Not So Obvious Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Budget

Having a budget really helps me to run our household efficiently.  I’m not the best at handling money, especially cash because if I don’t pay attention to it, then it is gone. It has been several years now ( at least 10) since I completed the Dave Ramsey course. That was the best financial decision that I made because it really helped me to put my financial decisions on the table. However, I still need to pay attention to some not so obvious mistakes that can ruin budget. I had to admit it…..my problem was overspending.  In the process of learning to get rid of my debt and live within my means I also became a frugal mom.  Most of the decisions that I make now are based on the budget that my husband and I make together.

As I started my new life on a budget and realized that a lot of what I bought could  be made, clothes did not need to be from the mall they could actually come from a consignment shop and diapers can be less expensive if I used cloth instead of disposable. That concept also led me to realize that children were going to be more affordable so my dream of a large family was possible. Using cloth diapers was the first really aggressive step that I made toward being frugal. As I mentioned before buying something that I would have to wash regularly and maintain to save money was new to me. My previous mindset was “if I can’t buy it then I don’t use it”.

Ten years later I have learned that staying on a budget really has helped my husband and I to save for our future, our children, and their children. We no longer live paycheck to paycheck. We have 4 children who play sports, our family takes vacation and weekends are not spent on the couch with no money. A simple lesson of using cloth diapers instead of disposable opened a whole new world to me that most of the commercial world was hiding.  Our parents were able to live on one income and I can too.

Cloth diapers do bring a few challenges like washing, drying, folding, but once a system is in place it becomes second nature. Actually I enjoy it now, and they have so many cute options. Way more than when I was a child. If you read my blog at all you will know that I use disposables at night.  Well when our budget needs that extra I use the cloth at night so that money can be used for milk and other grocery items if needed. It is really all about balance.

There is an initial expense to cloth diapers in the beginning when they are purchased but look for sales and consignment shops.  Also look into diaper swaps. Just wash them with bleach then rewash in hot water to get all of the bleach out! If you haven’t tried to switch with your baby, or upcoming baby do try it because they will save your family a TON of money.

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Cheers,

Michelle