September 30 Savings

It is the end of the month. We made it! I'll post a final review of the month soon, but tonight I'll put in my remaining grocery savings.

Investment: I spent a grand total of $60.26 on groceries/toiletries in the month of September. Everything else was from my large stock of freezer and pantry goods, a meal or two treated by our parents, shared meals with friends, and a limited number of necessary meals out for DH that come out of our entertainment budget, as always. I also already put $19.30 in the jar in grocery savings from free food, coupons, etc.

Instead of: My monthly budget for groceries/toiletries is $369, an amount I'm embarrassed to admit is for only 2 people-the food we eat and give away.

Savings: $289.34

Bonus: I was expecting my freezer and pantry inventory to be significantly reduced. I am low on a few baking supplies (by low I mean I do not have a SECOND bag of 3 kinds of flour, 3 kinds of sugar, butter and oatmeal.)  The only thing I am out of is the weekly fresh purchases: milk, OJ, eggs, fresh fruits and veges. 

We have plenty of food.  

We did not suffer any hardship. 

If the world food supply suddenly shut down, we could survive several more months.

We are blessed.

September 29 Savings

Investment: Since they don't currently have people entering prices at iowastategasprices for our area, I paid attention to the gas prices on my drive and filled up my 12-gallon tank for $3.35 in Sibley at Shell

Instead of: Hull dropped their prices to $3.39 before Sibley went down, but I waited a few days for Sibley to drop below.

Savings: $0.04 x 12 gallons= $0.48

Bonus: I got the 5% rebate on my Shell card.

Update: GAAAH Two days later Sibley was at $3.25~oh well, when you're running on empty, you have to choose from the current options!

September 27 Savings

Investment: Three times this week there were places I needed to go in town and since it was beautiful weather I was able to ride my bike instead of drive.

Instead of: Driving about 2 miles at the IRS-mileage rate of $0.505/mile

Savings: $1.01

Bonus: I got some exercise and enjoyed the weather.

September 27 Savings

Saturday is usually my day to clean the house, do the laundry, walk the dog, and bake some goodies while DH is planning for next week's FB game with the other coaches. Today I also spent the morning at a Pampered Chef party and will be the first to admit I did spend a good chunk of money today! The justification (and there always is one, right) is that I got a few Christmas gifts for family and the things I bought for myself will come out of my show choir money left from last year.  Never-the-less, feeling a little guilty,  I consciously chose a lunch and dinner menu that would use up some freezer and pantry stockpiles and create enough leftovers to get us through the end of the month (tater-tot casserole and fruit for lunch and grilled BBQ chicken with seasoned potatoes for supper). 

I also used some long-held ingredients to make Onion Bread, 2 loaves of Pumpkin Bread and 2 Crumb-top Apple Pies which supplemented our meals (and waistlines--I cannot bake something without eating some fresh out of the oven!) I froze one loaf of bread and one pie for the upcoming church auction. For my savings today, I accomplished a FIRST in my life as a wife:

Investment: Our lawn was in desperate need of mowing before a Small Group bonfire tomorrow night and DH was busy every night this week and all day today. So yours truly mowed the lawn for the FIRST time ever! This is a sad fact, but it is the one chore that DH is usually glad to do and it's never been necessary for me to pitch in here before. I have used a riding mower once or twice when growing up, but my grandpa always mowed our lawn and grove (and at 88-still does). But, I did it and even though the wheel patterns are not close to the Major League Baseball-esque designs my husband usually performs, the grass is significantly shorter and that's all that matters.

Instead of: Last year during FB season, we seriously considered hiring the kid down the street to do the mowing for us. Since I was able to help out today, we avoided paying someone else to do it.

Savings: $15

Bonus: It was a gorgeous day, I got a little bit of a workout (our push mower is not self-propelled), and walking a half-hour in my husband's shoes made me appreciate him taking care of this chore 99% of the time.

September 26 Savings

I hit the Boyden town garage sales on my way home from work on Friday and found some books to give to my niece for her upcoming birthday. (Sorry to ruin the surprise, Megan!)

Investment: $1.25 for three books: 

• What's in the Garden? -a Peek-Through Pals book like the Bunny book she likes so much
• It's Pumpkin Time -her b-day is at the end of October and I know my sister will be trying her hand at growing pumpkins again next year
  
• Tikki Tikki Tembo-one of my childhood favorites and fun to read aloud

Instead of: The list price for the garden book is $5.95 and ordering the other two from Amazon would have cost $6.99 and $6.95 respectively

Savings: $19.89 list price - $1.25 garage sale price = $18.64

Bonus: My niece won't know the difference between new and used (they're in decent shape) and my sister and brother-in-law will have new books to read so they can take a break from The Cat in the Hat and You Are Special marathons!

September 25 Savings

Investment: We attended the S-O Volleyball game free of charge using DH's activity passes (teachers can get activity passes for themselves and their spouses if they sign up to work a certain number of events-DH runs the scoreboard at Basketball games) and did not buy any concessions.

Instead of: Buying popcorn and pop

Savings: $1.75

Bonus: The Generals had a spectacular win over the Mustangs. Way to go, girls!

September 24 Budgeting Basics

I couldn't get money off my mind today, so as soon as I got home from work, I started working on balancing the checkbook (which is *ahem* several months behind), writing in all those pesky ATM and Debit transactions we forget to write down, and then entering every transaction into Microsoft Money. Three and a half hours later, I had a clear picture of where we're at in every category.  Fun? Hardly. But, worrying about it for 3.5 hours tonight allows me to reign in where we're spending too much (clothing and gas) and feel better about the categories that are doing fine and NOT have to worry about money for the next few months.  It also showed me where I can transfer some of our checking account money to ING Orange Savings accounts to earn interest.

We didn't spend any money today and ended up eating grilled cheese together at 9:50pm when DH got home from class, but tonight I'll post a little history of my budgeting experiences. My sister has a more comprehensive list of ages/disciplines/methods, etc., so if you are interested in starting any of these with your kids, I could get you more information.

• Age 4-5, my parents gave us 10 nickels each week that we had to place in cups. Five went in the "Savings" cups, 1 went into "Tithe" and 4 went into "Spending".  
  
• Age 6-9, we earned a little more money doing calf chores on the farm, but the same rules applied-50% in savings, 10% in tithe, 40% in spending.  We also received an allowance in cash that we put into category envelopes in a recipe box: Summer Recreation, Book Bag, Gloves, Entertainment, Book Orders, etc. This taught us about saving, and that once the money is gone, it's gone, and you can't rob Peter to pay Paul. (Also, if you lose your gloves, you have to earn more money or use your "Fun" money to buy another pair.)
• Age 10-18, I had a checking account (starting in 3rd grade) and posted every transaction into different accounts by writing it in the "Debit" or "Credit" columns of ledger paper. I did get an allowance but had to pay for my lunch ticket, piano lessons, clothes, and various other things.  Any money we earned from riding beans or babysitting had the 50-10-40 rule, but as soon as I got a real part-time job when I was 16, I think it went to 10% savings, 10% tithe, 80% spending (in expense categories).
• Age 18-21: I managed my money throughout college, including a Vanguard Money Market account and an ING Orange Savings Account. I did get some allowance and my parents gave me a set amount at the beginning of my freshman year that I was free to use however I wanted--for tuition, room & board, etc. This was money they saved by "paying" me for the farm chores I did as a kid and putting the wages straight into investments. It wasn't enough to cover 3.5 years of tuition and books but was still a huge help. I still paid for most of my college expenses with part-time and summer jobs, lived extremely cheap and had some of the money they gave me left when I graduated. I chose to take a small subsidized loan during one year of school when my intern summer job couldn't cover costs, but I invested the money from my parents and used it for a down payment on our house years later. Sometimes I feel like I missed out on a lot of fun college experiences by being so tight with my money (Spring break was usually spent going to the State basketball tournament with my family), but it was probably worth it in the end. College is also where I learned to manage a credit card and disciplined myself into paying the full amount every month so I could build up a good credit history.
• Age 22-26: As life gets more complicated, so does money. Trying to figure out 401k's, Roth IRA's, insurance premiums, savings, investments, and ever-increasing expenses can be overwhelming. But, before even getting into investment and retirement options, my best advice is to MAKE A BUDGET! If you don't know where your money is going, take a month or two to save receipts or write down every transaction, assign categories, and tally up exactly how much you are spending on groceries, household bills, clothing, etc. You might be surprised to find out where there a huge expenses that are killing your budget (housing/cars/eating out) and where little expenses are nickel and diming you to death (coffee/fast food/Ace Hardware *ahem*).  Here is a great article about how to build your first budget. Like I've mentioned before, I use Microsoft Money software that came with my Office package, but you can use Quicken or other software to keep track.

I will always be grateful for the wonderful lessons my parents taught me about managing money from an early age.  Teaching (and modeling) money management is a priceless gift you can give your kids.  Check out moneyinstructor for teaching materials you can use with your kids (or class). Hopefully this month will inspire you to make a budget and then stick to it!