Money Saving Mom®

Guest post by Kristen from Different Shades of Green.

Organizing our home has helped us reach financial goals and harmony. We weren’t always organized though!

Here’s how we started…

Before We Got Organized

Our spare bedroom was our office. I could toss papers in and close the door. I avoided that room, and the mess grew. When I needed to find something, I couldn’t. I missed payments and lost important papers. I had no idea how much money we had or owed.

Our office mess was causing a big financial drain. Interest rates rose, fees piled up, and expenses started climbing. This was compounded by the stress the mess caused. Feeling overwhelmed, I shopped to avoid reality, making the problem worse.

First Step Towards Organization

Finally, I got brave. I moved the office to the kitchen. It scared me to face finances every day! I examined every piece of paper, cleaning up piles and cleaning out drawers.

I downsized to a 2-drawer file and storage box. The file cabinet is now in the kitchen with my desk. When mail arrives, items that don’t require action are tossed or filed. Action items go to my inbox. Seeing the box daily means I maintain it, and things aren’t forgotten.

Benefits of Organization

Financially, we are stronger with an organized office. We haven’t had a late payment in years, and we paid off all our credit card debt! I’m motivated to work on our finances, because I have a visual representation of our success by looking at my tidy desk.

We’re also stronger emotionally. We’re more confident, knowing how much we have and how much we need. We spend less now, but enjoy more freedom.

Fine Tuning

Since that first step, we’ve fine-tuned the organization and expanded:

We keep a folder out labeled ‘monthly budget’. It’s an easy reference point for our goals. We update it monthly, creating harmony in our marriage.

Organizing the entire home helps us save too. Less stuff means less spending, and sometimes more earning. After many military moves, I dislike unpacking junk. We held 7 garage sales in one year, with the profits applied to debt. With less stuff, we can easily manage our belongings.

Organization empowers me. When my husband is deployed, I know where the tools are and can make minor repairs myself to save the cost of a service or handy man. Confidence adds incredible value to savings!

We created ‘stuff rules’. We only keep books we would recommend to friends. We decide on an item’s ‘home’ before we buy. If we can’t think of a home, it doesn’t come home! We have a ‘one in, one out’ rule for closets. Guidelines help us reduce impulse buying.

What matters most is this: with an organized home, I enjoy being home.

And being home saves money!

I don’t need to escape the house to have a good day. Getting organized changed our finances, changed our marriage, and changed our lives. My only regret is that we didn’t do it sooner!

Kristen is the “mom” of two dogs and wife to a sailor. She blogs at Different Shades of Green about the things that matter to her: living green, saving money, supporting American Manufacturing, supporting the Armed Services, teaching and practicing yoga, crafting, and just plain loving life.

Guest post from Kathryn of Bond Musings

Discipline is a noble thing. Crystal strives for it. The Proverbs 31 woman is lauded because of her discipline. Succesful people everywhere credit their success to discipline.

So when I was reading the comments on this post about saving money by switching to cash and one reader commented that the real issue was not which spending system is the most effective but was rather why we tend to lack discipline and overspend, I knew she hit the nail on the head.

Yes, discipline is what keeps us from overspending our income.

Crystal has a whole slew of ways to increase your top line/income. Here are a few ways to decrease your bottom line/spending as well.

1. Shop less frequently.

Make a menu for the week with a corresponding grocery list. Stick to that, and don’t go to the grocery store more than once or twice a week. The fewer times you walk through that store’s doors, the less likely you are to impulse buy.

2. Take a break from the deal sites.

This is a hard one, but if you are running out of money by the end of the week/month, you must stop reading about all of the great deals out there so you’re not tempted to buy something you don’t really have the money for.

3. Find a spending system that works for YOU.

Many people spend more money when they use cash because there is no accountability. Others say that they spend like crazy if they use debit or credit cards but that cash puts the brakes on their spending. Honestly evaluate your spending habits and determine where you find more accountability in spending.

4. Clean out your house.

This may seem non sequitor, but hear me out. When you go through your entire house and become intimately knowledgeable about what you have, you realize how much you don’t need.

For me, I am totally set on things like scarves and travel mugs, for which there are numerous deals this time of year. Disciplining yourself to clean out your house can save not only your sanity but also your pocketbook.

5. Make some things yourself.

Homemade cleaners and detergents cost pennies on the dollar compared to even the best deals you could find on the cleaning aisles at the store. Making bagels and English muffins at home is far easier than I thought and costs just a fraction of the store’s prices.

This homemade facewash (that works so well!) cost less than six dollars to make and will last more than a year. All of those recipes take only a few minutes (less time than it would take to run to the store for them!) and will save you money.

The bottom line of our bottom lines really does center on discipline. If you are already disciplined in your spending, I applaud you. However, if you have some room for improvement in this area (like me!), add just one of the above suggestions to your spending habits, and watch more of your money stay right where it should, in your bank account!

For me, switching to cash was a huge help, as is staying away from the deal sites when I run low on cash. For you, you may find that cleaning out your house reveals not only a source of income in the form of a garage sale but also saves you from spending money on items you already have.

Many thanks to the inspiring readers who commented on the post about switching to cash— Money Saving Mom® really does have the best and brightest readers on the Internet! Together, pursuing discipline and saving money can be easy!

Kathryn keeps her hands busy during the day as a stay-at-home mother to two precious girls. She attempts to occupy her mind as well by reading and by blogging at Bond Musings.

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