After posting "We're Already Doing That... Kinda. Sorta. Not Really." I received this comment on my Facebook account:
"I've recently read his book, and it seems like all of a sudden we have no money even though I'm scrutinizing every last cent that goes in or out of our account. Seems like we can't save any money, and when I do our budget it seems like we should be able to save at least $150 a month. Of course not using our credit cards makes me feel like we have no money I'm sure...but I dont' know. It seems so much more stressful than before. Do you feel that way? How long have you been doing it?"-KB
I'm going to try to answer some of these things in this post, but I would like to start with your last question first. I've only been doing this for one whole month. We finished the book around mid-August and started our budget in September. It should be obvious at this point that I am in no way a financial advisor or even have enough experience to be considered anything other than a friend trying to help a friend out. I'm posting here because I hope that some of the other members of our community will have valuable advice to add!
It seems to me that maybe you're feeling the pressure of living within your means? Using a credit card before probably gave you a false sense of security, making you think that you had money when in fact you didn't. I found that when I used credit cards it was because I couldn't afford the item that day, but thought I could on payday. When payday rolled around that $200 item didn't seem so affordable now that I had my mortgage due, utilities to pay, groceries to buy and gas to put into my car.
My understanding of the TMM is the first thing you need to do is to get caught up. So any bills that got skipped to pay another bill have to be made current. I have no idea where you are with your bills, but if you're behind (we were) you have to get caught up so that you can start saving. This getting caught up process can make you feel like your not really getting anywhere. But, it's vital. No one likes to pay late fees or fines to have their utilities turned back on.
If you don't have enough money coming in to cover these things you'll have to decide what your options are? Do you have cable TV? Do you go out to eat too often? Getting rid of these items will free up money. Also one way that we've saved a lot of money is by planning our meals for a two week period. I buy everything that we need (after doing a check of our pantry) for those two weeks and keep the menu posted. Before shopping I consider what activities are going on in our week. For instance, we have Awana on Wednesday nights and home school group on Thursday nights. I want quick easy meals for those nights. Or I have to plan ahead to put something in the crock pot. After shopping for that 2 week period I do my best to stay out of the grocery store. Multiple trips to the store equal paying more in groceries.
If after cutting out all of your "extras" you still don't have the money coming in to cover the money going out you'll have to make changes to add income. This may mean a part-time job for you or your spouse. Or selling things around the house. This doesn't always mean a garage sale. I would actually advise you to use Craigslist to sell items like furniture or higher price items. For children's clothes you may want to consider taking them to a consignment store and seeing if you can get a higher price for them then you would at a garage sale.
Do you have lots of similar items that you could sell? I had lots of furniture and home decor items that I had big plans of refinishing or upcycling for use in our house, but while I was waiting to find the time to get those projects done, I bought other things that were already finished. Before long I had more projects than I had house. So I decided to finish up some projects and make an online store. The store is only on a Facebook page called TurkeyBottomHaven. In my first month I sold over $500 worth of items!
Another way that we found to bring more money in is through renting out a few rooms in our house to a friend. We charge her half of what she paid for her rent and utilities. Plus she will buy a few household items (toilet paper, soaps, detergent, Kleenex, etc) from time to time. We don't have to worry about groceries because she will buy her own and we will buy our own. Perhaps you have extra room in your house? A basement or an extra room that a friend might be interested in renting? Or even extra storage space in a garage that may house a camper over the winter? Be creative in coming up with ideas that might bring in extra money, but won't require you to have to get a 2nd job!
Those are just a few ideas that we've been using. But, my number one bit of advice... DON'T GIVE UP!!!!
Anyone else have advice that KB could use?
"I've recently read his book, and it seems like all of a sudden we have no money even though I'm scrutinizing every last cent that goes in or out of our account. Seems like we can't save any money, and when I do our budget it seems like we should be able to save at least $150 a month. Of course not using our credit cards makes me feel like we have no money I'm sure...but I dont' know. It seems so much more stressful than before. Do you feel that way? How long have you been doing it?"-KB
I'm going to try to answer some of these things in this post, but I would like to start with your last question first. I've only been doing this for one whole month. We finished the book around mid-August and started our budget in September. It should be obvious at this point that I am in no way a financial advisor or even have enough experience to be considered anything other than a friend trying to help a friend out. I'm posting here because I hope that some of the other members of our community will have valuable advice to add!
It seems to me that maybe you're feeling the pressure of living within your means? Using a credit card before probably gave you a false sense of security, making you think that you had money when in fact you didn't. I found that when I used credit cards it was because I couldn't afford the item that day, but thought I could on payday. When payday rolled around that $200 item didn't seem so affordable now that I had my mortgage due, utilities to pay, groceries to buy and gas to put into my car.
My understanding of the TMM is the first thing you need to do is to get caught up. So any bills that got skipped to pay another bill have to be made current. I have no idea where you are with your bills, but if you're behind (we were) you have to get caught up so that you can start saving. This getting caught up process can make you feel like your not really getting anywhere. But, it's vital. No one likes to pay late fees or fines to have their utilities turned back on.
If you don't have enough money coming in to cover these things you'll have to decide what your options are? Do you have cable TV? Do you go out to eat too often? Getting rid of these items will free up money. Also one way that we've saved a lot of money is by planning our meals for a two week period. I buy everything that we need (after doing a check of our pantry) for those two weeks and keep the menu posted. Before shopping I consider what activities are going on in our week. For instance, we have Awana on Wednesday nights and home school group on Thursday nights. I want quick easy meals for those nights. Or I have to plan ahead to put something in the crock pot. After shopping for that 2 week period I do my best to stay out of the grocery store. Multiple trips to the store equal paying more in groceries.
If after cutting out all of your "extras" you still don't have the money coming in to cover the money going out you'll have to make changes to add income. This may mean a part-time job for you or your spouse. Or selling things around the house. This doesn't always mean a garage sale. I would actually advise you to use Craigslist to sell items like furniture or higher price items. For children's clothes you may want to consider taking them to a consignment store and seeing if you can get a higher price for them then you would at a garage sale.
Do you have lots of similar items that you could sell? I had lots of furniture and home decor items that I had big plans of refinishing or upcycling for use in our house, but while I was waiting to find the time to get those projects done, I bought other things that were already finished. Before long I had more projects than I had house. So I decided to finish up some projects and make an online store. The store is only on a Facebook page called TurkeyBottomHaven. In my first month I sold over $500 worth of items!
Another way that we found to bring more money in is through renting out a few rooms in our house to a friend. We charge her half of what she paid for her rent and utilities. Plus she will buy a few household items (toilet paper, soaps, detergent, Kleenex, etc) from time to time. We don't have to worry about groceries because she will buy her own and we will buy our own. Perhaps you have extra room in your house? A basement or an extra room that a friend might be interested in renting? Or even extra storage space in a garage that may house a camper over the winter? Be creative in coming up with ideas that might bring in extra money, but won't require you to have to get a 2nd job!
Those are just a few ideas that we've been using. But, my number one bit of advice... DON'T GIVE UP!!!!
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