Plan on grocery shopping no more than once a week, If your budget says you spend $100 (or $???) a week on groceries, but you find you are always spending a little more you need to use a list and the “envelope plan”. Here’s how it works. Each week put the cash you have budgeted for groceries into an envelope. Write your list on the outside of the envelope. When you go to the store, leave your check book, debit card, and credit cards at home. Take a small calculator to the store with you. As you shop, add up the amount of each item you put into your cart. You’ll be able to make a pretty instant decision about whether to put those impulse items into the cart. Get only what you need, and if you accidentally overspend, you’ll have no choice but to return some items when you get to the check out.

Our clients tell us that this is the most effective method of sticking to a budget, and use the cash and envelope plan for all their spending, including entertainment. We often challenge clients to have one “left-over” envelope. Each time they get home from shopping, they take any leftover money and put it in the envelope. If they get to the end of the month, and haven’t spent all the money in their entertainment, fast food, clothing or ??? envelopes, the extra cash goes into their leftover envelope. At the end on each month, they take any accumulated cash in their leftover envelope and put half into debt reduction and half into savings. You could do the same and use the leftover envelope for gift and entertaining money for Christmas and other holidays as well.

Sit down with your family and discuss and set a budget for back to school clothes.  Unless they have out grown all of last year’s clothes, they really only need a few new items.  In earlier posts I suggested garage sales and thrift shops as excellent places to find good, name brand clothing at very low prices.  Teach your kids how to bargain shop and how to stay within a budget for all their needs.  When our kids were in Jr. High, we began allowing them to choose all their own clothes but had a set budget amount.  When they reached that amount, they were done.  Of course, we shopped with them and offered advice, but the choices were theirs.  The first year, they made mistakes.  One HAD to have a very expensive pair of shoes which used most of the clothing budget, then wanted an expensive name brand outfit.  That combination used the entire budget.  We held firm, and a good lesson was learned.  The following year, the same child found much lower priced items and had a more extensive back to school wardrobe.  By the time our children were in high school, we would give them their clothing allowance and drop them off at the mall or clothing stores of their choice.  They made all their own purchases.     

Start making deals with your telephone and cable company.  The two utilities are becoming extremely competitive with each other and with their competitors to get your business.  When you see a new customer offer for a lower price than your monthly charges, get on the phone and call your provider and ask for the same deal.  If they are offering a low price to a new customer for the first 3 months… you should be able to arrange the same price for yourself.  Remind them that you are a loyal customer and deserve the same offer that they are giving to brand new customers.  Don’t take no for an answer.  Ask for a supervisor if necessary, and be prepared to transfer or change your service if they won’t give you the offer.   Is it worth the hassle?  Yes.  If you are paying $60 or more for cable, and the offer is $30 for the first three months,  you’ll save almost $100.  Many providers have one or two specials a year.  Call them each time.  If you take advantage of these specials from your telephone and cable companies, you could save a lot more.  This same tactic will work with almost any company that you do business with.  Pay attention to new customer offers by banks, utilities, spas, house cleaning services, lawn care companies, even dog walkers.  Almost any company that offers a service for a set monthly fee will offer specials.  Make sure you get them!

Planning a summer vacation?  Decide ahead of time how much you want to spend for the entire vacation, then make a daily vacation spending plan.  Include food, transportation, lodging, souvenirs, and treats.  Once you have your plan, make a copy for each family member.  During your vacation, have everyone try to under-spend the daily plan.  After the vacation, put the savings in the tin.  You could even offer a prize for the family member that under spends the most.

Instead of a vacation, consider an outing to a favorite or new attraction in your own area.  A trip to the zoo, a museum, art gallery, or even a local fishing hole will be fun for the family.  The idea is to get away for a day and spend time together.  Plan several of these activities for 3 or 4 days in a row, and come home each night to sleep and eat dinner.  It will have many of the same benefits of an extended vacation without the expense.