Handy Dandy Budget Calculator

My thanks to Karen for this great resource! I met Karen in Edmonton when I was there to do a shopping seminar, a few years ago. She and I have stayed in touch via email. She recently sent me this link. It is a Canadian government site for resources to do with money.

I right away tested out the budget calculator. I found it very easy. It also was extensive. Usually these tools are missing categories. The only thing I would have liked would have been the ability to name a few. For example: in the income category it would be nice to add Income tax return, or odd jobs. Otherwise, you have a dollar amount and no idea where it came from.To remedy this, when I printed it I added my own categories by hand.

I loved how it tallied everything up for me! I loved how each page gave you a look at where you are at. In the end it even gave you a percentage amount that you spent in each sub category. I found this is very eye opening as you can see what percentage of your income goes where. At the end it does up a nifty pie chart and graph. You can choose to save it as a PDF, excel, or print it off.  I am definitely going to use this for my planning for next year! I am pretty excited! How about you??!! Thanks again Karen!

Keeping a monthly tally....Budget Talk

Again....by M.
So, it's November...only 2 months left in 2011. How's your spending? I have always found that when I keep track it seems to keep me on track!So,for November I am going to keep close watch!  One of the ways I will accomplish this is that I am doing a survey on spending habits. I do this every three months(I think that's right). I get paid a small amount to relay how I spent my money that month. Not only do I find it interesting, I also tend to do better those months! How about you? How do you keep track? Why not try it for one month.  Try tracking everything that you spend money on. If you do it for November and December you'll have a pretty good idea of how to budget for 2012.

Saving on Groceries

When looking at your spending plan(budget is a word I try to avoid) you may notice that grocery spending probably is second only to your mortgage in the amount you spend. Most families of 4 find they spend $800-$1000 per month on groceries. For sake of this example, groceries are everything you buy at the grocery store. Food and toiletries as well as cleaners, etc. As a rule, people think this is not an area that could be trimmed. I want to tell you you can! You can shave this drastically and free up money for other areas, as well as eat better! Prepackaged, premade meals contain preservatives that would be missing if you can make it at home.
My idea of grocery shopping is a little different than the norm. I go to purchase the things on sale. Yes, I have to get milk weekly, but all other things can be negotiable. The veggies and fruits we buy are the ones on sale, or in season. For example, this Thursday, Friday, Sat, IGA marketplace has bananas for .39/lb!!! That is an olden days price! We will get lots and make banana bread, muffins and smoothies. The ones we won't use in time can be peeled(thanks Sylvia!)and popped into a Ziploc and frozen, to later be used in smoothies! Right now at Cooper's they have a coupon for buy one get one free cod. One family size serving is $10, so with the coupon, $5. It's frozen, there's a limit of 4 free, or 8 total, so we will stock up and make fish and chips(see America's test kitchen DVD season 7 available at www.orl.bc.ca ). Lean ground beef is also on sale at Cooper's. So, I bought 3 chubs and will break some down and freeze it raw. I will make homemade hamburgers and freeze them, as well as meatballs. Finally, I will precook some and freeze it so it's all ready to go. It doesn't take that long, but it saves me time in the long run! My price book(see an early post)helps me know when prices have reached their lowest and lets me know how much I need to stock up before it goes on sale again! Our family of 4 spends $450/month. Want to start saving right away? Start by menu planning one week from what you have on hand. Make it a game...what do you have already? What if you couldn't get out to the store? What could you make? Use the Internet, get ideas from cookbooks and magazines(hopefully your library is fully stocked!) One friend told me she saves best by keeping her grocery trips to a minimum..what if you only went once a week? What about a grocery envelope where you keep cash for the month? Every time you go to the store you take your money out of the envelope and put the receipt inside. On the front of the envelope you can keep a running tally, or just peak in the envelope to see where you are at! Don't want to use cash? Do the same thing with the receipts after you pay with your debit card! Start with something. Don't try and reinvent the wheel in 2 seconds, just change one thing..then next month another..watch your progress..and celebrate! Even keeping track of what you spend is an amazing step in the right direction!

Total Financial Health is Cumulative

I was doing an exercise video yesterday and the instructor said, "Remember total health is cumulative."
This got me thinking and I looked up the defintion.
The Miriam Webster's definition of cumulative is
1 a : made up of accumulated parts b : increasing by successive additions

So, if I continue to do these exercise all the little moves will add up to more flexibility and better movement.
Then I thought how does that apply to our finances?
Well, our little acts of making a spending plan each month, striving to do what we said we were going to and then doing it again the next month adds up to better financial health.(even if you don't do it perfectly!!you are still doing better)
For example, if you want to get an emergency fund of $1000 in the bank(Dave Ramsey's baby step 1). This will probably mean small shaves from your spending each month until cumulatively you have $1000.
When we saved for Hawaii it was 2 years cumulative saving. I guess it reminds me of the saying, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." Be encouraged with your one bite, it may seem small, but it's adding up!

A New Year and a Fresh Start!

As we stand on the last day of 2009 and peer ahead to 2010, there is hope and expectancy. What will 2010 bring? I want to wish you a very happy new year, and I also want to encourage to seize the year. Why not start this blank fresh start with a plan? A spending plan. Not a budget, that sounds like diet. But a plan for how you and your household are going to spend your money. You get to decide. Not planning means life happens to you and so much trickles through the cracks. What if you planned to save $100/month until you had $1000 in the bank for emergencies? Then when your tire blew, your hot water tank went, or you got an unexpected expense, you'd be OK. You wouldn't have to charge it and give the credit card companies all your hard earned cash. Spending planning, like menu planning, saves you money. What if 2010 was the year you purposed to get out of debt? I wonder what things would be like if we all were able to live within(or below)or means?? Would there be more peace?more love?more joy?