Ten years ago I became a stay at home mom. My husband started our home business the year before. Money was tight, and every penny counted. I had a good hold on how to save money from my grandparents. Living on a frugal home budget was not easy. It was not easy when friends were all driving nice, new, niche car for families.
Our minivan was nice, but we had to cash in our total savings to buy it. Let me tell you we were very careful driving that minivan. After cashing in our savings there was no money saved for repairs.
How To Start A Frugal Home Budget Life
Frugal home budget is now our lifestyle. We had debt. Student loans, car payments, house payments, credit cards, and a few miscellaneous doctor bills. All of that had to be paid off.
My first step was to take a second job to pay off our debt. When I finally stayed at home my husband worked a second job part time at tax season. Following Dave Ramsey advice to get out of debt and raise our income level was life changing.
Setting a budget that we worked through as a couple was the glue. Each month, coming to the table to work through our bills and work toward paying off the bills was monumental.
Adjusting to Life on a Budget
For me, spending is the easy part. No worries, just go and buy what we needed. Determining what was needed and necessary was the work. Clothing, designer shoes, designer purses, perfume and other items had to be scaled down. My lifestyle had to change. My families lifestyle had to change. We made a commitment to get out of debt.
Setting down each month and seeing progress toward our financial goal was fulfilling. Realizing that my wants outweighed my needs, and searching for deals on the extra money we had in the budget.
Cash is definitely a budget reminder. I still use the cash system. The deal with this concept is when it is out, it’s out. There is no backup. Adjusting to my new frugal home budget was the hardest part. Setting financial boundaries has helped both my husband and myself to stay on budget.
Life Changing Budget Decisions
I am so glad to change the future of our kids. They will grow up debt free, create a frugal home budget for their family, and be happy. A frugal home budget starts with contentment. The journey is different for each family. We still take vacations, but stay within the limits of our frugal home budget. All shopping did not cease. Shopping has boundaries, fun has a budget.
Writing down on paper helped us to get a visual of our finances. Seeing the actual dollar amounts and not just checking our account. Using the debit card endlessly was hazardous. The decision we made to use cash and only hold one debit card was lifesaving for our budget.
Slowly but surely our debt was mastered. This took discipline and desire to make debt disappear. Change doesn’t happen overnight.
Follow me on Instagram @momsarefrugal for more ideas on how to live the frugal life in the suburbs.
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