Budget

Mark and I have put ourselves on a budget. We figure we might as well get use to living on a budget prior to the baby arriving. Here are some of the things we have done.

1. Cut coupons on the items we use, which I like cutting coupons. If a manufacturer wants to give 25 cents I'm all for it.
2. Move money into our savings account prior to spending
3. Use our pig points from Piggy Wiggly. We have received up to 54 cents off a gallon of gas. You can get up to 15 gallons at the reduced priced. We figured at least once a month we can get savings on gas.
4. Make dinner menu prior to going to the grocery store and sticking to the list.
5. Buy generics and compare prices between grocery stores.
6. Only buy things that are on sale, is the item a want or a need.
7. Make dinner at least 3 nights a week, left overs for the other evenings.
8. Only go out to dinner once a week
9. Make coffee in the morning, do not stop at the gas station or buy coffee from work.
10. Reduced the heat in the house from 73 to 70. I can use a blanket if I am cold.

No we are not in any money crisis's, but we thought we should start getting used to living a little tighter and not be such compulsive shoppers. Some of the above items are very easy to do, but others are harder to do. I have a hard time asking myself if it is a want or a need. I have gone for so long without worrying about anyone else, that I just bought something if I wanted to. Target and Kohl's are my weakness.

Only time will tell if I can stick to these rules, but some of it has become a game for me. The Pig Points! I love to see how much I save between Pig points, coupons, and stores sales. Last weekend I saved $21.00 and the week before that I saved $14.00.

Mark thinks I'm crazy and out of control with the whole coupon/Pig points, but then I show him my savings and he just smiles.