Don't get me wrong; I do have a job outside of the home, too, and I absolutely love it. But even though it's a fantastic job working with people I love in an environment that I thrive in, it doesn't hold a candle to my calling to my husband and my home.
One of the many responsibilities I have at home is to save money and conserve. A few of my friends and family members have asked me over the years how I save money, and whether I have specific tips or tricks that I employ to help me utilize our budget to the best of my ability. So, I decided to do a few posts in a series about it. :)
Here, in the first post, I'll identify a couple of key "ingredients" to my success in managing our budget. Please know that by success, I am using the yardstick that Robert and I have decided upon based on our individual situation.
I'm going to also identify a few necessary points that I use (that may be redundant, if you have read some of my previous posts - so sorry!), to keeping my budget under control.
1) Remember that having a budget means that your money is working for you - not the other way around. While it is our responsibility to earn money, there is no reason we should have to work to keep it working for us the way it ought to. What I mean by this is simple: The money that we earn is God's provision for us. Thus, it is His before it is ours. We are called to honor Him with what He provides (Pr. 3:9-10), and to be good stewards of our blessings (1 Cor. 4:2, Luke 16:10). This is something that everyone has to pray about and decide for themselves within their homes and with their spouses. I am personally convicted that the best way to honor the Lord with what He's blessed Robert and I with means to stretch our dollar as much as possible, and be conservative.
2) Having a budget is worthless unless we know what it is, what it means, and how to use it. For us, that means that I am responsible for the planning and execution of our budget. But there is a step in between those two that Robert and I do together - that is implementation. We are both convicted to be in open communication about our finances, and this step means that we talk about what's going on with our budget. Robert may not sit down and "pay bills," as some refer to it. Instead, he has entrusted me with that part of our budget. But he knows what's going on with it, and gets a "bottom line" every week or month, or whenever he wants it. :)
I'm hoping the aforementioned information about how I do things in my home will help form the foundation for this series. :)
Some Inconspicuous, Pioneering Money Saving Solutions:
1) Examine your insurance policy. I'm referring to automobile/ homeowner's/ renter's insurance. Do you know what you are paying for? Most people really don't! As for myself, I actually did something that is completely against my convictions about dealing with services I pay for: I put 100% of my trust in our insurance company, and truly believed that they would catch any extra expenditures coming out of our pockets and tell me about it. Ha! How naive! I finally decided to call them about this time last year when Robert turned 25, knowing that we were entitled to a rather significant discount for his age and experience. The woman I spoke to told me that was unfortunately not true. I was shocked. I was certain we had it all lined up! Disappointed, I hung up and didn't give it a second thought. A couple of weeks ago, I called again to have them go over our policy with a fine-toothed comb. The gentleman I spoke to ran what is called a comparative analysis. After 10 minutes of many questions and confirmations, I learned that we no longer needed to pay for "gap" coverage on my vehicle! That was such a relief. The sad part about that remains that I should have called and asked for that review about 6 months ago. But I'm thankful for the opportunity to save a little extra money monthly and semi-annually upon our policy renewals, as I know that it's in our best interests.
2) Check out your subscriptions. When we get our renewal notice in the mail for our local newspaper, I always call the customer service department about it. The big payoff for us was about 2 months ago. I got a "DailyDeal" update through the newspaper which I signed up for as a "loyal" customer at the State Fair last year. These deals were supposed to reward customers who had been subscribers for their loyalty. The offer was for 20 weeks of services for $14.95 (regardless of what day or days you subscribe. We only subscribe to the Sunday edition of the paper.) I paid for it, and when I called to redeem it, I was told that I was unable to use it because it's only for "new" customers. I was transferred to the marketing department, and calmly explained the situation to their marketing agent. She apologized, explained that she understood my concerns that a service for loyal customers was unable to serve them, and transferred me to the cancellation department. Because we had dealt with about 8 out of 12 weeks of late or no delivery at the beginning of this year, I made sure that I brought that to the attention of the representative I was speaking to. She was able to pull up the notes on our account and see that we, in fact, had called for several weeks regarding our issues with the delivery service. She was able to give me a big discount for our renewal, refund my money I paid for the "DailyDeal," and now we have service through January 2013 for less than what I originally paid for 3 months of service! That's equivalent to about 5 months for free! Also, we only subscribe to magazines when we get at least 50% off the cover price. In fact, I recently subscribed to Country Living magazine for 3 years - and only paid $14.99. That is such a treat for me, and pleasant for Robert, knowing that I got such a great deal on something that I will enjoy!
The bottom line notes of these tips are as follows:
- Always speak kindly and graciously with customer service representatives. Give grace and be humble and honest. You are way more likely to share your concerns and have them heard from an understanding ear, and the representatives are more likely to be willing to work with you to find a common ground, discount, refund, etc. to correct a mistake or continue your loyalty to them.
- Ask if you don't know. Take control of your finances, because ultimately, you are responsible for those blessings which the Lord bestows on you!
- Good deals are good, great deals are better! Make sure you really seek out and do the research before you spend money on something, whether it's groceries, insurance, or magazine/ newspaper subscriptions.
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