My 5 Budget Busters
I was tagged by Peter at Bible Money Matters for a new meme challenge-The Budget Busters Challenge. I list the 5 things that can keep me from staying on budget and then I tag 3 bloggers to do the same.
1. My kids
My kids tend to be my biggest budget busters. I don’t spoil them, but at the same time I feel like every once in awhile they need “treats” or something special. Then of course, because I am a mom, I go overboard. To combat this problem, I set limits to the amount I will spend on special stuff and I also allocate a few extra dollars per week to the little things-a candy or a sheet of stickers, etc. I find myself going overboard less and less.
2. Books, Magazines and anything else I can read
I like to read, no, I LOVE to read. I’ll read anything I can get my hands on and of course, books and magazines cost money-a LOT of money.(I mean $4 for a magazine that is 50% ads?!?) If I walk into Barnes and Noble I can easily walk out having spent $100. My solution? I don’t go to Barnes and Noble unless I have saved up CASH and then I leave the debit card at home. I also get my magazine and newsletter fix from the library. They sell older magazines for 25 to 50 cents each, so I can pick up a stack for the same price as a brand new newsstand edition. I also order any free magazine I find and take advantage of any free deals that involve books or magazines.
3. Hobbies/Crafts
I’m a scrapbooker and all the little embellishments and cute papers that go along with the hobby can get expensive. I can easily find myself going overboard just walking through a craft or scrapbooking store. To fix this, I gave myself an allowance for my hobbies, and I only buy stuff when I need it, instead of when I see something cute. This has also cut down on the clutter of having more than I need in my craft closet. And of course, there is the printing of digital photos to put in those scrapbooks. While there isn’t much I can do about the cost of printing, I can lessen the budget busting, by making money off of it. I usually go through Upromise to a printing service like Snapfish or Shutterfly and go with whichever has the lowest prices/best deals and the highest percentage paid back to my Upromise account.
4. Drinks
I’m always thirsty and every where I go, I need a drink. Seriously, I am parched 24 hours a day. So, I end up wasting tons of money on sodas, bottles of water and juice whenever I leave the house. To fix this problem, I have started taking a small cooler of drinks in the car with me. I always bring sippy cups and juice boxes everywhere, why not throw some drinks for Mommy in too? Duh. This will most likely save me hundreds of dollars per year.
5. Over Saving
What?! Can you OVER save? Well, apparently yes and leave it to me to figure out how to do it. Whenever I make a deposit at the bank, it typically all goes to our savings account. Our paychecks are direct deposit, so the checks I am depositing are for things like my surveys. Whenever we have some sort of balance on a credit card or an unexpected bill, I transfer the money out of savings into the checking to make the payment possible. Apparently I can only do this a set number of times throughout the month before the credit union charges me. Yes, we are limited in the number of deposits and transfers with our savings account. If I make too many deposits or too many transfers they will charge me $25. And of course, this has happened more than once, so it has cost us to save money! Now, I wait until the end of the month to make my deposits and I try to only transfer once a month too. No sense in paying those fees if I can help it.
There’s my 5 Budget Busters, now let’s see about these folks:
Kyle @ Rather-Be-Shopping
Kacie @ Sense to Save
FFB @ Free From Broke
What about you? What are your Budget Busters?
Topics: Finance & Money |
April 12th, 2008
I’m planning on doing a post of my budget busters and scrapbooking materials will definitely be on there! I just LOVE stickers
April 12th, 2008
My kids are my biggest budget busters. Whenever I see something they may like I feel this urge to it for them. It is especially hard if I feel it is a really good deal. The only way for me to fight it is to go shopping with my husband. He has a much better haad when it comes to determining if the purchase is a need or a want.
April 15th, 2008
LJ, this looks like a fun one! Thanks for tagging me. I can relate to #1 as well!