Ok, apparantly lots of people like (or don’t like) budgets, and want to hear more. I have had
a couple people ask me what to do if your expenses exceed your budget. We have been there, and the best advice I can give is to cut things out. There are some things that you may feel are a necessity, but they aren’t.
Here are some items that you could cut out or reduce:
Cell Phones – We lived without them before, and we can do it now if necessary.
Home Phone – If everyone has a cell phone, you can use those instead of home phones.
Cable – Who really needs all those channels anyway?
Eating Out – It is much cheaper to eat at home. If you plan your meals in advance, there is less chance you will pick up take out on the way home.
Movie Rentals – Use the library or Redbox ($1 a night).
Clothing – Every store has a clearance rack, shop those instead of all the new stuff. Seriously, finding good deals are fun!
Groceries – OK, you can’t actually cut groceries totally out of your budget, but you can lower your grocery budget. I am kind of wierd this way, but I like to see how little I can spend each week. It’s kind of like a game for me. There was a time after we had our first child, that things were really tight. We moved from having 2 incomes to only one. We actually lived on a grocery budget of only $25 a week. It can be done! Shop the sales, use coupons, and you will be surprised how much you can save. I think this is the one area where you can easily cut money. It can be fun, give it a try!
You can also get creative and add more money to your budget. There was a time when my husband was employed with a start-up company. Things got tight for the company, so the paychecks weren’t always there. I decided to start selling things on Ebay. I picked something I knew a lot about, something easy to ship, and easy for me to get. I chose to sell Gymboree clothing (new). There were tons of Gymboree stores where we lived (Utah), so it made it very easy to put outfits together. It was the best of both worlds for me, I got to shop and get paid! I would buy outfits at 60-70% off and sell them on Ebay. This really helped us live through those tough times. I still sell items on Ebay, it’s a great way for me to make extra money. When Target has their huge 75% off toy clearance, I buy items I know will sell well (Lego’s, Playmobil, Leap Frog items), I save them and sell them all in November (just before Christmas). This gives me all the money I need to pay for Christmas. Get resourceful! You can look around your house, I am sure there are items you can get rid of.
Here are some ways you can make extra money:
Ebay – http://www.ebay.com/ Really, people will buy anything!
Etsy – http://www.esty.com/ Are you creative? You can sell your handmade wares here. Look around, the site is amazing. It’s neat to see what people have come up with. Don’t spend! Just look!
Craigslist – http://seattle.craigslist.org/ You can sell items here for FREE!
Babysit – You can do this in your own home & make extra money.
