Money Saving Mom®

Guest post from Angie of Live Healthy Save More

Choosing to live debt-free is a challenging task for anyone, but it is especially difficult for anyone dealing with an irregular income. In today’s changing economy, more and more people are adopting freelance, self-employed, and contract-style careers.

Sticking to a budget, paying off debt, and saving can be incredibly difficult when your income varies from month to month. Long term planning can also be very challenging when there is no way to predict how much money will be coming in.

My husband and I have been in this situation for the last two and a half years. He is a freelance violinist. I am a doctoral student, freelance administrative assistant, and blogger.

We went through Financial Peace University our first year of marriage, and it changed our lives. However, many times we had to adapt Dave’s suggestions to fit our “non-traditional” lifestyle. Although it has not been without set-backs, we have learned a lot about how to plan and budget with a irregular income.

Here are five simple tips you can use to harness the power of your variable income to achieve your goals:

1. Build a larger emergency fund.

Freelance or contract income is often incredibly unpredictable. Gigs or contracts fall through, or customers delay payment.

In light of this unpredictability, I highly recommend building at least a three-month emergency fund before putting any extra money toward paying off debt. This will give you a large cushion to rely on in case you have a slow month or a job unexpectedly falls through.

We learned this one the hard way. When we only had a small emergency fund, we often found ourselves on the ever-revolving cycle of having to put essentials on the credit card while waiting on a payment from a previous job.

2. Budget a month in advance.

Another way to prevent the credit card cycle and to avoid frequently draining your savings is to budget a month ahead. For example, everything we make in February goes towards paying the bills in March. February’s bills have already been covered by January’s income.

Being a month ahead gives you the flexibility to have a whole month to prepare if gigs or contracts dry up. It also allows you to wisely allocate unexpected extra income.

If you know next month’s bills are covered, you can put this extra income towards savings or debt payment. If you are receiving a tax-refund, you could use it to jump start your month ahead budgeting.

3. Know your seasons and stockpile accordingly.

Living with a “non-traditional” income often comes with seasons of feast and famine. It is important to plan for these seasons as much as possible. For example, I know that we have less income in the summer.

This means that during our busy season (February through May) I intentionally look for extra deals and sales. If spinach is on sale for 99 cents, I may buy two bags and freeze one for later use. I take extra time to coupon and add to our toiletries stockpile. I also garden in the summer to reduce our grocery bill.

4. Get organized.

This is a huge key to success on a variable income. Know when your big non-monthly bills are due and save monthly whenever possible. We use automatic savings bank drafts to ensure we will have the cash for our yearly instrument and rental insurance payments.

Also, keep track of all income. We use a modified version of this spreadsheet. This will help with long-term planning.

This spreadsheet can also help with tax planning. You can also use this to track receipts and possible deductions. I am not a tax expert, so I will not attempt to offer tax advice. However, I will say that it is imperative to keep track of your income and to have a plan for tax payments. We also learned this one the hard way!

5. Stay in your day.

Although planning ahead is vital to financial success, everything must be done in moderation. Planning can quickly turn to obsessing, especially when there are unpredictable months ahead. I limit the amount of time each day that I spend working on our finances in order to prevent excessive worry.

A friend, who has recently overcome a major life obstacle, shared with me her secret to success. Her motto is, “Stay in your day”. Plan wisely, but do not allow your planning to pull you from living well in the present.

“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.”
~Leo Buscaglia

Do you have irregular income? What are your tips for sticking with a budget? I’d love to hear!

Angie is a doctoral student and online writer. Outside of her academic pursuits, she loves creating useful and innovative online content about healthy living. She also enjoys spending time with her amazing husband. Her other favorite things include chocolate, sports, and sunny days. She blogs at Live Healthy Save More.

photo source

Guest post by Angi of SchneiderPeeps

Because of increasing gasoline prices we need to cut our grocery budget a little and move those funds over to our auto budget. This is really a good thing, since I’ve noticed I’ve gotten a little sloppy lately. So I’m going back to the “No Waste Kitchen” philosophy that I used to have and let slide over the past few years.

For me, a “No Waste Kitchen” means that no edible food gets thrown out – or given to the hens or dog. It means no item is too small to matter. It also means saving money. We’ve lived this way before, we can do it again.

Here’s our plan:

1. Don’t buy things that we don’t like or won’t eat.

I know this sounds reasonable, but sometimes an item is so cheap or even free that I think it’s a good deal. But if it just sits in my pantry taking up space then it’s not a deal.

2. Serve smaller portions on our plates.

If my children need a second serving of something they can have it. But when we put larger portions on our plates and then don’t eat it all, we really have no choice but to give the leftovers to the animals.

3. Manage the leftovers.

Plan at least one lunch or dinner each week to intentionally clean out the refrigerator and freezer of the leftovers. We call it “Buffet Night”.

Remake the leftovers into something else. For instance, if I have broccoli left over from dinner, I can use it to make a little cream of broccoli soup for lunch the next day.

If there’s quite a bit of leftovers, I can freeze them in small meal size containers as “frozen dinners.”

4. Look out for the little stuff.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Sometimes there really is too small an amount to save (or so we think). Save it anyway. I have a container in my freezer that is just for tomato products.

For instance, each week when we have pizza we have about 2 Tablespoons of sauce left over. Those 2 Tablespoons go into the container. If we have spaghetti and there’s some sauce left over, it goes into the container. If we brown meat and don’t use it all, the rest goes into the container. When the container is full, I use it to make spaghetti.

5. Freeze things before they spoil.

If I notice that the bananas are not getting eaten very quickly and they are past their prime, I put them in the freezer until I have time to make banana bread. If something has been in the refrigerator for a couple of days and I’m not sure if it will make it until “Buffet Night”, I put it in the freezer. I just need to remember to scour the freezer, also.

What are your favorite tips for less waste in the kitchen?

Angi is a pastor’s wife and mom of 6 children who spends her days homeschooling, crafting, gardening, playing chauffer, keeping chickens, trying to learn how take better pictures and blogging at SchneiderPeeps. She’s also the author of The Gardening Notebook.

photo source

Guest post from Rebecca of A Beautiful Ruckus

I’ve been following MoneySavingMom.com since before we had kids. As a newlywed, I enjoyed shopping drugstores and finding all sorts of great deals even though we didn’t have a big family yet.

And then we had children. Quadruplets to be exact.

That’s a bit of a game changer!

Suddenly, even though I was a mom, not all of the money-saving strategies worked for us anymore. Instead, I had to find a few different ways to save money that still allowed me to take care of our two-year-old quadruplets.

Clothing: Shop Consignment Sales

We were blessed with two boys and two girls, but unfortunately, they wear the same sizes, which means hand-me-downs among siblings are non-existent. Because of that, I had to get creative. First of all, I shop consignment sales whenever possible. While garage sales often have cheaper prices, I can’t feasibly jump in and out of the car with four toddlers in tow and still find what I need.

Instead, I joined a multiples group in town and shop their bi-annual consignment sale. I also work at the sale and sell baby items we no longer need which gives me pre-sale privileges. I go with a list and load up on everything I need for six months at a time to last me until the next sale comes along!

Food: Price Match Groceries

I used to love playing the drugstore game, but having quads makes it difficult to hit four CVS’s in a row or keep track of deal scenarios. For now, I’ve chosen to give up on that money-saving idea — the stress isn’t worth it at this point in my life.

Instead, I now spend my coupon time focusing on price matching at the grocery store. I clip coupons for food items when possible, but that’s where I stop sweating the small stuff. I keep a price book on my computer with the lowest food prices for items in my area and update it weekly when the sale fliers come. Once I know what is at a rock-bottom sale, I try to build my meals for the week around it and stock up when possible.

Therapy: Bake from Scratch

Before kids, one of my hobbies was baking and decorating elaborate cakes. I found it relaxing! Post-kids, I’ve found that I just don’t have the same time or energy. Instead, I’ve adjusted my therapy baking to include baking our bread from scratch, mixing up healthy muffins for my kids, and making the artisan bagels my husband enjoys. I still get my time in the kitchen, but I’m saving my family money and making sure they are eating better as well!

Some people think that you have to be in the thick of deal shopping to save money. Since my babies came home, most of the last two years have been spent in doctor ordered lockdown due to their prematurity and low immune systems. Because of that, I haven’t been able to leave the house much.

I can definitely vouch that there are still ways to save money without driving around town. You have to be a little more strategic, but isn’t that what saving money is all about?

Rebecca Ishum is a blogger at A Beautiful Ruckus, living her dream job as a stay-at-home mom…she just didn’t figure it would include quadruplets! Along with documenting her kids’ milestones, her blog includes resources and tips on motherhood, marriage, and staying organized while raising so many little people at once.

photo credit