Every February we sit down to discuss the yearly budget. I keep a spreadsheet of every expense(this was a practice I brought to the marriage). It takes a few minutes to document all expenses. I document food waste too. This last year, we wasted 6 pounds per person. 24 pounds. The average person wastes a pound per day, so we waste far less than the average as a family. We are down to a single trash bag a month for trash.
In our rural county, inflation is still high. Here is the cost for a bag of staples:
Daves's bread 8.69
Eggs 8.00 a dozen
Milk 4.59
Peanut butter 5.00
Butter 6.7
Bananas are 89 a pound
Apples 6.79 for 3 pounds
Carrots 3 lb pounds for 5.00
Flour 10 1b bag 6.00
Sugar 4 lb 6.39
I could go on and on about how prices are up.
These are the basic grab. We have solved this staple problem by having chickens, I bake the bread and make the butter. We use more the goat milk. I use powdered milk to stretch traditional dairy and to make a cool whip for desserts.
There are things you can do to stretch things. Fruit can be sweetened with a 1/2 cup less of sugar if you add 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda.
Learn a bread recipe well.
Plant something or somethings to supplement your grocery budget. Salad greens are a great start.
Make small changes to your lifestyle. Major ones never seem to "take" unless you are very strong-willed. It helps to have your partner on board.
It is wise to spend your downtime on hobbies that improve your life, your property, and your health. Gardening and lawn care can improve your health and budget. and your yard.
The next holiday coming up is Easter. Our kids still enjoy Easter baskets. We do this with useful baskets and filler. This year, I am using bike helmets, snacks, water bottles, swimsuits, and Sd cards. I shopped for clearance all year. Each basket was under 25 dollars. Easter dinner is planned. We are having turkey, ambrosia, roasted sweet potatoes, cranberries, parsnips, and beets, Our family loves turkey. We purchased an extra one at Christmas time. The ambrosia is made of pantry items. We will simply need to purchase sweet potatoes.
Proper planning for major expenses alleviates a great deal of stress. We had the sewer expense, it took a 1/4 of the rental home repair fund.
Even in a state of inflation, we are staying within our budget. We decided to supplement our natural gas heating by installing a wood stove. Our natural gas bill this winter has been 87 dollars. That includes cooking, hot water, and heat. Our power bill has gone down from 130 to 82 dollars. I have been using powered appliances into use during reduced usage hours and line-drying our clothing. If we are below our fixed expenses, we put that money into savings. Our water usage has remained the same as last year.
This week I made grapefruit and mint-scented vinegar for cleaning solutions. It takes about 2 /2 weeks to steep in a dark cabinet. My kitchen spray is rosemary and mint.
Routines can be a double-edged sword. Thinking outside the box can save money, and it can force you to learn new skills. My husband and I had long discussions about what our lives would look like.
At the beginning of my adult life, frugality was about survival. I had a baby that I needed to care for. As we raise our second set of children, we are thinking of responsible stewardship for our own business, retirement, and our children's education. My husband and I are firm believers in higher education. We believe that trade education is as important as a college education.
No comments:
Post a Comment