Budgets

So a recent Facebook post has lead me to think that I should blog about my budgeting techniques not that I am great at it but maybe it will help someone. One of the big things I do is plan ahead, I am not a great meal planner but I plan ahead for birthdays and Christmas by purchasing those gifts ahead of time and I use the internet to find deals on things like using Ebay or doing price comparisons. Now that my Son is older I am able to buy the clothes for him for next year at the end of the year and get everything at 50% off or better which saves a lot but requires the time to go out and find them except this year I hit Old Navy online on boxing day and that was great no frustration or line ups and all the sizes I needed! One other drastic measure we took last spring was to turn off our cable and now we just watch the few shows we like online and for my Son we go to the library once a week and get movies to watch which is his TV time, this saves us *800/year. Also I recently learned that by going to my internet/phone providers website I could bundle my internet/phone service and upgrade my internet one speed level and make a slight change on our phone line and that saves us 50/month on our bill. This year I am planning on putting in a garden and I will blanch and freeze what I can to help with our food bill in the winter. We have also started trying to group our errands together and do them at one time rather than making multiple trips.

I won't say I am great at budgeting but those are some of the things that we do and are working on as a family. The handmade incentive I am hoping will also help our budget too. I have even stopped buying cookies for my husband instead he bakes them, that way he appreciates them more and consumes less because he has to make them.

If you have anymore tips to add please share I would love to hear what you do to help with your budget.