Some of us find ourselves struggling with money after a life-altering change…a loss of a job, a birth of a child, an adoption, a major disaster, etc. For most of us, however, the reason we struggle with money is that we regularly buy stuff we can’t afford or we have bought stuff in the past we couldn’t afford and are now trying to pay for it! I find it amazing how much easier it is to say no to things I want when I have a budget in place and I am sticking to it. When my husband and I sat down to make our budget, we came up with what we thought was a decent budget. We have been meeting weekly to discuss it and have found that we are both much more motivated when we have a goal in mind. Our goal is to get out of debt…and the best way to get out of debt and stay out of debt is “Don’t buy stuff you can’t afford!”

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Some of us find ourselves struggling with money after a life-altering change…a loss of a job, a birth of a child, an adoption, a major disaster, etc. For most of us, however, the reason we struggle with money is that we regularly buy stuff we can’t afford or we have bought stuff in the past we couldn’t afford and are now trying to pay for it! I find it amazing how much easier it is to say no to things I want when I have a budget in place and I am sticking to it. When my husband and I sat down to make our budget, we came up with what we thought was a decent budget. We have been meeting weekly to discuss it and have found that we are both much more motivated when we have a goal in mind. Our goal is to get out of debt…and the best way to get out of debt and stay out of debt is “Don’t buy stuff you can’t afford!”

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It is so easy to miss a category or expenditure when you begin making a budget or spending plan. For us, we have found that making a workable budget isn’t a one-time deal. Our first budget was (although we didn’t know it at the time) a rough draft or a work in progress. Even though we adhered to it faithfully, we found that at the end of the month, the numbers didn’t line up. The biggest killer of our budget was automatic withdrawals! These are items or services that you sign up for and are automatically deducted from your account. As we went through our credit card and debit card statements, we found quite a few of these items…and we didn’t even realize they were being taken out of our account each month! It’s embarrassing to say this, but we had $120 worth of items that were being taken out of our accounts each month without us realizing it! If you are just starting a spending plan (or budget), make sure you take a look at your credit card and debit card statements! For free worksheets to help you develop a spending plan, click here.

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It is so easy to miss a category or expenditure when you begin making a budget or spending plan. For us, we have found that making a workable budget isn’t a one-time deal. Our first budget was (although we didn’t know it at the time) a rough draft or a work in progress. Even though we adhered to it faithfully, we found that at the end of the month, the numbers didn’t line up. The biggest killer of our budget was automatic withdrawals! These are items or services that you sign up for and are automatically deducted from your account. As we went through our credit card and debit card statements, we found quite a few of these items…and we didn’t even realize they were being taken out of our account each month! It’s embarrassing to say this, but we had $120 worth of items that were being taken out of our accounts each month without us realizing it! If you are just starting a spending plan (or budget), make sure you take a look at your credit card and debit card statements! For free worksheets to help you develop a spending plan, click here.

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Today was a really good shopping day for me! I had a Williams-Sonoma gift card that I won in December and I decided to take advantage of their winter sale to purchase some fun kitchen stuff. I can always find things I like at Williams-Sonoma, but they tend to be out of my price range so today I was like a kid in a candy store. Almost everything I bought was on sale.

Check out these deals:
Original Price/ I Paid
Build a Bear Cake Pan $39.95/ $9.99
Dish Scrubbers (2@$9) $18.00/ $3.98
Silicone Whisk $16.00/ $4.99
Hand soap and lotion $25.00/ $11.98
Wire rack for above $15.00/ $6.99
Cookbook (2@$35) $70.00 / $9.98
Dishtowels (3@$18) $54.00/ $13.47
Microfiber dust mitt $8.00/ $8.00
Cutting board $24.95/ $9.99
Green tea candle $24.50 /$9.99
Grand total w/tax: $326.78/ $100.95

Since I had a $100 gift card, my OOP (out of pocket) expense for all this was 95 cents!!! I saved $225 off of the original prices…and got over $300 worth of fun kitchen stuff for less than a buck!

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Today was a really good shopping day for me! I had a Williams-Sonoma gift card that I won in December and I decided to take advantage of their winter sale to purchase some fun kitchen stuff. I can always find things I like at Williams-Sonoma, but they tend to be out of my price range so today I was like a kid in a candy store. Almost everything I bought was on sale.

Check out these deals:
Original Price/ I Paid
Build a Bear Cake Pan $39.95/ $9.99
Dish Scrubbers (2@$9) $18.00/ $3.98
Silicone Whisk $16.00/ $4.99
Hand soap and lotion $25.00/ $11.98
Wire rack for above $15.00/ $6.99
Cookbook (2@$35) $70.00 / $9.98
Dishtowels (3@$18) $54.00/ $13.47
Microfiber dust mitt $8.00/ $8.00
Cutting board $24.95/ $9.99
Green tea candle $24.50 /$9.99
Grand total w/tax: $326.78/ $100.95

Since I had a $100 gift card, my OOP (out of pocket) expense for all this was 95 cents!!! I saved $225 off of the original prices…and got over $300 worth of fun kitchen stuff for less than a buck!

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