Until Next Spring/Summer.......

Seeing how my life gets very busy during the winter months with homeschooling, I will not be keeping this blog during that time. I hope to return to blogging here next spring/summer. Until then......

Budgeting 101 - Necessities

In my budget, you may have noticed that we budget for groceries and then what we call "necessities". You may be wondering what all that entails and I hope to answer that in this post.

We are pretty minimal from what we used to be a few years ago when I 'had to have' all different kinds of perfume, hair products, face items, etc. However, I learned I don't need all that and I'm quite content with just the basics. Our necessities budget is separate from our grocery budget. Meaning, when I spend $120 a month on groceries that is JUST food, not necessity items.

So what counts as a necessity for our family? Here is our list and we only buy as needed:

• Toilet paper
• Deodorant
• Shampoo & Conditioner
• Soap - for shower use and to make my liquid hand soap
• Toothpaste
• Toothbrush
• Breath mints
• Trash bags
• Aluminium foil, plastic wrap, ziploc bags
• Lysol
• Face lotion
• Contact solution
• Hair gel
• Body spray
• Dishwasher gel - sometimes I make my own
• Baking soda
• Dish detergent - I use Ajax
• Vinegar, tea tree oil for my homemade all-purpose cleaner
• Borax, washing soda and Fels Naptha for my homemade laundry soap
• Q-tips
• Cotton balls
• Dryer sheets
• Fabric softener
• First Aid items
• Sunscreen
• Razors

I keep a price list of my necessities so I know what price they average. Most of the items above are not purchased monthly, but rather bi-yearly or yearly. We used to buy paper towels all the time but you really could do without and we like using hand towels for drying our hands. I also don't use perfume because I love fruit smelling body sprays and evidently the bees love it too because they won't leave me alone haha. ;-)

For my hair, I'm pretty minimal now - shampoo, conditioner, coconut oil and a comb! I don't need anything else, except if I curl my hair I will use my heat-protectant spray but I haven't done that in a long time.

Budgeting 101 - Free Printable Monthly Budget Worksheets

Here are 2 free printable budget worksheets I made today, one is blank and the other lists the necessary expenses that I blogged about in my first post here.  I left some blanks at the bottom of the prefilled one in case you need to add more, enjoy!

*Coming back soon - I've just reopened my blog after being closed for 5 years and I hope to update the free printables by January 2019!

Budgeting 101 - What is a Budget?

Even if you have a very large income, budgeting is still important. If you have no budget you have no way of telling how much you spend on what. The easiest way to explain a budget to those who may not understand the concept, is to show you what a budget includes. It is basically a list of items and then you budget an amount for each for the month. I recommend Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" plan for getting out of debt - we followed it and it worked for us! You can buy the book online or at a bookstore or even Wal-Mart carries it.

1. Tithe & Offerings
We tithe on our GROSS income (income before taxes are taken out) and ALL increase in our life - whether it is gifts from others or winning something, we give God His tithe. If you don't tithe then don't bother reading my financial posts because they won't apply to you. 10% of all your increase belongs to the Lord and you should also give in offerings because God blesses givers and those that obey His Word.

So, tithe is the first thing we take off my husband's income, of which I choose to keep private. We also give in offerings and budget these as well.

2. Housing
You have to have a place to live, whether you own, pay the bank or rent from someone - you have a certain amount you pay for your housing. I did a post about reasonable rent and you can read that here. Dave Ramsey recommends you only pay 25-35% of your net income for housing.  Make sure you are not living above your means.

3. Housing "Needed" Expenses
Living in a home comes with expenses and if you rent, your landlord may not cover all your utilities so you need to budget for these. These are things such as electricity or gas, water, sewer and garbage. Our sewer is included in our rent but we must pay the rest. For electricity, we practice a lot of money-saving tips and you can read a post on that here. Water is based on usage, so you can practice conserving water to lower your bill. Garbage is usually a set price and you can't really change it, just don't accumulate too much garbage to where you have to pay extra. You can recycle paper, cardboard, cans, bottles, etc. and some garbage companies give you a discount off your bill depending on how much is in your recycle container.

If you own a home, you will have needed repairs and maintenance. That is why you should never buy a home until you know you have money, not only for the mortgage and insurance but also for the repairs and maintenance costs. We rent and almost everything is taken care of for us and we are just responsible for the yard, replacing light bulbs, etc.. The lawn mower and weed-eater are a one-time cost and only the gas for the mower is to be budgeted.

I'm throwing home and renter's insurance in here, although its not a bonafide need - you would be better off with it than without it! Homeowner's insurance covers your home in case of fire, water damage, etc. Renter's insurance covers only your belongings. Homeowner's also pay property taxes yearly and renter's pay it but it is included in their rent cost.

4. Housing Extras
This is where everything else falls in because they aren't pure "needs". I'm talking about phone, internet, cable tv and any other luxury you add in. Besides the phone, you probably could do without the others if you had to for a certain time to cut expenses. We have gone without internet for 6 months to a year to save money. However, now my husband's job requires it. We don't own a TV, therefore we don't pay cable.

If you own a home, of course you will have even more extras from upgrades, renovations and additions. These are not NEEDS though, they are merely wants and you can wait on these things.

5. Car
A car is mostly a need in our society. To go to the store, work and other places you need transportation. You should never go in debt for a car! It is stupid to pay interest on a vehicle! STUPID! You can easily buy a used car with savings - even $600 because our friends have been driving their $600 car for a few years now! So having a car payment should not be a concern and if it is, you need to pay that debt off quick.

To run a car you will most likely need gas. So make sure you budget this. You can save on gas easily by staying home more and going out less. Also, budget for yearly license fees.

Car maintenance, car insurance and repair costs need to be in your budget. Maintenance deals with oil changes and so forth. Keep it up to date to keep your car running smoothly. If you want to save money in this area, simply learn to do it yourself. Car insurance is something we all should have and shop around for the best deal. Also, be aware that if you get your home or renter's insurance from the same company as you get your car insurance, you usually get a hefty discount. Also, having an accident-free record gives you a discount.

6. Food & Necessities
This is where most people can cut costs. You need to figure out how much you need to feed your family and come up with a budget for food. Then also, budget for necessities - toilet paper, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, etc.

7. Medical
Health insurance, to me, is necessary! We learned the hard way - I was in the hospital for 2 weeks with NO insurance and we are still paying that bill to this day! Let me tell you plain and clear - if you think it won't happen to you, WAKE UP! You can't say a car will not hit your or you will not get cancer - you need to prepare for these things. I could have accepted charity for my hospital bill but we knew God didn't want that and we should pay our debts. God has rewarded us and what probably would have taken who knows how many years only took a few as we are paying the last payments next month!

So needless to say, we have insurance! So budget for the monthly costs or yearly cost if you do a medical savings plan. Dental falls in here as well.  If you don't pay for your own insurance you are basically throwing the bill on someone else, so you should, as a Christian, budget for this expense.

8. Life Insurance
Life insurance is a need, especially if you have children. A husband should make sure his wife will be well taken care of in the case of tragedy. If he has children, even the more so he should insure they are taken care of!

9. School
Whether you have expenses with your child's school or you homeschool - you need to budget for school costs. Make a list of every known expense you can imagine that will occur for the year and budget for that. You can easily homeschool on $300 and sometimes more if you choose new materials. Pick your curriculum and stick with it, if its working - don't buy just to buy, unless of course, you have money to blow.

10. Haircuts
Since this is a Christian blog, I don't cut my glory - so we only budget for my husband's haircuts.

11. Clothing
This is not only clothing but shoes and socks as well. We buy seasonally - fall and spring and usually do not purchase clothing any other time. Same for shoes and socks, etc.



I don't think I've missed anything and if you didn't see something on this list, it probably isn't a need. More to come as time permits!

Feeding a Family of 3 on $120 a Month

If you have been a long time reader of this blog, you may remember the year that our family of 3 lived on just $80 a month.  I was able to pocket the rest and buy new furniture for my home with the savings!  It was WELL worth the sacrifice and the furniture has special worth to us because of the sacrifice.  People today have forgotten how to sacrifice.  They view sacrifice as the plague and couldn't imagine going without all their heart's desires - whether its weekly manicures, gyms or even daily coffees.  They think if you go without or budget you are somehow down on your luck or struggling to make it.  On the contrary my dear friend!  Continual sacrifice and discipline enables you to develop contenment, enjoy the simple things in life and defeat covetousness.

I wanted to share with you our monthly grocery budget this month.  I budgeted for $120 for the month and was able to make it work this month and I have extra leftover for milk, bananas, etc.  I budgeted $80 for necessity items (toilet paper, deodorant, etc) and only used $55.  I even paid myself 10% of my home management money to my savings for future home item purchases.  Remember, we do a yearly "stock up" but that only averages $20 a month if you added that in.

We could still do the $80 a month plan but let's face it - bean soup isn't that exciting 'eh? $120 seems to hit that sweet spot for us.  We get goodies and still have a few bean meals (they are healthy and good for you after all!) and it works well with the freezer meal cooking.

If you don't plan your meals for the month, you will spend more than if you did.  This, I have learned by experience over the years.  Also, if you don't budget to spend a certain amount, you will buy more.  If you coupon, chances are, you will buy more as well.  You will end up buying name brand items instead of cheaper, generic versions just to save 50 cents.  You will also end up buying things you wouldn't have normally bought in the first place.  Again, this has been our experience with couponing.  I used to do it but it never failed - I would overspend.  If I spend $120 to feed my family each month with homemade snacks and goodies and you spend $300 on processed foods because you had coupons, who is really saving?

Back to groceries, you can see each month the USDA's Food Cost's at home averages here.  I really am blown away by those numbers because if we lived on food stamps, we would be eating WAY more than we do now and that is messed up!  The government thinks a "thrifty" plan for a family of 4 is around $600 a month!  People even whine that that isn't enough but isn't that like our society today?  It is sad but some have to eat upwards from 3,000 calories a day to maintain their weight and we as a nation are getting fatter and fatter.  When does it become a sin and gluttony?  Some food for thought.

I don't feel like we are sacrificing on $120.  I actually feel like this enough for us.  I like eating homemade bread, homemade unprocessed sweets, organic veggies and fruits and healthy meals.  When we spent more a month on food we ate mostly processed, CONVENIENCE foods.  It is very easy to get accustomed to convenience to a point that you lose the patience to even cook or make something homemade, in other words, you become lazy.  Having a got-to-have-it-now mentality is a curse, not a blessing!  You will find if you eat healthy, natural foods you will get fuller on less.  After all, white bread is like eating air and then you are hungry again, whereas whole wheat/whole grain bread fills you up longer.

Last month, we went out to eat a lot and got fast food more often then we ever have and with our vacation we also ate out.  We spent way too much on food!  Restaurant food, fast food and the like - only seem to make me sick, bloated and FAT! lol  We really prefer eating organic and natural whenever possible and eating at home.  It never fails - when I eat McD's - I get sick!  A few years ago, I could eat that stuff and not have any problems but since I started eating "clean" and organic - my body has become accustomed to natural, healthy food and when you throw that nasty, greasy stuff in there - only bad things happen lol.  However, I still love McD's - its an addiction that I'm forever trying to break and thankfully I only eat there 1-2 times a month now, even if that.

Rent-o-Meter - How Reasonable is Your Rent?

You can find out how reasonable your rent is by entering your zip code, rent amount and bedroom size at rentometer.com. You don't have to enter the address, unless you want a more accurate rating, but zip code and the rest is required.  You don't need to sign up for an account to get your results either.

As you can see it rates your rent comparing it with 1,000 rental properties within miles of your location.  It shows you the meter showing if you have low (green), moderate or high (red) rent for your area.  It also shows a map of your area and your rental and others and where the high, moderate and low rentals are located.

This is a great tool, but also remember that it pays to rent a nice place too!  If you go for the cheapest rent in the dirtiest part of town - don't be surprised if you hear all manner of crazies at night or you are left with an undependable landlord.  We have been in that situation and we moved out within 2 weeks.  It isn't fun - so make sure you check out your landlord's reputation as well!

We plan on buying a home with cash later on when we leave Washington and settle down in the town God has called my husband to pastor in.  It is possible because I know several that have done it!  You needn't go in debt and pay thousands in interest when you can apply the Biblical guidelines to your life of owing no man and being debt-free.  With God, ALL things are possible! 

TracFone Emergency Cell - $80 a Year

Today, we say goodbye to Verizon and parting is such sweet sorrow. I wonder why I paid $90 a month to just talk to my husband at work but we had been with Verizon for 4 years and were very pleased with the service but not the cost.  For those who don't know, we are getting rid of our cell plan and going cell-phone free except for an emergency cell.

I had originally posted in my phone deals post that TracFone was $99.99 a year but last night I realized once I was at Wal-Mart that the cheapest is actually just $79.52.  Let me explain how all this works.

You buy the cheapest TracFone at $9.88, this is a one-time purchase, unless of course you break your phone or lose it.  Then, you need to buy airtime and minutes.  There are many cards but since you are using this just as an emergency cell - you will get the minimum minutes.  The cheapest I found was the 60 minutes / 90 days of service card for $19.88.  This keeps your phone active for 90 days and gives you minutes.  You simply buy 4 of these for the year - 90 days x 4 = 1 year.  So yearly costs would be just $79.52.  Now you are covered for a year and don't have to do anything till next year.  You will also have 240 minutes + 10 minutes that come with your TracFone for a total of 250 minutes to use for the year for emergencies. 

Here is what comes with your TracFone:  phone, battery, charger, activation card with serial number (keep this as long as you have your phone), instruction guide and coupons if you wish to purchase more minutes.

Simple.  Efficient.  All you need.  This is my emergency TracFone! ;-) 

Guest Post: A Testimony on Simplicity

I asked Candy to share her testimony because she has been used by God as an instrument in my life and hopefully others as well.  This testimony speaks volumes and I know other's hearts will be touched by her story.

Bev has asked me if I could do a guest post for her about my husband and my life and our choosing to live simple. It is a pleasure to be able to share a little about how we came to live simple.

Both myself and my husband grew up with frugal parents. My Dad was a pastor, so growing up he always taught us to be a giver. Whatever money he had, they lived simple and frugal, and gave and helped everyone. My husband's family are the most thrifty people you will ever meet. They save every penny and rarely spend. Both of our parents live modest and humble.

Even so...  :)    A few years into our marriage, Rob and I started to get caught up a little in living like our friends. We started to feel like everything we had wasn't good enough. Our friends from church were getting the big homes, luxury cars, etc. And every couple years they would get an even bigger home, and even better car. Meanwhile, we were living modestly and simple in cute little homes that we had built. They were cute, but very small. We actually liked our small living, but started to feel though that maybe it was time for us to build a bigger home too, and have a better car.. So, that's what we did. We built a huge home.... it had every luxury from top of line appliances to professionally built-in ceiling speakers in every room, to telephones in all the bathrooms, etc! To most people, it would be considered a 'dream house'. However, it never really did impress Rob or I.  It made us feel phony. Not because we couldn't afford it. Don't get me wrong, my husband makes a very good income. Money actually wasn't an issue, unlike many people who actually get homes like that who live way above their means. We could actually afford this home. And the nice SUV parked in our driveway, which of course had the works and leather interior as well. But here we were, after moving into this luxuriously large home, sitting in one of the massive living rooms, on one of the leather sofa sets, looking at each other one day and began to talk about it. Were we happy here? No not really. This doesnt impress us. And really, we don't care one bit if it impresses anyone else. In fact, we would rather not have attention on us. We are both rather shy, quiet people. Who were we kidding. This type of living was not for us! 

I also felt that it wasn't the best testimony to be living so grand. While most of our friends were living the same, we still had many other friends who were struggling to make ends meet. I could sense the envy from them and I didn't like it. I wouldnt want to be the cause of my fellow sisters and brothers in the Lord, going into debt or having marriage stress because they were trying to catch up with us. It actually bothered my conscience. Plus, I want people to feel comfortable around us. I want them to feel good about their life. I want others to look at our lifestyle and say 'you know what, material stuff isn't all that for Rob and Candy' and 'it's ok to live simple'. I want Christians especially to feel like they don't have to live like the world lives, even if the world means their church friends, or even siblings who may be flashing their wealth with material possessions. 

I'm not saying that living grand is bad, or that we must all live simple. I'm just saying that it's really ok to live simple. And that however you live, be true to yourself, and be sensitive in your heart towards others. 

Given the choice to have a huge home and luxury car, or use that money to help my in-laws, missionaries, give to friends, etc, I would rather not have the house and car!  One day we will meet our Lord Jesus face to face and have to give account of what we spent the money on that He blessed us with. 

We currently have a nice home, it is not a house but a small condominium. Just a 2 bedroom, 1050 sq ft home. It has some little luxuries in it but otherwise it's pretty plain and very small. Most people don't want to live in a condo like us! And for the most part, our place looks like a regular apartment. Even our choice of furnishings are no big deal, most everything bought from Ikea :) I feel good about our choice to live small and simple. And to be able to give more to others. My conscience doesn't bother me. And we're not competing with anyone or trying to keep up with "Jones' ". We're happy, we live below our means, and maybe we can be example to others or an encouragement. Be content. You can make any space homey and beautiful by giving away all the stuff you don't need, all the clutter. And live only with what you need or what is beautiful to you. It is much better to live a life where you have the ability to give freely and abundantly than live a life where your overwhelmed by stuff and don't give or help others.

Cutting Costs When Flying

You can read the full story here:
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/ways-airlines-gotcha-hidden-fees-aircraft-partner-airlines/story?id=11151842

Phone Deals for Summer 2010

The competition is heating up in the cell phone market and Boost Mobile offers unlimited everything - talk, text, web, voicemail, long distance, national coverage and walkie talkie - for just $50 a month!  Boost Mobile even has a nice Android phone from Motorola but the price is hidden and says "only available at stores". I also saw they offer a Blackberry smartphone on a 3G network at $60 a month.  I was thinking to myself why aren't more people switching over to these deals?  It could be that Boost Mobile runs off Nextel's network but my husband's job uses Nextel and it works fine except when he travels to certain locations and there is no Nextel coverage but Verizon is just about everywhere.  However, if you aren't going to be traveling to small, rural areas this isn't going to be a problem.

Then there is Walmart's new cell deal with Straight Talk.  They are offering a $30 a month "All You Need" plan that gives you a 1000 talk and text and a $45 a month unlimited - talk, text, web.  Straight Talk is owned by TracFone and runs of Verizon's network but some reviews I've read online indicate poor phone quality. 

For prepaid cell plans, you can get TracFone for a year service with 400 minutes for $99.99 - that equates to about $8 a month for an emergency cell phone to carry with you.  They have a $9.99 prepaid phone available that comes with the double minutes for life card.  That means that whenever you add minutes they double automatically.  I'm pretty sure this is what I'm going to go with for my emergency cell to have with me in case of a car accident or car breakdown, etc. *UPDATE - You can get a TracFone emergency cell for just $80 - Read this post on how.

Then there is also Net10, which offers a year at $180 and the airtime cards equate to 10 cents a minute.

For VoiP phones, you can't beat Magic Jack and I've blogged on it back in 2007 here.  It runs through your broadband internet connection but unlike Skype, you can use your own phone that hooks conveniently into the Magic Jack.  It is unlimited long distance and comes with voicemail for just $19.95 a year, although you have to pay $20 for the device the first time you buy it so the first year is $39.95.  That is about $1.67 a month for unlimited phone service.  You just can't beat that and that comes with your own phone number and the whole shebang - caller id, etc.  Clark Howard has used it on 4 continents and still touts it as the most awesome phone service.  My husband has not wanted to let go of our land-line with Comcast so we have yet to try the Magic Jack ourselves but do have a friend who has used it for a few years and says it works fine.  However, if your computer is off - your phone won't ring and that is something a lot of people don't like about it but hey - for $20 a year - why complain?

Also, if you have a home security system you will need a land-line other than Magic Jack and that is one of the reasons we have not used it.  Magic Jack does offer the free 911 service of which other VoiP services do not.

Magic Jack has already given us a peak of the new Femtocell they plan to release.  Femtocell is basically your own cell phone tower for your home!  You will be able to run your cell phone, even your old one that has no service - off of Magic Jack.  That means your "locked" cell phones you have that have no service can be used AND iPhones.  That is sure to cause a stir with AT&T. That means if you have a limited minutes plan on your cell phone, you can use Magic Jack when you are at home and save your minutes for when you are out.  I saw mention somewhere, you will also be able to use Magic Jack when your computer is off.   The best part - the cost will not increase, it will be the same $20 a year. 

I came across Ooma yesterday and don't know too much about it but it seems like a great deal.  Ooma is free home phone service (unlimited US) for life after you buy the unit at currently $249.99.  That is a one time price for free phone through your high speed internet connection.  However, for $250, you could get 13 years of Magic Jack service and maybe by then Ooma won't be around or will have changed it plans - who knows.  I'm not sure how you can guarantee "for life" on a phone plan but it is still cheaper than a land-line.

Then of course there is Skype but the one thing I don't like about Skype is that it doesn't offer 911 emergency service.  For someone who has a cell phone this is probably not a big deal but for us it is.  Skype is free if you use it do video calls online to other Skype users but if you get a phone number and use it to make calls to non-Skype users - landlines and mobiles, it will cost you but only a small fee.  Currently the unlimited US & Canada calling plan runs $2.99 a month.  If you want a phone number that costs $60 a year.  So with the unlimited plan AND phone number you will be paying $96 a year or $8 a month. With Skype you have to use a headset or buy a Skype phone - that is just too many extras to deal with when you get the same service with Magic Jack for cheaper and can use your own phone.

Simplifying Our Life - Getting Rid of "Frills"

I've been thinking for a while how did we ever live without cell phones.  Then it occurred to me that we did live without them!  I started to really examine my cell phone use and realized we barely used 300 of the 750 minutes we got a month with our Verizon plan.  I will call my hubby and a friend but I usually do this from home - so I could have called them from my HOME phone lol.  So why pay $90 a month for something that is just a frill?  I can tell you I would rather save or invest that money in our future or use it to pay off medical bills.  So we have decided to get rid of our cell phones - shocking I know!  If we continue to pay the $90 to ourselves instead of Verizon - we will have $1,080 a year.  In 5 years that will be $5,400!  That is a used car folks!

Since I'm on this frugal kick again (yes I'm an addict) - I thought, why are we paying  about $95 a month for high speed internet and home phone?  That seems way too much to me.  So a call and determination resulted in lowering our bill to $65!  One phone call saved us $30 a month today.  That is $360 a year we don't have to pay for what we already would be using.

So total savings today for the year is - $1,440 and in 5 years it will be $7,200!  If that doesn't make you feel good, I don't know what does?

Simplifying is good, its freeing and you realize what you value and what you are willing to pay for.  Do you want a cell phone or do you want to pay cash for a car one day?  When you look at things in the long run you begin to see the "frills" you could do without it.  Why have it just because you can?  So what if you can afford it?  Doesn't mean you should do it!  Invest, save and plan for your future and your children's - then having money to help others should also be a goal and we have found the more we help others - the more God blesses us! 

"The chains of habit are too strong to be felt until they are too strong to be broken"- Samuel Johnson

"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship"- Benjamin Franklin

Open Again!

I've decided to go ahead and re-open this blog again. If you had an email subscription, it is still valid if you got this update in your email. Not sure what I plan to post on here next but enjoy the old posts in the meantime! ;-) If you have any requests on posts, simply leave me a comment, thanks!