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Thrifty Thursday – The Importance of a Budget

November 3, 2011 By Vicky 8 Comments

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I am so excited to be launching a new series on Mess For Less called Spend LESS, Save More!  As a stay-at-home Mom I am always looking for ways to save money and bring in some extra cash.  Every Thrifty Thursday I will be sharing money saving tips that have helped my family have more with LESS!

 



Ready to save some money?  Lets get started!

Budgeting

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


I know the topic of budgeting isn’t very sexy or fun but I feel it is vital if you are looking to save money.  What is a monthly budget?  It can look like many things depending on what you are comfortable with, but basically it is a place where you can keep track of your anticipated expenses for a given month.  We do this at the start of every month on a spreadsheet.  You might use a pad and pen.  A budget doesn’t have to be fancy to be effective.  You just need to stick with it.  Dave Ramsey has some great FREE budgeting tools on his website.  I highly recommend his Basic Quickie Budget and Monthly Cashflow Plan to help you get started.  I get nothing for recommending these free downloads.  I have just found them very helpful.

What should be in your budget?

You’ll want to start with the money you have coming in each month in the form of salary, bonuses, etc. From the net income, you will subtract a list of expenses that remain similar from month to month.  For some, this might include mortgage or rent, car payments, student loans and other bills you get every month.  Then you will look at the month ahead and think about what extra expenses you might have.  Is there a birthday, anniversary, night out, or vacation?  You will want to budget for these items.  You will also want to allocate money to spend on groceries, household necessities, entertainment and countless other expenses that you encounter each month that you might not be aware of.


How can a budget can help you?


The quick answer is that you don’t want to be spending more money each month than you have coming in.  If you find that you are doing this, look over a few months of budgets.  Was there a particularly difficult month (e.g., car repair, health issue) or is this a pattern every month?  If you are spending more than you bring home each and every month, then examining a budget can sometimes help you find ways you can be saving money.

One of the less glamorous aspects of using a budget is taking the time to reconcile it at the end of the month.  You don’t have to account for every penny, but at least give yourself a rough idea of how you did.  For my family, this involves breaking out our bank statements and tallying the expenses in the various categories. This is not a super fun task, but nothing will help you get your spending under control like looking at how much you spent in various areas.

When we sat down with a budget, we noticed that we were spending more than we wanted and had budgeted  on groceries and household goods.  Those Costco trips add up quick!  Before we had a budget I never really thought about what we were spending in this area.  We were ahead every month so I didn’t think about it.  But when we did a budget review and I actually looked at the monthly grocery expenses, I was shocked.  Information is power.  Armed with this power, I changed my spending habits while grocery shopping.  We were able to save 30% on our groceries just from these changes.  But you can’t change what you are not aware of.

The best thing a budget will do for you is give you a sense of control and awareness.  From there you can eliminate unnecessary expenses and cut down on areas of overspending.  I hope I have encouraged you to sit down and work on a budget each month.  Is it worth a few hours of time per month to save money and get your finances under control?  Absolutely!

 

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Filed Under: frugal

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Comments

  1. Trish says

    November 3, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    I handle most of the money in the house and have had a pretty good budget going for a while, but I know we still "waste" a lot of money on things when we could be saving it or using to help pay off our car, students loans, etc. I'm going to make it a point to go over everything even more closely this month and see where we can make more improvements.

    Reply
  2. Vicky says

    November 3, 2011 at 8:54 pm

    Trish, I always think I am doing a really good job but then when I look at the budget I think "how did that happen?" We are pretty frugal and have still found places we were wasting money. Thanks for the comment.

    Reply
  3. LaTonya says

    November 4, 2011 at 1:35 am

    Urgggh Budgets LOL. Thanks I need to become more budget wise. Hopping by from the Thursday Blog Hop. Liked u on FB & following u via GFC. Stop by and say hi http;//detroitmomandherviews.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  4. Kelly says

    November 4, 2011 at 4:43 am

    What a cute & fun project! Guest blogging sounds great. Thanks for hosting the Terrific Thursday blog hop! I'm a new follower, this is my first week 🙂
    ~Kelly
    http://www.savvysuburban.com

    Reply
  5. Kelly says

    November 4, 2011 at 4:44 am

    Meant to post that on the fall wreath project post!

    Reply
  6. Kelley @ TheGrantLife.com says

    November 4, 2011 at 4:57 am

    Vicky.. such a great article! We have a budget but its so hard to stick to 100 percent of the time! I would love for you to link this up to my financial friday link party. I need all the help I can get on the links and this article is perfect 🙂

    The Grant Life

    Reply
  7. Nellie says

    November 4, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    Can't wait to follow along! My husband and I decided to be come debt free by 2013 (just one car payment left and CC) but I know we would be more efficient if we really looked at our spending! Thanks for this!

    Reply
  8. Mindy says

    November 4, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    I'll have to check out Dave Ramsey's site. I have a friend who swears by him and I sometimes catch his radio show at night.

    I feel like I've always been good at budgeting, but the problem now is, I'm a SAHM and The Dad is the one who takes care of all the bills. I've brought up putting together some sort of budget or system a zillion times over the years, but it just hasn't happened. Having to ask for grocery money or his debit card SUCKS. I've always liked the idea of having envelopes of cash for specific things. I've never done it, but in theory, it sounds good. Once the cash is gone, it's gone till the next month. I think it would make you way more conscious of where the dollars go.
    We cut waaay back when I was pregnant the first time. No more non-necessities. I haven't even had a cell phone for about 6 months. (gasp) No cable, no car payments, no nothin'. So the "where it's goin'" would be fairly easy for us.
    I just need to get on it, (even if it means dragging The Dad kicking and screaming) and this post was the nudge I needed. Thanks!

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Vicky, founder and content creator at Mess For Less. If you are looking for play and learning activities for kids, kid friendly food, parenting tips and general family fun, you will find it at Mess For Less. I invite you to learn more about me or drop me a note. Thanks for stopping by!
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