:::: MENU ::::

Jul 15, 2014    |       40 comments

Eating From The Pantry

by

This summer we are trying to have fun without breaking the bank. Yes, we added a line for the summer for Summer Fun, but $150 doesn’t get that far. Just one day at the amusement park can rake you that very amount. One way we are hoping to come up with new money is by preventing food waste, eating from our pantry in particular.

If you look back at the last few months of my budget posts, that I was allotting $350 for my groceries and I have been actually using about $150-$200 less than this each month. Well I have been doing great on saving money on actual groceries. But I haven’t been able to actually put this money aside for this occasion. In May, it was because we were taking many trips to the hospital and having to eat out more than normal. Last month, it was for car repairs. I am hoping that I can save the money this month to offset some of the planned activities at the beginning of August. We get our daughter for two weeks during that time. And we typically do mini stay-cations, where we go somewhere for the day and be back to sleep in our beds at night.

Now this isn’t a sustainable way to consistently save money, we will eventually run out of most of our pantry. And we will be most likely back up to the $350/month on groceries. But for now it has saved us on going way off budget and helped us avoid food waste.

Here are my ways I have been able to avoid food waste.

  • Cook From Your Pantry. If you already have a full pantry, look at all you already have and base a menu off that.
  • Organize Your Food. Put food away so that you can see it easily. If it is not easily accessible, it might not ever get eaten. Also pay attention to expiration dates, putting the food expiring the soonest in front so it will get used first. This is a given, but still has to be said.
  • Keep A List of What You Have. Having this list is good for two reasons. You will know what you already have and actually use it. And you will not buy something you already have.
  • Left-overs Have To Be Eaten. This is pretty easy for us, since most of us are home every day, so it usually gets eaten up for lunch. But this could help you out one night a week by not having to cook.

I would say I can keep eating from my pantry till beginning to mid August maybe even end of August. But I am not really worried about that, I am pretty decent at using coupons and finding the best deals locally. I could probably fill the pantry up again in three months. If this does happen, I might be able to do this “purge” twice a year and the next time it could all go to debt!

Jul 14, 2014    |       22 comments

YNAB Update

by

Now that we’re mid-month, and given that there were a handful of readers who also expressed interest in trying the free 30-day trial of YNAB, I wanted to give a little review.

Only problem is…..(CONFESSION)…..I haven’t been doing it.

I don’t know what my problem is. I think I just found it to be a bit overwhelming since its so different from what I’m used to. I honestly think it would work much better for me when I’ve already got my full 1 month’s salary saved up.

I’ve also found it difficult to keep up with since I still have a desire to keep using my regular Excel spreadsheet. This was just a one-month trial, so I didn’t want to just dump my usual Excel file and pretend like the month of July never happened (or at least, have no record of it). But it proved to be too much to try to keep up with both. Too bulky, confusing, and time-consuming.

So, yeah. I haven’t even opened it up since the first week of the month.

Part of me is considering whether I could reach out to customer service and ask for another free trial after I have my one month’s salary saved up. I don’t know why I feel like this will make such a difference, but I really do think it would help (perhaps because I’ll know exactly how much money I’m working with, given our variable and uncertain income). No idea if they would make an exception like this but it could be worth a chance to ask.

Another thing I’ve thought of doing (really I should say, another suggestion a reader had given), is to simply add my usual Excel file to dropbox (which I already have for work related things). Then I would have instant access to my budget and categories anytime I’m out, so it would function essentially the same as YNAB in terms of accessibility. Plus I get to use the software I know and am comfortable with.

I think another reason why YNAB has failed me this month is because I’ve simply been overwhelmed. The first week was spent traveling and then we come home and BAM, BAM – we have two huge and unexpected unbudgeted expenses back-to-back (many readers pointed out that these expenses shouldn’t have been fully unexpected…yet another way that I’m learning the importance of a good, solid budget). Oh, and I don’t get paid until the end of the month so right now it looks like we’re WAAAAAAY in the red (though I’m hoping husband will get another couple big checks and my check will come in, and then things will end in the black). Being in the red is a problem with YNAB (another reason why I think it’d be more beneficial if I start it once we have 1 month’s salary already saved up).

Sorry, I feel like I’m babbling. I have a stack a mile-high of work related tasks demanding my attention in addition to other “life” happenings, so I need to get going. Be sure to check back on Friday though. I’m finally going to spill the beans about a couple issues that are going to directly impact our budget (in addition to these so-called “unexpected” expenses I’ve been discussing, too). Lots of changes in the air.

If you were using YNAB’s free 30-day trial this month, tell me what you think! Has it been working for you? If not, what did you feel wasn’t working for you? I’m curious about everyone’s experiences!!!

1 … 994 995 996 997 998 … 1,951