Month: July 2017

Get Your Budget on Track

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It’s summertime and I don’t know about you but family vacations, weekend fun and being lazy by the pool sound so much more fun than keeping up with your budget.  However, you can quickly derail your summer memories with poor budgeting choices and overspending.  So I’m sharing with you my 4 quick tips to get your budget on track so you can enjoy the rest of these warm days.

Track Your Spending

I’ve shared the easiest way to keep track of your spending that doesn’t require anything more than an envelope and pen.  It’s so simple to know exactly how much you have left in your grocery budget before the weekend comes or how much you have remaining in your fun money.  By using an easy method to know what’s left then you won’t be scratching your head at the end of the month wondering where are your money went.

Use Cash

If you’re having trouble keeping with your budget and find yourself a little too swipe-happy then put away those cards.  Keep your debit and credit cards at home during the week and weekends.  Start using only cash for dinner out, the movies and groceries.  This will help you stay focused.  Once your cash is gone, it’s gone.  No more overspending or assuming you have $5 left in your budget for the week.   Cold hard cash won’t lie to you and make you feel better about your impulse buys.

Set Payments to Auto Draft

This is one of my favorite and it’s the most easiest ways to stay on track.  If you can set it to automatically come out of your account then do it!  Now when you’re out by the pool you won’t be worried about whether or not you mailed in your car payment.  It’s already done and it won’t be late.  I recommend setting your mortgage, car payment, insurance, utilities (if able), school loans, credit card payments, personal loans, store cards, internet, and cell phone bills to automatic payments.  Not only will you save time, but you will also save money.  If you have to mail in each of those payments listed then you would be spending close to $5 (more if you have more than one credit card, car loan, etc.) each month that isn’t even making a dent in your debt.  That’s close to $60 a year, which could be a good payment on a debt.

Do A Spending Freeze

A great way to get your budget back on track is to do a spending freeze.  It’s probably the easiest way to do a quick reboot of your budget.  It puts you and your budget into perspective because you aren’t able to do any of those impulse buys or fast food drive-thru runs.  

Need More Help?

If you’re looking for a great tool to help keep your family on budget, then check out out my budget spreadsheet.  Each month is laid out right in front of you where you can keep track of what you budget and what you actually spend. Now you’ll know in real time how you’re doing each month.

 

Cheap Summer Fun

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We have been having a ton of fun this Summer.  Lots of memories being made and since our little guy is just a year old, I’ve been taking lots and lots of pictures to share with him when he gets older.  At the beginning of Summer, J and I sat down for one of our money dates to talk about what we wanted the summer to look like.  We knew we wanted to have fun, make memories, but not go crazy overboard on our budget.  So we started planning and even made a Summer Bucket List to go off of.  We scoured around Southeast Missouri for fun activities to do as a family and we even traveled to St. Louis a few times to see J’s family.  

Grant’s Farm

Earlier in the Summer we went to Grant’s Farm, which was actually the first time I had ever been there.  I traveled to St. Louis so much as a little girl to visit my grandparents, I’ve been to the Zoo countless times and to the arch, but I had never been to Grant’s Farm.  So I had just as much fun as our little guy did wondering around.  

We ended up going later in the day, which worked out perfectly.  There were hardly any lines to see the animals or feed the baby goats and we didn’t have to fight crowds while sweating from the heat.  The best part is the price!  Grant’s Farm is actually free to get in, but you have to pay for parking and if you want to feed any of the animals.  But all of those prices were really cheap.

Petting Zoo

On a boring Saturday afternoon, J and I decided we did not want to stick at home all day.  He found a petting zoo that wasn’t too far away and totally within our summer fun budget.  So we took off.  We let our son walk around the whole time and he was just amazed by the animals.  He thought it was fun to tell the baby goats off when they came nibbling on his shorts.  The best part was a deer that just fell in love with our son and he loved him right back.

Swimming

We’re lucky that my parents have a pool and my SIL has a pool in her subdivision.  So we have been able to take our little man swimming this summer.  I had plans on getting him into some swimming lessons before summer really got started, but I missed the deadline by a few days so we’ll have to wait until next year. Being by the water is one of my favorite things to do and it was really important to me that our little guy love the water, too.  Last summer we took him to the beach twice before he was even three months old, so I wanted to keep the momentum going this year.  We even went to the beach for a few days earlier in May, which was a blast!

We bought him a highly rated life jacket to have around the pool and when we go out on the boat, but it’s definitely not his favorite.  He gets a bit of an attitude when he has it on for too long and luckily the pool we go to is never crowded so we’re able to use other rafts and rings so he can have a little bit more fun.  But I am determined to get him used to the life jacket so he will have fun when we’re on the boat.

Baby Pool in the Backyard

We threw a fishing themed first birthday for our little guy at our home, the best attraction of the whole party was this little kid pool I bought for less than $10 and filled with this fishing activity from Amazon.  Since that party, we have pulled the pool out of storage a few times and filled with water.  We let our little guy splash around and around.  The dogs even like it too.  I’m waiting to come out one day and find at least one of the dogs laying in the middle of the pool on a hot day.  I know it’s going to happen!

Walks Around the Park

For Christmas this past year my sister and brother-in-law gifted our son the coolest trike ever!  It starts as a trike I can push and steer, but as he grows it becomes his very own trike to pedal and steer.  So cool!  We like to take that with us to the walking trail.  It’s free to walk and he just loves people watching, trying to talk to other kids and just being outside.  I get some exercise in since it’s a mile lap just to get around once and we get some quality time together.  Sometimes J will come with us, but I really enjoy just having some time with just the two of us.  

Once I tried to bring one of my pups with me (we have three, but one is a little overweight) when I put our son in the stroller.  Half way around, the dog gave up on me and just laid down.  I couldn’t for the life of me get her to get up!  I tried everything… I said “let’s go home!”, “let’s go get a treat!”, everything!  And she still wouldn’t budge!  

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Swinging at the Park

There is another park in town (well 2 actually) that have pretty decent gyms to play on.  Our little man is still a bit too small to climb all the way to the top, but that doesn’t usually stop him from trying.  One of his favorite things to do at the park is just to sit and swing on my lap.  Now I’m sure if he was old enough or big enough he would prefer to do it without my help, but lucky for me he ins’t quite there yet.  The parks are only about a 5 minute drive from our house, so we try to hit them up early on the weekends before they get too busy with older kids running around.

BBQs

Another favorite of ours is to just have a BBQ in our backyard or go over to one of my parents’ houses for dinner.  BBQ is super easy to prepare and it gets us outside for a bit.  I just hate being cooped up inside on a nice, sunny day.  So I’m always looking for something fun to do.  Sometimes we mix in the baby pool while we BBQ to burn off even more energy.

What are some of your favorite activities for some cheap summer fun?

 

How To Track Your Spending – The Easy Way

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If I had a penny for every time I heard someone say “it’s too hard to track my spending” or “I don’t have time to track every purchase” then I would be a very rich lady.  Because those are just excuses.  It’s not too hard to track your spending and it doesn’t take a lot of time if you do it consistently.  Tracking your spending doesn’t even have to be rocket science.  You don’t need fancy apps on your phone or complicated Excel spreadsheets (although I do love using Google Drive as my check register).  All you need is a pen, paper and to know your budget for the specific time period.

Want to know how to track your spending? You know what it means to keep a running total right?  Well that’s basically all you’re doing.  You keep start with your beginning budget and then subtract each purchase thereafter.  Now you know at a quick glance how much you have left in your grocery budget or the eating out budget.  This makes life so much easier!  No more guessing or trying to remember.

Let’s run through an example to give you an idea of how easy this method is.

It’s the beginning of the month and you just got paid.  You have a family of four and your grocery budget is $400 for the whole month.  You get paid twice a month so you typically budget $200 for the first 2 weeks and then $200 for the rest of the month.  You take an envelope and write the month at the top then you draw a line down the middle (vertical line).  Next write $200 in the left column and $200 in the right column.  

Now each time you go to the grocery store or pharmacy you take out your envelope and write down the total.  Let’s say you ran to Aldi and spent $62.  You will subtract that amount from $200 and write down the total.  This leaves you $138 for the rest of the two weeks to spend on grocery items.  Now grocery items also include any consumable products and paper products, too – I created a video that goes all into what’s actually included in your grocery budget each month.  This $138 will last you for the rest of the budget period.  Each time you run to the store or have to pick up something at the pharmacy you can quickly glance at the envelope to see how much you have left.  

TIP: What I love about using an envelope is that you can keep your receipts tucked inside for the whole month.  If you keep your envelopes for the whole year then you can have your records for tax purposes or just have them on hand in case you need to return anything.  

If you don’t have any envelopes laying around you can always use a sheet of paper that you tuck inside your wallet.  I’ve even used the old check register that came with my box of checks to keep track of my budgets.  I used the top half of the sheet for groceries and the bottom half for eating out.  It worked really well and then I just paper clipped my receipts to it.

TIP: This method works best for everyday purchases such as groceries, eating out, or misc. type buys (haircuts, clothes shopping, fountain diet mountain dew runs, and so on).  I recommend using auto-drafts for all your other purchases – mortgage, utilities, insurance, etc. 

You’ll notice I talk about tracking groceries and eating out more than anything else, especially when it comes to tracking your spending.  These are typically the areas will most families struggle and overspend.  If you don’t eat out, like ever then you probably don’t need an “eating out” category.  One of the categories I don’t mention is gas for your car.  This one is another area you can track using the envelope method, but to me it’s hard to cut myself off once I reach my gas budget.  We typically stick to the same routes and same trips on a regular basis so I know how much to budget for each month to come out on track.  J will text me or give me a receipt whenever he buys gas so I can track it in our register and our overall budget template, but I don’t use the tracking system I talked about above for it.

That’s it.  Pretty simple right?  The main point is to just track, just write down what you’re spending so you can keep a running total.  It will help you so so so much on not overspending.

Need More Help?

If you’re looking for a great tool to help keep your family on budget, then check out out my budget spreadsheet.  Each month is laid out right in front of you where you can keep track of what you budget and what you actually spend. Now you’ll know in real time how you’re doing each month.

 

DIY Sharpie Mugs

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What do you do when you have a ridiculous early flight out and need a ride?  You bribe your sister and brother-in-law to take you to the airport.  Well technically I didn’t need to bribe them, but I still wanted to say thanks for getting up super early, driving us to the airport and still making it to work on time.  

Of course, I was trying to stick within our budget especially with our Florida vacation that we were flying out to.  I opted for a simple homemade gift.  I love homemade gifts.  I have made quite a few over the past few months.  Usually I save them for Christmas, but I’ve been known to break out my crafting skills when the occasion calls for it. 

Seriously – I have an addiction to homemade gifts.  

Here are just a few of the others I’ve made over the years.

DIY Front Door Wreath

DIY Ribbon Wreath

DIY Mother’s Day Picture Frame with handprints gift

DIY Father’s Day with Handprints gift

DIY Christmas Picture Ornaments

Let’s get back to this DIY project – making Sharpie mugs that are super easy. 

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All you need is a plain mug and a few sharpies.  The best sharpies are the oil-based Sharpies, but when you don’t have them then you make it work.  You can be as creative or be as basic as you want.  I wanted to keep the message simple – best aunt ever and best uncle ever.  

Once you have the design on your mug, just let it dry for a few hours.  I let mine dry overnight before baking.  After a few hours then you can bake it at 350 for 30 minutes.  

TIP: Put the mug in the cold oven before turning it on.  Once the oven hits 350 degrees then let it bake for 30 minutes.

These mugs should be hand washed (even if using the oil-based Sharpies) to help preserve your design.

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These mugs turned out so cute!  Totally makes up for the early flight, right?  That’s what I was thinking! What thank you gifts are your go-tos?

My Top Productivity Tips

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Mom’s let’s face it the house would fall apart without us managing it.  Right?  I love my husband and he does an amazing job when I work late or have to study or just need a break.  He can cook a great dinner, he does dishes and will even do laundry (although he’s usually too afraid since I’m super picky about my clothes).  He’s awesome.  …. But….

When it comes to knowing what we need to buy at the store, remembering the dogs’ heart worm medicine, pediatrician appointments, when to buy diapers, paying bills, and just overall management that falls to us.  Now, I’m not saying J couldn’t handle managing the house, just like you’re probably thinking your husband could do just find managing your house.  But it’s just easier if we do it.  We don’t have to explain where anything is or how we know when to pay which bill, we just do it.  

With working full-time, branding my own business, studying for the Certified Financial Planner exam, being a full-time Mom, wife and dog mom has taken some serious efficiency.  

And a few times I forget to grab the bottle of milk before heading to the daycare in the morning… oops!

Here are my top productivity tips to stay on top of every detail in your life while making it look effortless. 

Google Calendar

You need a place to organize all of those appointments, reminders and events.  My secret weapon to remembering the dogs’ heart worm pills, changing the water filter for our house, and scheduling appointments is by making an event in our Google Calendar.  You can setup your Google Calendar any way you want, I even created a whole post sharing how our family manages our calendar.  But keep it simple.  Have one calendar for you, one for your husband and one for the family.  Honestly, J probably doesn’t even use his own calendar, but it makes me feel better knowing he has one.  

The personal calendar is just for you.  What reminders do you have each week or month or even each quarter?  Go ahead and write those in and setup an automatic reminder.  In Google you can have an alert emailed to you at your specified time to remind you to do something – that’s how I remember all three dogs’ monthly medicine.  

The family calendar is for everything family or what you need your husband to know.  You can use it for out of town trips with the girls or work conferences, so your family knows you’ll be out of town.  Use it for family doctor appointments and events you need everyone to be aware of.  It’s great when your husband is trying to plan a weekend camping trip with the guys he can quickly look at his phone to see when there is a free weekend.  

No more having to re-plan or move something that’s been on the calendar for weeks. Your communication is now clear.

Google Drive

Google Drive can keep all of your important information.  You can keep your budget and check register in Drive, like my family does.  Which is great on the road because you always have access to your check register so you know exactly how much money you have in your bank account.  

The possibilities are endless with Google Drive.  Here’s how it helps my productivity:

House Projects – we keep a running list of projects we want to work on around the house.  That way if we have a free weekend or a day off work there’s no guessing of what needs to be done.  You can pull up the list and get to work.

Budgeting – I mentioned this above, but it’s my favorite reason to use Google Drive.

Blog Post Ideas – I have a folder where I keep a list of blog ideas that pop in my head.  There is nothing worse than laying in bed dreaming of the perfect new post and convincing yourself you’ll remember it in the morning … and then of course you don’t.  

Meal Planning – we keep a few meal planning recipes in our Google Drive that way when we sit down to create our newest Meal Plan for the next two weeks, we know which meals are winners and worked well for us.

Addresses – I keep an updated address book in our Google Drive for when we need to mail invitations or thank yous to family and friends. 

To-Do List

This one is more of a paper and pen idea, instead of on the computer.  But it really helps to have a giant to-do list you keep with you.  That way when something new pops into your head, you can jot it down and then stay focused on your project at  hand.  I’ve written a post on how I stay on top of it all by having a notebook with me at all times.  It works great!

Wait To Check Emails

The first thing I do in the morning is NOT check my phone.  It’s so easy to get sucked into checking emails, responding, and then heading to Facebook to scroll through everyone else’s lives.  One of the best things you can do in the morning is not check your phone first thing.  Spend some time waking up (without a screen), take a shower, drink coffee and just enjoy the morning silence.  Because we all know the quiet moment each morning doesn’t last very long when you have little ones running around.  Wait until you get the kids off to school or even when you’re at the office, which is what I do.  I always think clearer when I’m more awake and can process things faster.  Keep your productivity up by not getting pulled into the endless email pool – just wait and get ready for the day so you can be on your A game.

Here are my top productivity tips for you.  Simple, right?  But somehow we all need to be reminded of them from time-to-time.  Just keep your day focused by using your energy where you want it most.  For me that’s family, work, and my online business.  I don’t worry myself with too much of the other stuff that doesn’t mean as much.  By setting reminders, having your information at your fingertips and setting boundaries you can be productive with your time and more efficient in your day.

DIY Grandparents’ Day Gift {Personalized Oven Mitts}

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Do you know what is not easy?  Getting a toddler to hold still long enough to put paint on their hands and then take that painted hand to press on an oven mitt.  It’s just not easy!  Don’t get me wrong he loved the part of smearing his hand in the paint, but then he wanted to play with it and not cooperate.  I’m pretty sure I got more paint on me then on the oven mitt or even the plate filled with paint.  

We wanted to create a sweet Mother’s Day gift for my Mom and my Mother-in-law this year.  We were getting ready to leave on our Florida vacation the next day so I wanted something that we could easily create and something that would be easily packed in our already filled car.  

I had been scouring Pinterest for a few ideas and I just love the ones using our little guys hand and feet prints, but I have to admit it was so much easier to get a perfect stamp of his hand or foot when he was just a newborn.  Now at a year old, it’s like wrestling a really strong monkey who makes noises at you and somehow overpowers you.  

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To find these oven mitts I went to the local Big Lots to see what they had.  I had planned to go to Wal-Mart, but Big Lots is so close to our house and I like keeping things simple!  I paid $6.00 for each set, so it was a little over $12.00 with tax.  Next, I dug in my craft bin (which is actually a old tool box) for some green paint and some fabric paint to finish them up.  

These DIY oven mitts were so simple and so easy (minus the toddler making messes).  I made them for Mother’s Day, but you could even make them for Grandparents’ Day or even as a sweet Christmas gift. I just love making homemade gifts – nothing says I love you like taking some time out of your busy schedule to make something.  Now don’t get me wrong, I am not super crafty and I am not a perfectionist, which means a lot of my gifts don’t turn out the cutest.  Once our little guy is a bit older I can pawn off the workmanship on him so there will be a good reason as to why the paint is smeared or the something is misspelled.  

Here’s some of my other easy and budget friendly DIY projects:

DIY Sharpie Mugs

DIY Front Door Vine Wreath

DIY Ribbon Wreath

DIY Christmas Photo Ornaments

DIY Father’s Day Gift with Handprints

DIY Mother’s Day or Birthday Gift with Pictures and Handprints

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Funny story – this past Christmas I made a super sweet wall hanging for my Mother In Law.  I took our little guy’s footprints around this nice poem I had typed.  I then framed everything together in this beautiful frame.  After we gave the gift, they were passing it around reading the poem and looking at it.  Someone in the family noticed the poem was about Grandchild’s Hand and the hope for the future…. But I had stamped our son’s FOOTPRINTS on the paper.  What?!?! I don’t even know what I was thinking!  

I remember trying to get his handprint while J held him and he just kept fighting me.  Each attempt was worse than the one before.  The print was smeared or I didn’t get a whole print.  So after what felt like a thousand attempts, I just did his feet.  But it never occurred to me I needed to change the poem!  UGH!

Oh well.  Now I just had to change the poem (which I still haven’t done yet) and the gift will be just fine.  

Keto Recipe – Parmesan Peas

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What is the Ketogenic Diet?

Have you heard of it before?  I hadn’t until about March when one of my favorite podcasters started talking about all of these health findings.  She was talking with doctors and experts on the affect our diet was having on our bodies, our brains and our overall health.  Something clicked because I needed to know more.  I had to know more and I was willing to give it a try.

I was tired of being tired.  It was exhausting feeling sick all of the time.  I know some of it was working full time, trying to build my brand and having a toddler to take care of, but it just felt more than that.  I looked around and was so unhappy about my body, my diet and my activity level.  I knew I needed to change.  Once I heard about the keto diet, I decided I needed to research it.

Because, though I love Chalene Johnson and trust what she says and her experts, I needed more.  I needed my own research.  Maybe it’s the financial specialist inside of me, but researching something just makes me feel better before starting.  So here are some interesting bits about the ketogenic diet:

disclaimer:  I am not a doctor so this is just from my research and my opinions.  Before starting any diet, you should talk to your doctor.

Keto is short for ketosis.  Normally, your body burns carbs and sugars (known as glucose) for energy; however, in a ketogenic state your body burns fat (ketones) for energy.  The ketogenic diet eliminates glucose from the body and causes it to burn its own fat.  A benefit can be rapid weight loss, even when consuming enough calories during the day.  

I’m not going to lie the rapid weight loss part caught my attention first.  Because when you’re overweight and tired of being heavy then that will always stand out.  Now once I heard that benefit I kept reading and researching to discover more.

Let’s talk more benefits of the ketogenic diet.

It can help prevent cancer cells and may even kill cancer cells.

It typically does not raise cholesterol and may actually reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors, especially in those who are obese.

It has been used to treat and even help reverse cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer’s symptoms.

It can be beneficial for those with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetics wishing to reverse their condition.  When I went to the doctor in early March I was prescribed metformin which is a diabetic medicine.  It was a huge eye-opener for me.  That’s what started me on this crusade to change my health without medicines.

I had tried so many different diets over the years, they would work at the time, but one slip and it was a downward spiral for me.  One of the programs that worked the best for me was Weight Watchers.  I joined in college and lost quite a bit of weight in just over a year.  I am a huge fan of Weight Watchers and love what their program offers. I even worked as a leader for a few years in college after I lost close to 60 pounds. But now things are a bit different in our house. We’re really working on paying down debt, cutting our spending and sticking with our budget. So an extra monthly expense (even if for health) wasn’t an option.

That’s why I’m so glad I found the keto diet.  Because I just made simple changes at home and saw results.  Not just weight loss (though I did lose about 15 pounds in the first 4 weeks, which I met with my doctor to make sure all was okay), but my headaches were gone and I could focus so much easier while at work.  It was this weird mental clarity that hit me and I liked it.  Work became easier, having a million things to juggle because simple and I was sleeping so good at night!  

Let’s be honest, it can be scary when you tell someone you eat low carb, high fat foods.  I strive to be about 5-10% carbs, 70% fats, and 20-25% protein on most days. Some days are better than others. When I want ice cream or a cupcake at a party then that’s what I’m going to have, it’s no more of this all or nothing mentality.  I now know what works for my body and what foods make me feel no so good. 

I’ve gotten pretty creative with our dinners and lunches, too.  I love simple recipes and especially since it’s Summer I love having J grill most of our food.  Now for side dishes you can keep it simple.  I created this three-ingredient keto friendly recipe in under 5 minutes.  

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These Parmesan peas were amazing.  You can use fresh or frozen peas, which ever you have on hand.  You can even use fresh or bagged Parmesan cheese, too.  

[yumprint-recipe id=’10’]Source

Dear Son (What I Want You To Know)

dear son, what i want you to know

Dear Son,

Dad and I are trying are best, but we don’t know everything.

I want to give you the world, but it’s fine line of learning to be independent and just taking care of you.

I love how big you are getting, but I miss my snuggly newborn some days.

I love that you sleep (most nights) through the night, but it doesn’t mean I don’t check on you at least 20 times a night.

Every day you learn something new and amaze me with your energy.

You make my soul, my heart and my brain smile. I love you more than any words can describe.

I want what is best for you, but I understand that I have to let you fall sometimes.

When I get upset or stressed, please know it will pass.

The nights you need a little extra time being rocked to sleep are my favorite.

I now understand how my mom felt when she tried to shower, put on her makeup or pee with an audience.

You’re curiosity amazes me.

You are loved more than you will ever realize.

I want you to know it’s okay to be yourself and not care what anyone thinks of you.

You can do anything you dream of. I will support whatever your choices are.

You’re lack of fear inspires me to let go of my own inhibitions. 

Know that your dad and I will always stand behind you. You have our full support – always.

How to Budget Your Money and Save – Which Budget Strategy You Should Follow

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Friends!  Welcome today is going to be such a good post.  I have been so excited to share this revelation with you for awhile, but I wanted to make sure it was perfect because it’s a lot.  It’s going to be a lot to take in and I wanted to make sure I could answer all of your questions.  Today I want to share with you how to budget your money and save with three different budgeting techniques you can use to…

Get out of debt

Stop fighting with your spouse

Afford anything you want

Pretty bold statements, but you need a foundation and this is going to help you build it.  I promise.  

If you want quick and to the point then check out the video below, but I would recommend watching the video and then coming back to read this post.  I’m going to go into so much detail and I don’t want you to miss it.

There are three budgeting techniques that I’ve used, that I’ve recommended and that I’ve taught families to follow.  Every family is so different and you need to find what is going to work for you.  So by learning all three of these budgeting strategies you can now make an informed decision on which one you should be following.

Now before I get started I want to make an assumption – if you can set a bill to auto pay then you already have done it.  Most bills like utilities, car payments, credit card payments, insurance, cell phone, etc. can be made automatically each month.  You setup a recurring payment and forget about it.  So I highly recommend getting those auto drafts setup first before continuing.

I’ll wait…

Got it?  Good.  Let’s keep going.  The first technique is the…

Cash Budget

It is just as it sounds.  You spend cash and only cash.  Each week or every two weeks you go to the bank withdraw cash for groceries, gas for your cars, eating out and miscellaneous.  You spend what you have.  Nothing more.  

If you run out of cash in your grocery budget then you have two options: 1) put the item back and make do or 2) borrow from one of your other funds.  

Now if you choose to borrow from your other funds then you need to make sure you aren’t going to run out of gas on the side of the road one morning.  You’re going to have to think ahead and plan so that it’s okay if you take money from another category.

Who should following the cash budget?

Anyone struggling with overspending.  Leave your credit card and debit card at home (unless traveling).  You only take your wallet with you to spend cash.  I purchased this wallet from a shop on Etsy a few years back and it is great.  I talk about getting started with cash budget, so feel free to read it.

The Envelope Budget System

The next budget strategy can be combined with cash or with using your debit cards.  You keep a running total of what you spent in each category.  You can do this on a piece of paper you carry, a check register or an envelope.  I prefer the envelope because if I am using a combination of cash and debit card then I can carry my cash with me.  I also recommend holding onto your receipts in the envelopes, too.  

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Here’s how it works:

If you have a family of four then you should be spending roughly $400 a month on groceries (that’s $100 per person per month – no matter if you have a newborn or teenager).  If there are 4 weeks in the month then that would be $100 per week on groceries (please note you will have to adjust your weekly budget for those longer months).  You divide your envelope into four sections, one for each week.  You start with $100 at the top of each section and each purchase gets deducted.  You can see more detail in the video above.  

Again if you overspend on your groceries then you will have to borrow from another category.  You will list that loan or transfer on your envelope.  So for instance you have $40 left in your grocery budget this week.  What you need will cost about $45.  So you decide to borrow from your eating out budget this week.  You write down $40 on grocery envelope so your new balance is $0 then you go over to your eating out envelope and subtract $5 from your total.  Simple.

Who is the envelope budget system for?

Those of you that have mastered your impulse shopping and can now be trusted to use a debit card or credit card again.  If you are savvy with your money and are no longer worried about overspending then you can utilize your credit card to earn reward points.  

Bonus Tip: Use your reward points on Christmas shopping!

The final budget technique is the flexible debit card spending.

This system is for those of you that dislike carrying cash around.  The ones that are tired of going to the bank, but have self-control over your spending.  I’ve detailed what this looks like in another video and a previous post.  But here’s the basics:

You have multiple checking accounts – one for groceries, one for gas, one for eating out.  Each payday you transfer money into those separate accounts.  You use the category specific card when your grocery shopping or dining out.  You have to be mindful of the balance because you do not want to overdraft or hear those awful words “Sorry, your card was declined.”

Who is the flexible debit card spending for?

Those of you that have mastered your budget.  Those that can really keep up on how much money you have in your accounts and how much money you have left to spend.  I created this system a few months ago after waiting for what seemed forever at the local bank.  I was tired of waiting in line, tired of sorting cash for the next few weeks and my bank does not have any account fees.

You can combine the flexible debit card spending method with the envelope method.  You have separate accounts, but keep track of your spending on the envelope.  It can work beautifully! 

There you have it – the three budgeting techniques to help you pay down debt and afford anything you want.  When you put these practices in place you can start seeing where your money is going.  You can start working hard to pay down debt because you’re now sticking with a budget you set for yourself.  Now you can start saving for anything you want – on any income.  All you have to do is find a budget system that will work for your family and stick with it.  I like call new strategies the pilot program and follow them for at least 4-6 weeks.  That way you can find out what works and solve any kinks that come up.  

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If you’re looking for a great tool to help keep your family on budget, then check out out my budget spreadsheet.  Each month is laid out right in front of you where you can keep track of what you budget and what you actually spend. Now you’ll know in real time how you’re doing each month.

31 While 31 {My Birthday Goals}

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Around my birthday each year I create a new list of birthday goals.  

I’m super creative and I use my age to determine the number of tasks on my to-do list (I know, I know… I’m a genius!).  I’ve been doing this list for years now and I am not always successful at accomplishing each of my goals, but it gives me something to strive for.  Something to work towards in the new year and I feel that with age comes wisdom.  Wisdom to say no to things I no longer want to do or want to spend my time on and the wisdom to take more chances.  Yes, wisdom to take chances.  It may sound backwards, but it’s true.  With age comes the ability to stop caring what other people thing and be my true, authentic self.  If you like me, great!  If you don’t then that’s okay, too.  

Here are my birthday goals, the 31 things that I want to accomplish during my 31st year.

  1. have more fun
  2. take more risks
  3. finally step out of the hustle mindset
  4. take more picture
  5. don’t be afraid to live in the moment 
  6. work out more
  7. be outside more
  8. enjoy the lake
  9. take trips with my little family
  10. cuddle with my little boy
  11. bake more
  12. cook dinner at home
  13. start taking my lunch to work with me
  14. don’t be afraid to be on video
  15. reach out to other bloggers to partner with them
  16. finish my budget program
  17. continue to pay down debt
  18. start saving for our son’s college
  19. finish landscaping the yard
  20. become more patient with others
  21. slow down
  22. donate my time to a good cause
  23. create an editorial calendar for posts and emails to my VIPs
  24. earn my CFP® designation
  25. start my accounting degree
  26. finish our little guy’s baby book for his first year (I haven’t even started this one yet… oops!)
  27. start contributing to other budgeting sites more
  28. travel more
  29. put my family first
  30. be there for my friends
  31. teach my son to be the best man possible

There you have it!  My list of 31 things to do while I’m 31.  As I’ve gotten older and (ahem!) wiser, I’ve started scaling back my goals and making them more holistic and approachable.  No more specific tasks to try to achieve.  I want to work on who I am as a person and grow to become the person God wants me to be.  So I will stop and listen more instead of pushing.

If you want to see how my birthday goals have changed then check out my lists from 27, 28, 29 and 30!