Keep The Change

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Today I have another budgeting tip for you! Last time it was a few tips to help you get started using a cash based budget. This one tips is a great way to save just a little on the side with very little effort.

Using cash instead of credit cards or even debit cards has been happening in our family for roughly 11 years. I don’t really know if it would have happened had we not been forced to change our spending habits.

Forced? - you ask. Yep. See, here’s what happened. In 2004 my wonderful husband took a promotion that had us moving to Alberta, Canada. (Beautiful place, by the way!) Never having done the ex-pat thing before, and being given a rookie coordinator to handle our move, made for a few surprises before we even crossed the boarder.

Another surprise we found out a few months later was after a certain number of debit purchases, we were getting charged for each additional swipe. Eek!! While the charges weren’t huge individually, they really added up after awhile. Especially, for this young American couple who hadn’t had to think about something like that before. This was one of the biggest pushes to switch to a cash budgeting system.

Fast forward to 2016, our family is still using a mostly cash based budget. We keep our cash in our system of SpendVelopes, but there’s always been one little problem -

Where do you keep the change?

It used to be the change got put in the envelope with the paper cash. I’m sure you can see the issues that arose with this method. It all got very clunky and messy quickly.  (Not to mention heavy.)  And made for a couple of tense moments when we were in a hurry.

Here’s a simple, simple fix for the change situation in your life.

Too easy? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely!

Oh, sure, you can upgrade your container from a jar to something prettier, but it will work just the same. The biggest thing to remember is to actually USE the jar.

Here are 3 tips to help keep you on track and make it even easier!

1) Have a Designated Spot

In our home there are actually four change spots, but the main change jar is located where we drop the mail, keys, purse and library books. This has been the set up for years in our previous home and carried over easily and perfectly to our new home. It’s an automatic for all of us to go straight to the jar whenever there is change needing to be corralled.

The other three places we have jars are in the master closet, laundry room and a pocket in my purse. Every so often these smaller 'jars' are emptied into the main one.

2) Have a Purpose

Life is much better and easier with purpose, and that is never more true than with money.

Many people use this money toward paying some bills down the road, general savings, a special purchase or even to help with an upcoming vacation. I encourage you to have your purpose in mind for what this money will eventually be used toward. It helps keep the change in the jar when there is a goal instead of grabbing a handful out and spending it on fast food. {Yep, guilty!}

What do we use it for? Typically, we use it toward a fun family outing, now that we have all our debt paid. Something pretty simple - a movie, a bowling outing, or just something fun for the family to share at home. This really gets the kids motivated to put any extra change they find in the jar when they know we all get a more tangible benefit from it.

Kung Fu Panda 3 Family Outing

3) Have a FREE Exchange Location

This may not be possible, but I encourage you to not take it that kiosk at your local grocery store to convert your savings from coin to paper. Sure it’s convenient, but it also comes with an almost 10.9% fee! So, essentially, you get to pay them $11 for every $100 of your money. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to keep my money in my pocket. You could get around this fee by exchanging it for gift cards at some of these kiosks, but that limits you when your purpose may be something other than a dinner out.

Look to your local bank anytime you have money to exchange. We asked lots of questions when we opened our new account after the move. One of those questions was whether they had a change counter since we had two big bags of change. And it pays to ask!! I would have had no idea the bank charges to exchange change on Mondays and Fridays - their busiest days. Obviously, I avoided those two days and was able to turn the saved change into paper cash for FREE.

$273 in change to bills!

While this is an unusual amount for us to have, I could have paid almost $30 in fees going somewhere else had I not done my homework!

Instead, there was enough money to buy one of the pieces of furniture we had on our ‘To Purchase’ list.

Do you save your change? Any other tips you have to share? Feel free to comment below or join the conversation over on Facebook!

Budgeting: 5 Tips for Getting Started

There's a whole lot that goes on just to get started on your journey in budgeting.  It can be confusing. It can be overwhelming.  It can be discouraging.  But that doesn't mean it isn't worth it in the end!!

Here are 5 Tips to help you get started.


1. Find a Program You Like

There are plenty of programs out there from which to pick. Look for one the not only will accomplish what you want, but will also be easy to understand and follow.  You know that old adage - K.I.S.S. ?  You're starting on a journey that is already probably very different from the way you've been living.  Don't add to your troubles by picking something that is hard to understand and seems overly complicated and makes you want to pull your hair out before you even start.

The program our family went with is Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.  Highly recommend this!!  Do we do everything just exactly like Dave?  Nope.  However, we do probably about 85% of it or better.  It's easy to follow AND understand.  Plus, we've found success with the program.

2. Get the Right Mindset

This is going to be a journey.   You'll be making changes, but those changes will take time to get used to and fully implement.  Think marathon and not sprint - the first few months might be a little painful, but the end result is worth it all!

3. Get Everyone on Board

There's nothing worse than starting something and then having the people closest to you undermining your efforts.  Getting on a budget can be a huge lifestyle change, so you will possibly have some major resistance from the people in your family effected by this change.

Before you start, it's a great idea to have a discussion with all those involved.  The big conversation is going to be with your spouse (if married).  You're a team and even in budgeting you need to be on the same side.  If you have kids, let them know that things might be changing - less eating out, fewer movies, and not as many toy purchases, possibly.  Just remember: YOU are still the adult and parent. Don't completely stop all fun, but also don't let the kids guilt you into spending money you don't have.  Trust in the process and know that the fun will come.

4. Get Organized

Knowing which category to put your money in and how much to put there, can be overwhelming (and close to impossible) if you don't know what you're spending.  Take a look at your bank account, credit card statements, receipts scattered around your home and car, and gather up the utility bills.  All these numbers will give you a great place to start.  It might even be surprising where you spend a lot of your money without even realizing it - all those QT and coffee purchases can add up!!

We rely heavily on our budget spreadsheet and our money envelopes.

The spreadsheet was something we just did on our own.  The SpendVelopes hold a good amount of cash, are a little bigger than other money envelopes we've found, and are extremely durable.  Our first batch of envelopes lasted over two years and only purchased a new batch when a couple of our most used envelopes just had no life left.  It's definitely money well spent.

Any budgeting program or course you decide to go with may have tools built in for your use.  Keep things simple whatever you decide to do.

5. Get Ready to Fail

Ok.  So, maybe that isn't the best pep talk addition, but it's going to happen.  Pretty soon you'll get to day 25 of 31 and realize there just isn't quite enough money in that one area of the budget to make it all the way to day 31.  (Maybe not even to day 26!)  I just want you to be ready for that day and not be completely blindsided when it comes.  And it WILL come!

This whole process is going to include some trial and error for a time.  Don't think this is going to be a one time 'plan it and done' type of thing.  It WILL NOT be perfect from the start.  There is some beauty in that imperfection, though.

When I'm asked I always tell people to give it a good three months to get things figured out (maybe longer).  During those three months you will learn a lot about your spending habits, money personality and where all that extra money really goes each month.  It's a learning process, allow yourself to learn.

Even though it won't be perfect, try to stick as close to your written budget as possible.  Once the kinks get sorted out, all the planning and work will be worth it.  I promise!


DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS TO SHARE?  ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT OTHER ASPECTS OF GETTING STARTED?  COMMENT BELOW!  I'D LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY!

KEEP LOVING LIFE!

~ JESSICA

Coming Soon: Budgeting Series

We've been budgeting now for over 10 years.  Hard for me to believe; but, what started out being so hard, frustrating, and tedious, has now become an automatic action for us.  So automatic for us, actually, that I often look like a deer in the headlights when someone asks us how and what we do.

The questions:

How do you do it?

Where do you spend your money?

How do you save with a large family?

Where are you able to cut costs?

How did you start?

Where should I start?

Since we've relocated (and are in the middle of revamping our own budget), it seems like the perfect time to share some of our experiences and secrets with anyone and all who want to know.  Right now, we are debt free except for the house - it took a lot of sacrifice and determination to get here, though!

Do you might have specific questions you want answered?  Feel free to send any questions to my inbox or leave a comment on Facebook or below this post.  I'll be happy to answer them along the way!

For now .... have a great weekend and keep loving Life!