Q&A

This is a question I received from my coupon giveaway last week.

"....how did you start out with your budget? And how are you so disciplined to stick with it? I need help sticking to mine."- from CalebNKylesMommy


When I first started with my budget I planned on using $200 for everything. I failed miserably, but I was able to see what I was spending and where because I kept track of all my purchases for that month.

I was already spending around $200, give or take a little, on groceries. I haven't been able to stay under $200 in the past few months, but I am determined not to go over this month.

We usually come in under budget on the other areas of our budget(misc, clothing, and fun).

I came up with the number for clothing based on what I felt we should be spending in a year for 4 people and then divided that by 12. The kids will probably use most of this since my husband and I only need to replace worn out clothing and maybe a few extra items. I like to buy from gymboree and the children's place a few times a year for them and the rest I fill in will items from goodwill, gifts, and hand me downs.

Misc is anything I don't cover in the other areas. I do not budget for fixed bills on my blog.

I put a lot more money into the fun budget than I initially felt was reasonable because all this work has to have a reward. We usually don't use all of this money, so maybe we will have a really nice weekend vacation with the rollover.

All together my flexible budget items add up to $500. This is about half of what we were spending before I started budgeting and tracking our spending.

How do I have the discipline not to go over? I Don't always, especially in the grocery department. It helps not to browse online and stay out of stores with all the trendy new clothes that I would love to buy but most likely wont wear. I am trying only go to each grocery/drug store once a week to prevent overspending in that department.

Another great tactic to avoid overspending is leaving you husband and kids at home. If you have to take one or the other, take the kids! Men don't like being told no, and really they have a right to spend some of the money too.