The "B" word.
You know the one.
Budget.
Do you have one? Do you follow it? I mean with serious-passionate-puppy-dog-loveness?
When we decided that we would make a budget the first thing I said to Hotsauce was, "I'm not selling my house. I'm not moving." That thought was nowhere on his radar, but I thought for sure that we would sit down to work out the budget and realize that we couldn't afford our house. My stomach was in knots and I was sure that this Mama Misfit was going to lose control of everything that I held near and dear.
Turns out that the "B" word isn't something to fear at all. As a matter-of-fact I had to stop blogging to help Hotsauce tweak budget numero uno for October. I have to admit that I get a little giddy looking over it. I almost feel like a responsible adult instead of a fiscal misfit! Next month we will have extra income coming in from renting a couple of rooms out to a good friend. She needs a nickname for the purpose of this blog... I like "Nanny" but I doubt she would agree. But, anywhoo that extra income will make our budget even more fun and doable!!
Our budget hasn't been restrictive at all. Now that we've planned for our budget we have more freedom than ever. We have a "blow fund" which is like an allowance for each of us to use however we see fit. I don't remember the last time I had my own money. Usually when I want to buy something I end up thinking of the million of other ways the money should be spent and buy something for one of the Turkey Bottoms. Or if I do buy myself something I usually go overboard and walk away feeling guilty and just plain horrible. I find myself being very frugal with my blow fund and find it very hard to "blow my blow fund".
Here's what we do:
We start our budget out by predicting our monthly income. For instance, Hotsauce gets paid his salary bi-weekly and at the beginning of the month we will have the "Nanny" money. Though Hotsauce's paychecks may be slightly different due to reimbursements we know with a reasonable amount of certainty what he will get paid. Now we also have irregular payments from managing a few rental properties, from Turkey Bottom Haven and I'm also planning a garage sale the first weekend in October. We have no way of knowing how much these "extras" bring in, but we will still plan for that added income.
Once we know the amount of our certain income we begin to name each dollar:
$30 - trash
$119 - cell phones
$80 - school supplies/curriculum
$95 - water bill ... so on and so on.
We do this until every dollar is accounted for and we have a "zero balance" at the end of the month. Remember if you don't tell your money where to go you will quickly lose track of it! Now what about any extra money that will come in? This is where we plan for those irregular payments that I mentioned before. We make a list of things that didn't make the first part of the budget. Ours looks something like this:
1. A cow - $1,250
2. Butchering - $350
3. House repairs - $300
4. New tires for the Suburban $400
Now it will have to be one heck of a month to bring in an extra $2,300, but after last month anything can happen right? We also make this list extra far out there, so that if something HUGE does happen and we find ourselves with a large surplus we aren't scrambling to decide what to do with that money. Translation = we cannot be trusted in the heat of the moment not to waste the blessings! Also no budget can be approved without both of us in 100% agreement. If we're not both on board with the budget we are setting ourselves up for sure failure. So even though Hotsauce is the one that sits down and writes out the budget, I get a chance to make changes. Usually I just remind him of the things that he's forgotten, like babysitter money. Once I suggest a change I also have to help decide where the money will come from. It's a team effort at the Fiscal Misfit home!
Now after you've planned for every dollar here is the all important part. You must follow it with serious-passionate-puppy-dog-loveness! In the beginning when you're cutting out all of the extras you may have to be a little creative with how you'll spend your time since you won't be spending every Monday, Thursday and Saturday nights at Chik-fil-a (I bet you thought I was going to say HuHots didn't you?). One way that Hotsauce and I spend our time is dreaming about the next steps. We havea few teeny-tiny a lot og big dreams.
Like taking our family on a vacation. I vote St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands where on the other hand, Hotsauce votes Alaskan cruise. But, a perfect compromise would be both right?
We'd also like to buy an acreage and build our own house and have some horses.
Perhaps our greatest desire is to adopt from Haiti or Ethiopia. Not just one child, but perhaps three! I know we're crazy! Will our hands be full? Yes, but our hearts will be fuller! How could you honestly tell this baby face "no"??
Do you have a debt-free dream? Or maybe like us you have a lot of dreams? What's your heart's desire?
You know the one.
Budget.
Do you have one? Do you follow it? I mean with serious-passionate-puppy-dog-loveness?
When we decided that we would make a budget the first thing I said to Hotsauce was, "I'm not selling my house. I'm not moving." That thought was nowhere on his radar, but I thought for sure that we would sit down to work out the budget and realize that we couldn't afford our house. My stomach was in knots and I was sure that this Mama Misfit was going to lose control of everything that I held near and dear.
Turns out that the "B" word isn't something to fear at all. As a matter-of-fact I had to stop blogging to help Hotsauce tweak budget numero uno for October. I have to admit that I get a little giddy looking over it. I almost feel like a responsible adult instead of a fiscal misfit! Next month we will have extra income coming in from renting a couple of rooms out to a good friend. She needs a nickname for the purpose of this blog... I like "Nanny" but I doubt she would agree. But, anywhoo that extra income will make our budget even more fun and doable!!
Our budget hasn't been restrictive at all. Now that we've planned for our budget we have more freedom than ever. We have a "blow fund" which is like an allowance for each of us to use however we see fit. I don't remember the last time I had my own money. Usually when I want to buy something I end up thinking of the million of other ways the money should be spent and buy something for one of the Turkey Bottoms. Or if I do buy myself something I usually go overboard and walk away feeling guilty and just plain horrible. I find myself being very frugal with my blow fund and find it very hard to "blow my blow fund".
Here's what we do:
We start our budget out by predicting our monthly income. For instance, Hotsauce gets paid his salary bi-weekly and at the beginning of the month we will have the "Nanny" money. Though Hotsauce's paychecks may be slightly different due to reimbursements we know with a reasonable amount of certainty what he will get paid. Now we also have irregular payments from managing a few rental properties, from Turkey Bottom Haven and I'm also planning a garage sale the first weekend in October. We have no way of knowing how much these "extras" bring in, but we will still plan for that added income.
Once we know the amount of our certain income we begin to name each dollar:
$30 - trash
$119 - cell phones
$80 - school supplies/curriculum
$95 - water bill ... so on and so on.
We do this until every dollar is accounted for and we have a "zero balance" at the end of the month. Remember if you don't tell your money where to go you will quickly lose track of it! Now what about any extra money that will come in? This is where we plan for those irregular payments that I mentioned before. We make a list of things that didn't make the first part of the budget. Ours looks something like this:
1. A cow - $1,250
2. Butchering - $350
3. House repairs - $300
4. New tires for the Suburban $400
Now it will have to be one heck of a month to bring in an extra $2,300, but after last month anything can happen right? We also make this list extra far out there, so that if something HUGE does happen and we find ourselves with a large surplus we aren't scrambling to decide what to do with that money. Translation = we cannot be trusted in the heat of the moment not to waste the blessings! Also no budget can be approved without both of us in 100% agreement. If we're not both on board with the budget we are setting ourselves up for sure failure. So even though Hotsauce is the one that sits down and writes out the budget, I get a chance to make changes. Usually I just remind him of the things that he's forgotten, like babysitter money. Once I suggest a change I also have to help decide where the money will come from. It's a team effort at the Fiscal Misfit home!
Now after you've planned for every dollar here is the all important part. You must follow it with serious-passionate-puppy-dog-loveness! In the beginning when you're cutting out all of the extras you may have to be a little creative with how you'll spend your time since you won't be spending every Monday, Thursday and Saturday nights at Chik-fil-a (I bet you thought I was going to say HuHots didn't you?). One way that Hotsauce and I spend our time is dreaming about the next steps. We have
Like taking our family on a vacation. I vote St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands where on the other hand, Hotsauce votes Alaskan cruise. But, a perfect compromise would be both right?
We'd also like to buy an acreage and build our own house and have some horses.
Perhaps our greatest desire is to adopt from Haiti or Ethiopia. Not just one child, but perhaps three! I know we're crazy! Will our hands be full? Yes, but our hearts will be fuller! How could you honestly tell this baby face "no"??
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| Photo Credit |
Do you have a debt-free dream? Or maybe like us you have a lot of dreams? What's your heart's desire?
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