I find myself repeating the same sentence each week, and it is hard to feel like this over and over again. "We only have this much money until the next payday" Brian is becoming discouraged by this reality each and every week, and I feel that way to. We have made small progress and I am happy to report that we have paid off three smaller debts (beef purchase last fall, credit card, and one of many hospital bills) so I am very happy about that. Once I did summarized the month of July and told Brian, he felt a little better about our situation. I tried to stick to the budget as much as possible, however the first two weeks the kids were back in school tensions were high. We survived though!
Our July goals were met:
1.) We met our income goal.
2.) We aimed to pay off those exact bills and we did
3.) I didn't guilt myself into blowing the budget for back to school stuff.
I think it's important to record your goals in the beginning of each month so that you have a written plan. Let everyone know what those goals are each month, encourage them to help save money any way possible to reach those goals together. I do our goals by myself still. I tell Brian the plan after I come up with it. Then at the end of the month I give Brian the report. He seems to be okay with this way of doing things, but I think he is in a constant state of disgust about how little extra money we have to do things we want to do. Maybe in the future he will partake in the budget planning with me. I think he is enjoying a little break form all the stress that goes along with our finances, I can't say I blame him.
Right now I would say we are still in the survival mode. Money is there but very, very tight. Money in the savings account, but not as much as we should have. We are tired of working six and seven days a week and still feel like we have no money. This is the sad and pathetic reality of being a slave to the lender, this is why debt id dumb and cash is king. We are reaping what we have sown. We refuse to give up though, we are pushing through the frustration.
Friday, August 21, 2015
Pushing Through Frustration
I can not prepare you enough for the amount of frustration that will come during unexpected "budget parasites"...... There will be months/weeks depending on how you prepare for your budget when things will appear out of no where. These are the "parasites" that will try to destroy your budget, make you swear, make you cry, or partake in other bad behaviors.... Hang in there and push through the frustration.
This week school starts back (Thank God!) but with that comes the annual school shopping trips. This is one area that Brian and I haven't prepared for in the past. Before this journey we didn't live on a budget. So to put things in perspective we would buy their stuff when we got paid, which also meant we would use bill money to buy stuff... This means bills didn't get paid on time, late fees, disconnect letters, phone messages from creditors and so you get the picture here. THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO THINGS!!!!!! This month I didn't budget for school supplies because in the years past our kids didn't require many items for school. I have received one list of supplies, but now we are dealing with college supplies for the oldest. I could scream right now....... but I won't I will push through this frustration. Being prepared is the only way to win little battles like these. Failing to prepare= preparing to fail.
We do have a school expense envelop, however because we were so behind on our bills we haven't filled them yet. We were planning on doing that this month. So I will have to get creative with the money, I am picking up two extra, extra shifts to help too. Another month of "budget parasites" again. When these things happen to you, and they will, just remember that it takes several months of budgeting to get it right. We have money in our emergency fund, however back to school supplies are not an emergency.
When it comes to back to school clothes, don't fall victim to societies claims of all things new!!!! Your children have been wearing clothes, and shoes all summer, Do they really need a new wardrobe to go sit and play at school???? I don't think so. Be smart, don't think because everyone else is buying their kids new things that you are a crappy parent when you don't. You are protecting your family by being wise with your money.
Tips for back to school
This week school starts back (Thank God!) but with that comes the annual school shopping trips. This is one area that Brian and I haven't prepared for in the past. Before this journey we didn't live on a budget. So to put things in perspective we would buy their stuff when we got paid, which also meant we would use bill money to buy stuff... This means bills didn't get paid on time, late fees, disconnect letters, phone messages from creditors and so you get the picture here. THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO THINGS!!!!!! This month I didn't budget for school supplies because in the years past our kids didn't require many items for school. I have received one list of supplies, but now we are dealing with college supplies for the oldest. I could scream right now....... but I won't I will push through this frustration. Being prepared is the only way to win little battles like these. Failing to prepare= preparing to fail.
We do have a school expense envelop, however because we were so behind on our bills we haven't filled them yet. We were planning on doing that this month. So I will have to get creative with the money, I am picking up two extra, extra shifts to help too. Another month of "budget parasites" again. When these things happen to you, and they will, just remember that it takes several months of budgeting to get it right. We have money in our emergency fund, however back to school supplies are not an emergency.
When it comes to back to school clothes, don't fall victim to societies claims of all things new!!!! Your children have been wearing clothes, and shoes all summer, Do they really need a new wardrobe to go sit and play at school???? I don't think so. Be smart, don't think because everyone else is buying their kids new things that you are a crappy parent when you don't. You are protecting your family by being wise with your money.
Tips for back to school
- New clothes are not needed 99% of the time
- Reuse back packs if possible
- Let the kids help pick out school supplies, but let them choose budget friendly items.
- Purchase off brand items if possible, and use price matching at stores. This will help get the best bang for your buck while most stores are having back to school sales.
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