So John and I had our first weekly “financial” meeting. This is something we agreed on last week when we set up our weekly budget and our budget calendar. We write the amount of money we have to spend on Sunday, then deduct as we go through the week and write what we spent money on. This week: grocery shopping, a birthday card for a friend and the pharmacy. The ending total for this week: $20. $20 left we COULD have done something with, but didn’t. How cool is that?
Awesome.
So how hard was it?
Hmmm…
Well, I spend no money at all on Monday/Tuesday, and then went grocery shopping with John on Wednesday night. It was actually kind of fun/romantic to go together. Bubbs was asleep and my Mom and Dad listened for him (he didn’t wake up) and so we went on our own. Held hands. Made fun of the locals who go grocery shopping with their butts hanging out.*
Since I’ve moved here, I’ve started to shop the sales and use coupons a litle more, and often it requires me to go to different stores. I’m starting to really like shopping with coupons. My friend Emily sends me coupons for diapers and stuff in the mail from time to time (I love her, what an awesome way to say, “I’m thinking of you”) and we pull a few out of the paper. This week we went to three different stores, although I think we can probably cut it down to two in the near future. We made a list and stuck to it, and then just went without anything we forgot, putting in on the list for next week. (Of course…it DOES help that my mother scopes out my list for things to add to hers. Case in point: Paremesean Shake Cheese. So I guess I’ll cross that one OFF my list for next week and just replenish the whole wheat tortillas I’ve been snacking on instead. We’re food sharers around here.)
As for activities, we did a few things that required no money at all: the library, scouting out local activities, walking and swinging in the backyard. I found that I had a lot more time at home this week for cooking the Bubbs good food, cleaning my home, studying for the GRE, and just being less frazzled. I also started to do some serious research and am proud to say that I’ve got a few FREE activities lined up for the kiddo, as well as some plans to use library passes for the museums around here again. I was a little anxious about the weekend, as after the food shopping and everything used up all of our budget except for $25. I figured, “we can buy some cheap food for that much, eat some junk, have some fun.” But it turned out that when it came down to it, we weren’t that interested. If it weren’t for the grinders my Dad brought home on Thursday (thanks, Dad!) I would have gone one entire week without eating out. And I think I would have survived. I guess we’ll see this week.
Ok, some my big “learnings” from the first week of budgeting are as follows:
1) We survived without running to the grocery store every night. We ate what we had, we made meal plans and shopping lists for this coming week, and no one starved to death. Even when we had the chance to eat out, we opted to eat at home anyway. When I was going to run into the store one night and grab a frozen pizza for dinner, I couldn’t bring myself to do it thinking about all the food we had at home. Who knew such a change of heart would come to be?
2) We still had a really good Saturday. We went to the library as a family, we took a long walk and got sodas with ICE and STRAWS (my favorite, bought with random change laying around…) and we cleaned the car. It’s funny, when we were less focused on what to BUY on the weekend, our Saturday became about taking care of what we already had. Imagine that. It felt good. I actually really had fun detailing the car with my husband, the radio playing, Bubbs taking a nap, enjoying a rare moment of sunshine. It just felt peaceful and good. Especially compared to last week when we drove out to the mall in NY and felt rushed, annoyed and generally stressed out.
3) I didn’t feel deprived. When I thought about buying something, I didn’t just say “no.” I went to check it out. On Friday my Mom and I went to the fabric store to see what it would cost to make some skirts I’ve been wanting to make. I left my credit card and bank card on the counter in the kitchen, and off we went. I looked at prices of patterns and fabric, found a few cute things I could make for the Bubbs, and just generally thought it over. I decided that although sewing COULD be very cost effective if you intended to use a pattern more than once…it’s not the time to start a new hobby. I can do just as well shopping the sales if and when I really need a new skirt. As for right now…I’m fine.
4) If you’re patient, you’ll find what you need. I’ve spent a little over a week looking for a way to take Bubbs swimming…affordably. If he were older I would have NO PROBLEM spending a little more money on a pool membership or lessons, but because I have no idea how often we’ll go, I wanted CHEAP. I went to two or three places, asked some friends and went online, and ended up getting him a membership at the YMCA. $3 a month. That’s it. I can take him swimming every day if I want for just $3 a month, not extra charge for me to go with him. It was EXACTLY what I was looking for. It took a little investigative work, but it worked out.
5) I feel less anxious about money in general. So we still have some debt. So we’re not rich. So we still have a few years before we get all the way through school and have careers that will help us afford more of our “wants,” but you know what? I feel BETTER about that when we’re on a budget. I feel like we’re doing what we can, and that it’s enough to get us through.
6) You have more time. I think we spend a lot of time adding things to our life instead of enjoying/taking care of what we already have. We read books we already had. We listened to music we already had. Bubbs spent less time in the stroller at the mall and more time learning to crawl and dance (both his big acheivements of the week). I had more time to study and more time to work on goals like making menus and making better food. I had more time to rest. I also feel more a part of our community, a result of taking walks and interacting with people instead of looking for things.
So here’s to week two. Hope it stays this easy…
*Seriously, John saw this guy struggling to open a jar of pickles at our “value” grocery store. The one we go to because it’s WAY cheap and you can get GOOD STUFF for NO MONEY…but have to buy your own bags and put a quarter in the cart as a deposit and put up with the locals. But ANYWAY…he was going to help him open the pickles but then he saw that his ENTIRE BUTT was hanging out. So he didn’t. I saw it later and it stopped me in my tracks. A BUTT. IN THE GROCERY STORE. I mean, not just crack, the whole shabang. John said later, “I was really confused as to why he would bother to wear a belt at all if he was just going to let his pants hang down like that.” I said, “I’m sorry, I was to distracted by his GIANT NAKED CRACK to see that he was wearing a belt.”