Extra Blog Post: WordPress February Prompts – Our Budget

Write about your approach to budgeting.

To be completely honest, I was never one to budget or save money before my husband and I started living together and combined our finances. Not that I had much money to budget anyway, coming from a childhood and teenage years of poverty. Still, financial literacy wasn’t something I knew much about nor had I been taught how to properly manage money.

I’m still not the best at saving. My husband is much more careful with money and so we kind of balance each other out. He prevents me from splurging and I make him less cheap.

So how do we budget?

First of all, we have a monthly budget which we check and adapt at the beginning of each month. Our finances have changed a lot over the past couple of years (double income no kids, then his income + 1 kid + me earning less on maternity leave, then his income + me earning a part time salary and now his income, two kids and me earning a fraction of what I was making before, due to being on part-time maternity leave) so we’ve had to adapt.

I often tell him how crazy it is that we went from double income, no kids to close to single income, two kids in less than two years. Obviously, it was planned and we have budgeted for this scenario.

We have different approaches on how we deal with our budget. He needs to have it all in a digital format and I need to write everything down on paper, so we use an app that connects to all our bank accounts and that we both have access to and then I write down our budget on my planner. That same app is what we use to create a budget and where all our expenses are automatically categorized.

My husband prefers more general categories while I prefer to have everything divided into smaller ones. For example, he likes to think of our food budget as one category while I like to divide it between groceries and eating out.

Other categories include:

Household expenses: Rent, water, electricity, gas and anything that we might need to purchase for our home.

Transport: Gas, tolls and any Uber or bus I might need to take

Gifts: Birthdays and such

Entertainment: Subscriptions like HBO or Spotify, my kindle unlimited, his Xbox, etc

Health and personal care: Doctor’s appointments, medication, health insurance, haircuts, etc

Last but not least, we also budget an amount to save and some fun money for each of us.

We then budget for special events such as a vacation, Christmas, my birthday party, attending a wedding, buying clothes for the girls in the next size up, big purchases, etc.

I think that’s pretty much it.

Oh and the app we use is Toshl Finance. It’s pretty good and I definitely recommend it.

What about you? Are you a saver or a spender?

What’s your best financial advice?

Extra Blog Post: Bloganuary Day 28 – If I won the lottery

What would you do if you won the lottery?

If I won the lottery, I’d very surprised because I didn’t play. Then, once I’m over the shock my actions would depend on how much I’ve won.

Let’s just imagine I’ve won enough to be life changing but not enough to never have to work again. I would, first of all get financial advice. Then I would buy our dream home (most likely a farm) and pursue my very old dream of going to medical school. That’s it.

I guess I’d probably buy a bunch of books too and maybe adopt a few more dogs.

Nothing too fancy or extravagant, I’m afraid.

Love,

Cheila

Things I Don’t Buy or Spend Money On – Part I

Good morning everyone,

I hope you’re all doing well and ready for Easter, if you celebrate it. If not, I hope you’re ready for the weekend, after all, it’s Friday eve.

I’ve been seeing this topic a lot, both on blogs and YouTube channels and I thought I’d write about myself. I thought long and hard about the things I don’t spend money on (for different reasons) and I think I came up with a decent list.

Paper Towels

They’re too convenient, meaning I’d use them too much. They’re extremely wasteful and so I stopped buying them years ago because I’d never use something like a kitchen towel or cloth because the paper towels were right there and I could just toss them after using them.

Bottled Water

We drink tap water. I only buy bottled water if I’m out and about and forgot to bring water with me, which is stupid and wasteful. We do buy bottled water when we have guests because my mom and sister don’t like tap water. We also buy sparkling water because I drink it every day and you can’t get that from the tap, unfortunately.

Books

I own a few books, I’d say about 50, which isn’t much at all. I used to buy books all the time when I was younger but I don’t anymore. I’d love to have a huge library and I might someday but for now, I try not to spend money on something I can borrow from the library. Also, books take space and need to be dusted and I’m trying to keep less stuff. I used to be one of those “e-books are a crime” people but not anymore. I have a Kindle Unlimited subscription for which I pay about 10 dollars a month and I do use it a lot. I’ve read 42 books in less than 5 months, meaning about 9 books a month which makes those 10 bucks worth it for me.

TV Subscriptions/Movies/TV Shows

We don’t pay for Netflix or Hulu or HBO or whatever is out there these days. We download stuff illegally, like we’ve been doing for the past 10/12 years. We know it’s not the most ethical thing to do but we would end up doing it anyway. Those subscriptions are extremely limited and you may not find anything you like or the one show you want to watch and which you proceed to download anyway. Don’t call the cops on us, please. We do have cable, which is quite cheap in our country and we only have it because your internet is cheaper if you have cable and because Rui does watch TV.

 Music*

We don’t buy CD’s or anything on iTunes or any music at all. *Instead, we have a Spotify family subscription.

Pre cut fruit or veggies

No way. Not even a bag of chopped lettuce or salad mix.

Gym Clothes

Rui does because he runs and so he needs a few specific things. As for me, on the rare occasions I move my ass, I wear old leggings and an old T-shirt. I only buy gym bras and swimming gear.

Magazines

I used to by a Cosmopolitan every month but I haven’t for years. We don’t buy newspapers either. I get a few free magazines with my Kindle Unlimited subscription and we can always read news online. I do feel guilty because I don’t support paper publications but it’s either that or the environment. And my wallet, let’s not be hypocrites.

What about you? Would you care to share your list?

Even better if you write your own post and link it back here.

I’m sure we can learn a lot from each other so…

What don’t you buy or spend money on?

 Love, Chey

My money saving habits – Part I (03.06.2017)

Good afternoon dear friends,

 

Today I thought I could make things interesting and talk about ways we save money. We all have certain things that we do, right? I’ll share mine and you’ll share yours.

• We always buy store brand, unless we have tested the product and it’s really bad. Or we might buy some other brand if it’s on sale and it gets cheaper than the store brand (it happens). We never buy store brand: Dish soap (you end up spending more because it doesn’t work so well, I have tried and tested many and have always come back to one brand (Fairy – do you have it where you live?); laundry detergent (our machine is old and doesn’t do well if the detergent is not good quality. We always buy the biggest box we can find, when it’s 50% off. (We can usually find about 100 doses for 10€); cleaning products (except bleach); shampoo and conditioner (I always get either Syoss or Tresemmé because they are really good quality and come in big bottles, usually 750 ml which lasts both of us about 2 months, maybe more?); and I think that’s about it.
• We pay attention to catalogs and sales. Both before and while at the store we check what’s on sale, according to what we need. We have been known to save up to 60€ on a purchase because we were lucky and everything we needed was on sale.
• We don’t always shop at the same place. I know that frozen berries are much cheaper at Aldi than at other local supermarket or that my milk is cheaper elsewhere. I keep close attention to how much I spend on groceries and am always aware of price differences. For example, we sometimes buy fruit at Aldi, but it’s not the cheapest place or the one with more variety, we just buy it because we are already there. But we sometimes go to two different stores for our weekly shopping. I know that frozen veggies are better and that I can find different varieties for a better price at a certain place. I know a third supermarket which is the one with the biggest sales and variety. We just really shop around for things. I have recently discovered an app (I think it’s Portuguese, called Quoty) where we can check all of the updated catalogs for each shop (we have around 5 or 6 different shops about 10 minutes away, where very lucky in that department) and compare the prices. I check them regularly and it really helps.
• We cook at home most of the times. It has been like this since I’ve been home and it saves us so much money. We used to eat out so frequently and now I would say we go out to eat about once or twice a month. We do sometimes buy pizza that we can do in our oven, which costs less than 3€ for one medium pizza, instead of 15€ for a medium one if you order it. Well, we don’t have the option to order now because we live in a small village and they don’t deliver here but it’s cheaper than if we left home to go get it. Add maybe a bottle of coke for 1€, some dessert for 3€ and you are paying 10€ for a meal for 2 instead of maybe 20-30€ you would pay by eating out. So, even when we are not cooking and “splurging” we really aren’t. Rui takes leftovers for lunch most days (we take that into account when we cook) and eats at cheap places when he goes somewhere where he can’t take lunch (maybe 10€ each time, maybe less). We do eat leftovers often. Sometimes we let some things spoil but we don’t throw food away just because it was made two days ago.
• We have a vegetable garden. We don’t spend money on vegetables for a good part of the year. The water we use to water the garden comes from a well so we do not pay for it. We also freeze them when we don’t eat them or make tomato sauce, for example.
• We freeze many things like leftovers or soup (not so often), vegetables we won’t be using before they spoil and mostly bread. We sometimes buy meat that is near its expiration date and freeze it for later use.
• I don’t buy a lot of makeup or cosmetics. I only have what I’m using at the moment and only substitute a product if it doesn’t work for me, which doesn’t usually happen because I tend to buy the same things. I have one mascara, one foundation, an eyeshadow palette with the colors I know I wear, one blush, about 6/7 lipsticks I know I use regularly, etc. All in ones or twos.
• I cut my own hair, take care of my own shaving and waxing, know how to do a perfect pedicure and manicure and have the tools for both. I  also take care of my eyebrows (my sister keeps saying that I do hers better than they do at the salon).
• I shop at thrift stores. If I know winter is coming (not talking about Game of Thrones) and I know I need a bunch of sweaters or cardigans, I know the best place is a thrift store. On the last days of each month, they have everything at about 2 or 3 euros and I plan to go then. I usually come home with 5-10 pieces (usually from well-known brands, such as Zara, H&M, Mango) that have never been worn or even washed (I inspect the fabrics closely and only buy what looks brand new) for 20€ or a little more. I do the same in Summer for tops or blouses.
• I don’t buy expensive clothes. I buy cheap Primark (6€) or H&M (9,99€) basic jeans and take good care of them. I also love H&M’s basic cardigans (9,99€) because they always come in a variety of colors, are very cheap and surprisingly good quality. I always shop sales and rarely buy full price. I take good care of clothes too. I have Primark dresses that are 6 or 7 years old and in impeccable condition. I have a pair of black Zara pumps that I bought in 2009. I need to replace the tip of the heels (what do you call that?) but they are otherwise new and still in style because they are basic. Rui has a few shirts that are about 10 years old and still impeccable. We don’t buy him expensive clothes either. Every season we buy him a few t-shirts and polo shirts and button-ups and jeans but most of the things he owns last for way over a year. We repurpose his old shirts for sports, sleeping, being around the house, vegetable garden. His old jeans are also repurposed for working on the car or around the house. I use his old shirts to sleep, to workout and to be around the house too. No expensive workout clothes or pj’s here. I have impecable primark sweatpants from 5 years ago that I still wear. Thank God they stretch and have elastic. I go to “Chinese Stores” for basics like leggings (4€ for one pair) or basic tops. They’re like a dollar store, they have everything really cheap and you can find one in every corner. We also go there for kitchen and office supplies, home decor, phone covers, etc.
• I repurpose what I can. Tupperware containers that have lost their top become bowls, and we wash and save glass jars (the ones you buy with olives, beans, etc) to store things or to use for our homemade tomato sauce. I have 10-year-old folders. I finish a semester, throw away old notes and store the folders to be used again. I use old, unfinished notebooks to take notes.
• We recharge our printer ink cartridges instead of buying a new one. We pay 8€ instead of 30 something.
• We don’t dry clean anything, ever. Not even rugs. Most clothes can be washed at home if you are really careful. I wash suits, winter coats, blankets, everything. We wash our rugs in the Summer, outside, using soap and a brush and the hose and let them dry in the sun. Actually, all of our clothes dry outside. If it’s raining, we hung them in the garage. If we’re really desperate, then we go to the wash station to use a dryer.
• My medicine is always generic or store brand, if there’s an option available.
• I go to my university health center for my gynaecology appointments. 12,50€ instead of 60€ or more, elsewhere.
• I go to a low-cost (really good, best I’ve ever had) psychologist. 25€ for each appointment instead of 60/80€.

And that’s it. This is what I can remember right now. I’m sure I will come up with many more things. Will you share your tips with me? What do you do in order to save money. What are some good saving habits you have? Let’s all learn from each other.

xx

Cheila