April Finances

It is nearing the end of the month and I have a feeling that April will not end in positive numbers.  Here is the reasons why:

1. The month of April had 5 Mondays.  I pay for daycare each week on Monday so this caused an extra $250 compared with the last two months.
2. I hosted Easter Dinner at my house this year so this caused my grocery bill to go up a bit.  I also bought my princess a new dress for Easter – she didn’t need it but it makes her feel like Cinderella.  It just melts my heart to see her so excited about something. 
3. Murphy’s law – If you don’t want to spend any money – you are suddenly out of everything.  My grocery list on my fridge grows each day of stuff we run out of – mostly they are staple items that we will need to replace before the end of the month – bread, milk, cereal, butter.  The car is also almost out of gas.
4. Eating out.  Normally I only eat out 1-2 times a month (this includes lunch and eating out with my family).  This month I have eaten out 5 times including pizza for the family.  I had a lot of user-group meetings at work and traditionally the whole group goes out for lunch. 
5. I received my tax return money but it all went to debt and a new washing machine. 
6. We had family pictures taken for the church directory.  My DH does portrait photography on the side so we usually don’t purchase any pictures from these types of things.  However, the girls were especially cute and we have never had a family portrait of all 4 of us so we walked out with $70 in pictures. 

This is where I need to find my strength to keep up my budget.  In prior years when I have attempted to cut back on expenses, this is where I begin failing.   It is OK to be over budget once and a while – I just need to make sure next month it does not happen again.   Also – I need to stay focused on paying off my car loan.  Once that bill is gone I will give myself more breathing room in my budget so I am not scrounging at the end of the month.

Healthy Eating on a Budget – top 10 staples

I read an article on MSN Health & Fitness this morning on  Healthy Eating on $7 a Day:  Top Staples.  Here is their top 10 list and my comments:

1. Whole wheat pasta – I actually prefer whole wheat pasta to white pasta now.  It has a heartier texture and reheats wonderfully – no mushy leftover pasta.  My favorite brand is Barilla Plus.  When it is on sale I can get it for $1.50 a box, otherwise it runs around $1.75. It is also a local brand so I feel good about buying it. I don’t really think of pasta as being healthy even though I am eating the whole wheat version.  The problem is not the pasta it is all the crap I put on it.  Tomato sauce with ground beef.  Melted valveeda cheese for quick mac and cheese (hey, I use the low fat version, does that make it healthy?). 

2.  Eggs – We really don’t eat eggs as often as we should since they are super-cheap.  When we do cook eggs they kind of lose their health value – omlettes with lots of cheese and ham, breakfast burittos with sausage and cheese, egg casseroles.  We have been eating hard-boiled eggs this week that are left over from Easter, but I wouldn’t say this is my favorite way to eat an egg. 

3.  Nuts and Seeds – I am really not much of a nut person.  I like the super salty roasted peanuts or even honey roasted peanuts.  I also have a problem in quantity control when I eat snacks like this.  I would not be able to stop at a few – it is just like potato chips. I did add a few almonds to my green beans I served at Easter – I guess that is a start.  I really don’t see nuts as being cheap either.    

4.  Potatoes – Potatoes are cheap, but I never thought potatoes were a healthy vegetable with a lot of nutrients.  My favorite way to eat potatoes is roasted in the oven.  I cut up the potatoes and place them in a zip lock bag or a bowl.  I toss them with a little olive oil and seasoning salt.  Roast in the oven at 400 until brown and slightly crispy.  We actually had these for our Easter dinner instead of mashed potatoes. 

5.  Canned tomato sauce – We do eat a lot of canned tomato products at our house but mostly in the form of diced tomatoes and spagetti sauce. 

6.  Brown Rice – I want to start eating more rice, but i really don’t know what to do with it.  I am used to those package rice mixes with the seasonings (very bad in sodium).  If I buy a bag of rice, what the heck do I do with it to make it taste decent?

7.  Beans and Tofu – I love beans.  We mostly eat the canned variety because the dried beans take too long.  Black beans are probably my favorite – I use them in black bean soup, chili, mixed in salsa and black bean salad.  We are also big fans of Bush’s Baked Beans – I bet we eat them once a week. I have never tried tofu and to be honest, I don’t think it would fly in my household.

8.  Oatmeal – As I have said before, I eat oatmeal nearly every weekday morning.  Not only does it keep me full most of the morning I am pretty sure it is also keeping me regular (was that TMI???).  I use a variety of toppings to mix things up a little – raisins, brown sugar, peanut butter, honey, berries and milk. 

9.  Cornmeal – I was a little suprised by this item on the list.  Sure, it is cheap, but I have never considered it healthy since I only use it in cornbread.  The article talks about eating it as a replacement to oatmeal for breakfast…I think I will pass on this one.

10.  Green Veggies – Every time I buy green veggies they seem to go to waste at our house.  I like eating salads, I just don’t take the time to make them.  Also – when I want a salad I want all kinds of vegetables on it which makes the cost of the salad go very high. 

The article made me think about my diet and goals and how I could improve.  My grocery bill is always the first that gets cut when I am running low on funds.  I would have like to seen more information in this article.  Sample menus for $7 a day?  or maybe a few recipes? 

Other items I would add to the list:
Whole Wheat Bread – I purchase bread at a bread outlet it town. I can get Sara Lee Heart Healthy whole wheat bread there for a buck. It is a little out of my way so I stock up and freeze the extra loaves. 

Frozen Berries-  OK…Frozen fruit isn’t really cheap food, but it is a lot cheaper than the fresh berries when they are out of season.  I buy a big bag of frozen mixed berries at Sam’s Club for under $8.  The bag usually lasts me several weeks and I add the berries to oatmeal, yogurt, pancakes (homemade mix with whole wheat flour), smoothies and as a topping for ice cream or angel food cake (ok, the last two items are not healthy).  My girls like to eat them partially frozen (very messy).   

Bananas – Bananas have to be one of the best buys in the procuce isle. At the store I go to they usually go between .25 and .50 per lb.  They are also available year round.  My kids love them which is another plus!

Yogurt – I purchase the big tubs of plain lowfat yogurt.  This allows me to control what goes in it.  I like to mix it with a little lemon juice and a tablespoon of powered sugar.  Then I add my frozen berries and top it with grape nuts.  I also use the yogurt in smoothies.  I don’t really love the taste of yogurt so I generally don’t buy it very often. 

Big purchase – new washing machine.

My hubby and I plan on purchasing a new washing maching next weekend. Our current one is around 10 years old and recently it has started sounding like a jet plane is taking off in our basement. You can hear it all the way through the house and outside. It also leaks a little bit of water each cycle. When it started doing this I decided I was going to wait until it died completely before replacing it, but I really can’t stand it much longer.  

Originally I did not want to spend over $500 on a new appliance. Our current washer was a cheaper model and it lasted 10 years. However, now I am reconsidering:

• We now have 4 members of our family = more laundry. Since we have two girls, I can only imagine that the laundry load will continue to grow. My oldest, who is only 3, already will change clothes several times a day “just because”.
•  I have been working the last few months on saving money on our utility bills. We insulated our home in December to cut down on the winter gas bills. We only buy CF light bulbs. Buying a energy star washing machine fits into this goal. Sometimes you have to spend a little money to save money in the long run.

However:

• I do not phisically have the money right now for a front loader washer.
• I have $550 saved for a new washer plus we will be getting around $2000 from our tax return (when I get around to finishing them…). I will have the money shortly, but this conflicts with my “NO DEBT” resulution. However, if I put it on my credit card, by the time the bill comes due I will have the money. The laundry detergent that is required these appliances is more expensive than traditional laundry detergent. I believe you use less of it and with the water & electric effiency you will still come out ahead.
• My other hold back, is that this is going to require additional research. We got a copy of consumer reports from a friend. Once we find out what model\brand we are interested in, we will have to figure out where we can get the best deal. I hate shopping around. I know it is in my best interest, but it is just so boring – I can find a much more interesting use of my time.

Basically – I just want someone to make this decision for me. In the past, I have just let my husband deal with the big purchases like our car and when we replaced our dryer. It is not that I don’t want to be involved with the decision, I just have a hard time parting with my money in big chunks. It makes me feel sick in my stomach just thinking about it.

Ways to pay off debt faster

Kelly at Thrifty Mommy wrote a great article on 20 ways to pay off debt faster.

I do not have credit card debt – I never had it and hopefully never will have it.  I do use credit cards, but I make sure to pay them in full each statement.  The last few months I have taken this a step further and pay the charge online as soon as it appears on my account.  I do however have a car loan, a home equity line of credit and a huge school loan of my DHs.  Currently I am working on paying off the car loan (this is the smallest of the three) and hope to have it paid off by fall. 

Here are some of my thoughts on the items on her list I am currently doing:

1. Create a budget and stick with it!
For budgeting, spreadsheets seem to work the best for me.  I have tried Quicken and Microsoft Money in the past and basically only used them to balance my checkbook.  I never really used it to track a real budget.  The last few months of 2006 I started using a spreadsheet I created myself and as of January 2007 I am currently using PearBudget.  It is a spreadsheet based budget system.  I added a few additional spreadsheets to the workbook to track my checking account and to categorize the money in my online savings account. 

2. Figure out why you are in debt in the first place. Do you spend more than you take in? Do you eat out too much? Do you have an addiction that is killing your financial freedom like shopping? Get an accountability partner to hold you accountable to stop whatever you are doing.
When I was figuring out where my monthly budget numbers need to be I found the following items were killing my financial freedom:

Lattes
Buying the girls toys/clothes when they have way more than they currently need
Eating out for lunch
Going shopping for entertainment when nothing else was planned for a weekend. This usually involved eating out also.

None of these items were a lot of money at once, but added up, they were making me spend more than I made. 

4. Live within your means. This will help you keep from getting into more debt.
That is what the budget is all about.  If you don’t have the money – don’t buy it.

7. Use the envelope system. Budget a certain amount for entertainment, eating out, groceries, etc. and put the cash in an envelope. When the money runs out, you are done for the month. It really works.
I totally agree – this does work.  I do a very simplified version of the envelope system.  I take out between $100-$150 each week and put the money in my wallet.  This is my household money for the week – groceries, gas, miscellaneous\target items.  I tell people that I use a cash for these types of purchases and I always get the same response “I can’t keep cash around, otherwise I will blow it.”  In order for this to work for you – you may need to change your attitude about cash.  Once the cash is gone, you are done spending for the week.  It helps to also remove any ‘backup’ methods of payment when you first start doing this.  Take your checkbook, ATM and credit cards out of your purse when you go shopping.  You will start thinking twice about picking up that bag of chips you don’t need or the shirt that is on “sale” at target.  You won’t want to be embarrased at checkout that you don’t have enough money to pay. 

8. Don’t cut every form of entertainment out. This will surely be your downfall as you will not stick with it.
Each time I take cash out for household, I put a $20 bill in the “Fun Money” bank.  We use this for ordering pizza, eating out, or other entertainment.  I also put any extra cash\change from my household purchases that I didn’t use. 

13. I do not recommend cashing out your savings totally. Usually, if you are in debt, you don’t have any savings. But if you do, knowing that you have a small cushion in case you get in trouble makes you rest a little easier.
I left 1500 in my savings account for “emergencies” and used the remainder – a little over 1,000 to pay off my own school loan and a small medical bill.  Any extra money I have at the end of the month for being under budget goes half to debt and the other half to building my savings back up. 

19. Try to go to the grocery store and Wal-Mart only once a week. Little trips to the store add up and will kill your budget.
I plan my meals a month at a time and only go to the store once a week.  I try to do the Target trips even less – 1-2 times a month.  These are the stores that kill me. 

These are two items I am not sure I agree with 100%, but I do understand where she is coming from:
9. Cut up all but one credit card to start with. I hate credit cards to begin with because they get you into trouble faster than you can blink. Keep one paid off for emergencies and have a low limit on it. The credit card companies will try to increase your limit so you can spend more. Just decline the increase and stand your ground.
If the credit card asks increase your limit – let them.  This will help your credit scrore.  Just don’t use your card!

12. Do you have equity in your home? Using the equity to get one lump sum to pay off might be more financially responsible as you would probably have a lower interest rate and can deduct the interest on your taxes.
Kelly is correct, you can deduct your home equity interest on your taxes.  However, if something happens where you can’t make your payments, you could lose your house.  Credit card debt is unsecured – they can’t take anything away from you if you don’t pay.  I have friends that buy their vehicles with their home equity account.  It is very tempting (and I am not saying I will never do this).  If you default on your car loan – you just lose your car.  You default on your home equity loan – you could lose your house.

Exercise last weekend

Exercise last weekend. 

I took advantage of the warmer weather this weekend and went for a walk outdoors on Saturday and Sunday.  The only downside is that with all the snow that melted the last few days made a few puddles on the sidewalk.  It was drier on the streets, but even though I only walk in residential areas, I don’t feel comfortable walking on the road. 

Saturday:  Walked about 45 minutes.  If I remember right from last fall, this route is just under 3 miles.
Sunday:  Same route, but I did this at 8:30 at night after the girls went to bed.  There were some extremely dark areas without street lights.  I may have to rethink my route if I am going to continue to walk after dark. 

I feel great financially about walking\exercising outdoors – it doesn’t cost me anything except the equipment I already have.  The gym I belong to has a punch card system – you pay for as many punches as you want.  The punches don’t ever expire (I purchased 100 punches a few years ago and I am still using them).  I think I am getting closer to the end of my punches – so anytime I can workout outside instead of going to the puts off this purchase another day.
 

February Finances

February numbers from my budget:

Expenses          Budgeted          Actual              Difference

Household        $600                $520                $80

Daycare           $1000              $1000              $0

Regular Bills     $271                $176                $95

Irregular Bills    $                      $328

Medical            $10                  $50                  ($40)

 

Debt                 Budgeted          Actual              Difference

School Loan     $200                $200                $0

Car Loan          $500                $650                ($150) 

Savings             Budgeted          Actual              Difference

College               $50                  $50                  $0

Irregular Bills      $240                $240                $0

Savings                                       $85                  ($85)

 

Total Expenses\Pmts:                $3299

Income:                                    $3302

Difference                                 $3.00 ahead

 

I run a zero based budget so I want my bottom number to be zero or as close to zero as possible (I try to be on the positive side).  I will post more detail on how I budget in a later post.

Explanations of differences:

Household – This number includes pretty much everything that is not a regular bill or payment.  Groceries, gas, hair cuts, clothing.  My goal is to have this number always smaller than my budgeted amount.

Regular bills – Normally this number would not have much difference.  However, I do budget billing on my gas bill and they were so far off last year I basically got 2 ½ months free gas bills. 

Medical – I normally do not pay much in this category (prescriptions are included in the irregular bills).  However this month I had a co-payment from my daughters 18 month check up plus I got a bill from the clinic from last year’s flu shots.

Car loan & Savings– Anything extra at the end of the month gets split out to the car loan and savings.