Do This 1 Thing No Matter How Tight Your Budget Is

Look, I know we are in the middle of a pandemic and for millions of Americans, times are tough financially.  People are job searching, redoing their budgets, and cutting corners.  2020 is not a year many of us will miss when it finally packs its bags and leaves.

Years ago when my husband and I got married, my dad passed down some advice for budgeting.  He said, (paraphrasing here because it was nearly 2 decades ago): "Always have some money that you each get that isn't accountable to the other one."

You need to have spending money each month that is YOURS.  

Here are the rules:

• The amount is agreed upon ahead of time and each person gets the same amount. It might be a minuscule amount. That's fine. Write it in the budget. 
  
  
• You get your spending money. You spend it on whatever you want.  
  
  
• The other person does not get to complain about what you bought with your spending money.
  
  
• If you want to spend it all at Starbucks. Fine.  
  
  
• If you want to save up your spending money for awhile and buy something big? Fine.

Why do we need spending money in our budget?

If you don't budget spending money for both you and your partner, you will either a) overspend, b) underspend, or c) be resentful of your partner.  

If money is super tight and your spouse comes home with a $5 frappe from Starbucks, you might be ticked.  

But if it came out of their spending money, then you can't get mad---it was their money and furthermore, you have YOUR money so if you want a frappe too, you can get one!

Having your own spending money allows each person to feel free to purchase something without feeling guilty for taking money from another budget category.

How much should we budget for spending money?

It depends greatly on your budget.  Generally we now do $50 each, each month.  Sometimes we do less if a big expense is coming up.  In the early years of marriage when money was really tight, we started with $5 a month and worked up to $10.

Can we use a credit card for our spending money?

Uhh.  It should really be cash so that once it's gone, it. is. gone.  If you must use a card (or order online), be sure to write down what you spent and keep track of how much you have left.  Do NOT go into debt for spending money.  If you can't afford more than $3 that month, then you only get $3!  

Why should I listen to you?

My husband and I aren't financial advisors, we're just people who've been married for a long time, rarely argue about money (you can count our money arguments on one hand), have been poor, have been not-poor, and have no debt except our reasonable mortgage.  

Plus, technically this advice came from my dad and he's the smartest person I know.  ;) 

The 4 Budget Categories You are Forgetting!

Ahhh, the b-word.  No, not that one.  Budgeting. It can sometimes feel tedious to budget for every dollar but really, no matter your income level or financial status, you need a budget!  Having a budget makes every dollar work harder for you.  

Obviously everyone knows that you have to list out your bills when you make a budget: rent/mortgage, gas, electricity, cell phone.

But there are 4 budget categories that you might be forgetting! Over the years, as my husband and I have written numerous budgets, some of these we forgot about too!  No fear, just be sure to add in these categories when planning your monthly finances.

1. Holidays

As Dave Ramsey says, Christmas is on December 25th every year.  It can't sneak up on you--we know it's coming! :) Likewise, my kids' birthdays, and our anniversary all fall on the same day every year.  Sure Easter and Thanksgiving kind of rotate around but... close enough.  

Make a list of who you buy for and about how much you want to spend. Add it all up, divide by 12 and then save that much every single month so that when the birthdays and holidays roll around, you aren't feeling pressured to go into debt.  

You can put the money in a cash envelope and keep it at home, make a separate sub account for it with your bank, or open an entirely different holiday savings account (many banks and credit unions offer accounts specifically for holiday savings!)  

Don't let this happen to you!

2. Car Maintenance

I saved up money from my teaching job and bought myself a gently used vehicle and was able to pay cash.  We don't have a car loan but we do have money taken out of every check and put in savings for our next vehicle.  However, cars need their oil changes, tires rotated, sometimes things break or need repaired.  

If your car needs a $200 repair to be functional, do you know how you'll pay for it?  Try to keep a bit of money set aside so you don't have to go into debt at the auto shop!

3. Unexpected Gifts

Yes, we plan for Christmas and birthdays (see #1 above).  But you know what happens sometimes?  You have the perfect amount budgeted for the holidays you will celebrate that year and then BAM 3 coworkers are pregnant and you need 3 baby shower gifts. A cousin gets married and you need a wedding gift.  Uncle Sal passes away and you need to send flowers. 

Be sure to have a bit of money stashed away for those unexpected gift needs that arise during the year.

4. Giving

Sadly, when you search "Budgets" on Pinterest or "budget categories", many of them have no line item for giving. Yet there is such a great need in our world. 

25% of children in OUR country, the United States, are food insecure.  As I write this we have a 14% unemployment rate.  The Covid19 pandemic has made people sick, forced businesses to change how they operate, and cost many people their lives or their jobs.  

The amount you choose to give regularly is up to you.  For our family, we follow the tithing guideline of a 10% minimum.  

You can give to your local church and/or many places that could benefit from your monthly donation. Here are just a few: 

• March of Dimes, 
• St. Jude Children's Hospital, 
• Special Olympics, 
• your local homeless shelter, 
• or a local domestic violence shelter.

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There you have the 4 budget categories you may have forgotten: holidays, car maintenance, unexpected gifts, and giving. Can you think of any others that often escape our minds when writing that first budget?  If so, leave a comment to let me know!

[Related: 7 Things We Don't Mind Spending Money On]

7 things we don't mind spending money on

When it comes to money, my husband and I are not big spenders.  When we first got married we were extremely frugal. Now that we are both working we still are pretty frugal compared to some of the rest of our generation.

But. We loosen the purse straps and spend some money on several things.  If we experience job loss, of course these will be the first things that get cut from the budget.  However, while we are able to, these are things that we don't mind spending money on!

[8 years ago I did a post on this topic. It's fun to look back at what has changed and what hasn't!]

1. Streaming Services.  

We used to pay for satellite dish but found that we could save a little money by cutting that out and going to Netflix and Hulu.  For awhile I was able to leverage Microsoft Rewards and get Hulu for free but the system changed. I still use Microsoft Rewards but now save up for gift cards to use for Christmas and we just pay Hulu out of pocket.

2. Books.

Yep, 8 years later and this is still on the list! The Coronavirus (Covid-19) quarantine had us staying home more than ever and with time on our hands to get in some good reading time.  With the social distancing directives we have stopped a lot of other spending (I miss going to movies!) so we use that to justify ordering books with wild abandon.  

Related: Quaran-Reading: 6 Books to Read While Quarantined

3. Cherry Coke

I swear if you show this post to my doctor, I will track you down and glare at you.  Soda is definitely not doctor-approved.  We're all allowed one vice to spend money on though, right?  I don't drink or smoke so I don't feel bad buying some cans of Cherry Coke each week.  Cherry Pepsi is not the same. Don't @ me.

4. Heating & Cooling Our Home

In the last year we had extra insulation sprayed into the attic and bought a new heating/cooling system for the house.  We saved up the money until we were able to pay in full and that way we were able to upgrade without feeling bad for spending money.  Our old unit was too small and old to keep up with the temperatures outside. 

Here in the midwest we can see summers with a heat index over 100 and winters with wind chills -30.  We were constantly freezing or sweating in our home.  With the new insulation and heat/cool unit we are so much more comfortable AND energy efficient. Our monthly bills have gone DOWN.

5. Teacher Stuff

You may have heard that teachers spend a lot of their own money on their classrooms. You have heard correctly.  I try to focus on things that will benefit my students versus things that are just "cute."  For example, I give every student a brand new book of their own to keep at  Winter Break and at the end of the school year.  Since we are both working we can afford to do so and it's an expense that is worth it!

6. Graduate School

I am paying my way through a Master's degree program right now.  We pay each semester in full (no student loans!) and feel incredibly lucky to be able to do so.  It is indeed a chunk of money to spend but it is an investment in the future and in my earning potential so again, it's an expense that we feel is worth it. 

Pro-tip: Run the money through your 529 account. Adults can use those too!  It gives us a nice tax break at the end of the year on the money we were going to spend on my graduate program anyway!

7. Extra Life Insurance

Yeah, this is not nearly as exciting as Netflix, soda, and books. Still, extra life insurance (term life insurance) is worth the added cost.The goal is that if something were to happen to either of us, the remaining spouse would have enough money to provide for themselves and the children without added stress.  If, God forbid, we both die, we have a will and have left directives.  Again, the expense of an attorney and the expense of extra life insurance is well worth knowing that everything is taken care of for our children should something awful happen.

3 ingredient D-I-Y Laundry Detergent (no boiling or grating!)

In an attempt to find easy ways to save money, I began looking online for ways to make my own laundry detergent. Many DIY laundry detergent recipes call for grating soap or boiling water.  

Some recipes make 10 gallons at once. I didn't want to DIY our laundry detergent and end up with 10 gallons because what if we didn't like the soap and then were stuck with 10 gallons!?  

Finally I found this recipe for laundry detergent.  It only takes 3 ingredients and has just 4 steps, this laundry soap was right up my alley!  

3 ingredients, 4 steps, 5 minutes.  People, it doesn't get any easier than that!

DIY Laundry Detergent Ingredients:

• Washing Soda
• Borax
• Dawn Dish Soap (Blue original)

DIY Laundry Detergent Instructions:

• Get an empty gallon jug
• Put in 3 T. washing soda, 3T. borax, and 2 T Dawn
• Pour in 4C hot water
• Once your laundry soap mixture is cool, top off the jug with cold water. Bubbles will overflow, that's okay.  Once bubbling stops, put cap on your new gallon jug of laundry soap and give yourself a high-five!

DIY Laundry Detergent Cost:

• Dawn soap-$2.64 at Walmart (I already had this on hand because it's also what we use to do dishes)
• Borax-$4.47 at Walmart
• Washing Soda-$4.12 at Walmart
• Gallon jug-Free, wash out a gallon of water or some other jug you already have around the house.

Total cost of your 3 ingredient laundry detergent:

$11.23

I can get at least 10 more gallons of this simple laundry detergent out of these supplies. Which means 11 gallons of laundry detergent for $11.23 total. 

Where else can you buy a gallon of laundry soap for $1.02?!?

Cost Comparison Tide Vs. DIY Laundry Detergent:

For 11 gallons of our 3 Ingredient Laundry Soap it costs $11.23 for 1,408 ounces. Price per ounce: 0.00797. 

I found this Tide at Walmart for $11.97 for 92 ounces. Since there are 128 ounces in a galloon, I would have to buy 15.03 bottles of this Tide to have the same 11 gallons of laundry soap. Rounding down to 15 bottles of Tide the cost would be  (15x11.97)= $179.55 (0.127 per ounce)

179.55 vs. $11.23

Making my own laundry detergent saves $168.32.  THAT is a huge savings!  Is DIY-ing my laundry soap, spending 5 minutes per gallon (55 minutes total for 11 gallons if we do it one gallon at a time) worth $168?!  YES.  I don't make $168 an hour so spending an hour of time to essentially "earn" that much money is definitely worth it.

But what if I buy less expensive laundry detergent? Should I still make my own?

YES! The least expensive brand I can find at Walmart is "Xtra" which costs 0.04/ounce which is $56.32 for 11 gallons. Versus $11.23 by making it yourself.  Your savings is $45.09 for 55 minutes of work!  Again, I don't make $45 an hour so it is STILL a huge savings to make my own laundry detergent.  Not having to boil or grate anything means this is the easiest laundry detergent recipe I've seen!

Fabric softener aka my kryptonite

I love my Downy liquid fabric softener.  You will pry it from my cold dead hands unless you have a fabulous copycat DIY recipe.  If you know how to make Downy at home, hit me up!  Otherwise that's a laundry product I'll keep buying at the store.

DIY Self-Care Gift Set (on a budget!)

Tis the season to be....stressed out! Fa la la la la, la la la la!

Self-care is the practice of taking care of one's self physically, mentally, and spiritually.  Like the old saying goes, "You can't pour from an empty cup."  I'm trying to be better at caring for myself in ways like getting to bed on time, getting semi-regular massages, staying connected with my faith, etc.

As a teacher, I happen to know that the rest of the staff at the school is just as busy as I am!  Though we all have different roles, everyone is giving it their all.  Sometimes we need encouraged to recharge.  Our family tries to do a gift to all of the office staff each year at Christmas.  This year's gift is a self-care kit.  

I've been gathering things for several months in preparation.  Not only is a self-care kit a great gift but you can also do it within a reasonable budget.

Here is the breakdown of what is in each kit (and what it cost):

• wax melts  These were from Kohl's and were $5 each.  I bought 6 but used Kohls Cash and a promo code.  Total cost: $0.
  
• face masks  These are also from Kohl's and were $3 each.  I bought 6 but like above, used Kohl's Cash and and a promo.  Total cost: $0.  Amazon has the Earth Therapeutics masks right now ($13 for 5 masks).  A fair price if you're out of Kohl's Cash!
  
• candles  These were from Kirkland's and I had paid $3 for an entire container of 20 candles. Total cost: $3.
• mini notebooks     These are from a recent trip to Dollar Tree. Total cost: $6.
  
• candy   I used 2 bags of Dove Promises and 1 bag of Hershey Kisses. I bought 3 packs from Dollar Tree and divided it up. Total cost: $3.
• magnets I only had 4 of these so the 4 office workers will get one but the 2 specials teachers will be out of luck (I don't think they'll mind).  These were list price $6 but on clearance at Barnes and Noble.  Total cost: $1.50.
  
• tea  It turns out that the sampler box of tea has easily gift-able packets inside. There are 5 flavors, so 5 packets. You can't open them up to further divide because the tea  bags themselves are not marked/labeled (learned that the hard way).  So again our office staff gets tea and the specials teachers will not.  Total cost: $2. 
• cellophane bags  These are from Dollar Tree. Total cost: $1
• ribbon I will add wide ribbon around each one before gifting them.  The ribbon will come from Dollar Tree. Total cost: $1.
• gift tag I used Canva to make a label with a little poem I wrote.  Canva has a free and a paid version. Of course I use the free one. ;)  If you're crafty you could make your own tag. Bottom line: the gift tag is free. Total cost: $0.
  

Grand Total: The kits have a value of $11.50 each but with sales and coupons I spent just $17.50 for all 6 self-care kits!  That means just $2.92 spent to give a gift worth over $11!  Not only did these turn out super affordable (less than the cost of a $5 gift card) but also they are promoting care and compassion to their recipients.  I can't wait to give these little self-care kits out next month!

Of course we are giving these to school staff but the little DIY kits also make great gifts for: teachers, tutors, coaches, Sunday School teachers, nurses, secret pals, moms group friends, neighbors, coworkers, and stylists!

Need an easy to follow/remember guide for making a self-care kit?  I've got you covered!  Check out the infographic below:

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