Saving Money in the Home-2
3~ Pay back all our debts. We paid more on the principal every month to get the house loan paid off quicker. This was our last debt. When we had a van payment, we paid it off in a year by paying more each month. My husband and I did not buy each other Christmas presents that year, our gift to each other was the last payment on the van. We find it better now to pay saved cash for a vehicle, which we did on our last vehicle, rather than a loan, if possible.
We also pay our taxes and have the money ready when it is required.
"Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes: if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law." Romans 13:7-8
"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."
"The wicked borrows and does not repay. But the righteous shows mercy and gives." Psalm 37:21
So we paid back all of our debts. Many, many times at self sacrifice. I so wanted my husband to have a good name in the community and to be a man of honor and respect. The wife is to do him good all the days of her life and to respect her husband. By self sacrificing, I did my best to help him be free from the bondage of debt and to have a good name in our community. You can't imagine how joyful my husband is at having no debt against his name. He is lighter than a feather! It gives me so much joy to see him so free and at peace. It was worth all the self sacrifice, and I would do it all over again and try even harder.
4~ Save, save, save. Every paycheck I do my best to put a little away. Even if it is only a little, it is a savings. We have a savings account (Freedom Account - which I will explain later), a retirement account where a sum is taken out of my husband's salary each month (you don't miss it when you don't see it), and an emergency account for emergencies. I highly recommend all three.
"There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders all that he has." Proverbs 21:20
"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children." Proverbs 13:22
"He who loves pleasure will be a poor man." Proverbs 31:17
5~ A good budget is a necessity. There are so many good Christian books on budgeting by Larry Burkett and Ron Blue among others. I can tell right where I am in a month just by checking my budget in my purse that I keep on 3X5 cards. I have one card for my monthly budget which looks like this with my figures next to each item:
Tithe
Giving
Savings
Freedom Account
Gas & Electric
Water
Trash
Telephone
Food
Drum Lessons
Animals (we have goats, chickens, a cat and a dog)
Art's allowance
Laine's allowance
Gas for vehicles
Vitamins & Herbs
Then I have a Yearly Budget also in my purse on a 3X5 card which looks like this with also my figures next to each month:
January - Boys' college & books & parking
February - Taxes prepared - pay tax man
March- DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles)
April - House taxes due
May - Car Insurance due
June - nothing
July - nothing
August- Homeschool charges due
September - Boys' college and books and parking
October- nothing
November - nothing
December - House insurance due, Dental cleanings
By keeping this yearly budget, I can tell at a glance what is coming up for that month so that I am not taken by surprise.
We have medical insurance with copays, but no dental or eye. We have no sick pay, nor vacation pay. So if we want a vacation, or Art is sick, I must be save in advance or be ready for this.
I also keep in my purse a Bare Bones Budget. This is the budget I would refer to if my husband became ill or hurt for a period of time. As I mentioned, we do not have a paid vacation, nor sick pay, nor dental or eye care. So these are the things I must plan for in advance. Likewise, if my husband became ill or hurt, I would need a barebones budget. So I keep that just in case I ever need to refer to it.
6~ A Freedom Account is something I learned from Mary Hunt years ago. (She is another author I recommend in the area of finances.) I take my yearly expenses and divide that amount by twelve, then I know how much has to go into my Freedom Account each month for these yearly expenses when they crop up. Then I don't go into a panic when a bill arrives that I've forgotten. Rather the bills are all notated on the month they come in and planned for in advance by having the money deposited each month. It takes discipline, but it's so profitable once you've been trained by it.
7~ I do my best to keep our electrical and water bills as low as possible. When we were in an electrical crisis and our bill tripled overnight, we went into a very small, hip high refrigerator with no freezer and shut down our water heater. Some of you might remember that letter. ~Smile~ We had to heat our water to bathe and to wash dishes. It was rough for awhile, but I was able to keep us on our budget.
8~ I keep our telephone bill at $25 a month or lower. (This month it was $17.) The way I've been able to do that is by using a phone card from Costco (at 3 1/2 cents a minute) for long distance calling. I can make a phone card that costs $20 last for about 4-5 months. We call my mother-in-law weekly and a few other calls during the month, but mostly we write letters or e-mail. I estimate we save about $600 a year on the average phone bill.
9~ I save a lot of money on food by cooking from scratch and by continuing to try new recipes in my kitchen. My food budget is $100 a week for six including paper products, cleansers, and toiletries. (If I have guests, as has happened in the past few weeks, I use my personal weekly allowance for food as well, which is an extra $20.) My boys eat like my husband, so I had to raise my food budget over the years as they grew. I make a lot of things from scratch including some cleansers (as I've shared with you on the website) and cheese, buttermilk, yogurt, etc. (as I've also shared with you on the website). I make almost all our bread and keep stretching myself in this area to include all types of bread. It's amazing how much you can save in this area alone. I don't buy cereals, rather I made granola each week. We also have muffins, pancakes, scones, waffles, eggs, etc, for breakfast, which are so good and save so much money. Breakfast foods can be very expensive if bought already premade.
I buy the Sunday paper for the food coupons and use these doubled in my area. This helps to stretch my food budget as well. A few weeks ago I had a tight month, so one week I spent $37 on food, and the next I spent $45 on food. I was able to do this by using coupons and my stocked pantry and freezer. I really try to follow this verse:
"In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all that he has." Proverbs 21:20
I use my crock pots and bread machines so much. I also make things ahead and freeze them. I make beans and rice ahead and freeze it. These side dishes are really nice to have on hand when I need them. And I freeze bread ahead for my boys' and my husband's lunches. I just pop a frozen bread in the oven at 350 in the early morning for 30-40 minutes, and it's ready when they get up. I can do this with cookies as well, just freezing the dough ahead.
I like to have my freezer ready with food in it so that I can go "shopping in my freezer". I shop from the weekly specials and either freeze or store for later use. I pray before I shop, while I shop, and then after I shop as to what I will cook. I love shopping with the LORD! ~Smile~ I just popped some beef bought on sale in the freezer this week.
I shop early in the morning at 6:45 a.m. after we clean the church for the marked down meat in my area. I find they are marking it down at 6:30 a.m., and the early bird catches the worm or the reduced meat!
There is a wonderful bakery that marks down all their breads half price at night before they close, so I hit there when I am in town for Gabe's drum lesson. I pop these in the freezer for those times when I can't bake my own bread. I can get a wonderful, large loaf of fresh bread for .72 a loaf sliced. Such a deal!
I keep a large assortment of canned foods in case of an emergency and for regular use. I also keep my dried goods filled and ready to use. So I try to keep these three areas as well managed as I can. I buy a lot of canned goods around the holidays when they are on sale, then I use coupons to bring the prices even lower.
Of course, I love the areas of the stores that mark down cans and things. I save a lot . We also have a couple of stores that are about 45 minutes away, which we visit a few times a year for big savings. It's a lot of fun to make the trek and see what you're going to find. One is a canned food outlet, but they have a lot more there than just canned foods. Yet everything is really discounted. Another is a discounted grocery store.
I shop from many stores and loss leaders, so I shop weekly. This produces the best savings for me. I just shop when I am next to that store during the week, so I don't spend any extra on gas getting there. For example, I am next to certain stores when we clean the church, so I hit those stores on that day. I am near certain stores when Gabe takes drum lessons for 45 minutes, so I hit those stores. I keep a running list in my purse so I know what I am getting where. I also have their ads delivered to my home, so that I know their specials each week. Some weeks I may spend over $100, but the next week I may spend only $65. It depends on what I find for specials. I cook according to what I find. Having numerous recipes helps so much.
If I want to make sauerkraut, I buy the cabbage in March or November, when it is at a very low price for St. Patrick's Day or Thanksgiving. I buy cranberries in November and December to freeze for the year. They keep so good in the freezer. I freeze many fruits in the summer for winter use. I also have learned how to dry fruit or tomatoes, if I have an abundance. Apples are delicious dried, and we go apple picking every September. I try to take advantage of what each season offers.
I try to cook from many countries as I find this helps save money, and it's so delicious and nutritious. I cook from Mexico, Spain, China, Japan, Tunisia, Greece, Italy, Germany, France, among others. I check out cookbooks from the library from these countries and try the recipes. Tonight we are eating from China. It's a lot of fun, and you don't miss eating out as much when you bring the recipes home to your kitchen.
Speaking of eating out, that is something we don't do very often, so it's really special when we do eat out. In fact, my kids always thank their dad a couple of times after we've eaten out. It is really such a treat for all six of us to dine out together. If we do have a date out, my husband and I will share a breakfast together. That is one way we can afford to have a good time on a budget. We use our personal allowance to treat each other. We have a favorite place that doesn't mind us doing this, so we have breakfast there about every two months or so. I really enjoy it.
I love the Dollar Stores and have found many great deals there. Also Big Lots is another favorite of mine. Although, I haven't been to either place in weeks as I've been trying to save even more by staying out of the stores, so I haven't even been thrift shopping or to any garage sales. It's really amazing how much you can save by staying home. ~Smile~
Presently, I have my mother-in-law and my two nieces with us along with a few guests. I have another guest arriving for a week in a couple of days. My kids and I have made for the past few days: waffles, granola, chicken tortellini soup, spaghetti with meat sauce over fresh angel hair pasta and salad, chili and cactus salad, sloppy joes over homemade rolls with onion slices, tomato slices, and sliced black olives, spaghetti lasagna, pizza, coconut cookies, chocolate cloud cake, two chocolate cakes with chocolate frosting, cinnamon rolls, and bear bread with lemon butter. I wanted to treat my mother-in-law to some comfort food as she's been going through a rough time and has lost a lot of weight. She's been very comforted. ~Smile~
10~ Savings must be like a bill that you pay. It really helps to look at it that way and to get it into another account as soon as possible. It also helps not to use your savings account like a checking account, rather to have it far from you where you don't have easy access to it. Which is why we like it taken out of my husband's pay and put into a 401K.
"After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children." 2 Corinthians 12:14b
"The wise man gives an inheritance to his children's children." Proverbs
11~ An emergency savings is good to have in your house for emergencies. This also should not be touched unless you have to use it. I learned this from a book about the depression. It's so good to have on hand.
12~ I read Christian finance books frequently. The books that I've read which have helped me are "The Coming Economic Earthquake" by Larry Burkett and other books also by him. Books by Ron Blue and Mary Hunt. I also like Countryside Magazine, Tightwad Gazettes 1, 2, and 3. A great website is www.notjustbeans.com. I get a lot of recipes from www.foodnetwork.com, and my uncle tapes me their shows so that I can continue learning. Miserly Moms is another great resource book by Jonni McCoy. I also read the business and home section of our Sunday newspaper (the only day I get the paper), which has lots of tips on saving and building a retirement. I also find older women to be a great resource.
13~ We don't have any cable, so we don't get much reception. But I figure we have saved approximately $6000 in the past 17 years living without cable. This helped pay off our house. Plus, I really don't think we missed anything. My uncle tapes us lots of old shows and movies, which have been so enjoyable.
We also pay our taxes and have the money ready when it is required.
"Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes: if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law." Romans 13:7-8
"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."
"The wicked borrows and does not repay. But the righteous shows mercy and gives." Psalm 37:21
So we paid back all of our debts. Many, many times at self sacrifice. I so wanted my husband to have a good name in the community and to be a man of honor and respect. The wife is to do him good all the days of her life and to respect her husband. By self sacrificing, I did my best to help him be free from the bondage of debt and to have a good name in our community. You can't imagine how joyful my husband is at having no debt against his name. He is lighter than a feather! It gives me so much joy to see him so free and at peace. It was worth all the self sacrifice, and I would do it all over again and try even harder.
4~ Save, save, save. Every paycheck I do my best to put a little away. Even if it is only a little, it is a savings. We have a savings account (Freedom Account - which I will explain later), a retirement account where a sum is taken out of my husband's salary each month (you don't miss it when you don't see it), and an emergency account for emergencies. I highly recommend all three.
"There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders all that he has." Proverbs 21:20
"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children." Proverbs 13:22
"He who loves pleasure will be a poor man." Proverbs 31:17
5~ A good budget is a necessity. There are so many good Christian books on budgeting by Larry Burkett and Ron Blue among others. I can tell right where I am in a month just by checking my budget in my purse that I keep on 3X5 cards. I have one card for my monthly budget which looks like this with my figures next to each item:
Tithe
Giving
Savings
Freedom Account
Gas & Electric
Water
Trash
Telephone
Food
Drum Lessons
Animals (we have goats, chickens, a cat and a dog)
Art's allowance
Laine's allowance
Gas for vehicles
Vitamins & Herbs
Then I have a Yearly Budget also in my purse on a 3X5 card which looks like this with also my figures next to each month:
January - Boys' college & books & parking
February - Taxes prepared - pay tax man
March- DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles)
April - House taxes due
May - Car Insurance due
June - nothing
July - nothing
August- Homeschool charges due
September - Boys' college and books and parking
October- nothing
November - nothing
December - House insurance due, Dental cleanings
By keeping this yearly budget, I can tell at a glance what is coming up for that month so that I am not taken by surprise.
We have medical insurance with copays, but no dental or eye. We have no sick pay, nor vacation pay. So if we want a vacation, or Art is sick, I must be save in advance or be ready for this.
I also keep in my purse a Bare Bones Budget. This is the budget I would refer to if my husband became ill or hurt for a period of time. As I mentioned, we do not have a paid vacation, nor sick pay, nor dental or eye care. So these are the things I must plan for in advance. Likewise, if my husband became ill or hurt, I would need a barebones budget. So I keep that just in case I ever need to refer to it.
6~ A Freedom Account is something I learned from Mary Hunt years ago. (She is another author I recommend in the area of finances.) I take my yearly expenses and divide that amount by twelve, then I know how much has to go into my Freedom Account each month for these yearly expenses when they crop up. Then I don't go into a panic when a bill arrives that I've forgotten. Rather the bills are all notated on the month they come in and planned for in advance by having the money deposited each month. It takes discipline, but it's so profitable once you've been trained by it.
7~ I do my best to keep our electrical and water bills as low as possible. When we were in an electrical crisis and our bill tripled overnight, we went into a very small, hip high refrigerator with no freezer and shut down our water heater. Some of you might remember that letter. ~Smile~ We had to heat our water to bathe and to wash dishes. It was rough for awhile, but I was able to keep us on our budget.
8~ I keep our telephone bill at $25 a month or lower. (This month it was $17.) The way I've been able to do that is by using a phone card from Costco (at 3 1/2 cents a minute) for long distance calling. I can make a phone card that costs $20 last for about 4-5 months. We call my mother-in-law weekly and a few other calls during the month, but mostly we write letters or e-mail. I estimate we save about $600 a year on the average phone bill.
9~ I save a lot of money on food by cooking from scratch and by continuing to try new recipes in my kitchen. My food budget is $100 a week for six including paper products, cleansers, and toiletries. (If I have guests, as has happened in the past few weeks, I use my personal weekly allowance for food as well, which is an extra $20.) My boys eat like my husband, so I had to raise my food budget over the years as they grew. I make a lot of things from scratch including some cleansers (as I've shared with you on the website) and cheese, buttermilk, yogurt, etc. (as I've also shared with you on the website). I make almost all our bread and keep stretching myself in this area to include all types of bread. It's amazing how much you can save in this area alone. I don't buy cereals, rather I made granola each week. We also have muffins, pancakes, scones, waffles, eggs, etc, for breakfast, which are so good and save so much money. Breakfast foods can be very expensive if bought already premade.
I buy the Sunday paper for the food coupons and use these doubled in my area. This helps to stretch my food budget as well. A few weeks ago I had a tight month, so one week I spent $37 on food, and the next I spent $45 on food. I was able to do this by using coupons and my stocked pantry and freezer. I really try to follow this verse:
"In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all that he has." Proverbs 21:20
I use my crock pots and bread machines so much. I also make things ahead and freeze them. I make beans and rice ahead and freeze it. These side dishes are really nice to have on hand when I need them. And I freeze bread ahead for my boys' and my husband's lunches. I just pop a frozen bread in the oven at 350 in the early morning for 30-40 minutes, and it's ready when they get up. I can do this with cookies as well, just freezing the dough ahead.
I like to have my freezer ready with food in it so that I can go "shopping in my freezer". I shop from the weekly specials and either freeze or store for later use. I pray before I shop, while I shop, and then after I shop as to what I will cook. I love shopping with the LORD! ~Smile~ I just popped some beef bought on sale in the freezer this week.
I shop early in the morning at 6:45 a.m. after we clean the church for the marked down meat in my area. I find they are marking it down at 6:30 a.m., and the early bird catches the worm or the reduced meat!
There is a wonderful bakery that marks down all their breads half price at night before they close, so I hit there when I am in town for Gabe's drum lesson. I pop these in the freezer for those times when I can't bake my own bread. I can get a wonderful, large loaf of fresh bread for .72 a loaf sliced. Such a deal!
I keep a large assortment of canned foods in case of an emergency and for regular use. I also keep my dried goods filled and ready to use. So I try to keep these three areas as well managed as I can. I buy a lot of canned goods around the holidays when they are on sale, then I use coupons to bring the prices even lower.
Of course, I love the areas of the stores that mark down cans and things. I save a lot . We also have a couple of stores that are about 45 minutes away, which we visit a few times a year for big savings. It's a lot of fun to make the trek and see what you're going to find. One is a canned food outlet, but they have a lot more there than just canned foods. Yet everything is really discounted. Another is a discounted grocery store.
I shop from many stores and loss leaders, so I shop weekly. This produces the best savings for me. I just shop when I am next to that store during the week, so I don't spend any extra on gas getting there. For example, I am next to certain stores when we clean the church, so I hit those stores on that day. I am near certain stores when Gabe takes drum lessons for 45 minutes, so I hit those stores. I keep a running list in my purse so I know what I am getting where. I also have their ads delivered to my home, so that I know their specials each week. Some weeks I may spend over $100, but the next week I may spend only $65. It depends on what I find for specials. I cook according to what I find. Having numerous recipes helps so much.
If I want to make sauerkraut, I buy the cabbage in March or November, when it is at a very low price for St. Patrick's Day or Thanksgiving. I buy cranberries in November and December to freeze for the year. They keep so good in the freezer. I freeze many fruits in the summer for winter use. I also have learned how to dry fruit or tomatoes, if I have an abundance. Apples are delicious dried, and we go apple picking every September. I try to take advantage of what each season offers.
I try to cook from many countries as I find this helps save money, and it's so delicious and nutritious. I cook from Mexico, Spain, China, Japan, Tunisia, Greece, Italy, Germany, France, among others. I check out cookbooks from the library from these countries and try the recipes. Tonight we are eating from China. It's a lot of fun, and you don't miss eating out as much when you bring the recipes home to your kitchen.
Speaking of eating out, that is something we don't do very often, so it's really special when we do eat out. In fact, my kids always thank their dad a couple of times after we've eaten out. It is really such a treat for all six of us to dine out together. If we do have a date out, my husband and I will share a breakfast together. That is one way we can afford to have a good time on a budget. We use our personal allowance to treat each other. We have a favorite place that doesn't mind us doing this, so we have breakfast there about every two months or so. I really enjoy it.
I love the Dollar Stores and have found many great deals there. Also Big Lots is another favorite of mine. Although, I haven't been to either place in weeks as I've been trying to save even more by staying out of the stores, so I haven't even been thrift shopping or to any garage sales. It's really amazing how much you can save by staying home. ~Smile~
Presently, I have my mother-in-law and my two nieces with us along with a few guests. I have another guest arriving for a week in a couple of days. My kids and I have made for the past few days: waffles, granola, chicken tortellini soup, spaghetti with meat sauce over fresh angel hair pasta and salad, chili and cactus salad, sloppy joes over homemade rolls with onion slices, tomato slices, and sliced black olives, spaghetti lasagna, pizza, coconut cookies, chocolate cloud cake, two chocolate cakes with chocolate frosting, cinnamon rolls, and bear bread with lemon butter. I wanted to treat my mother-in-law to some comfort food as she's been going through a rough time and has lost a lot of weight. She's been very comforted. ~Smile~
10~ Savings must be like a bill that you pay. It really helps to look at it that way and to get it into another account as soon as possible. It also helps not to use your savings account like a checking account, rather to have it far from you where you don't have easy access to it. Which is why we like it taken out of my husband's pay and put into a 401K.
"After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children." 2 Corinthians 12:14b
"The wise man gives an inheritance to his children's children." Proverbs
11~ An emergency savings is good to have in your house for emergencies. This also should not be touched unless you have to use it. I learned this from a book about the depression. It's so good to have on hand.
12~ I read Christian finance books frequently. The books that I've read which have helped me are "The Coming Economic Earthquake" by Larry Burkett and other books also by him. Books by Ron Blue and Mary Hunt. I also like Countryside Magazine, Tightwad Gazettes 1, 2, and 3. A great website is www.notjustbeans.com. I get a lot of recipes from www.foodnetwork.com, and my uncle tapes me their shows so that I can continue learning. Miserly Moms is another great resource book by Jonni McCoy. I also read the business and home section of our Sunday newspaper (the only day I get the paper), which has lots of tips on saving and building a retirement. I also find older women to be a great resource.
13~ We don't have any cable, so we don't get much reception. But I figure we have saved approximately $6000 in the past 17 years living without cable. This helped pay off our house. Plus, I really don't think we missed anything. My uncle tapes us lots of old shows and movies, which have been so enjoyable.
Comments
Post a Comment