Spending Freeze Day 15: Food Part 2

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There’s no magic wand for saving money with food.  It’s like everything else that matters–it takes hard work, and a little bit of sacrifice to make it happen.

When I give tips such as shop the sales, garden, make more from scratch….The thing I hear a lot is, “I don’t have time for that.”  That’s a statement I relate to and get frustrated about at the same time.  I have 6 kids. They play violin and piano. They do sports and ballet class.  I work 4 part time jobs and have a toddler.  We volunteer at church.  I understand busy.

We all have the same number of hours in the day, and we each get to choose how we spend them.  When I hear “I don’t have time for that,”  I understand that person to mean, “That is not important to me.”

I usually buy bread instead of make it from scratch.  The savings of making over buying bread isn’t high on my priority list with everything else on my plate–even though I understand the health benefits. On the other hand, I do make my own Kombucha and Greek Yogurt.  It probably doesn’t make sense to anyone else.

You don’t have to do EVERYTHING the hard way to whittle your budget down to a workable number, but you will have to choose some things.  Your hard, won’t be my hard.  I don’t do coupons, maybe you do.

The important thing is that you are willing to push up your sleeves and do something to change the direction of your finances. Do what YOU have to do.  Your family is counting on you.  And the people watching are about to be inspired.

If you had an envelope with $200 cash and knew you had to feed your family with that alone for the month, would they starve?  I bet you’d figure it out.  What are the first 5 things you’d buy?

(PS $200 is a ridiculously low amount–and I’m not in any way suggesting that is what your budget should be…. I think it’s interesting for arguments sake to think about what we’d do with it. When your survival depends on it, something changes in your brain.  Unfathomable things become fathomable.)

My first 5 things:  Salt, Dry Beans, Wheat flour, Eggs, & Yeast

My 2nd 5 things: Potatoes, carrots, onions, brown rice, Whole Chickens

Leave what you would buy in the comments :).

Spending Freeze Day 12: Figuring Your Hourly Wage

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Hourly-Wage

When you DIY to save money, you earn an hourly wage.  Sometimes that wage is amazing and proves the activity was definitely worth your time.  Sometimes the wage is so low it actually cost you more to DIY than it would have to buy it done.  It’s an easy formula to figure it out.

1. A = How much it would cost hire or buy it done

2. X=How much time it takes you to do it yourself

3. B=How much the supplies and tools cost you (I don’t count the tools that I already have on hand or would use again in the future.)

4. Y=How much you saved by doing it yourself.  A – B = Y

5. X/ Y= your hourly wage

Reader Example:

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Rebecca’s husband’s truck needed repair.  The garage estimated $1500-1800 for the job.

He spent $226 and 2 hours to do the work himself, including necessary tools.

He saved $1274-1574 by doing the repair himself.

His hourly wage was $509.60-$629.60

If his hourly wage was less than that on his regular job, it was worth it do the repair himself…In this case it definitely was.

That was a pretty extreme (but real) example.

What about little things like making homemade tortillas?  You can read about that here.

Are any of you willing to share an hourly wage you earned recently by DIYing?

Caution: Slippery Ahead

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Caution Slippery Ahead

When do you feel like spending money?  What are your triggers?  I can tell you exactly what mine are:

1.  Reading cute blogs with DIY projects.  I spend money on the supplies which I may or may not actually use.

2.  Seeing the new thing my friend just got. I want one too…

2.  Social shopping.  I’m more apt to spend money when I’m with other people who are spending.  I’m at my worst when I’m shopping with my best friend….my husband.  We’ll buy stuff together that we wouldn’t dream of buying alone.

3.  Feeling sorry for myself. Stupid thoughts like, “Everyone else has ___ but I don’t.”  Or worse, I’m not providing well for my kids unless I get them____.

4. Feeling empathetic for a fund raiser or new biz.

5.  Overwhelm/Chaos — I’m tempted about things like deli pizza, fast food, paper plates, and purchased gifts when I’m too busy and overwhelmed to make the things myself.  Also, if I’m disorganized I tend to buy the wrong thing/food when I’m at the store.

6.  Surprises:  last minute birthday party, bake sale, school treat day…

So for every one of these and the few more I might think of, I need a plan of action.  What will I do?  How will I cope?

1.   Pin the projects for later…or limit my reading this month.  I’m going to need the extra time to list all my stuff on Craigslist.

2.  Thou Shalt Not Covet. Practice being happy for her and being happy for me for the great progress I am making this month.  Plus, I can always put the item in my amazon wish list.

3.  Practice gratitude.  It’s hard to feel sorry for myself when I realize how blessed I am.

4.  Not this month.  “I really want to help you, but I can’t do it for 4 weeks.  Can I order then?  No?  Please ask me next time, I just can’t this month.”

5.  Have some items on hand for fast to fix meals that will keep us out of fast food joints and delis.  Taco night, simple spaghetti, and Mackerel Patties are on standby for crazy night.

6.  Last minute things will be dealt with from stash…at least for the next 31 days.

Print your worksheet here: Spending Freeze Caution Slippery Ahead

Guidelines and Rules

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We’re still on vacation and by “we” I mean you and me.  The actual spending freeze will start on January 1st :). Until then, take a few minutes and think about what you want your rules to be.  Here are some guidelines that I think are a good idea.

Spending Freeze Guidelines

In addition to the things above set up some basic rules for yourself below.

Spending Freeze My Rules GIF

This month is my daughter’s 15th birthday.  I have set aside cash for her gifts so I will write that in the “Things I May Spend On” section. Also, I have an important baby shower coming up this month that I’ve set aside cash for.  The things that I may NOT spend on include organizers at IKEA (sigh), clothes, and misc. craft supplies (unless they involve the baby shower or birthday situation.)  I need to give this some more thought to think of what things are likely to pop up in January.

To download PDFs of these two files click here: Spending Freeze Guidelines and Rules.

Your Goals

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I’m super excited about all the “I’m in” comments from yesterday. Thank you!  It’s such a good feeling to not be alone.

When I have a goal that requires a big sacrifice (say a fitness challenge with Fit Yummy Mummy), I do better when I think about it awhile before the sacrifice begins.  It gives me time to wrap my mind around what I’m agreeing to do, what it will change in my daily life, and for how long.  With enough time to think about it, my whole being commits to the process.  I will DO this!  It’s not a whim that I’ll forget about in a couple of days, it’s going to happen.

It’s important to note that this Spending Freeze is for the month of January only.  What I’m asking you to do would be miserable to sustain for a lifetime.  We did it for 6 months one time (to win the trip to the Bahamas with Dave Ramsey) and while it was hard, it was doable.  1 month is even more doable.   It’s long enough to get momentum, but short enough to ask you to do some crazy stuff to reach your goals. If you hate it, it was over.  It can be that thing you talk about….”Remember that time we listened to that crazy blogger and….” On the other hand, if you decide it isn’t all that bad, you can extend it to further reach your goals.

Why the freeze?  I don’t know about you, but our income covers our expenses and not much more.  We could stop music lessons, sports and school expenses and make more traction, but I’m hoping to create traction without my kids missing out on opportunities.  (On the other hand, if we had a real emergency, like a sudden job loss–the music lessons and sports would instantly be on the chopping block.)  By sacrificing some of the “stuff” that we consider part of our basic needs, I can make traction.  Here are some things we could temporarily do without:  computer paper, ink, shoes/clothes, printed photos, certain foods, movies, restaurants, cosmetics, toilet paper, or paper towels.

Wrap your mind around what we are about to do, and while you’re wrapping….Let’s set some goals.  What would you like to accomplish this year? Then highlight the ones you can specifically do this month.

Spending Freeze Goals

If you need ideas, start with Dave’s baby steps:

1.  $1,000 mini emergency fund

2.  Debt Snowball

3. 3-6 months of expenses in savings

4. Invest 15% of household income in retirement

5. Fund College for Kids

6. Pay of Home Early

7.  Invest and Give

We are on baby step 5b…which is saving for a special project.  Our bedroom has been torn up for 3 years.. exposed studs, insulation, & pipes, 45 year old carpet, dim lighting, a bathtub sized hole in the floor….you get the picture.  We are saving to fix it as inexpensively as possible while still getting a good finished project.

When you are writing down your goals, be specific with dollar amounts.  This is private. No one but you and your husband needs to see it, so be detailed.

While you are being specific break it down.  Our bathroom project is huge — moving walls and plumbing lines huge.  If I simply saved up for the entire project it would take us 4 constant years of spending freezes to get there. I can’t think like that.  I don’t have the strength to keep momentum that long.

If I break the project down into smaller parts, my sacrifice center understands that.  I can save up to move the door.  And then to build the wall.  Once the wall is up, I can paint the bedroom side of the suite and live in a finished room.

Download your worksheet here:  Spending Freeze My Goals