Budgeting: The Key to Financial Stability

My fiancee despises the fact that I can be tight with a buck. He may say I'm cheap when it comes to spending money; but, I'm that squirrel who's hard at work, squirreling away acorns for the harsh winter.

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A dollar I don't spend is one more dollar I have in my pocket or in the bank; because, well... Why shouldn't we all want to hang on to our hard-earned money? Am I right?

When our daughter was born, everything we bought for her was brand new; because, we wanted the best for her, and of course we still want what's best for her. She's going to be six years old next month and there are clothes that she will never wear! Being an only child, there is no doubt in my mind that she is very spoiled.

I know some people say "You can't spoil a child," but she's spoiled. She has everything she could possibly need and mostly she gets a lot of what she asks for... eventually. She has Daddy wrapped! For my parents: she is their only grandchild. For my Mom in particular, she may be her only grandchild.

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I digress... "A penny saved, is a penny earned." I track all of our expenses and income in a spreadsheet. I update it, constantly.

Most of us live on a budget. Sometimes it can be paycheck to paycheck. One of the best ways to make sure you hang onto as much of your hard earned money as possible is by:

1. Shopping around (AKA: Price comparison)
2. Calling around for price quotes. You may be amazed at how much you can save on an annual basis on everything from insurance, your utilities, and so on.
3. Couponing- There are coupons online, in flyers, mailers, in apps, stores... the list goes on.
4. Dicker, barter, trade, or ask for a discount. My Mom always told me, "it never hurts to ask," and believe you me, I apply this to most everything.

When we bought our house 4 years ago now, we had decided we were only going to buy a washer; because, we really couldn't afford to buy the washer and dryer. There was a clothesline we could use out back and we had a drying rack if we needed it.

It happened to be that we bought a nice LG Washer. It was a floor model, that the brand was discontinuing or what have you. We stood firm that we really only wanted and needed the washer. Knowing it would be difficult for the store to sell the floor model of just the dryer... in short we ended up with the pair for less than the sale price for the pair!

Another important part of budgeting is tracking your finances.
I track every expense by:

• The name of the Expense (i.e. If it's a Credit Card the name of the Credit Card)
• Amount Owed
• Due Date
• Date Paid
• Amount Paid
• Date Payment is Posted
• If it's an ongoing debt; the Balance Owed

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Keeping track of your expenses and all of the details that go along with paying them can help give you peace of mind, keep the bills paid and keep your credit score on track.