making money, Saving money, and Budgeting?

I budget strenuously, I have to. Don't know if there will ever be a homestead again. Some dreams fall by the wayside and others take their place. The kids come first and their needs not necessarily wants My youngest is looking at college in two years so that will be my primary focus. I dress by way of thrift shops and tag sales...as does my youngest son. Food is pretty simple but filling and healthy. No vacations but day trips are on the menu, because morale is important. There is an emergency fund and my car is semi-new (only four years old!) I have spent thousands on upkeep of cars...no more. Don't like the payments but getting to work is primary. We do have cable because if there wasn't football I think my youngest would not make it But there are very few extras. I don't miss much of the luxuries but thoroughly enjoy the few we have.

Until my back went out, I could make it.....well.
Save it? Not so much.
Budget? I had to google how to spell it! HA HA


1. You cannot work forever.
2. If you do not budget and save for the future, it is irresponsible.
3. Security. So much stress and strife comes when we are not responsible with money.
4. (For me personally) It all comes from God, belongs to God and supposed to be used for His Glory, not mine.
5. The children are watching. If you handle money poorly, good chance are they will too.
6. The peace (so I hear) that you have when you are responsible with money is unfathomable.

I am doing the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University right now.....
It has revealed WHY I have been foolish with money.
Unfortunately my mantra has always been "no biggie, I will just pick up a shift or a 2nd job" (I am a server/bartender) and that will cover it.
I have been unable to work for MONTHS because of my jacked up back.
Didn't save a dime for this type of injury.
Kept on spending like I was still working.
There are a lot of psychological and spiritual reasons why we humans spend / save the way we do.
It's good to get to the root, so that we can change that course, and be more responsible.

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I am sure of two things: There is a God, and I am not Him.
The movie Rudy

LZ 5... Didn't want to click 'quote' for your whole post, but... what you said!! I listen to Ramsey on the radio alot. Smart man! My sis & BIL have done FPU also. Advice your Grandma would give and "live like no one else, so you can live like no one else", should be part of every preppers mindset.

PS: Like that signature!

Making money I've very good at. Saving money I'm not an budgeting isn't option. Good thing I got one down

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five by five
I claim the last post that offended u

Me too. Seriously, I think people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be...WHEREVER they are!
Honestly, our winter's aren't even that bad. A LOT of states have WAY more snow/ice/cold then we do! When we do have a bad winter, we don't know how to handle it because we're not used to it. And it's rare for us to get up to 100 degrees in the summer. I don't think weatherwise, we're bad at all, rather mild on either end, normaly.
Job wise..well, things are BAD all over. But I've stayed pretty steadily employed through temp agency's for several years now. And I was hired on recently after working for the company for a year. My kids are employed, my friends are employed.
One might have a hard time finding a job in their particular field in ANY state.
As far as gas, we're still under the national average price wise. Housing costs? Ditto. I can find a decent house in a decent area for in the 65K range, but have even seen them in the 50's range. I know 2 different people from Calif that were GIDDY when they moved to Ohio and saw the rent prices and the cost of homes for sale!
We have a long growing season, very reasonable land prices in a lot of areas in the state, not a lot of natural disasters to deal with, and all in all, Ohio is a decent place to live. (not terribly exciting, but decent) The cost of groceries are going up, but isn't that true EVERYWHERE??
It was brought up on another thread about being able to buy certain items in certain quantities for 5.00 at the grocery store. A few folks said that they thought the prices were outdated, and they couldn't do it. I actualy said that it must depend on what area in the country you are, because I thought I could get everything on that list in those quantites but maybe one.
So I would say our food prices aren't that bad either!

laura 5, most couples break up over money. A couple that is good friends with my family just got divorced over money. The husband is in his mid 50's, lost his job, couldn't find decent work in his field, got a little depressed about it, then they rode the unemployment and food stamp train until the wife jumped ship. They both seemed so deeply in love and joyful together, but his wife was a shopper and she chose her true love "spending on junk" over her husband. It was sad to see.

It is sad.
The Love of money is the root of all evil......
They say that of divorces that happen most are over money, most of the rest are adultery.
It's a shame.

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I am sure of two things: There is a God, and I am not Him.
The movie Rudy

Oh I do have almost all my debts to zero

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five by five
I claim the last post that offended u

mav that is good. Interests on loans can really snowball over time.

I am still struggling to not judge a book from it's cover. Back when i was a kid credit cards were only for business men and rich people so people were forced to live with what they had because they could not easily borrow. People like my family lived in patched up hand-me-downs, with had second hand stuff, and maybe some new things now and then on holidays and birthdays. So, you could tell who had money and who didn't because there was no credit to buy what you could not afford. Now, I look around and I still have that mentality. I look at all these fancy people and I just assume they have money because they look like they have money. Not true. The could look like they are doing alright but they can be poorer then dirt or even worse but you do not see it because they have are wearing a financial facade.

laura 5, it is sad, but many people love money more then people. I looked up to the couple I mentioned as a good example of a loving couple. They really did get along great and were very close. I was shocked to see that once financial hardships came the wife jumped ship. I guess all there love and warm affection was just a reflection on a very shallow pond. It looked like the real thing but when tested it proved to be false.

My dad went to the bank to get a pre-approval letter when my uncles house was being auctioned. He got approved for pretty much an unlimited amount in less than 10 minutes. The woman remarked that he didn't look like much coming in the door. He had simple clothes, driving an old truck. But he was better set in life than all the people that come in dressed like they're worth a million bucks. She said the people that look rich usually only have a fortune in debt.

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How can I be lost, if I've got no where to go?

CB & lzyB... You see it for what it is! The 'have it now' concept (as we see it now) was being nurtured into maturity when baby boomers were coming into their own. Now it's almost as if it's a hereditary thing; passed down generationally. I'm no expert, but seems to me one of two things can happen. A grass roots movement to teach financial responsibilty or WAHBL. That's my own spin on TSHTF.

I would like to believe that a change of attitude toward spending can happen relatively painlessly, but I lost my rose colored glasses when the 70's ended. Most major changes, thoughout history, that required a paradigm shift of that magnitude never happened without a good deal of pain and suffering.

My grandma, who was a young woman with a family during the depression, always said the trick was to always live BELOW your means so that you had a back up saved in case of an emergency. My grandpa was often sick and in the hospital with surgeries or heart problems. Everyone always THOUGHT we were rich because we always took care of what we had and always had what we NEEDED but we weren't. We got by (my grandma, grandpa, me and my 2 uncles) on my grandma's nurses wages until my uncles were old enough to work and help out. I worked in the fields picking berries, beans and hoeing mint for all of my school clothes expenses from the time I was 10 and then started working "real jobs" when I turned 15 and could get a worker's permit. We spent little and my grandma and I canned all summer long!!! My uncles hunted and my grandpa and I gardened together (he needed quite a bit of help because of his heart but I learned SOOOO much from him!) One uncle was a big fisherman and also brought home lots of mushrooms, bullfrog legs etc. We NEVER went hungry - esp when we had our farm when I was young. We didn't move to town until I was in high school and my grandpa just couldn't keep up the farm anymore. I still live on very little (esp. being single) but my place is paid for and I have no debt. I've had to spend alot on tires, snow tires, brakes, car repair and gas this year so have used up most of my savings this year but keep plugging along. I don't have tv, internet or take the newspaper. I use my computer at work or my son's in the summer if I need one and make use of the library for DVDs. I don't go shopping for entertainment because "if you don't see it - you won't want it" LOL I dress plain and don't have fancy nails or hair. When I see someone all dolled up in the latest fashions, nails, hair and car etc. I always wonder how much they owe on their credit cards!!!! I haven't had one in 5 years and get along just fine. After I divorced (7 years ago) I just decided that if I can't pay cash for it there is also no way that I can pay the credit card bill for it at the end of the month either!!!!!

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Eternal Optimist

Billy, I am trying to get it. I still believe in appearances for the most part.

Cos, it was good that your family all came together to pitch in to get by. Some families fall apart when the going gets tough.

Living below your means is a good idea. I would say that trying to live on 50% of your income would be a good goal, and living on 25% would be amazing.

When I first started gardening it felt like the weight of worrying about not being able to afford food eased. I recall walking into the supper market and for the first time not having tension, anxiety, and fear about prices. I did not even need to go over into the product section because I had my own produce.

I have worked in finance all of my life so it should have been easy to manage our personal money. Great theory. If there was a foolish or selfish or negligent thing to do with our money we did it (and had a great time doing it)!. But sooner or later everyone has a shtf moment followed by (hopefully) an Ah Ha! moment. Personal finances (your money) is not brain surgery, it is discipline. We smartened up before it was too late - paid off our debts, created savings for emergencies and the future and started living on cash and below our means. This took years and it was a struggle but I would never go back.

The most important thing is to create a budget that actually does include some funds for everything. We followed the Gail VazOxlade plan. Percentages of your net income are recommended and if you stay at them or below you barely have to think and you never get in over your head. 35% for housing, 15% for transportation, 15% for debt, 10% for savings and 25% for life (everything else). Of course if you have no debt then that gives you an extra 15% to use for savings and/or life.

I am retired now but I do volunteer work helping people get out of debt and set up family budgets. The hardest thing is to get people to give up the instant gratification and the desire to keep ahead of the Jonses. I have one couple who are $98,000 in debt yet refuse to take a bagged lunch to work. Considering that they are spending $2000 more than they make each month (each spends $400 on eating out) you would think that taking a bagged lunch would not be so horrible if it meant you got to keep your house. They are more embarrassed about bagging their lunch and snacks than foreclosure?

With the way things are going and will continue to go everyone needs to face the reality that the spending lifestyle is over, no one can risk debt and we all need to save, save, save. We will all have to be dependent on our own resources for everyday life and for unemployment, disability, medical and retirement. Since we paid off our debt we have been saving 25% of our net income. In 9 years we have saved enough in emergency to fund ourselves for 2 years and enough in retirement to fund ourselves for 5 years but this means living a completely frugal life. I sure wish we had started earlier. And that is what I suggest - start early and live 75% of your life but also save as if the manure as already hit the fan.

Buying store bought coffee is an expensive habit. Going to starbucks five days a week, two times a day, for a year can cost up to $2,500 a year and much more then that if you buy a cake or snack there.

A dual income family of two that eats out for lunch each work day spends close to $5,000 a year on those lunches.

So, if a husband and wife are both working, taking starbucks twice a day and eating out for lunch, it cost the family around $10,000 a year.

Every decade that family spends $100,000 on Starbucks and store bought lunch.

The average modest working two person family goes out to eat for dinner at least once a week (at least that is what I think, because people like to kick off their shoes and relax on the weekend and at the very least a modest couple is going to go to dinner, or a movie, or bowling). I would say that the annual average that that couple pays to go out for a meal each weekend is $40. With gas that roughly rounds up to 5 grand a year.

So, an average couple going to starbucks twice a day, eating out for lunch each day, and going out for dinner once a week spends $15,000 a year. $150,000 in a decade.

I keep pretty close records of how much I spend, and on what, then project that a year in advance. Regardless of how much or how little I have in savings, I make sure to keep a couple years worth of living expenses in advance. That way I constantly replace anything I spend from my savings. If I were to ever get below a couple years of living expenses, plus enough for any foreseeable emergency I'm sure I would panic though.

People that go to starbucks to get coffee aren't motivated to save anything. I buy coffee in a can when it's on sale. Last coffee I bought was $4.75 for a 33 ounce can and the store had a flyer with a 25% off coupon. So, I picked up a handful of flyers, and bought all the coffee they had. worked out to $3.56 a can, plus tax. maybe 1 1/3 cent per cup. And I've got over a years worth of coffee now. To me, "eating out" means standing under a fruit tree and eating fresh fruit. Or else sitting on the porch eating. I buy canning flats the same way, all they have whenever theres a store coupon. So, the ones I bought a few weeks ago were $1.25 a dozen, less the discount. I got 50 dozen, which is 600 flats, which will last me all of this year, and some of next year. I caught sugar on a great sale and really loaded up. I have maybe 200 pounds now. my average price was $1.50 per 4 pounds. It's not really hard to save a lot if you buy on sales. And although people seem to think that making bread, canning, and stuff like that cost more than store bought, it doesn't. All in all, I think once you have your home paid for, and produce your own food, you're just about as close to living off the land as you'll ever get. my average utility bill for the past 12 months stands at $58.58, including tax. AC, Heat, everything. I built the house new from the foundation up in 2005, its quite well insulated.

My mother and father taught me to budget on a ledger to the penny.

Every month I list my income and 14 recurring expenses (utilities, food and fuel in places 1, 2 and 3 and "pocket money" in place 14).

At the end of the month any budgeted overages go into my cash reserve to be held in case I require a infusion into my budget in months ahead in case one of my 14 ledger items exceed the normal budgeted amount.

If my cash reserve doesn't need to be tapped to keep my budget balanced at the end of two quarters, I put half of it into my savings.

If I make a little extra money I generally split it 3 ways between my pocket money, cash reserve and savings.

Living on a budget is easy. You simply have to prioritize , keep pocket money, cash reserve and interest bearing savings separate and cut from the back end if required.

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"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"