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Thursday 13 October 2011

Budgeting....the dreaded B word.


The word, budget has always been a tricky one around my household.  I tend to be more of an over-spender and my husband tends to be more of an under-spender.  Makes for a lot of interesting conversations:)

Over the years we have worked hard to come up with a budget that works for us and brings us to a place of balance, a place that we BOTH feel great about!  If you knew how strong minded my husband and I are, you would know that this is no small task!

Part of the challenge for us is that we live on one income.  We have chosen for me to be a stay at home mom for this season of life and I love it - but it requires discipline and sometimes sacrifice where budgeting is concerned.

These days, there are a few small things that have saved me/us a bunch of money.  In the hopes that it might benefit you, I'll share them:

1.  Making my own coffee at home.   It's so much fun to stop at Starbucks on my way out to run errands, but those latte's add up quickly.  Like, really quickly.  Instead, I'm making my own coffee and treat myself to a Caramel Macchiato only when I'm meeting a friend for a coffee date:

2.  Sharing clothes.  I am blessed to have friends that pass clothes down to my girls and I love to do the same for others.  Even my sisters and I have been known to swap clothes from time to time!  For Hallowe'en this year, I have managed to borrow 2 out of the 3 kids costumes that I need, which is saving me a bunch of money.  For the third, I think I am going to check out Value Village :)

3.  Borrowing Books.  I love to read and I love to buy books.  The thing is, books add up.  These days I am trying to borrow books from friends or from the library as much as possible.  At my local library, if you are looking for a book and they don't carry it, you can fill out a request form and they will consider ordering if.  If they do, you get first dibs at reading it.  Pretty cool!


Lately, I have been using this budget and love it.  Totally worth checking out.

How about you?  Do you find it a challenge to live within your budget?  Any advice you can share with me?

1 comment:

Lauren said...

I have just started borrowing books from the library the past year or so - its amazing! especially since you don't have to worry if its gonna be a good book and worth your money.