Monday, August 16, 2010

Becoming Frugal!

Brandon and I have never been that great with money. Neither of us. That's a BAD combination! Neither of us are savers. We're both spenders. But, with a baby on the way (even if it will be 2-3 years), it's time to change all of that! There are so many things that need to be done around the house, and I'm tired of wasting all of our money on eating out and random expenses. I'm tired of asking," Where did the money go?" So, here are few goals I've got for us to work toward. These are in no particular order.

1. Paying off debt, including a set of mattresses and the $3,000 we're about to rack up during our home visit.

2. Cutting out the eating out. We eat out 2+ times a week, and it's eating us alive! No pun intended.

3. Take Dave Ramsey's FPU classes online when we get the money. (Am I the only one that finds it ironic that it costs over $100 to take classes online that are supposed to help you STOP spending money?)

4. Get back into couponing! I keep getting off track because of the time it takes to do it.

5. Brandon's looking for a part time job.

6. Babysitting on evenings and weekends. Need a babysitter?

7. Create a complete budget and STICK TO IT!

8. No more buying crafting supplies unless it's budgeted :( That's a hard one.

9. Cook more. I've been making a long list of quick and easy meals that I can cook during the week. I'm also looking for recipes that I can make 2-3x of and freeze for later, or use leftovers for lunches. That's hard for me. By the time I get home, I rarely feel like cooking. So, I'm hoping that a long list of ideas that I can rotate will be helpful.

10. Emergency fund. We had one. We spent it. (Stupid, stupid, stupid.) That happened last winter when our electric bill shot up to over $300 for 3 months straight, and then I had a wreck and had to buy a new car. Bye-bye savings. It's time to meet again.

Tips? Advice? Donations? (Kidding! About the donations, anyway!)

1 comment:

Kelly Jo said...

If you aren't big on cooking (I totally understand being tired when you get home from working all day!) Start with the "Skillet Creations" or Bertoli frozen meals. They take 30 minutes in a skillet and you don't even have to add meat or anything. Plus they're really good. Also invest in a crock pot. There are really good recipes on allrecipes.com or Banquet makes Crock Pot meals also. Just dump it into the pot in the morning, add water, turn it on (I've actually forgotten to do that!) and viola- you have a great hot meal. Oh, bit of advice....kitties like to play with strings (or power cords) so make sure the pot sits close to the wall, lest your cats be as mischevious as mine. (They've only unplugged it once)