Made From Scratch
This week we started thinking about our new house, and why it is we moved in the first place. Long story short, it was a good financial decision.
This week we talk about our financial journey, from flipping a single guy lifestyle into married with 4 children. Then talk about building a maintaining a household budget for a family of 6. We even share our secrets for keeping our food budget tight.
As a single guy, Adam lived like a single guy with lots of expendable income. At the same time ReAnna was a college student living off of financial aid. Marriage immediately took the single guy income and made it a household income. Insert work injury and 2 state relocation and we have had to learn to build and maintain a household budget from scratch.
ReAnna has full control of the budget book and knows every penny that comes and goes. Over the years she has built up a pretty good system for budgeting out our expenses. At it's most basic, always underestimate the income and overestimate the bills. And at the end of the month, pretend any surplus doesn't exist.
We also have taken to creating our own version of the dinner menu system for planning meals, shopping, and budgeting groceries. We don't plan dishes, we plan styles. This gives much more flexibility in what to make for dinners without getting too burned out.
On a similar note we cook all our meals from scratch. Not because we're naturalists or hippies, but because it's just cheaper. Fresh bread for pasta. Pizza crusts hand mixed and rolled out every week. Homemade pretzel buns for burgers. Even hand made chicken nuggets.
We know that our budget and financial planning isn't for everyone. All that matters is that everybody needs to form some type of plan and stick to it. In the long run it is best for everyone.
This week's WTF moments are both courtesy of Damien, poor child...
This week we talk about our financial journey, from flipping a single guy lifestyle into married with 4 children. Then talk about building a maintaining a household budget for a family of 6. We even share our secrets for keeping our food budget tight.
As a single guy, Adam lived like a single guy with lots of expendable income. At the same time ReAnna was a college student living off of financial aid. Marriage immediately took the single guy income and made it a household income. Insert work injury and 2 state relocation and we have had to learn to build and maintain a household budget from scratch.
ReAnna has full control of the budget book and knows every penny that comes and goes. Over the years she has built up a pretty good system for budgeting out our expenses. At it's most basic, always underestimate the income and overestimate the bills. And at the end of the month, pretend any surplus doesn't exist.
We also have taken to creating our own version of the dinner menu system for planning meals, shopping, and budgeting groceries. We don't plan dishes, we plan styles. This gives much more flexibility in what to make for dinners without getting too burned out.
On a similar note we cook all our meals from scratch. Not because we're naturalists or hippies, but because it's just cheaper. Fresh bread for pasta. Pizza crusts hand mixed and rolled out every week. Homemade pretzel buns for burgers. Even hand made chicken nuggets.
We know that our budget and financial planning isn't for everyone. All that matters is that everybody needs to form some type of plan and stick to it. In the long run it is best for everyone.
This week's WTF moments are both courtesy of Damien, poor child...
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