy around here, if i can find it and you would like to have it, i'll be happy to send it to you) I just bought a breadmaker at an auction and am starting to make my own bread. I try to buy all our food when on sale, clothing from garage sales (my kids are always in Old Navy, Gap, etc, but i never spend more than 2.00 for an item) Just learned on here how to make my own laundry detergent inexpensively, so cant wait to try that!! 

http://www.consumercredit.com/budget-sheet.htm

On the right side of the the website page is a excel spreadsheet you can download to your computer.  IT does all the math for you!  You can add to the sheet and make it 'yours'.  I love this sheet to see where I am really at.

I wish you luck.  I always ask myself if I NEED it or if I WANT it.  I usually do not buy much then.  Most things are a want. Like brownies! LOL

Take care, hope you check out the worksheet.

Amy

Welcome! It is so much easier to get into debt that to get out of it. It helps when everyone in the family is willing to live on a budget. My dh and I have been married for 28 years and about 4 years ago he announced that we should make a budget. To that I replied that we have been living on a budget for all of our married lives, he depended on me to take care of the house and bills and had no clue (still doesn't) about the budget. Thankfully, he is pretty careful with his money anyway and neither of us has any bad spending habits. One of my best methods for managing our money is that I write checks for everything. I seldom keep cash in my wallet. I learned a long time ago that money gets a way a lot faster if you have cash. I like being able to track what I spend.My check is direct deposited and I don't have a debit or ATM card. My dh can be counted on for cash if I really have to have actual money. It is best to find out where your money is being spent and then make plans to cut out unnecessary spending. It's good to remind yourself that needs are different from wants. Needs are shelter, food, medical care, utilities. Spend wisely when you do make purchases. Eating out or going out to a movie is a treat for us because we don't do it very often. When our dd was growing up we sometimes ate takeout or fast food  2 or 3 times a week because it was easier to pick up a meal after work when she had either ball practice or band. It was a terrible habit that was a little difficult to break. My incentive for cutting out the fast food had really more to do with eating healthier than the budget. Every dollar you save is a dollar more you have to pay on something  else. Don't use credit cards. If you want something save up the money and then buy it. Plan for things like birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas by saving the money ahead of time. These events occur every year, they can be planned for in advance and added to your budget. The best way I know of to get a savings acct. started is to make it a habit to put your tax return into a savings account and do not spend it. Easier said than done, but it is a good way to get started. Make the savings part of a long term goal like paying for college or retirement so you won't be tempted to take money out.Be mindful that children learn a lot from their parents. You can teach them to be responsible with money by giving them a good example and teaching them to save as well.

marasmom:

The best way I know of to get a savings acct. started is to make it a habit to put your tax return into a savings account and do not spend it.

Another good thing to do, is to have an automatic transfer from your chequing account to your savings account everypayday.  Ten [ercent is great if you can afford it, if not pick an amount that works for you.  Remember, it may seem hard at first but soon you don't miss tht money.

If your compny has a savings plan where you can have the money taken off before you even see it, that's even better.  Some companies will add to your savings as well.  Remember, that a little regularly, anounts to a lot of the long term.

Go to the library and get a "help" book by Suzie Orman - and - follow her advice.  She's right on.  Or, I'm sure you can find her on the net.  I've never looked, but she probably has a web site that will take questions.  Good Luck

There was a thread here earlier in the month you may want to check out.  I don''t know how to link a thread but it's about budgeting and a new person and it was around July 11 here in BL.

My family has no credit cards. The only one we have is one of the prepaid ones and that is to buy stuff online with. We don't have a check card either. I know that sounds old fashion but it helps. I've got a budget for groceries, walmart, and bills. Unfortunatly, the grocery and walmart budgets have had to go up because of inflation.

Hi Terri :)  I'm actually the one that wrote the post that JerseyGal is talking about.  I'll try and bump it up for you.

Another great source for help is Crown.org   They have a ton of resources, both online and in material.  I was very inspired by a short "movie" clip they have online about a couple that went from being in debt when they got married, to building their own house without a loan!  We have their book The Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples by Larry Burkett.  I started re-reading it this past week as a refresher.

~Miriam / Mayhersh

Amy,

You have a PM.

Angie

One thing you could do is to contact your internet service (if you have internet at home) & ask if they can give you a couple months free due to some financial problems - they will usually agree so they don't lose your business & will either not charge you at all or give you a "credit" you have to go into your account & apply.

I would also suggest that if you have dish or cable to cancel any "extra" packages. Or just cancel the service altogther temporarily & keep only your local stations. You could always borrow movies from friends or have a movie night at a friends house for entertainment if they have movie channels.

Another idea is to try to avoid buying groceries (except things such as milk, bread, produce) until your cupboards & freezer are pretty much cleaned out. I do this a couple times a year to get rid of things I've stocked up on. Just take an inventory of what you have & try to be creative & make up as many meals as possible using mainly the ingredients already on hand.

If you do have credit card debt contact the card company to close them out & negotiate a payback schedule. They will probably work with you on lowering the interest rate significantly. If they won't work with you then you will probably need to go through a consumer credit service. I would recommend going through a company local to where you are - a lot of cities/towns have ones that are non-profit organizations run by some local agency. This will allow you to pay off your cards within a shorter time frame & will save you lots of money!

Elizabeth

I thought of something that helped us when we first had kids.  One of the local churches does a program where you do some community service then you can purchase bulk groceries for a very low cost.  I know many states have different types of programs.  Not sure what the one I did was called.  You can call a church and ask if any churches in the area has some type of food program.  And, I think I have seen people post one - angle ministeris (spelled wrong).  They have a web site to let you know if there is alocation near you.  I think that is the name.  Maybe someone else knows.....