Save $300 — Guest post from Regina Leeds
We heard some very good responses to last week’s “Coupon Mom” post. She does answer many of our questions regarding buying staple items such as bread, meat, and eggs in her book. She suggests, for example, buying meat in bulk and freezing. Another tactic is saving a little by not buying the boneless chicken and instead, trimming the cut of meat at home; or making your own yogurt to cut the cost.
Check back later as I will be sharing my experiences from yesterday when I went shopping for this week’s groceries.
Today I am sharing a guest blog from author of One Year to an Organized Financial Life –Regina Leeds. She speaks to the importance of setting up a budget and the importance of starting now if you have not already.
“When I was writing “One Year to an Organized Financial Life,” everyone was eager to receive an advance copy. “I really need that book!” they’d shout. There was one item, however, the vast majority of people told me they didn’t need: a budget. It seems the world is divided into two groups: those who eagerly craft a budget and live by it (you can recognize them easily because the phrase ‘I’ll have to run the numbers on that’ tumbles out of their mouths with great regularity) and those who feel they have ‘a feel’ for how much they spend. I have only one comment for the second group: good luck with that!
A budget isn’t meant to be a straightjacket. It isn’t the numerical equivalent of a strict parent who wouldn’t let you have a new dress for the prom or that hot car on graduation day. It’s simply a tool that will help you wisely manage your money. It gives you a realistic picture of where your money goes rather than having you live your financial life based on a series of hunches. If you’ve never had a budget, why not start one this year? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The worst case scenario is that you will spend a few hours on this and discover that you are indeed that rare individual who does indeed ‘have a feel’ for your expenses. You can pat yourself on the back and tell me about your good fortune when we meet. There is, however, a far more likely outcome.
The vast majority of people will discover that there is a major disconnect between what they make and what they spend. If you don’t have an emergency fund or an investment portfolio, I’m going to guess you do have large credit card bills. Plastic is the handy way of making up the monthly shortfall. What’s the old saying? Oh yes: ‘Denial is not a river in Egypt!’ Are your palms sweaty? Do you suddenly feel like the temperature in the room has gone up about 50 degrees? No worries! You’ll find detailed instructions in “One Year to an Organized Financial Life” to help you craft your budget. Financial planner Russell Wild and I also help you make up the short fall and invest the excess. We help you set realistic financial goals and show you how to achieve them.
Finally let me say that in addition to the carefree/careless use of plastic, most people blow their budget with unconscious spending. An occasional coffee bought at your favorite vendor makes life sweeter. Multiple, complex, large size drinks purchased on a daily basis will drain your pockets of money that could be more carefully directed. Money management isn’t about punishment. It’s all about balance…”
Related posts:
- Save $300 in 30 days–Regina Leeds guest post #3Do you live with stacks and piles of papers scattered like confetti all over your home? This usually happens for two reasons: you have been avoiding the decision making process and/or you haven’t created a...
- Save $300 in 30 days– Guest post #2 from Regina LeedsBudgets aren’t the only scary aspect of organizing your finances. A big area of self imposed mystery are credit cards. Do you know, for example, exactly how much you owe on your cards? Do you...
I agree with everything you have written. I think most people would greatly benefit from the simple process of putting together a budget, and then tracking their actual expenses compared to their budget. I’m wondering if “there’s an app for that?” It would be great if each time we spent money on something, we could scan the receipt, then chose an expense category, and track our actual spending against our budget. Developers, are you reading this post?
Along the same lines as Germaine’s question - what are some ways that people keep their budgets? I’ve tried Quicken and a simple spreadsheet in the past - the former was too complicated to set-up (or at least that was my rationalization) and the latter doesn’t tell you a whole lot. I’d love to hear about stuff that works for folks.
Okay, for those of you overwhelmed by typing numbers, I’ve got a tactic that helped me reduce my grocery spending by about $250 a month (at the time I had no idea what I was spending) and simultaneously begin tracking the better choices I was making (that’s how I know it was $250 - actually a bit more!)
I did NOT want to know how sloppy I was, and I spend a fair amount of time in front of a computer as it is. So what I do at first payday of the month (there are two) is put 310 pennies (or the equivalent in change - in a jar). That represents my “grocery budget”. Sounds pretty generous for some of you, I’ll bet. And thank goodness - it is.
What I did was for each dollar spent on groceries in the month, I removed a penny. Now it gets interesting. For each dollar saved (say, I got a discount, or chose the lower cost item, or went to the library for some reading instead of a quick fix at the supermarket) I put a penny in a different dish (you may need some supplemental pennies here for this game). By the end of the third month, I was actually including my vet bill in my grocery bill, and putting $250 away in a CD or “save for it” type account.
Somewhere in there I dropped some junk novel habits, developed a relationship with my library, discovered twenty first century classical music, and became MUCH more aware of what I buy and why.
So… if you just can’t stand spreadsheets, this isn’t perfect… but if you can make a game of it (hey, poker chips, anyone), you’ll be surprised what you can accomplish. By the way, I do evaluate the numbers on a bigger scale from time to time - I’m not innumerate - and in the last four months I’ve dropped my average spending 34% - my goal is to have a habit of living on 40% less than I “can” right nowb- which will allow me to wander into retirement completely naturally. And have I got plans for then! cheers… K
One way that has worked for me with grocery budgets is to buy a gift card for my grocery store at the beginning of the month that matches my budget and only use that. It works best if you don’t shop at multiple stores. If there’s any money left on the card, it gets used the next month, and next month’s gift card purchase is that much less.
There is in app that i saw on CNN called texthog it looked pretty good
Have been a “coupon queen” for quite awhile now. One of the best moves for meeting the weekly budget for groceries is to combine coupons AND sales/specials at the store you are visiting. Yesterday’s trip to my local drugstore capitalized on this idea. I walked out of the store with more than 50% savings on my total bill. It is easy and takes only a few minutes to “plan”. Just keep your coupons and their expiration dates current.
Thanks for all the “saving info” you have shared with us! We appreciate it!
One thing that’s common out here in the back country is shared runs to Costco and box stores. Yeah, I know you hate ‘em sometimes, but for us (our gas costs are typically a third more than the rest of the country and we had double digit unemployment long before everyone else — at least the last 10 years — bulk purchasing really does pay, especially if folks can go in on things together. One person makes the run (90 miles one way or more), takes the order, and splits it out upon return.
This can work for those of you where it’s convenient too - can even build community if you let it!
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