Frugal friday

Funny thing that today's topic over at FrugalFriday is budgeting and all that jazz, since that

was exactly what

I was going to write about today. Then it dawned on me that it was Frugal friday so I thought

I'd check

out what the scoop over there was!!lol Must be on a lot of peoples minds lately.

We went to a budgeting class on Wednesday night. It's part of a series of homeowners classes

that

are mandatory for Bill and I to take as part of our agreement with Habitat. The gal who

presented

the class was really good, but unfortunately, I didn't learn anything new about budgeting.

bummer.

We did however, learn about some really awesome programs that are available and we will

definitely be

doing those. The one program is called Fair Gains. We join for a year and each month we submit

up to

$50 into a bank account and we also take part in budgeting and financial classes. At the end of the

year

if we successfully saved at least $600, they will match 3 times that amount!! The catch is, we

have to use

it towards assets. No problem with that! cool, eh?!?!

I'm not sure if they are just for our local area, you can Google 'momentum' and see if there is

one in your

area. One thing though, it is for lower income individuals.

Our income is changing because I will no longer be babysitting my friends daughters, so I need to

get our budget in order. Bill and I have discussed him taking on a part time job to help. We'll see.

Here's what I have done thus far to lower our budget:

-ensure we know the difference between WANTS and NEEDS

-reuse as much things as possible. (ie; wash and reuse ziploc baggies)

-make coffee at home versus buying it

-cut everyone's (except Robbie's!!lol) hair at home

-enjoy free activities

-do not buy:

processed foods, cleaning products, brand new clothing/shoes etc

-make all foods as much as possible, from scratch

- make the budget AND stick to it

-shop the sales for foods and other items you might need

-keep your vehicle with a full tank of gas

-use groups such as craigslist and Freecycle and Kijiji for household items and clothing.

-sew whatever I can and repair clothing rather than buying new or second hand first.

Add to the list where you can!!

We do not use credit cards. It's very difficult in certain circumstances, many places won't even

give

you the time of day without on one 'on file'.

Right now we are in the process of paying off our line of credit from years ago *sigh* and of

course

we have our van payment as well. First things first...baby steps!!We plan on attacking the

remaining

line of credit first.

Since we use something similar to the 'envelope method' I am setting out to make these!!

Aren't they so uber cool?!?!

Check out the rest of the site here for more great info and tips.

The need thing about frugality is it sometimes goes hand and hand with sustainability and

eco friendly

Pretty neat if you ask me!!

Have a fabulous Friday!!

Blessings!!