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Part 3 of 5 in Tips for Budgeting

Planning Ahead – There is always a Sale

1. Research – Amazon (and other websites) are brimming with user reviews on almost everything.  Generic brands are often cheaper for the similar quality (though not always, so read reviews!).  Sometimes paying more for the non-generic will be a better-longer lasting choice than the generic too.  Price compare with online, outlet and retail stores.  Ask friends and family for advice and past experiences with brands and products. There is always a sale, so you need to do the research to know at what price point an item is truly “on sale.”

2. Questions – “Do you really need this?”  Try waiting 30 days from the point of deciding to purchase something to actually purchasing it.  This practice helps avoid buyers remorse and also allows you the opportunity to be creative in using something you already have to meet the need the new purchase is suppose to meet. “What will this enable me to do and what will this disable me from doing.”  The typical example is, “what will paying for cable enable me to do”: sit in front of my tv at night while “what will paying for cable disable me from doing”:  deter me from having real conversations with people.

3. Buying tips – Consider supply and demand – try not to pay for items that are marked up just because there is short supply (i.e. Nintendo Wii’s).  Admittedly my friends and I bought Wii’s for MSRP and sold at 60% markup for almost a year so if everyone were to follow my advice, I would have no customers :).  Consider buying  Used-Like-New.  Jenn and I found the bedroom set that we had listed on our Crate and Barrel Wedding Registry on www.craigslist.com in like-new condition at a fraction of the cost!  Use shopping lists and stick to them, especially when going into warehouse stores like Costco.  These stores are designed to feature items on the aisle ends that you were not intending to buy, didn’t even know existed, and now suddenly think you need.  Just don’t do it (!Nike).  Some thing you should do is use coupons and search for online deals (www.retailmenot.com).  Some say coupons are a waste of time, but I would say being aware of coupons and refusing to buy items that are not on sale is more worthwhile for its perspective-habit building than its qualitative benefits.

Part 4 of 5 in Tips for Budgeting

Involving Community – You are not alone

1. Accountability - Budgeting sucks when you have no more money in your restaurant envelope and everyone else is going out to eat.  Budgeting can feel lonely and overwhelming, so involve your community.  When we share about our financial decisions and are open about where we are investing (spending) our money and include others in the decisioning process, it becomes a lifestyle for a group of people instead of just a loan dingy on a stormy sea.  This helps expand our perspectives and exposes us to others research, questions and buying tips.

2. Sharing – We seem to have a collection of household items that get used once and then sit on the shelf for the rest of their lives till they are donated or given away.  Consider buying these type of items with the purpose of sharing their cost and their use among your friends and family.  When did restaurants become all about quantity instead of quality?  Jenn and I like to eat out on our date nights, but it can easily get expensive.  We’ve been trying to share dishes instead because often times one dish is enough for both of us.  When we do order two, we tend to regret the stuffed feeling in our stomachs as we exit.

3. Be relational – Ultimately, the things we buy really don’t provide us with lasting satisfaction.  It is more about how those things we buy bring us into relationship with others.  Relationships, memories, friendships, and the like are what is lasting, beyond the latest and greatest, shiniest and fastest electronic device, shoe, bag, car, and tv.  Books have a great power here.  I find myself often buying books to own them, read them once and then display them on a bookshelf as proof of my worth, but this renders books to mere dust collectors. If we buy a book, read it, then give it away it opens up opportunity for dialog and discussion between people.

Most would agree that budgeting is a good habit.  It keeps us from spending beyond our means and helps us save for rainy days.  But in practice many people find themselves on the extremes of the financial spectrum.  They are either spending above and beyond their means or they are stingily hoarding money for a possible future unknown event.

Those who spend, spend, spend see little value to budgeting and saving and elevate the importance of a moments whim above everything else.  Those who “hoard, hoard, hoard” place their security. identity, and their own worth into the bottom line of their account statements.

Having the right perspective on money and budgeting is transforming.  It reorders the priorities in our lives, sheds light on the resources we have available and frees us to efficiently help our neighbors in community. Budgeting frees you to give more and to turn your spending into investing.

In the following three posts I want to share some perspectives on three aspects of budgeting and managing your money:

1. Tracking the Numbers – Knowledge is Power
2. Planning Ahead – There is Always a Sale
3. Involving Community – You need not be Alone