This was a post I was going to save for awhile, but I am feeling inspired to write it now!
I believe that God has a place in this world for everybody. He calls some into the ministry. Some he calls to care for children, some to work labor, others to invent things. I believe that, in this season of my life, he is calling me to be a stay at home mom. The point is, he "builds" everybody for some purpose, whether it be a career or what they do in their spare time. Unfortunately, some people don't ever find that job they are being called into. But that's not what this post is about.
This post is about my inspiration, Crystal Paine at www.moneysavingmom.com. If this is a new reference for you, you apparently are new to my blog. :) I believe that she has fully discovered and succeeded in her calling- helping people gain control of their finances. Crystal (I have decided that I am on a first named basis with her, even if we have never met) is a huge reason that we are where we are today financially.
When I first seeked out money saving blogs, I was looking for couponing tips. I wanted to find out how to get some free groceries. As I started following some of these blogs, I started discovering ways to save a ton of money in other areas of my life. These blogs help me in my day to day purchases and I am very grateful for them. But, none of them have done for me what Crystal's blog has done.
Crystal has inspired me to completely changed my attitude towards money. And this is exactly what I needed- an inspiration instead of a comparison. Comparison is what got us into debt. I wanted things that my friends had. I wanted to go and do things, even if we couldn't afford them, because everyone else was able to. I wanted my kids to wear adorable, name brand clothing because my mommy friends dressed their kids that way. And most of our debt wasn't even made of these little vanity purchases. They were mostly composed of "emergency" charges like car repairs that we didn't have an emergency fund for because we didn't budget well enough to being saving anything. Because I was comparing myself to people who didn't necessarily have the same means as us or the same goals we were not living within, let alone below our means. And that's where Crystal came in.
She is not a person I compare myself to. She is living on ZERO debt. Nada. Nothing. They OWN THEIR HOUSE OUTRIGHT! But I don't compare myself to her. She has a set of situations that are entirely different that I have or ever will have. And that is fine. I don't want her life. She provides me with something far more motivational that a person to compare myself to- she provides me with inspiration to gain the attitude she has toward money.
Her attitude towards money is amazing. She sees money as something that you need to get you through life, not what life should be all about. For example, she wrote a book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget. When she was asked to write this book, she was stressed out because she didn't need the money she would make off of it. So instead of taking the money for extravagant purchases or turning down the book offer, she chose to devote hours of time to writing a book to give all the proceeds to charity. That is simply amazing to me. First, she recognized that they were making enough to reach their financial goals and decided that she just didn't need the money. In a world where athletes are turning down multi million dollar contracts because they aren't high enough offers, it is refreshing to hear a person say that they just don't need that extra money. What an amazing attitude. And then, on top of that, to decide to put forth her own time and energy to write a book entirely for charity. What an inspiration to me! (By the way- if you haven't read her book I highly encourage it. Even as an avid follower of her blog I learned a lot and became even more inspired).
What means so much to me is that, for the first time, I have found someone I can use as my "money smarts" barometer. I have motivation issues from time to time when I am working toward any goal. As much as I want to be in a place where money is not a stressor, sometimes I want that super cute shirt for Delaney more. But now, I can call upon my "What would Crystal do" theory. Is this something that she would encourage on her blog? Is this truly a little splurge that fits into my budget, or is this me wanting to buy something that puts us further from our goals. Even when I am not feeling especially motivated I can use what I have learned from her to decide if it is a smart decision.
I guess the point I am trying to get across is that it is so important to have somebody, whether it be a person you know personally or otherwise, to inspire you, not to compare to. You will NEVER find someone with circumstances exactly like yours to make it wise for you to be comparing yourself to them. After all, you shouldn't be making any decisions based off what is best for somebody else! So quit making decisions based on your envy, and find someone who has attitudes or beliefs that you desire and use their experiences to achieve your own goals. Maybe your person is Crystal. Maybe it is another blogger, maybe a friend. But no matter what, find somebody to inspire you!
Showing posts with label debt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label debt. Show all posts
February 18, 2012
Sharing the Wealth: Buying kids clothing
When it comes to shopping, buying clothing for my kids is by far my biggest weakness. I am constantly finding more clothes that they "must" have. I am not sure how much a month I was spending on clothing for them, and I don't really want to know. What makes it so much more ridiculous is that my kids are very blessed with extended family who loves buying them clothing. In reality, Christmas and birthdays make up almost all the clothing they really need, so I only need to supplement, which is NOT what I used to do. So, when Shaun and I decided that we needed to change our financial situation, I knew that this was an area where I would need to make some drastic changes. Now, I think I still have a long way to go in this area, but here is what I have learned so far:
Focus on what they actually need
This is definitely the area where I had to make the biggest changes. I had many reasons for buying them clothes- It was a great deal, it was perfect for that child, it was too stinkin' cute... etc. Notice "my child actually needs this item" didn't make the list? Yeah. That's because that really wasn't a criteria for my clothes shopping. With the exception of my round up prior to the consignment sale, I rarely knew what clothing my children were needing for their current or upcoming season and size. It didn't really matter to me because it didn't effect what I bought for them. Now, I am still guilty of that "this dress is perfect for Delaney" or "Jameson would go nuts over this shirt" purchase every now and then, but now it is a rarity instead of the rule.
To make sure I always know what I actually need for my kids, I keep a constant inventory. For example, right now, I know that Jameson has plenty of 3T (his current size) and Delaney has plenty of 24 month (her current size) in winter clothing. They also both have plenty of t-shirts, so I know that, if they are still in this size come spring time, I will have only minimal shopping to do. I have barred myself from purchasing anything more in their current size for winter. Now, the next size up is a different story. Delaney has a few 2T shirts, and Jameson has a little in 4T play clothes. So, when I find some great clothing deals (more on that later), I can focus my energy and money on the clothing that they actually are needing.
Just like groceries, clothing needs a "buy-at" price
In my post about grocery shopping I talked about having a "buy-at" price for groceries. This is the price that you have determined to be the lowest price you can find a certain item for. When you find the item for this price, you buy as much as you need to hold you over until you think you will be able to get this item at your buy at price again. Clothing is no different, it is just a lot trickier. Because there are so many factors that change the value of an item- the size, the brand, which article of clothing it is (shirt, pants, dress)- it can be really difficult to determine a buy-at price. To remedy this, I have a "buy-at ballpark".
A "buy-at ballpark" basically means that I have a set price that I am willing to pay for things, but that there is more wiggle room when I find an item that I know is hard to find in good condition. This is going to be set differently for everyone. If you are an expert garage saler, your buy at price is probably a lot lower than mine. If you have older children, your buy at price is going to be much higher than mine. For me, I set mine based on the Little Britches Consignment Sale. Because these sales happen before the Fall/Winter season and before the Spring/Summer season, I know that, need be, I can pretty much buy their entire wardrobe from the sale. But, I would like to have a chunk done before the sale. After experiencing a few Little Britches sales, I have learned what prices I can reasonable expect to be able to get enough clothing for my kids for that size/season. Because I know this, I can restrict myself to only buying clothing when I find them at these prices. I know that my "buy-at ballpark" baseline price is $2 per item. However, I am willing to spend about $4 for a nice dress for Delaney or $3-4 for nice clothes for Jameson since these are items that either go for more at Little Britches or are hard to come by (Little boys are HARD on their clothing so it often isn't any good for resale). I am also more willing to spend a little more for brand name clothing, but more on that later...
Buy used
This is probably the most obvious way to save money on kids clothing, but it is certainly the one that makes the most significant difference, so it definitely deserves mentioning. But I am not just talking about garage sales! Here are some other excellent ways to score some used kids clothing for cheap (or free!)
-Consignment sales (Manhattan's is the Little Britches Consignment sale). It is kind of like a mass garage sale for only kids clothing
-Thrift stores
-Ebay
-Craigslist
-Hand me downs/swaps (get a group of friends together who have kids of similar age and do a swap. I have never done this personally but have heard about it).
Buy ahead
Once you have a buy-at ballpark in mind you can effectively buy ahead. Buying ahead is buying clothing at the end of a season on the clearance racks to put back for the next season. For example, in the next few weeks, stores are going to start bringing in their spring merchandise which means that the winter stuff has to go. They will mark these items down to lower prices to get rid of them. By stocking up what you need for the next year you can avoid paying full price. I used to shy away from this because I didn't know what size my kids would be wearing. Now that they are in their sizes for much longer than when they were infants it is easier, but it can work with infants too! Sure, it might not be a good idea to stock up on sweaters and Christmas shirts for the next size up when you're not sure what size they will be in next December, but you can still stock up on items that transition well from one season to the next- lighter weight long sleeve shirts, jeans, light jackets, etc.
Put yourself on the selling side
There is most certainly nothing wrong with giving your clothes away to a thrift shop or a friend. In fact, I encourage it. However, another option to consider is reselling. When you resell your clothing you still get to help someone out by giving them the opportunity to buy clothing for their children at a fraction of retail while recouping some of what you paid for the clothing. And even though we are planning on more little ones in our future, I still sell the majority of their clothing. We simply don't have the space to store entire wardrobes when it is unlikely that our next child will be requiring the same season at the same size.
I have resold at garage sales and on Craigslist and, my most successful route, selling at Little Britches. A few tips to successful reselling:
-Before I mentioned that I prefer to buy brand name when possible. Overall, brand name clothing is more expensive because they have a certain name in the tag. However, part of the reason is also in the quality. Very often, though not always, brand name clothing is better quality. This translates to a better resale value not only because other moms want that name on the tag, but also because these are the clothes that can make it through several children before they start to show their wear. When you put the effort into buying brand name clothing at minimal cost, you are giving yourself an inventory to sell from that will be the most marketable and profitable.
-Take good care of your kids clothing. Kids are often DESTRUCTION on clothing. Taking the extra time now to care for clothing properly will help in the long run. Check clothing when your kiddo gets undressed and promptly treat stains. Also, attempt to wash clothing a minimal amount. No, not in a gross way. But when you find clothing on the floor, do the good old smell check to try and determine if it was actually worn. If it passes the test, don't just wash it anyway. Not only will it save the laundry detergent and water, it will prevent early wear.
-There are few things cuter than trendy clothes on a little one, but try to keep these outfits to a minimum. When buying their wardrobe, focus on buying more classic pieces like jeans and basic tees. When you buy super trendy clothing it is likely that you will have a more difficult time finding somebody interested in these items once they are no longer the current trend.
Plan for the occasional splurge
No matter how good of a shopper you are, there are going to be those items that you just can't buy for very cheap. For us, that is Easter attire for the kiddos. I put a lot of thought and time into selecting their Easter outfits, so I don't like buying them ahead. I want their outfits to be the right size and coordinate with each other so that pictures don't clash (no, I don't go matchy matchy, I just make sure that they don't look bad together). As much as I have tried, I am just not okay with settling for whatever I can find. So, I plan for this expense, and I plan carefully.
This year, for example, is going to be pretty easy. My work did a health promo last year that earned me a $100 card that is good towards certain stores including Children's Place, Old Navy, Gap, etc. I know that, between these stores, I can put together excellent outfits for them. No, I will NOT be spending the entire $100 on two outfits- that would make me cry.
Because I would like to have a good chunk of that $100 left over, I am also exercising some good shopping practices. I am waiting until I find that perfect outfit for both of them- I am letting myself be picky so that I am not tempted to get a different outfit when one I like better comes along. I am also being picky about the price. I have several outfits for each that I have my eye on. Because I am wanting to wait for a good sale, I know that it is possible that one of my favorites will sell out before I snatch it up. This is something I am totally okay with because I know that I haven't set myself on that being the outfit.
I am also going to try to make the purchase go as far as possible. I already know that their Easter outfits will likely only be worn once, possible twice. Even though we attend church regularly, I don't typically get them dressed up that much because our church is very casual. However, I can make efforts toward making parts of their outfits go further. Take their outfits last year:
That is pretty much my ridiculously long-winded explanation of my money saving techniques for kids clothing, but, as I said, I still have a lot to learn. I would love to hear any tips you guys have for saving money on kids clothing... PLEASE!!!!!!
Focus on what they actually need
This is definitely the area where I had to make the biggest changes. I had many reasons for buying them clothes- It was a great deal, it was perfect for that child, it was too stinkin' cute... etc. Notice "my child actually needs this item" didn't make the list? Yeah. That's because that really wasn't a criteria for my clothes shopping. With the exception of my round up prior to the consignment sale, I rarely knew what clothing my children were needing for their current or upcoming season and size. It didn't really matter to me because it didn't effect what I bought for them. Now, I am still guilty of that "this dress is perfect for Delaney" or "Jameson would go nuts over this shirt" purchase every now and then, but now it is a rarity instead of the rule.
To make sure I always know what I actually need for my kids, I keep a constant inventory. For example, right now, I know that Jameson has plenty of 3T (his current size) and Delaney has plenty of 24 month (her current size) in winter clothing. They also both have plenty of t-shirts, so I know that, if they are still in this size come spring time, I will have only minimal shopping to do. I have barred myself from purchasing anything more in their current size for winter. Now, the next size up is a different story. Delaney has a few 2T shirts, and Jameson has a little in 4T play clothes. So, when I find some great clothing deals (more on that later), I can focus my energy and money on the clothing that they actually are needing.
Just like groceries, clothing needs a "buy-at" price
In my post about grocery shopping I talked about having a "buy-at" price for groceries. This is the price that you have determined to be the lowest price you can find a certain item for. When you find the item for this price, you buy as much as you need to hold you over until you think you will be able to get this item at your buy at price again. Clothing is no different, it is just a lot trickier. Because there are so many factors that change the value of an item- the size, the brand, which article of clothing it is (shirt, pants, dress)- it can be really difficult to determine a buy-at price. To remedy this, I have a "buy-at ballpark".
A "buy-at ballpark" basically means that I have a set price that I am willing to pay for things, but that there is more wiggle room when I find an item that I know is hard to find in good condition. This is going to be set differently for everyone. If you are an expert garage saler, your buy at price is probably a lot lower than mine. If you have older children, your buy at price is going to be much higher than mine. For me, I set mine based on the Little Britches Consignment Sale. Because these sales happen before the Fall/Winter season and before the Spring/Summer season, I know that, need be, I can pretty much buy their entire wardrobe from the sale. But, I would like to have a chunk done before the sale. After experiencing a few Little Britches sales, I have learned what prices I can reasonable expect to be able to get enough clothing for my kids for that size/season. Because I know this, I can restrict myself to only buying clothing when I find them at these prices. I know that my "buy-at ballpark" baseline price is $2 per item. However, I am willing to spend about $4 for a nice dress for Delaney or $3-4 for nice clothes for Jameson since these are items that either go for more at Little Britches or are hard to come by (Little boys are HARD on their clothing so it often isn't any good for resale). I am also more willing to spend a little more for brand name clothing, but more on that later...
Buy used
This is probably the most obvious way to save money on kids clothing, but it is certainly the one that makes the most significant difference, so it definitely deserves mentioning. But I am not just talking about garage sales! Here are some other excellent ways to score some used kids clothing for cheap (or free!)
-Consignment sales (Manhattan's is the Little Britches Consignment sale). It is kind of like a mass garage sale for only kids clothing
-Thrift stores
-Ebay
-Craigslist
-Hand me downs/swaps (get a group of friends together who have kids of similar age and do a swap. I have never done this personally but have heard about it).
Buy ahead
Once you have a buy-at ballpark in mind you can effectively buy ahead. Buying ahead is buying clothing at the end of a season on the clearance racks to put back for the next season. For example, in the next few weeks, stores are going to start bringing in their spring merchandise which means that the winter stuff has to go. They will mark these items down to lower prices to get rid of them. By stocking up what you need for the next year you can avoid paying full price. I used to shy away from this because I didn't know what size my kids would be wearing. Now that they are in their sizes for much longer than when they were infants it is easier, but it can work with infants too! Sure, it might not be a good idea to stock up on sweaters and Christmas shirts for the next size up when you're not sure what size they will be in next December, but you can still stock up on items that transition well from one season to the next- lighter weight long sleeve shirts, jeans, light jackets, etc.
Put yourself on the selling side
There is most certainly nothing wrong with giving your clothes away to a thrift shop or a friend. In fact, I encourage it. However, another option to consider is reselling. When you resell your clothing you still get to help someone out by giving them the opportunity to buy clothing for their children at a fraction of retail while recouping some of what you paid for the clothing. And even though we are planning on more little ones in our future, I still sell the majority of their clothing. We simply don't have the space to store entire wardrobes when it is unlikely that our next child will be requiring the same season at the same size.
I have resold at garage sales and on Craigslist and, my most successful route, selling at Little Britches. A few tips to successful reselling:
-Before I mentioned that I prefer to buy brand name when possible. Overall, brand name clothing is more expensive because they have a certain name in the tag. However, part of the reason is also in the quality. Very often, though not always, brand name clothing is better quality. This translates to a better resale value not only because other moms want that name on the tag, but also because these are the clothes that can make it through several children before they start to show their wear. When you put the effort into buying brand name clothing at minimal cost, you are giving yourself an inventory to sell from that will be the most marketable and profitable.
-Take good care of your kids clothing. Kids are often DESTRUCTION on clothing. Taking the extra time now to care for clothing properly will help in the long run. Check clothing when your kiddo gets undressed and promptly treat stains. Also, attempt to wash clothing a minimal amount. No, not in a gross way. But when you find clothing on the floor, do the good old smell check to try and determine if it was actually worn. If it passes the test, don't just wash it anyway. Not only will it save the laundry detergent and water, it will prevent early wear.
-There are few things cuter than trendy clothes on a little one, but try to keep these outfits to a minimum. When buying their wardrobe, focus on buying more classic pieces like jeans and basic tees. When you buy super trendy clothing it is likely that you will have a more difficult time finding somebody interested in these items once they are no longer the current trend.
Plan for the occasional splurge
No matter how good of a shopper you are, there are going to be those items that you just can't buy for very cheap. For us, that is Easter attire for the kiddos. I put a lot of thought and time into selecting their Easter outfits, so I don't like buying them ahead. I want their outfits to be the right size and coordinate with each other so that pictures don't clash (no, I don't go matchy matchy, I just make sure that they don't look bad together). As much as I have tried, I am just not okay with settling for whatever I can find. So, I plan for this expense, and I plan carefully.
This year, for example, is going to be pretty easy. My work did a health promo last year that earned me a $100 card that is good towards certain stores including Children's Place, Old Navy, Gap, etc. I know that, between these stores, I can put together excellent outfits for them. No, I will NOT be spending the entire $100 on two outfits- that would make me cry.
Because I would like to have a good chunk of that $100 left over, I am also exercising some good shopping practices. I am waiting until I find that perfect outfit for both of them- I am letting myself be picky so that I am not tempted to get a different outfit when one I like better comes along. I am also being picky about the price. I have several outfits for each that I have my eye on. Because I am wanting to wait for a good sale, I know that it is possible that one of my favorites will sell out before I snatch it up. This is something I am totally okay with because I know that I haven't set myself on that being the outfit.
I am also going to try to make the purchase go as far as possible. I already know that their Easter outfits will likely only be worn once, possible twice. Even though we attend church regularly, I don't typically get them dressed up that much because our church is very casual. However, I can make efforts toward making parts of their outfits go further. Take their outfits last year:
Dang they were so little!!!!!
If I remember right, I spend a total of about $60 on their outfits- an amount that makes me want to throw things. But, I was able to stretch parts of this. For example, though Delaney only wore that adorable dress one or two more times after this, she got several more wears out of the sweater before it was out grown. And I actually didn't buy Jameson's pants for the occasion. He already had the khakis in his closet so I just bought the vest and shirt to match. I also don't think he wore that vest again, but he did get a few more wears out of the shirt.
That is pretty much my ridiculously long-winded explanation of my money saving techniques for kids clothing, but, as I said, I still have a lot to learn. I would love to hear any tips you guys have for saving money on kids clothing... PLEASE!!!!!!
February 8, 2012
That whole debt thing...
I just wanted to post a little brag...
I am part of a zero credit card debt family!!!!
Oh how long I have been wanting to write those words!!!!!!!
Can I just say how AMAZING it feels to know that there is no longer a credit card company eating our money each month???
We are now on to our next goal- building our emergency savings fund. :)
Soon I will share the news on what this means for becoming a stay at home mom, but we have a few little things to work out before I feel comfortable sharing that news with the blogging world!
Thanks for letting me brag a little!
I am part of a zero credit card debt family!!!!
Oh how long I have been wanting to write those words!!!!!!!
Can I just say how AMAZING it feels to know that there is no longer a credit card company eating our money each month???
We are now on to our next goal- building our emergency savings fund. :)
Soon I will share the news on what this means for becoming a stay at home mom, but we have a few little things to work out before I feel comfortable sharing that news with the blogging world!
Thanks for letting me brag a little!
January 19, 2012
Sharing the Wealth: Where to begin?
When I look back on what made this financial goal one we could achieve when others have failed, I realize that there is one thing that made this time different. It is the thing that made our goal something we worked for every day with very few setbacks. It is what we lacked in the past when we have tried to save money or pay off a bill.
Throughout everything, we constantly have our main goal in mind. But, no matter how committed we were to those goals, we needed "baby goals" and milestones along the way to keep us encouraged.
There were times where we felt like it was going to be forever before the day would come where "going to work" meant getting up and planning my day with my kids. It were those little milestones that kept us going. For us, we had milestones each time we paid off a card. Another thing that we would achieve that would help keep us going were the little mini missions that we had. These were our mini goals for changes in our spending that needed to change to reach our ultimate goal.
One good example of this would be Christmas. We were absolutely determined to pay cash for Christmas this year. We have never put a crazy amount on credit for Christmas, but we usually have some bills looming over us come January. We knew that this is something that isn't going to be an option for us anymore when we go to one income. We broke down our budget and figured out exactly how much we needed to save and what we needed to do to save toward that goal. When our Christmas shopping was done and I knew that it had all been paid for, this was a huge accomplishment for us. We proved to ourselves that this is something we can handle. Not only Christmas, but we knew that we could identify a financial need and take the proper action and make the appropriate sacrifices to meet that need. This was a huge boost that really helped give us momentum to make it to the SAHM finish line!
It is a pretty big secret. You ready??? The big, amazing, highly sophisticated thing we finally got right waaaaaassssss (drumroll please)...
We actually set a goal.
What, you thought it would be more exciting? Sorry!
But, seriously. When I look back at what has made us so successful the past few months in our saving and bill paying mission, it is our goals that have made the difference.
And here is what I have learned:
Whoa, dream big! (and then find a way to make that your goal)
For Juno's stepmom, it was Weimaraners (If you don't get this reference, that makes me sad). For me, it was becoming a stay at home mom. I think that the fact that we were so passionate about this goal is what made it something for which we were willing to make significant lifestyle changes. Rather than just having something on paper that looked like a good financial decision, we had something with emotion attached to make sure it always stayed a priority. We never thought of what we were doing as "paying off bills and putting money in savings". We always thought of it as "making it so that Brandy can stay at home with the kids".
While not every necessary financial goal has emotion built-in to it like ours, I think you can find a way to put the emotion in it. For example, as we work to continue building our emergency fund after I am not longer working, I think I am going to make it our goal that we never again have to panic about a surprise expense. The finance based goal of a certain dollar amount that we want in the savings account is necessary and helpful. But, to actually imagine a world where a phone call from the mechanic telling us that our simple oil change is turning into a huge shop bill doesn't ignite a minor panic attack is what will really keep us motivated. Will I ever be excited about that phone call? Heh! Of course not! But, it will be nice for it to be an unfortunate check to write instead of something that we will lose sleep over.
While not every necessary financial goal has emotion built-in to it like ours, I think you can find a way to put the emotion in it. For example, as we work to continue building our emergency fund after I am not longer working, I think I am going to make it our goal that we never again have to panic about a surprise expense. The finance based goal of a certain dollar amount that we want in the savings account is necessary and helpful. But, to actually imagine a world where a phone call from the mechanic telling us that our simple oil change is turning into a huge shop bill doesn't ignite a minor panic attack is what will really keep us motivated. Will I ever be excited about that phone call? Heh! Of course not! But, it will be nice for it to be an unfortunate check to write instead of something that we will lose sleep over.
Momma goals need baby goals
Throughout everything, we constantly have our main goal in mind. But, no matter how committed we were to those goals, we needed "baby goals" and milestones along the way to keep us encouraged.
There were times where we felt like it was going to be forever before the day would come where "going to work" meant getting up and planning my day with my kids. It were those little milestones that kept us going. For us, we had milestones each time we paid off a card. Another thing that we would achieve that would help keep us going were the little mini missions that we had. These were our mini goals for changes in our spending that needed to change to reach our ultimate goal.
One good example of this would be Christmas. We were absolutely determined to pay cash for Christmas this year. We have never put a crazy amount on credit for Christmas, but we usually have some bills looming over us come January. We knew that this is something that isn't going to be an option for us anymore when we go to one income. We broke down our budget and figured out exactly how much we needed to save and what we needed to do to save toward that goal. When our Christmas shopping was done and I knew that it had all been paid for, this was a huge accomplishment for us. We proved to ourselves that this is something we can handle. Not only Christmas, but we knew that we could identify a financial need and take the proper action and make the appropriate sacrifices to meet that need. This was a huge boost that really helped give us momentum to make it to the SAHM finish line!
You're always on my mind
Something that was instrumental to this goal actually making its way to reality was the fact that it was the center around every decision we made, big or little. When we decided we needed to buy a bigger vehicle, we thought "How does this purchase work into our long term goal?" This lead us to purchasing an older van that we knew we could afford on one income. Yes, it is obvious that a big purchase like this should take your goals into consideration. But those weren't the only times we would use these goals to make a decision.
I think what had the most impact was that we had our goals in mind when we made even the smallest purchases. When I would be a great kids clothing sale, I gave a lot more thought to what I was purchasing than I ever had. Yes, that shirt may be a great deal at $2, and it may be perfect for Jameson. But, does he need another shirt? No, he has plenty. Am I willing to put myself $2 further from staying at home for that shirt? No.
As simple as it sounds, we could not have made it this far if we hadn't sat down and decided what our goals were and how hard we were willing to work for them. This summer, my favorite money saving blog www.moneysavingmom.com, posted this quote. It is a quote that I constantly have on my mind and has truly made an impact on my daily decisions:
Something that was instrumental to this goal actually making its way to reality was the fact that it was the center around every decision we made, big or little. When we decided we needed to buy a bigger vehicle, we thought "How does this purchase work into our long term goal?" This lead us to purchasing an older van that we knew we could afford on one income. Yes, it is obvious that a big purchase like this should take your goals into consideration. But those weren't the only times we would use these goals to make a decision.
I think what had the most impact was that we had our goals in mind when we made even the smallest purchases. When I would be a great kids clothing sale, I gave a lot more thought to what I was purchasing than I ever had. Yes, that shirt may be a great deal at $2, and it may be perfect for Jameson. But, does he need another shirt? No, he has plenty. Am I willing to put myself $2 further from staying at home for that shirt? No.
As simple as it sounds, we could not have made it this far if we hadn't sat down and decided what our goals were and how hard we were willing to work for them. This summer, my favorite money saving blog www.moneysavingmom.com, posted this quote. It is a quote that I constantly have on my mind and has truly made an impact on my daily decisions:
Brandy :)
January 17, 2012
Our SAHM mission and the things we have learned
I have had several friends and family ask me about our finances preparing for me becoming a stay at home mom. These are very logical questions like how we are going to adjust to one income and what we are doing to prepare for said adjustment. These questions have lead me to discover that I have learned a LOT about budgeting through this journey to becoming a say at home mom...
But I am getting ahead of myself. First, what we are doing to prepare...
First off, we set down and decided where we wanted to be financially while I am staying at home. We considered things like how we want to be able to live during that time. Are we okay with the fact that our vacations during that time will be limited and on a tight budget? Are we cool with shopping garage sales and CraigsList when possible? Can we be content with the fact that we will have to give certain things up? Our answer to all of these questions was yes. However, we also didn't want to end up putting ourselves in a position of struggling financially for many years to come and we didn't want to stress about money every month. We wanted to have a sufficient emergency fund built up and be putting more into savings every month while I am at home.
After some discussion, we decided that we didn't want to have any consumer debt while I was staying at home. We didn't have a huge amount, but it was enough that it was taking a chunk of our monthly income and causing a fair amount of stress. We both agreed that we would be happier waiting till these debts were paid off to lose my income.
This "step" kind of went right into the next: learning to only have Shaun's income. In April 2011 when Shaun got his promotion, we sat down and figured out our budget. We really looked at what we were spending our money on and where we could make adjustments. We cancelled our cable and opted for Netflix and Hulu for our TV watching. I decided that with couponing, cooking more from scratch, and just spending more time planning our menu we could take our grocery budget down. We started getting more careful about how we were spending our daily money. After tweaking other little areas of our spending we were a little surprised to discover that we could already live on just his income once you took our our childcare costs (which we obviously won't have once I am staying at home). Which went back to the paying off debt thing...
We decided that we could achieve both goals, paying off our debt and learning to live on Shaun's income, at the same time. We would snowball our bills (pay just the minimum on all our bills putting all our extra money towards the smallest bill till it is paid off, then put all that money to the next highest bill, and so on) and put my entire paycheck, minus childcare, toward these bills. So, not only would we be paying off our bills, we would learn if we could actually make it on just his income. Our goal was that once these were paid off, the money that was going to that each month would start going into savings to build our emergency fund.
Now, here we are, 6 months later and 2 1/2 weeks from reaching our goal of paying off all our consumer debt. After those are paid off, we will be putting all that money each month into a savings account for our emergency fund. We have learned that we can live frugally, but confidently on just Shaun's income. We know that we are going to have to make sacrifices here and there, but we both feel that it is worth it for me to be at home with our kids.
Which leads me to digress to something that I want to make clear: this was a mutual decision. This is not some thing where Shaun is wanting a little wifey sitting at home cooking his dinner or where I want Shaun to work to pull in all the money while I sit at home a eat bon bons. This is a dream we have BOTH had since we had Jameson (really, even before that). We BOTH feel that this is the best decision for our family right now and BOTH feel very blessed that it's an option for us. (There had to get that out there- feel better now).
On to the what I have learned stuff: Well, I have really felt like I have learned a lot about finances, discipline, and goal setting that I really want to share with others. I am by no means an expert, but I do want to share what I've learned in case it would help others out. Soooo...
I decided that I am going to do my first "series" as a blogger over the things I have learned throughout this journey. Over the next few weeks, I will be putting up a post about a particular lesson learned! I am sure many of you will read it and think "Well, duh Brandy, I could have told you that". My hope is that if even one person can learn something from all of the posts, maybe they will be able to get a step closer to their goals! I have decided to call this "Share the Wealth" (yes, I know, I am amazingly clever). Stay tuned!
But I am getting ahead of myself. First, what we are doing to prepare...
First off, we set down and decided where we wanted to be financially while I am staying at home. We considered things like how we want to be able to live during that time. Are we okay with the fact that our vacations during that time will be limited and on a tight budget? Are we cool with shopping garage sales and CraigsList when possible? Can we be content with the fact that we will have to give certain things up? Our answer to all of these questions was yes. However, we also didn't want to end up putting ourselves in a position of struggling financially for many years to come and we didn't want to stress about money every month. We wanted to have a sufficient emergency fund built up and be putting more into savings every month while I am at home.
After some discussion, we decided that we didn't want to have any consumer debt while I was staying at home. We didn't have a huge amount, but it was enough that it was taking a chunk of our monthly income and causing a fair amount of stress. We both agreed that we would be happier waiting till these debts were paid off to lose my income.
This "step" kind of went right into the next: learning to only have Shaun's income. In April 2011 when Shaun got his promotion, we sat down and figured out our budget. We really looked at what we were spending our money on and where we could make adjustments. We cancelled our cable and opted for Netflix and Hulu for our TV watching. I decided that with couponing, cooking more from scratch, and just spending more time planning our menu we could take our grocery budget down. We started getting more careful about how we were spending our daily money. After tweaking other little areas of our spending we were a little surprised to discover that we could already live on just his income once you took our our childcare costs (which we obviously won't have once I am staying at home). Which went back to the paying off debt thing...
We decided that we could achieve both goals, paying off our debt and learning to live on Shaun's income, at the same time. We would snowball our bills (pay just the minimum on all our bills putting all our extra money towards the smallest bill till it is paid off, then put all that money to the next highest bill, and so on) and put my entire paycheck, minus childcare, toward these bills. So, not only would we be paying off our bills, we would learn if we could actually make it on just his income. Our goal was that once these were paid off, the money that was going to that each month would start going into savings to build our emergency fund.
Now, here we are, 6 months later and 2 1/2 weeks from reaching our goal of paying off all our consumer debt. After those are paid off, we will be putting all that money each month into a savings account for our emergency fund. We have learned that we can live frugally, but confidently on just Shaun's income. We know that we are going to have to make sacrifices here and there, but we both feel that it is worth it for me to be at home with our kids.
Which leads me to digress to something that I want to make clear: this was a mutual decision. This is not some thing where Shaun is wanting a little wifey sitting at home cooking his dinner or where I want Shaun to work to pull in all the money while I sit at home a eat bon bons. This is a dream we have BOTH had since we had Jameson (really, even before that). We BOTH feel that this is the best decision for our family right now and BOTH feel very blessed that it's an option for us. (There had to get that out there- feel better now).
On to the what I have learned stuff: Well, I have really felt like I have learned a lot about finances, discipline, and goal setting that I really want to share with others. I am by no means an expert, but I do want to share what I've learned in case it would help others out. Soooo...
I decided that I am going to do my first "series" as a blogger over the things I have learned throughout this journey. Over the next few weeks, I will be putting up a post about a particular lesson learned! I am sure many of you will read it and think "Well, duh Brandy, I could have told you that". My hope is that if even one person can learn something from all of the posts, maybe they will be able to get a step closer to their goals! I have decided to call this "Share the Wealth" (yes, I know, I am amazingly clever). Stay tuned!
November 4, 2011
Another brick in the road to being a stay at home mom!
As many of you know (especially since I said it on my first entry) we are working diligently toward the goal of making me a stay at home mom. It has been a long road, and we are ecstatic to say that we are most definitely going to reach that goal soon! When Shaun got his promotion in April that made it a possibility for me to become a stay at home mom, we knew that one thing we wanted first was to be completely out of consumer debt. We didn't have an immense amount of credit card debt, but we definitely wanted to eliminate what we had. We are now almost to that goal and it feels so good! We have really been working hard toward this goal and it is so nice to see and end in sight!
In order to pay this off, my entire paycheck, plus a little of Shaun's has been going solely to these bills (with the exception of the daycare bill which is coming out of my paycheck). Because of this, we have already been living for several months without my paycheck, so we have already grown accustomed to what our situation will be. After I quit, we will have enough for our monthly expenses (including bills, groceries, gas, etc), plus a little extra so we can be putting money in savings. We are definitely going to have times that we will have to make sacrifices, but we are 100% okay with that!
Even though we have gotten used to this one income living, we are hoping to have a little bit of extra income to put in savings towards Christmas, vacations, fun money, etc. So, I decided to become a Scentsy Consultant! This is a very big step for me, and definitely out of my comfort zone, as I am not exactly a huge salesman (probably the opposite...), but I love Scentsy, so I decided to give it a shot! I am going into it hoping for the best, and realizing that it will not be my ticket to a full time work at home income. My goal is just to earn a few extra bucks to tuck away for the fun things in a low pressure, low risk situation! Shaun and I have been discussing and praying about this decision for a few months, and we really feel like this is a direction that we should go!
All I am asking for is many prayers and support in this endeavor! (But if you wanted to buy something from me it wouldn't hurt my feelings... (: )
In order to pay this off, my entire paycheck, plus a little of Shaun's has been going solely to these bills (with the exception of the daycare bill which is coming out of my paycheck). Because of this, we have already been living for several months without my paycheck, so we have already grown accustomed to what our situation will be. After I quit, we will have enough for our monthly expenses (including bills, groceries, gas, etc), plus a little extra so we can be putting money in savings. We are definitely going to have times that we will have to make sacrifices, but we are 100% okay with that!
Even though we have gotten used to this one income living, we are hoping to have a little bit of extra income to put in savings towards Christmas, vacations, fun money, etc. So, I decided to become a Scentsy Consultant! This is a very big step for me, and definitely out of my comfort zone, as I am not exactly a huge salesman (probably the opposite...), but I love Scentsy, so I decided to give it a shot! I am going into it hoping for the best, and realizing that it will not be my ticket to a full time work at home income. My goal is just to earn a few extra bucks to tuck away for the fun things in a low pressure, low risk situation! Shaun and I have been discussing and praying about this decision for a few months, and we really feel like this is a direction that we should go!
All I am asking for is many prayers and support in this endeavor! (But if you wanted to buy something from me it wouldn't hurt my feelings... (: )
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)