Why budget?

Why not?
Budget is not a bad word!

We are always hearing about the dreaded BUDGET. A budget is not scary. A budget is not constraining. It might reveal a weakness or two, but we shouldn't be so proud that we hide that.


Why budget?

A budget is:
Control
Communication
Organization
Opportunity
Awareness


Why the Thompsons budget

The bible has many many many references to money, contentment, and debt. This is our main reason. Our finances are a blessing from God. We choose not to take advantage of that. We make (sometimes hard) choices regarding what we *need* and what we *want*. And we make really really hard choices about what we think we *deserve*.

Also, we are a one-income family. It's important for us to be aware of our finances and our spending habits BEFORE anything bad happens. We'd rather be pro-active than reactive.

We want to be an example. It's important to us that -as parents- we show them that money isn't a four-letter-word. It's a blessing from God! And - just like there is an order to making sugar cookies - money can be handled in an organized, logical, and non-threatening way - and it can still be fun. :)


Budget Myths

You don't have to be poor to budget. A budget doesn't mean that you are so broke that you have to count your pennies to make sure the utility bill gets paid. Even multi-million-dollar companies need a budget.

You don't have to be in debt to budget. What a great way to stay OUT of debt!

You don't have to spend hours doing budget spreadsheets and keeping up with all the numbers. There are so many options to do this. Store-bought computer programs, websites, even some checking accounts offer to categorized spending. Find the way that works for you.


How we budget

We have an excel spreadsheet that some friends gave to us. We have categories, and a money amount allotted for each category. As we spend, we can see how much we have left in each category - and the number turns red if we go over. It's a clear visual for us.

Hair Salon

Cutting hair was never a dream of mine.

But-- seeing that expense in our budget was getting to me. I suggested to Brian that I try it and - lo and behold - he gave the okay! I love his easygoing personality.


Brian typically goes every 2 weeks. That's 26 hair cuts a year. After payment and tip, these average between $15-$20. That's a yearly expense of $390-$520!

ZZ goes about once a month. His cost is $15-$20 because the kid's places charge a small fortune. That's a yearly expense of $180-$240.


Our family could save an average of $624 a year. That's $8736 by the time our son leaves for college.


I started out on Z. Better he end up with a buzz cut than the man who we depend on for his sales commission.

I used a "2" guard and shaved around the bottom half of his head. I used scissors to trim the top all the way around. I never cut straight acros the scissors - rather I made slanted cuts to prevent visible cut-lines all over his head.

But that left me with the weird transition between the top and bottom.

I decided to try to blend them like I had seen the stylists do it. I took a comb, held it at an angle, and ran the electric shaver over it.

It did not work like I thought.
After creating a bald spot on the back of his head (again - GLAD this was not our breadwinner's head), I learned not to try that again.


Then it was Brian's turn. Again, I trimmed around the bottom half with the 2 guard, and trimmed the top with scissors.

But, this time, I had armed myself with a plethora of YouTube videos on how to blend the top and bottom. I used scissors instead of the shaver and the results were perfect!

Save money on groceries

Our monthly food budget is $300.

This may seem like a small amount of money, but -despite a growing 4 year old, and Dad's neverending appetite-we've been able to easily make it work.

This category does not count eating out/take-out. Dad loves to eat out, but we try to keep it special. Special meaning that it is very rare. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

What we've discovered is "once a month cooking", or "freezer cooking." At the beginning of the month, I make a big grocery run, then cook for a couple hours and put the meals into freezer bags with labels.

The freezer bags are layered in a plastic storage tub with a paper towel in between each bag.

Free recipes abound all over the internet. I picked meals that would appeal to my family - healthy, tasty, meaty. I copied/pasted into M.Word.

I print this out and have it on the counter. Then I spread out the ziploc bags and put the listed ingredients on top of each ziploc.


Most of the recipes fall into these categories:

Meals with raw chicken

These meals will need to be cooked after thawing. These are the most simple to "make" on Cooking Day because I'm just putting raw meat into freezer bags with the marinade or other ingredients.

Meals with cooked chicken

The day before Cooking Day, I either boil or crockpot all my chicken breasts. Then I put them in the fridge to cool. The next day, I shred them with my hands. Even if the meal calls for "cubed chicken." I'm too lazy to cut up all that chicken.

Meals with ground beef

The day before Cooking Day, I crockpot all my ground beef. Then I put it into the fridge. Very easy to add to the freezer bags the next day.



Then I print out labels with all the meal names (and any additional or special instructions for each meal).


The labels are SO easy to make. I buy the 2"X4" sticker labels.



This "paperwork" takes about 2 hours to do completely. But I've used the same meals each month, adding/deleting a small few. For the most part, I use the exact same list each month.



Cooking Day usually takes a few hours. But all the "cooking" is pretty much done. I'm just mixing the ingredients to put into freezer bags.



The best part about this new venture is how it has affected our budget. This week, I went to Target for our October meals. I planned for 30 meals. The grand total was $176.96. This leaves us $124 for basic weekly staples (for us: milk, bread, fruit) and any unexpected food needs.

In the morning I throw one bag into the fridge to defrost. Around 4:00 or so, I start thinking about what I will need to do to get it ready for dinner - usually it's just reheating! A yummy dinner is a now easy AND cheap.