Finances- Life on a Budget

I feel like as a SAHM a big part of my responsibility is finances and making our budget work for us as I have more time to devote to it than hubby does, and being the

A budget is a hard thing to sit down and sort out, but a budget truly brings freedom to your finances. There's so much irony in that way, yet I can say personally it can be a real eye opener.

When you go about setting a up budget it's good to look at the entire picture. From the bills coming in, debts owed, the money you have in the bank, and the things you have such as vehicles and retirement investments, these things are an important part of your budget, it's not just about the bills.

I found that by having a clearer picture of where we were financially, and where we felt we needed to be was a good thing to learn. Hubby and I did it together with the help of a financial advisor (she didn't charge us a thing until we opted to have her take care of our retirement accts and life insurance), and we learned invaluable information about how we each felt about our future.

I'm the penny-pincher, hubby the spender and we learned that with a budget we can do both. We can save wherever possible, yet when we have a certain amount alloted for something like entertainment, that's what we can spend on it. (I have to admit that me being the saver, I often try to stretch those dollars too, but not so far as to take the fun out of it)

When you have boundaries on your spending, it makes life so much easier in knowing that you're allowed to spend "x" amount on clothing and still pay the bills.

Since, in my family, the only real shopping we do is for the home, we're not big on the latest fashions and gear, and don't have to have the latest technologies or vehicles, I find that the best way to add to our financial health is to save money in the grocery. I've done the part of setting aside so much per week for groceries and household supplies. My current budget is $60 for the 3 of us and our beagle Sadie... who we ofen refer to as "SadieDog" Evey week I stop and take that amount out of our checking account and place it in it's own place in my purse. That money is only used for groceries and other household products. Some weeks I spend more and some less, but I rarely take any more than that for those kinds of items each week. If I didn't spend as much one week, I often find myself spending the balance of the extra the next week and it all works out.

I know many of you probably think $60 would never work for a family grocery budget, especially if you through in cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, and health and beauty supplies, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to bring your total out of pocket down. Now I want you to know as well that we are probably actually eating better as well, less processed food and more fruits and veggies.

I'll be sharing more about finances and saving money. Check back later for more details and ideas.

Blessings...

Finances-God Provides!

I'm usually good natured about finances, so long as we're living within our means. I'm always looking for ways to save money though, and do a decent job of it most of the time. We've had quite the spending spell these last few weeks though and it's driving me crazy.

It all started about two weeks ago when we bought a woodstove off of ebay for our home. We had a woodstove in our previous home and loved it and can't seem to keep this one warm enough for us in the winter. We bought a corn stove and used it the last 2 winters, but wouldn't you know they started making Ethanol and the corn prices went nutso!

We started thinking about our alternatives, and now that I'm a SAHM we decided it might benefit us to see about a woodstove again. We were given one to try from an old friend that had purchased a new one but after looking at it we realized it would be too small for us and would probably just frustrate us to no end having one that wasn't sufficiant to do the job. Hubby started looking online and found one he liked and did a quick search on ebay and wouldn't you know it ... there it was! We ended up paying about 60% ($1800) of it's retail price for it... for those of you that know woodstoves it's a Hearthstone Heritage Soapstone Stove in Brown Enamel finish. It's beautiful!!

Then we have to purchase all of the supplies to install it. We have an old chimney but will need to purchase a flexible liner and all of the pieces and parts for it (between $400-$650) to protect the chimney because of its age, and we'll need to build a hearth (that's my job... how fun!)

Wouldn't you know hubby found someone selling oak firewood and he couldn't resist. He purchased about half of what he thinks we will need for the winter from him... a good chunk of change at $270. We already have some wood we split this spring that's been aging, so hopefully between the two efforts there's enough.

You say, "Why bother?"

Well, we live in an old farmhouse that has decent insulation as far as we can tell, but it's always cool. Summer or winter the kitchen is never warm (except for the days when I can or bake a lot) and we don't use the air-conditioning except for those really humid days. No matter the heat source so far, gas-forced or corn stove, we can't keep it comfortably warm within a reasonable budget. Plus... I have to admit, we could both use the exercise that cutting wood brings.

I grew up with wood heat used primarily and always loved coming in the house in the winter after playing outside and standing next to the woodstove until I couldn't take any more heat. The direct heat is so nice. Anytime you're cold you just stand up next to it and soak up the heat. Nothing else like it.

Well, I started talking about finances and have to tell you that the one that really breaks the bank for me is the car. It's ten years old and, I know, I know, I should expect some things to need repair once and awhile, but ... The breaks started squeaking a few weeks ago and hubby got to looking into it this week thinking he could just replace the pads and maybe the rotors and be done with minimal expense. Couldn't be that easy... the rotors wouldn't come off and then he realized that a boot and the calipers needed replaced as well. He called a mechanic friend of ours and found out that it will cost us $400+ on top of the parts we've already purchased.

I have to let you in on the good in all of this. Hubby has been able to do some overtime during all of this so the good Lord provides!