Ann Leach

Hello. My name is Ann and I've fallen off the wagon. It has been nearly a year since I've written and followed a monthly budget. And this is a rally big deal to me because I love having a budget which sets boundaries for safe decision making and leaves me with a feeling of security.  YNAB snapshot It's past time to get the budget up and running again, so what format to ues? Kenn and I have tried some of the apps (YNAB, Mint, Every Dollar), we have used pre-formatted spreadsheets, and spreadsheets we have created ourselves, but this time, I am taking it right back down to the paper and pencil format I know and love. This is a simple tool that I first started using when I had my first apartment, 30 years ago. It is very comfortable to me.     A budget I created a few years back I actually enjoy creating the categories and writing in the amounts for budget and actual. I like doing the math, making corrections, re-allocating. It's all part of the proces...

About  a year ago, I wrote a post about writing out a budget  using just paper and pencil, no spreadsheets, no apps. Since then we've also used a spreadsheet budget that I had created, an online software program (free version), and another spreadsheet pre-formatted. Sometimes it takes a few trials and errors to find a system that really fits you well. The spreadsheet we finally settled on came from  this  website. It is the EOD Deluxe Budget which is formatted to match Dave Ramsey's budget and cash allocation forms from his Financial Peace University course. We use the budget to create a big pict ure for the whole month -- how much we expect our income to be and how much we expect to pay out in each and every category. Not when, just how much. This part of the spreadsheet, on the left, shows the budget amounts for spending in each category, how much was actually spent and the percentage of income each category is. And on the right is where we record al...

What's for supper? I love being able to answer, "Look at the schedule!" It makes my life soooo much simpler. I always know what we're having because I already decided, days or weeks ago. I know the ingredients are in the pantry, fridge or freezer. And I know the food budget won't go over because by having a plan, I can stock up when the basics are on sale. I can keep some money back and buy a large, inexpensive, locally raised piece of meat and have it cut into pieces the size I need for my family. But how do I write a plan for the whole month?  I use a few techniques. First I set themes to each day of the week:  Monday - leftovers, Tuesday - beef, Wednesday - chicken, Thursday - pork, Friday - pizza, Saturday - soup, Sunday - chicken/fish. But of course, this is just a plan and isn't carved in stone. Sometimes I'll slip in a meatless night, sandwich night or whatever else comes to mind. But generally, the themes point me in the direction to go. And from h...

Homeschooling -- Still waiting for confirmation from the group admin that my sign-up was processed.  I'll follow up with an email tomorrow. My excitement about homeschooling is staying true. Isabelle and I have moved through the challenging time we've been having for the last year or so, which is to say that I've improved my own techniques and methods for parenting so we're not butting heads so much. We already do some informal school time, but it is rather haphazard, so I'm starting to do some research for setting a couple of goals so we can develop a more effective system. I'm sure most of what we'll be doing for kindergarten is learning by doing than actual book/paper work.  But will be nice for the book/paper work to be headed in a specific direction. Antiquing -- The kitchenaid mixer made a loud growling noise when it ran, so I didn't get it.  And surprisingly, I am a bit disappointed.  I guess by the time I was in the store carrying it up to ...

Homeschooling:  Made contact today with a homeschooling co-op here in Allen County that I didn't even know about.  We're welcome to join, even at this late date in the school year.  There are only 3 more class sessions, but I'm excited to (hopefully) meet some of the other parents and get Isabelle involved in some activities and play groups. Finding this group has re-energized me toward homeschooling this autumn rather than enrolling Isabelle in public schools. Antiquing:  Isabelle and I took a big stroll through the Antique Mall  in Wapak this morning and saw LOTS of goodies, including 1 Kitchenaid and 4 Sunbeam stand mixers; and 2 Corning Ware electric skillets - 1 with the skillet and 1 without. This is a photo of the Kitchenaid mixer. Pinterest:  I do love pinterest as a means of collecting articles that I may want to come back to at some future date.  But it tends to be a really big collection and not a lot of doing.  So I'v...

Here we are at the beginning of not only a new month, but also a new year.  How time does fly!  Happy New Year!! It's a perfect time for setting new goals in the different areas of  your life -- money, health, fitness, parenting, relationships, job, education. Where to even start, right? For me, since money ties in with everything else in my life, that's where I am starting, and I invite you to come along with me. Now, this isn't the first time I'e written a budget, but since it's a new year, it's as good a time as any to dust it off and spiffy it up a bit with a fresh new start. So, what is a budget? A bad word? A restriction on my fun? Hard? I don't know. (At least that's an honest answer.) Something that always ends up as a fight? (I hope not.) Well, all of these may be true, but truly, a budget is just a plan or a map for achieving your goals. It's easy, after you learn how to do it. It's a tool which takes the fight out of the money in your...

Money, the taboo topic.   We're taught, by our parents and the culture we live in, to not talk about money.  Don't talk about how much you make.  Don't talk about how much you spend.  Don't talk about the ins and outs of credit cards.  Don't talk about how much financing really costs. And if you're in a financial mess, don't talk about that either. So we're each alone in dealing with our finances.  Oh sure, you an ask your folks.  And get the lecture.  Or you can pay for a consultation with a financial advisor, and their sales pitch (usually).  But where can you just sit and talk about the basics? What if you just want to know you're not the only one who is bearing the consequences of a bad choice?  What if you just want to share ideas and hear other people's thoughts on what is working and not working? I propose that it starts here.  My sustainable living passion isn't just about the planet, environment, and being fruga...

Oh, finally.  We're back on our property (Fountainhead) in the US, mostly unpacked, and settling back into our routines.  Husband has gotten a job already and I am getting our home set up, slowly but surely. In the unpacking, I came across my collection of "The Tightwad Gazette" books and have started reading them again.  For those who aren't familiar with them, Amy Dacyczyn published "The Tightwad Gazette" newsletters during the 1990s, which later became three published books and then finally one complete edition.   The third book of the series starts out with an article titled:  Drowning in Rising Expectations; which is spot-on even 20 years later, and I'd like to share it with you here: The idea that baby-boom generation has fewer opportunities and most struggle harder than previous generations is believed by millions of Americans.  Specifically, they believe that it's almost impossible to afford kids on a middle class income anymore...

The Sustainable living group is off to a good start with the number attending meetings increasing.  This month we had a lively discussion about household budgeting which is so much bigger than just crunching numbers. People have different goals in budgeting.  Some do it to save money and to stretch their dollars further.  Others are discovering new, better, more economical ways to live. It takes discipline to set goals and stick to the plan to meet those goals.  And getting the whole family on board with a new system can be one of the biggest challenges of all. Some folks have a vision of a budget, but nothing on paper.  Some have no plan, but are in a reactionary mode to the bills as they come in.  And still others are keeping track right down to the penny. Is there a right way and wrong way to budget?  Is one way better than another?  What is a budget?  And why don't they teach us about this in school? There is definitely a righ...

Tomorrow morning, if all goes to plan (DD has been home with croup this week.), will be time for me to do the weekly update on the budget.  Yes, I said it, the B word...  budget. Some people thing budgeting is a bad thing.  "It limits my spending."  "I won't be controlled by a budget."  "Nobody is going to tell me how to spend my money." Well, I guess you're right.  No one is going to tell you how to spend your money. Only you can do that.  A budget is a plan for how you're going to spend your money so when it comes time to make a purchase, the money is there.  Without a plan, money just disappears -- $5 for a coffee, $2 for a newspaper, $10 for a lunch. And by the end of the week, where did it all go? In our family, I do the book work, but K and I made the plan together.  It's not up to me to tell him how much pocket money he gets.  We decided that together, when we decided how much to allocate in each of our categories.  But he's ...

We did it!!  That's me and DD, we set the Budget, Planned the Meals (or borrowed somebody else's meal plan), got our Morning Routines done and made the big shopping trip to Aldi.  Now our stockpiles are set for a month.  whew! If I truly had a full stockpile system in place, it would be for the better part of a year, not just a month.  But this is a starting place.  And it's done!    We have bought all the necessary ingredients for 25 dinners and it came to just under $180 Aus.  This is the meal plan shared here  ( http://www.iamthatlady.com/25-meals-for-under-150-at-aldi/ ).  I bought nearly everything on the list, and made up for the few I didn't get by picking up a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread just because K loves it and a few other items. Overall, I am very pleased and surprised that food prices here in Aus are that close to what they are in the US.  In my own mind, I had figured we were paying double. In our budget, we ...