My grandparents' wisdom was a variation on the list above: Buy the most durable items you can afford, invest the time and money to maintain them but skip the fads, "bells & whistles" & don't buy more than you need. This applied to everything from apparel & appliances to tools. As for needs vs wants, a sale of $20 off a $100 item you don't need is not a 20% savings, it is an unnecessary $80 cost. Don't buy what you might need, only what you know you do need. Something you might need in the future is only a want right now.
I definitely keep a budget. I've been doing so since my first year out of college as an ensign in the Navy. Same spreadsheet and everything. It's been a lifesaver for my family and assigning a category for every dollar helps me to see where it all goes.
As a letter carrier a drone might be able to deliver the 50 packages a day I deliver from Amazon, although some of them weigh 70 pounds and I don't see drones flying them... but are they going to deliver the 4,000 + letters and magazines sms junk mail to the 700 separate mailboxes on my route?
Yes and no. We keep a close look at our finances everyday, know what all of our expenses are, and are aggressively paying off debt, but we don't follow a written down budget every month.
Barter goods and services. Be entrepreneurial. One grandpa would go from store to store in his town, pick up a broom and sweep the place spotless, even if they could only give him an apple, he'd take it. My grandmom was a grocer's daughter, she would take orders, buy a whole cow and butcher it. She'd keep the organ meats for her family and make a bit of profit. Buy less. It wasn't uncommon to have only one pair of shoes and only a few outfits. Share tools. Help your neighbor out. That same grandpa gave his only winter coat to a man who was homeless. Forage. An older friend said she and her mom would pick wild strawberries for a meal.
Yes we do try to keep a budget for bills, insurance and savings. Some times things fall through, like if I don't have all the groceries on hand to make a recipe or running behind on errands so sometimes I will stop and get something to eat always using coupons.
Thank you Sarah! For a fact there are things we tried that we NEVER would have if we were more flush and had less time. Gardening, canning, composting, quilt making, yard saling with an agenda, building a tree fort from salvaged lumber, cutting hair, mending clothes, refinishing furniture, trying ethnic recipes, sewing costumes, foraging, country winemaking (for gifts), birdwatching. The local library became our friend. We didn't have tons of electronics. The kids became readers and thinkers. Our youngest put it this way, "It's good we were poor, it taught us to be more creative". Indeed!
I recently read something, through this blog, that talked about focusing on what you have versus what you don't. This can include standing in the checkout lane with children clamoring for candy, etc. But helping myself and my children to remember things we have can help perspective.
Hey I used some mineral oil to bring out the brick color on my fireplace hearth. I mixed
a 50/50 ratio and it came out fabulous. I also put some mineral oil on my scalp for a breakout of psoriasis and it seemed to work ok.
I have worked as a financial planner for the last 13 years, and in that time I have recommended having a family budget to many, many families. I would estimate the take-up rate has been about 1%. Even among people who self-identify as having troubles with spending and saving. I find that sad.
For myself, I use Quicken to set a budget and to track my spending to be sure it is aligned with my expectations. To make it easier, my wife and I have an "allowance" that we take each week, in cash. That way I don't have to spend time tracking every transaction. We both know that once the cash is gone, there is no more until the next week.
The hardest part is getting started. It was hard at first to stay with it, but I've now been managing my money this way for several years and at this point I wouldn't dream of letting it go. It has vastly improved our spending habits and I love looking back to see how far we have come!
I religiously budget. With the tools out there like YNAB budgeting is a breeze and you never really know how much money you waste until you track every penny.
Our written budget had been a life saver. It's allowed us to cover all regular expenses, and encouraged us to save more as we see the balances grow. The hardest part was getting it to accurately reflect our actual expenses. We started by tracking every penny for a month, and had to add on big stuff like buying a car. It was well worth it thugh. Now it's almost automatic from year to year.
Joint finances, for us at least, forced us to talk about everything. Since we are opposites, (I'm the save for a rainy day tightwad, he's the enjoy life now spender), we've had to accommodate and learn from each other. He implemented the personal "mad money" accounts and I got him to coupon, yard sale, and look for discounts. More than once I've thanked him for insisting we have a little personal blow money. It's been an oasis of sanity during some particularly squeaky tight times.
I've tried - I bought the old You Need A Budget software at half price ($30) but never was able to stick to it - not sure if it was just the zero balancing thing or what. Might try again with Mint. I pay myself first (money taken from paycheck and directed to a savings account that I have no debit card for) so I've been able to accumulate savings, but I wish I could budget better.
I was wondering, can a landlord ask for references? Or the name of their current or former landlord? Or their current employer? My sister has been burned several times by people trashing her rental before they stopped paying rent and were evicted.
I have a budget and keep track of spending. If there is a large purchase we need to make, (like the new water heater going in this Thursday), then I have to allow for that in our budget. I will charge it to a credit card with % back and pay it in full to use the purchase wisely.
I don't have one currently. I know I need to do one. And I plan on tackling that very soon.
My grandparents' wisdom was a variation on the list above: Buy the most durable items you can afford, invest the time and money to maintain them but skip the fads, "bells & whistles" & don't buy more than you need. This applied to everything from apparel & appliances to tools. As for needs vs wants, a sale of $20 off a $100 item you don't need is not a 20% savings, it is an unnecessary $80 cost. Don't buy what you might need, only what you know you do need. Something you might need in the future is only a want right now.
I don't really have a written budget but I do mentally keep track and if I spend a little too much one month I will cut back the next month.
I definitely keep a budget. I've been doing so since my first year out of college as an ensign in the Navy. Same spreadsheet and everything. It's been a lifesaver for my family and assigning a category for every dollar helps me to see where it all goes.
Yes, I have a basic monthly budget that I keep on excel and update regularly.
As a letter carrier a drone might be able to deliver the 50 packages a day I deliver from Amazon, although some of them weigh 70 pounds and I don't see drones flying them... but are they going to deliver the 4,000 + letters and magazines sms junk mail to the 700 separate mailboxes on my route?
Yes and no. We keep a close look at our finances everyday, know what all of our expenses are, and are aggressively paying off debt, but we don't follow a written down budget every month.
Barter goods and services. Be entrepreneurial. One grandpa would go from store to store in his town, pick up a broom and sweep the place spotless, even if they could only give him an apple, he'd take it. My grandmom was a grocer's daughter, she would take orders, buy a whole cow and butcher it. She'd keep the organ meats for her family and make a bit of profit. Buy less. It wasn't uncommon to have only one pair of shoes and only a few outfits. Share tools. Help your neighbor out. That same grandpa gave his only winter coat to a man who was homeless. Forage. An older friend said she and her mom would pick wild strawberries for a meal.
Yes we do try to keep a budget for bills, insurance and savings. Some times things fall through, like if I don't have all the groceries on hand to make a recipe or running behind on errands so sometimes I will stop and get something to eat always using coupons.
Yes. It's more "what happened" than "this is the spending limit," though. We've found it helpful for making decisions and long-term planning.
Thank you Sarah! For a fact there are things we tried that we NEVER would have if we were more flush and had less time. Gardening, canning, composting, quilt making, yard saling with an agenda, building a tree fort from salvaged lumber, cutting hair, mending clothes, refinishing furniture, trying ethnic recipes, sewing costumes, foraging, country winemaking (for gifts), birdwatching. The local library became our friend. We didn't have tons of electronics. The kids became readers and thinkers. Our youngest put it this way, "It's good we were poor, it taught us to be more creative". Indeed!
I recently read something, through this blog, that talked about focusing on what you have versus what you don't. This can include standing in the checkout lane with children clamoring for candy, etc. But helping myself and my children to remember things we have can help perspective.
Hey I used some mineral oil to bring out the brick color on my fireplace hearth. I mixed
a 50/50 ratio and it came out fabulous. I also put some mineral oil on my scalp for a breakout of psoriasis and it seemed to work ok.
i don't have a budget. I just keep an close eye on my spending.
I live in AUSTRALIA and was invited to get a Debit card from NetSpend and to apply for a scholarship with NetSpend Foundation.
I don't know where they got their mailing list!
I have worked as a financial planner for the last 13 years, and in that time I have recommended having a family budget to many, many families. I would estimate the take-up rate has been about 1%. Even among people who self-identify as having troubles with spending and saving. I find that sad.
For myself, I use Quicken to set a budget and to track my spending to be sure it is aligned with my expectations. To make it easier, my wife and I have an "allowance" that we take each week, in cash. That way I don't have to spend time tracking every transaction. We both know that once the cash is gone, there is no more until the next week.
The hardest part is getting started. It was hard at first to stay with it, but I've now been managing my money this way for several years and at this point I wouldn't dream of letting it go. It has vastly improved our spending habits and I love looking back to see how far we have come!
I religiously budget. With the tools out there like YNAB budgeting is a breeze and you never really know how much money you waste until you track every penny.
hi, I have a red swollen nose, rash also on belly and back. Will witch hazel help?
Our written budget had been a life saver. It's allowed us to cover all regular expenses, and encouraged us to save more as we see the balances grow. The hardest part was getting it to accurately reflect our actual expenses. We started by tracking every penny for a month, and had to add on big stuff like buying a car. It was well worth it thugh. Now it's almost automatic from year to year.
Joint finances, for us at least, forced us to talk about everything. Since we are opposites, (I'm the save for a rainy day tightwad, he's the enjoy life now spender), we've had to accommodate and learn from each other. He implemented the personal "mad money" accounts and I got him to coupon, yard sale, and look for discounts. More than once I've thanked him for insisting we have a little personal blow money. It's been an oasis of sanity during some particularly squeaky tight times.
I've tried - I bought the old You Need A Budget software at half price ($30) but never was able to stick to it - not sure if it was just the zero balancing thing or what. Might try again with Mint. I pay myself first (money taken from paycheck and directed to a savings account that I have no debit card for) so I've been able to accumulate savings, but I wish I could budget better.
I was wondering, can a landlord ask for references? Or the name of their current or former landlord? Or their current employer? My sister has been burned several times by people trashing her rental before they stopped paying rent and were evicted.
Yes, we do make a budget and stick close to it.
Yes, I do keep a budget and stick to it as we live on one income so every penny counts.
I have a budget and keep track of spending. If there is a large purchase we need to make, (like the new water heater going in this Thursday), then I have to allow for that in our budget. I will charge it to a credit card with % back and pay it in full to use the purchase wisely.