Well, here I go. Offically. No turning back now.
Goals:
Short term – Lower our food bill. We spend a ridiculous amt of $$ on food for a family of only 2 ˝ people. I think last month we spent around $750 including eating in and out and I think some months it has been more. CRAZY!!! I tried coupons for a month but didn’t save enough to cover the cost of the papers every week. There were 2 weeks where there were no coupons that we would use. If I could get the Sunday coupons somewhere for free then it would be worth it.
Mid range goal – Lower our debts and save enough $$ to allow me to take a lesser paying job. One that has a better schedule and is more family friendly.
Long-term goal – save for DS college and retire early (I am 34 and DH is 35)
We are not doing well this month. I set up a budget at the beginning of June and last night I tracked all of our spending so far. We're overspent in gas and food for the first 2 weeks. On top of that DH's paycheck is less b/c we forgot that his stipend for lead instructor ends at the end of the semester. It will pick back up again in August. So the class he is teaching this summer will not be 'extra' it will just replace the stipend. Sigh.
My biggest problem (besides debt and our extravagant food spending) is to get DH on board. I have been trying to prepare him for this but he just isn't willing to make any sacrifices. He SAYS he understands and wants to keep to a budget but in practice doesn't want to be inconvenienced. He has grown up privileged and isn't used to cutting back. This may be an uphill battle. I need to get him to focus on the big picture so he can see that what we're doing is leading us to a better future.
One small victory. We are going to Nashville this weekend to meet up with the inlaws. Upside is they will pay for almost everything. Downside is there still will be some unplanned expenses. Like the gas it will take to get there. John wanted to take the truck and I said it would be much less expensive to drive the Civic. He complained b/c it's not as comfortable for a 3 hr drive (he is 6 feet tall). He finally relented and we will be taking the Civic. We got $100 for our anniversary. I saved that check and cashed it so we have some $$ on this trip. Hopefully we can keep our spending to a minimum.
Starting over
June 15th, 2006 at 07:48 pm
June 15th, 2006 at 09:09 pm 1150405747
June 15th, 2006 at 10:31 pm 1150410699
June 16th, 2006 at 10:01 pm 1150495296
June 18th, 2006 at 07:35 am 1150616111
June 20th, 2006 at 11:06 pm 1150844772
I agree with MJRUBE on the line item budget. And, try to be reasonable with yourself. It's easiest to blame budgets on groceries, but make sure your budget is practical and livable. Start by not saying what you SHOULD spend, but look at what you actually spend and then at what you can actually cut. $200 a week on food is high. SAYING it should be $50 is probably not going to get you there. SAYING you need to drive "less" won't get the gas bill down. Be specific...if we only buy two packs of soda instead of three each week we will save xxx...if we drive ONCE to the store instead of four times, it will save xxx...