Do You Have A Plan?
Do You Have A Plan?
Last time, we discussed the importance of making a shopping list and menus before heading to the grocery store. For those of you still questioning the value in this, I find it is important for the following reasons:
- Take an Inventory Weekly. Let’s face it – food is expensive! If a food item gets shoved to the back of the frig and forgotten, it can easily spoil before being used. This can happen to pantry items as well. Then the expiration date shows up long before the box is fully used.
- Write It Down. Today, our brain is on overload so often that we tend to forget a thought or idea from 10 minutes ago! If you actually will remember a list of 5 or more food items until you get to the market tomorrow or later in the week, I admire your ability to recall!
- Have a Plan. With a shopping list written down and menus planned, you will spend less time in the store, less trips to the store, and make it all fit into your monthly budget.
- Consider that the same concepts apply to shopping for other disposable items such as toiletries.
How often has it happened that you just made a trip to purchase paper towels, tissues, cough drops, deodorant, and, yes, toilet paper, when the next day a family member declares he or she “has no more shampoo!” So, … back you go again! Next week it could be something else that someone can’t live without! Exhausting and time consuming, right? It can be expensive too.
Let’s apply the same principles here that we discussed regarding food. First, create a Monthly Shopping List. Post it somewhere the whole family has access to it (for this reason, it is best to have it on paper, not on your phone.) Encourage family members to put items on this list that are a ‘must’ to them and how many they use monthly. Tell everyone that toiletries will be purchased once a month and if something is not put on the list, it won’t be purchased until the following month. Let everyone know what day this shopping trip will happen and what the family’s monthly budget is for the whole list.
The first couple times, I encourage you to take the family shopping together if children are at least school age. This way, everyone is aware of the cost of items and can discuss any compromises that need to be made to stay within budget. Any child below school age typically has a sense of what they want, not what they need, and has little concept of the value of money and its limitations. For school age youth, this can be a great learning tool for math concepts! When each family member realizes the cost of disposable items, they will gradually temper their amount and frequency of use!
****Want to try my Toiletry Shopping List?
“If you measure something, you can understand it. If you understand it, you can control it, and if you can control it, you can improve it.” The same holds true in your monthly budgeting.
The reality is that it is nearly impossible to complete & follow a monthly budget without improving your overall financial position. There are several reasons for this, so I would challenge you to do this.
First, just developing a budget for yourself will raise your awareness of what you have for revenue or income sources and then also boost your cognizance of how much you are spending each month. Next, you will come to grips with the reality of one of three facts. Either you need to boost your income sources, reduce your outgoing expenditures or, thank goodness, if you have more income than expenses, you can then save some money. Of course, this is fantastic! You just need to determine where you will store or invest those extra funds each month…
Read More