I had posted earlier that I have been pretty depressed about the economy, and some of you talked about your personal economy. You inspired me. You are right. I can't control what's going on out there, but that doesn't mean I am powerless.
So, I am attempting to reclaim some power in our personal household economy.
-I have capped the amount of money we are allowed to spend each week on everything: groceries, gas, formula, incidentals. If we stay at or under the target, we will have more to put in savings every pay check.
We hit the target on week one, and it looks as though we will hit it again. We have had some incidentals, so it looks as though this budget will work.
-I reordered the bill due dates so that similar dollar amounts of bills are due during each pay period. This is only for budgeting. all of our monthly obligations used to come out of one check. This simple move showed me how much we really have left over each week.
-I am trying harder to save money and track spending. The coupon folder is back in my purse.
I am once again looking at grocery sale fliers.
I'm buying as many groceries as possible at Aldi again.
I'm only buying what's absolutely necessary on every trip.
I'm trying to combine trips to save gas.
I'm trying to cook as much as possible at home to save on take-out.
And, I'm trying to do house projects I already have the supplies for, rather than start anything new.
This hopefully will have a positive impact on our finances. Regardless, I feel more in control, which makes me happier.
improving "personal" economy
September 27th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
September 27th, 2010 at 11:28 pm 1285626480
September 28th, 2010 at 01:00 am 1285632005
September 28th, 2010 at 05:26 am 1285647963
I think I will borrow your weekly spending caps idea. We are having a bit of a deficit problem in Checkbook Number 1. . .
September 28th, 2010 at 11:43 am 1285670635
Probably why I have enough saved so my job loss 2 months ago is not really hurting me. Just a bit more careful.
September 28th, 2010 at 01:41 pm 1285677675
I too am under the pressure of the big economy. But regardless of the storm, we can still choose to swim or drown.
I choose to swim.
September 28th, 2010 at 02:52 pm 1285681935
September 28th, 2010 at 03:46 pm 1285685203
Marv: We have used caps in the past, to great success. We just kind of lost sight of it with the children and all of the repairs the house needed. Plus, we both have freelance jobs in addition to one full-time salary. Our budget was based on that, but our freelance income has dropped by 2/3 thanks to the recession, and we had yet to adjust for that. I guess we'd hoped it was temporary.
We haven't gone into debt or anything, we just haven't been doing as well as we could be on saving. And, we certainly have not done as well in the past. I am trying to adjust for our decrease in income by cutting even more on the spending side.
And, with the economy as uncertain as it is, I think it's best to save as much as possible every pay check.