Budget Budget Budget

As I was driving home from class tonight, I made an unscheduled pit-stop at Target to pick up some things on my list. But I didn't have my coupons and I was hungry and I was SPEECHLESS at the cost of men's razor blades - $18 for 8, what were they kidding?? Well Wes needs them and I said bad words in my head as I trekked back to the checkout, thinking I should have remembered them at CostCo when I went this morning (and next time I go, I'll buy 100 razor blades and use a coupon and save money). But I had a list and I stuck to it, except the Cheetos at the checkout, which were $1.24 (a bag 4 times as big is only twice as much... oops).

Do you make a budget? You should. You need to, really.

Make a list of all your regular expenses. Itemize the silly stuff, like oil changes or car repairs, stamps and birthday gifts (we have two or three a month, it seems), magazines and movies (under entertainment, I suppose), pet food and vet bills, etc. Then write down what you earn, what you save, what you give and what you spend. Pray it balances (because I do this regularly - prayers are good).

Need to trim your budget? Here are some of my suggestions:

1. Plan out at least one year of your expenses in advance - you can view most of your past bills on line for the last 6 months, and your gas and power bills for a year. Really look at your spending realistically.
2. Check out your cell phone plan - sprint has an optimizer that analyzes your last 6 billing cycles and then tells you if you need a higher or lower plan. Do you really need lots of cell phones? For YEARS we had just one - whoever was OUT or OUT OF TOWN had it.
3. Call around for cable/phone/internet combos and determine if someone has a better deal. I just called for no reason (well, I was missing a channel I like all of a sudden) and they lowered my bill because that channel wasn't premium any more but included in my regular lineup.
4. Talk to your power people about the budget plan. I generally don't advocate this but if it helps you maintain your spending, go for it.
5. Pay your bills early. PERIOD. Since my husband is paid twice per month, I get up the morning of payday and pay ALL THE BILLS due in those 15 or so days - and we live on the rest. Could be lots, could be not-so-lots, depending on the month. No late fees is better for your credit and better on your budget.
6. Use coupons - I don't care if it is for eating out, buying birthday presents, or household goods, just find a coupon (see my rather lengthy post on coupons). If you have fluff room in your budget, pay the full amount due and get back the coupon-amount and donate it, give it to your kids, or buy a small treat (this is how I afford hardback books here lately).
7. INSURANCE - call and get quotes on this, too - car, house, personal property, identity theft, flood, etc. We use one company for just about everything, but my husband went with insure.com (or something like that) and got a super-duper rate on his life insurance, which couldn't be matched by his employer OR or primary insurers so we switched that one.

The bottom line is that you need to know where your money is going. You need to make a budget. You need to balance your bank account. You need to file your receipts away. You need to save, and you need to give. You need to take the time to call everyone from the trash company (VWS has the cheapest backyard service in Hampton Park, by the way) to the insurance company to make sure you have the best, least-expensive deal.

Anyway some of those suggestions have worked for me and enabled me to pick up extra treats (specifically the coupons at CostCo give me money to buy books, since I don't like used ones). I hope you'll make a budget, stick to it, and use some of these cost-cutting tips to buy your own treats!