Save A Nickle, Save A Dime

     Hi!  Welcome to my blog :).  When I started this blog (a year and a half ago) I had just been called to be the Provident Living teacher at church.  My lifelong dream was to live in a little house in the mountains where I could live, love and laugh among the pine cones, rocks, dirt, and trees.  Living on a limited income, I set in search of my dream home, all the while living as if I already lived in the mountains canning, making bread, making homemade Christmas presents...  
     I loved my calling so much I started jotting down ideas for a frugal life with my husband helping me brainstorm day after day.   Before long, we were offered to rent a 120 year old house on 100 acres (including 7 fruit trees and animal pens) on my aunt & uncle's property.  Hallelujah, I was in heaven.  We got our chickens and planted our garden, ready to live as Liv and John Walton.  Somehow, blogging got put on the back burner as I awakened by the morning sun, tended my animals, (we got 2 dogs and a cat, too), tidied up my house, ground wheat, made soap, hung clothes on the line -- all the things Liv Walton would do -- and I was exhausted when the sun set.  I was in love with life.
     But, our journey has a way of turning corners sometimes and right smack dab in the middle of canning season when my garden started producing and my fruit trees started dropping fruit, my husband was injured.  Things got bad, then got worse and a separation was inevitable.  Now, with my daughter & her husband (with 3 young babies) having to move in with me to help, I am ready to pick up my blog again.  

     Everyday I will post one new tip.  You may have seen it on pinterest, or read it on Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey or The Wisdom Journal.  Maybe, if you're like me, you will have found ideas by hit-and-miss on the internet.  Like many other people these days, I am collecting all my ideas & tips and putting them in one place.  

     So, here it is, for you, the beginning of what to do first, no matter what stage or age you are in.  The first lesson is how to set up a budget.

• Make a goal:  ("Debt free by 2015" or "Downpayment in 2015" or something like that)
• Promise yourself you will NOT use Payday Loans
• Promise yourself you will NOT use your overdraft
• Promise yourself you will NOT borrow any money what-so-ever this entire month.

Step 1

• Get out your bank statements:  

BANK STATEMENT

                                                       

                                                        Deposits                     $_____

                                                        Withdrawls                 $_____

                                                         Ending Balance         $_____

Look at your Deposits.  Is this your total income?  

• Look at your Withdrawls.  Is this everything you spend your money on?
• Look at your Ending Balance.  Have all your bills been paid for the month?

Step 2

• Make an INCOME AND EXPENSE sheet.

                                            INCOME AND EXPENSE
Total Income  ________   (this is your total income)

 Less Tithing  ________    (if you don't pay tithing, leave it blank)

 Net Income    ________    (this is the amount you will need to live on)

                                                Now start listing where your money goes

                                                
Rent / Mortgage _____

Utilities                _____ (incl's power & heating, water & trash, phones, internet, cable)                                                                                         

Food                     _____

Transportation    _____

 Medical               _____ (incl's premiums, co-pay & medication)

Post Office          _____ (lets face it - we still mail letters)

Hair cuts             _____ (unless you're the Duggars you go to the beauty salon or barber)

Clothing              _____

Holidays 
   & Birthdays      _____  (even the one-on-one dates with your kids/g-kids/spouse/friend/relative)

Step 3

• If you normally have a Savings, or other Mandatory expenses, put them in.  
• Do not put "MISCELLANEOUS" as an Expense.  
• When you are honest, realistic and accurate, your Deposits and Withdrawls on your Bank Statement should be the same as on your Income & Expense record.  If it's the same - you're doing a GREAT job and KEEP IT UP :).  We can learn from you!!!

If your numbers don't match, then go to Step 4:

Step 4

• Either put your entire income in your bank, or...

•  Pull out your entire income, convert it into $1's, $5's, $10's, $20's & $100's.  
• Pull out blank envelopes or empty jars.  Write on each envelope or jar, "Tithing", "Rent", "Utilities", "Food", etc.
• Write a check only for your Tithing and Rent/Mortgage.  Everything else use your Debit Card or pay your bills online.  This is so that you will now have a record in one place of where your money went.
• Allow yourself a certain amount of money for Food, Transportation, Medical, Post Office, Hair, Clothing, Holidays.
• During the month, spend ONLY what's in the envelope or jar.  Do not borrow from one to pay another.

Step 5

• Start a log book and write down everything you spend your money on (even that .59 pack of gum or $1.00 hamburger at Jack's.
• Never pull out cash from your ATM.
• Never get cash back from the cashier when your shop.

Step 6

• Repeat this process for 3 months.  (okay, that may be a little hard, but at least for ONE month, be diligent in keeping an accurate record.)
• At the end of the month, look at how much you spent and how much you COULD have saved.

Step 7

• Start a NEEDS/WANTS list.
• Write down everything from your record log and anything that wasn't life sustaining, put over in the WANTS  column.  Anything else, keep in the NEEDS column.
• Start couponing (you already coupon?  Great - keep it up & find more coupons!)
• Start searching for sales (you already do that?  Then try to "up" it a little by finding more sales)
• Find cheaper ways to get your hair cuts.  
• Find cheaper ways to buy clothes.
• Learn how to make gifts.
• Search Pinterest and find ways to spend less on National Holidays.

When you are finished with your INCOME AND EXPENSE sheet for the month, start a new one for next month with your figures a little smaller than they were when you started.

Believe me, this works.  The internet is full of ideas on how to budget.  Lets start here and give it a shot.  Good luck and I'll be seeing you tomorrow :)