| Budgeting: the Little Yellow Sticky Note |
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| By Pam Lyle | |
| Wednesday, 28 May 2008 | |
| Last Updated ( Thursday, 29 May 2008 ) |
Wow, times are tough. I work with lots of people and deal with lots of people that are hurting financially and it’s not just gas prices. Food prices, health insurance, doctors’ bills, rent. I hear it every day, and, being the “touchy, feely - I want to fix the world’s problems” type person, it hurts. I really cannot remember in all my adult life hearing so much about “money problems” and “how are we going to make it?” issues.
One situation really hit me square in the face the other day – I’m going to change the story a little as I don’t want to embarrass anyone, but it is a true story. I went into a business that I go to often and greeted someone that I see frequently that I felt like was pretty secure in life – not rich – but secure financially. She smiled, asked how I was and what my plans were. I told her and asked hers – she replied – with sad eyes “well, we’ve made a choice, we had a funeral to attend out of town this week so we chose that over going to see our children this weekend out of town due to the gas prices – we’re really budgeting”. I, being the person I am, wanted to hand her a $20 (would that have covered it??) and say – “go see your grandchildren – I rarely miss a day seeing mine!” But I didn’t, I walked out, being hit like a brick. But the word “budget” did stick in my mind.
You see, I have “budgeted” all my life – now Cody is smiling. My mother started me very, very little. I remember starting with the little plastic piggy banks that you could NOT get your money out of that the banks provided (R.A. why doesn’t First National provide those???). When they got filled up I remember walking across the street holding my mom’s hand and going into the bank (this was actually at Pratt, Kansas – I was little) and this lady taking my bank – PUTTING A PAIR OF SCISSORS INTO THE CRACK OF THE BACK, BUSTING IT WIDE OPEN AND MY PENNIES GOING EVERY WHERE AND HER PUTTING THEM INTO A HUGE MACHINE AND ME GOING HYSTERICAL AT THAT POINT!!! My mother picked me up and this was my first “budgeting lesson” and probably the best lesson I ever had. She and the lady that wanted me to stop screaming “I want my money back!!” explained how you “make money at a bank”.
As we walked home, my mother also explained to me the lesson of always “giving first to the church and those that need it – as it comes back to you much more by doing that”; and then you put some into savings – as something always comes up that you want later or something breaks that you need to fix; and then you have a little to have fun with – as she handed me a “quarter” to budget with. She always emphasized that the “little to have fun with” was last. Your obligations were first. I’m not sure most people realize that their obligations and needs are before their “wants”. It’s so simple.
Now, that’s exactly what I did for years and I remember graduating from high school with $1900 in savings from babysitting (I was not allowed to work in high school – as you were to enjoy high school activities and there were church obligations – and I loved them both).
I still run on the simple philosophy – in fact, I love the Dave Ramsey philosophy (check out his website and budget process) – which is much like my mom’s. I know it’s hard sometimes, I also know I’ve chosen to live “simple” in my life so that makes a difference but every month I look at my little sticky note that has my “income” and my “bills” and plan and balance it out. I have been blessed – but lots of it stemmed from that “little walk and talk with my mom” – that lesson would help so many people today. Don’t live beyond your means, live simple, ride a bike, take a walk, read a book (from the library – I might add); play games, there really are many things that don’t cost money that are great! Start a savings account and put into it faithfully – after the first time of them busting your piggy bank the rewards are great! I challenge all of you to come up with great ideas for saving money and for simple ideas for fun!
Didn't your momma teach you to share? Share us.
Users' Comments (3) |
 05-29-2008 16:16, , Registered In the years before Dave Ramsey (who is great), I fell in love with Amy Dacycsyn's monthly "Tightwad Gazette" newsletter. She did the math to calculate almost everything...explained the math, encouraged others to do the math for whatever situation they wanted to explore. IMHO, it was her greatest strength. Later on, her newsletters were transferred and published in book form but the calculations I loved so much weren't included. What can I say, I want to figure out how much something will cost compared to the alternatives. I love the idea of choices. It gives you such a feeling of well-being to think of what you can control rather than what you can't control. It kept me smiling through the years of cloth diapers. : ) 05-29-2008 22:24, , Guest 05-30-2008 16:48, , Registered I can picture your father-in-law sneaking the diapers on the front porch and running away just like we did as kids on May Day. What a sweetie. You'd be way ahead of me, using cloth and working full-time. I'm impressed. I never thought I'd be a stay-at-home mom. I likely wouldn't have been if I'd hadn't waited until I was 30 to have a baby (who's now 17). Even then, I worked up until 3 days before he was born and I was all set to go back. Financial reality and all of that. My hubby was an E-3 with a year of service in. But like all of us, I just fell so in love with him the minute he was born and my hubby said it was entirely my decision, we'd live with what I wanted. So I did decide to stay home and hubby got the biggest grin on his face. He hadn't wanted to say it because he wanted me to have the choice but his mom had stayed home with him and he was thrilled to have the same for his son. I'll be the first to admit it was foolhardy for me to become a SAHM. We had no - and I mean no - money. We just never cared. We paid the bills, hubby's war pay kicked in a bit more while we adjusted for the first few months and then we were used to it. "Things" are in the eyes of the beholder. I love simplicity. But I do love those wood floors on HGTV. : ) |
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