Teaching you about money is going to be alllllll on your Daddy. He is amazing at budgeting, saving, and paying things off. I am just....not. I try and I try and I am making progress but MAN it has been a long road. Between your medical bills, our regular bills, trying to buy a house, and NEEDING to buy another car we are just overwhelmed and under-paid. With your Dad at the helm, I know we'll get there, but it's going to be a process and I so wish you were old enough to learn from him while he does it.
~~~
Hello readers! I'm gonna be honest here...I have been struggling for topics for this blog lately. I'm sure it's simply because things have just been so stressful. I mean, if you know me, I am NOT one to run out of things to talk about! *snicker* The topic for tonight's blog smacked me clean in the face while I was out shopping for my son's new foods a few days ago. Lately, things have been a little tight and I am finding that I am having to be more and more frugal and stretch things thinner and thinner. While working the family budget, I am having to keep in mind that my son needs newer and more advanced foods, toys, and clothes. Also, my husband and I need to eat. *sigh* Things would be so much easier if we didn't need to eat.
Anyway, as I was standing in the baby food aisle pondering my budget and desperately hoping that I had even a penny more to work with, I realized that there were probably tons of people out there doing the exact same thing I was. So, here are a few tips that I use on a daily basis when it comes to making sure that each member of my family has most of what they need, if not everything (note: most of the time it's not everything hehehe).
1. Store brand!!!! I am in LOVE with Up&Up brand from Target. Any time I find an amazing product that I just can't live without, Target has a version that is basically the same and way way way cheaper! Most of Liam's baby foods and snacks come in an Up&Up brand and he loves them all. He doesn't know, nor does he care, that he isn't getting the name brand puffy cheese things. He also couldn't care less that his supplemental drink isn't PediaSure but is instead "Pediatric Drink" from Target. Store brand is the way too go!
2. Thrift Stores!!! Explain to me WHY I would spend $12 on a onesie when Arc down the street has one that is possibly slightly worn and only $2? I have found so many stinking adorable outfits (some that are even brand new!) at Goodwill and Arc for pennies on the dollar compared to the Carter's store. Now, don't get me wrong, if there is an outfit that is brand new and it is just too adorable to pass up, I will swing for it. However, that is the exception, not the rule.
3. Meal Plans!! My husband and I are notorious meal planners. We have, over the years, discovered what our staples need to be in our home, we then find those staples at CostCo and keep them in bulk. Some examples of staples for us include: spaghetti and sauce, lunch meat, breaded chicken patties (and buns), yogurt, Mac & Cheese, Cheerios, Ritz Crackers, baby spinach, grapes, and cottage cheese. We buy these things in bulk because they are quick, mostly healthy, and last forever! We buy them once a month so that we can make regular dinners and snacks while saving money for those, "Man, I just really want some freaking Q'doba," nights.
4. Shop after a big meal! The worst thing you can possibly due is shop while hungry. I have wasted so much money because I was absolutely convinced that I NEEDED those Lays Potato Chips...OH and that candy bar at the register! I NEEEEEEEEDED them! I have now made it a habit of having a big lunch then going out and about. I don't get stressed out and grumpy because I can't buy all that snack food, I am in and out faster (great for Liam too!), and it is much much nicer on the budget.
5. Our Groceries! It's an app in the Google Play Store! You can connect multiple phones and create multiple shopping lists. Making one listed as "Uh oh...budget time" and one named "Ooo...some extra money" can make it so much easier to, as a family, separate out what are necessities and what are splurges. Then it makes it simpler to STICK. TO. THE. PLAN! It's fun to send Sean out shopping and watch from home as the items disappear off the list as he shops! It's a great way to connect the family and make sure everyone is on the same page without all the arguments and miscommunications that can happen before, during, and after grocery hunting time.
6. Take the kid with you!! If you happen to have a kiddo, take them with you when you shop. If your little monster is anything like mine, they do not allow for errors in time management. If I allot myself 2 hours to go to Safeway, CostCo, Arc, and swing by the mall for a quick phone cover, you better believe there is a reason I allotted myself that amount of time and you better believe Liam will keep me to that schedule! No time to browse needlessly through the millions of shirts I don't actually need or scan through the junk food aisle for food that is NOT going to help with my budget or my waistline. *wink wink*
7. Bulk Bulk Bulk! Sean and I LOVE our CostCo! As I said above, shopping in bulk helps with meal planning but it also makes budgeting super easy. We know that once a month we need to restock on certain items and know that makes it easier to lay out our plan for the rest of month and the rest of the things that we can't buy in bulk. One paycheck can go to the groceries and the next can go to those "not awesome to buy in bulk" items like cheese, milk, baby food, etc.
There you have it! Those are my simple but easy helpers when it comes to stretching and bending the budget. Sean and I have found that, when we follow these steps, we don't have to have nearly as many of those "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO???" conversations. We discovered the hard way that when people say, "You're never financially ready to have a child," they weren't kidding, but in the end it comes down to narrowing down your priorities AS A FAMILY. No one person gets to set the limits or make certain things a priority without talking to the others and making sure that all final decisions are made in the best interest of the family can make family shopping time much less stressful!
Good luck to you all in your shopping and budgeting adventures! Do you have any tips to add? Are there any awesome budgeting tools that you just couldn't live without? Let me here 'em!
I leave you with an amazingly wonderful picture of my most handsome monster! Until next time readers...
