Living On A Budget

It's very difficult and challenging to live on a tight budget. Getting married and moving out for the first time has really taught me a lot about money. With all the freedom comes a lot of responsibilities of becoming an adult and a wife. I realized it cost way more than people advertise it to live on your own without parents paying for everything. It would be great if school taught one to write a check because I didn't know how to write one for the longest time. I also didn't know a lot of life skills that I do now.

Credit was something else I had to learn how to get because that was something else high school failed to teach me or inform me about. I went from no credit at all to now a score of 700 because I took the steps to get started with the help of my husband. Budgeting is about disciplining yourself with money. It's all about dividing needs and wants. Living paycheck to paycheck is something else that takes patience. It teaches one something, but also puts a hardship on a person.

It's when one learns how many things one can make instead of buying it already made at the store is when a celebration comes. I had to learn how to make meal plans. That saved me a ton of money because before I made them I bought tons of  expensive frozen meals that never filled us up. Just because money is tight doesn't mean a family has to eat mac and cheese, ramen noodles, or even hamburger helper every night. I cook all of my meals and eat out as little as I can. When you learn to make everything fresh, it isn't as expensive and much better for you. Avoid the frozen aisles and stick strictly to the meat and produce aisle. We are very thankful because my family lives a few miles away and invites us over for dinner often. Potlucks are the best!

When we go to the movies (not often), we go to our local theater on Tuesdays because it's discount day. It's only $5 per person instead of $9. We grab water, hot dogs, and candy at Target and bring them in my purse. I have a coupon app for retail stores I use when I buy clothes or other things. It's called Snip Snap on the iTunes App Store. My favorite stores that run great deals are JCP, Kohls, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels. One can always find at least a 15 percent off coupon used at the register. Just make sure there is a barcode or code they can get. Buying items on sale (if you need them) is a great way to stash some cash back. We have recently got a Sams membership and that will save lots of money if you buy only what's needed.  I bought 8 pounds of chicken breast for $12 and was very happy about my savings. I found the deal below at the Dollar General today, I've been needing these items for quite some time. They were each originally $10 each, but today they were on sale for $5.

Living on a budget teaches one to find good deals, cook meals at home, and be extremely appreciative of others.