Since we are new at this type of business we failed to remember that when the seasons change, we must be ready for them! We have been reminded that we need to begin putting in fall and winter decor into our shop. It took my brain a few days to wrap my head around this concept. My littles haven't even started school, but I've already begun preparing for Halloween! Ahhh!
This got me thinking, how prepared am I? For the fall, winter? For the zombie wars? For whatever comes my way? I admit I am not as prepared as I should be, for any of it (unless there's a 24 hour craft-a-thon, then I'm pretty sure I have enough supplies for that). But lucky for us we can always start now.
A few of us here at GM have begun using an amazing new budgeting tool called youneedabudget.com. I heard of it last year and decided to give it a try. We were chronic checkers of the online bank account but we never remembered that this bill would come out or that we had written this check. YNAB has solved most of those problems. And the great thing about it is that you can have it on your phone too! I only update my budget/register once a week(mainly 'cause I'm lazy) but you can do what works best for you and your family. I think the best thing it has done, for our family, is to show us where our money goes, maybe where it shouldn't go, and where it can go. This in turn allows us to be prepared for those moments that sneak up on us.
Anytime I can save money, I'm all over it! When my grandma came home with a ton of shopping bags saying "there was a sale!" My grandpa would reply "oh great, we're saving money to go into debt." Very wise words. This taught me that we should only spend money when we have it. But what about when we need to buy something, like food or clothes. Do we always shop around or do we do what's convenient. In working on my budget I've seen a trend that helped us cut back on our grocery bill. How many of us forgot that we needed a gallon of milk and sent our spouse to get it? This has happened to us many a time but what I didn't realize was that those late night runs were costing us hundreds of dollars because of the extras we inevitably bring home. This got me thinking, again, on where we spend money when it's not needed. I quickly found that culprit too! It's those dang big box stores like Target or Walmart! Now, I love me some Target! But why do I need to buy 3 new beach towels, an outfit, a pillow, and a new lamp when I came in for 5 grocery items! I know that yall know what I'm talking about! So for this reason, I avoid it like the plague! It's hard but shopping at my local grocery store, Aldi, or even the Walmart Market has saved us a ton of money. I try and limit my big box store runs to once a month and then I watch my budget as I head to the checkout.
Ok so moving on, let's talk food. How much do you have in excess? Do you have enough food for a week, a month, a year? Whether or not you're a believer in food storage, I believe that everyone should have about a months supply of groceries on hand. Whether or not the apocalypse happens, we all know that getting sick, injured, lazy, busy, etc. happens. This is why having extra on hand is great for those times we didn't make it to the store. We will then spend less money eating out and more on saving for a new car, vacation, house, etc. However, if you are into food storage, I recommend Shelf Reliance. They work with your budget and ship it to you. You don't even have to remember to buy it! I love it! Find a local rep in your area to learn more.
I hope you've enjoyed this weekly installment of deep thought. I hope this has helped give you ideas on how you can better be prepared for your path ahead. And if you have a great idea that has worked well for you, please share it with us! We would love to hear from you!
To prepared success!
~Shellie
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