Budgeting is not always the most exciting topic, but it’s and important part of how I was able to make ends meet as a widow with young kids.
Having been budgeting for several years, I had a pretty good feel for it. But after Jon passed, I got out of the habit and struggled with motivation to continue. I was tired, sad and overwhelmed by life, and budgeting just seemed like one more thing. I had reduced our living expenses quite a bit and didn’t think I needed to account for every purchase.
Something Had to Change
I became aware of how important a monthly budget was several months into my journey as a widow. We were halfway through the month, and I only had $50 left for the month to buy food, and the fridge was looking bare. While my kids were only 5 and 7, they had healthy appetites. I couldn’t continue to leave it to chance. I needed to make a change.
I got out one of our old budgets and revised it to suit our current needs, started keeping receipts again and tracking our expenses. It took a lot of discipline to stick to it at first, but once I got going, I realized how much it was worth it. I was telling my money where to go instead of it just disappearing each month.
Budgeting Tips
If budgeting is a new concept to you, here are some tips:
- Make a list of ALL of your monthly expenses - debt, food, utilities, giving, saving, gas, etc.
- Account for all other expenses - yearly expenses (car registration, Christmas, etc), occasional expenses (birthdays, baby showers, etc.) and anything else you can think of and divide these into monthly amounts.
- List all of your income.
- Make a zero base budget - allocate every dollar.
Reducing Expenses
If you find your expenses are higher than your income, here are some tips to lower expenses:
- Cancel any nonessential subscriptions (cable, DIRECTV, Netflix, apple music, kindle unlimited); our local library had a large selection of movies you could borrow for free, and you can’t beat the library for books to read! If you like audio books, consider a free app such as Libby.
- If you have medical debt, contact the hospital and have them help you get on a monthly payment plan. Depending on your income, you may qualify to have some of your bill written off.
- Meal plan - this was a big one for me. It doesn’t sound very exciting, but it helped me plan what we were going to eat, so I didn’t buy unnecessary food and didn’t waste nearly as much.
- If your kids are growing like crazy, like mine were, shop at your local thrift shops or yard sales for gently used clothes.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it may help you get started. I will be sharing frugal ideas in the future to help you take care of your family without breaking the bank.
Do you currently have a budget? How is it working for you?
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