I don't budget as much as I just "make do". I never feel deprived, though. Here are some things we do without:
1. Cable--If I'm feeling like I'm going to want to sit and watch tv one evening, I go to the library and check out videos..they limit us to three tapes at a time (but if I think it's going to be a longgg night I use the children's library cards, too and get more tapes..up to 3 per card). In the summer, we shop yard-sales for videos and cds...usually getting videos for $2 bucks a piece. We get some for the kids and put them away and when they are especially bored and wishing to see a good movie, we pull out some funny old classic without ever leaving the house. The boys are always surprised that they laugh at our old (clean) movies.
2. I have long-distance, but I don't use it. We purchase prepaid phone cards from Sam's. We heard about this from Clarke Howard's radio show and joined Sam's just to get them. It's 3.49cents per minute. It's alot easier to hang up earlier, too, knowing your minutes are ticking away instead of the bucks adding up. Of course, this brought us other benefits as we have enjoyed Sam's quite a bit.
3.Newspaper--If there's something I especially want (like the September 12th paper), I buy it. If I want to look at their ads, I check the online paper. I know, I know....what about coupons??? I always buy store brand so there are no coupons for those anyway and I get free ones delivered into my mailbox about once a week. There's rarely anything I can use. I save the restaurant ones in case we decide to go out. They usually expire. (sometimes they will honor them anyway, if you ask).
New Clothes-- I dress from yard-sales and I'm not too proud to take clothes from a single girlfriend of mine who donates stuff to goodwill after she's been seen in it a couple of times lol Once in a while, I buy something new if it's a really good deal but that's usually when my mom sends me my birthday money...I really look forward to that every year.....free fun money!
New car--I had enough cash to buy a new car this year. My mini-van has gone through two newborns..numerous long trips...hauling kids all over the place (boys, I might add)...I'd been driving it for 9 years....135,000 miles...and I promised it one morning if it would just get the boys to school and back one more morning, I would never bother it again. It did....that day I bought a used Geo Metro from someone I knew.....very, very cheap....GREAT gas mileage. It does the trick. I just look at the folks looking down at me from their big gas-boxes and think "I may not look as cool....but we're sitting at the same light, driving the same direction but my car will probably get me to where I'm going on the same amount of gas it will cost you just to pull out" LOL Mean, huh?
:mad:
I guess I'm really lucky because I'm a real homebody and I HATE shopping. My big day out yesterday was the dollar store. I spent $10 and felt like a queen (part of my birthday money)...I went to get airtight containers so I can make the master mixes. I ended up with a mop, toilet paper, a soap dish, a sink mat, a very small grater, a nice wire basket for all those homemade rolls I'm gonna make now (hehe), some dollar store febreezey stuff
I know...but I didn't have fabric softener and this $1 so I bought it instead of making it. Now I'll have a container to put it in when I make the homemade febreeze. OK??
All I can hear in my head when I shop is my mother telling me "nahhh, you don't need it". She always said that.
I don't like jewelry much. I don't care about fancy dishes or silver or anything like that....so my budget plan, I guess, is basically never spending the money I have
My husband goes and works a month, then takes a month or so off (he's a traveling RN)...he's taking the summer off so we can have fun all summer with all our kids together. I HATE the paperwork of budgeting, so I keep up with the bills...we only have rent, (looking at property,though), electric and phone(local)....once in a while he has me order something from the internet so we have that balance to pay on the credit card...then groceries..water...free...we have a well..soooooo....I figure if I pay those and nothing more....there's no need to budget. When we get to a certain point in the cash at hand...he goes back to work. We always have a few months ahead. My ex pays me $180 a month for alimony...which I tried to talk him out of, but he always felt bad that I got to the second half of my junior year in college and had to drop out so he insisted on me using it toward school. Wellllll.....it's been 12 years since I was in school and nothing counts anymore, so I'm doing the PCDI paralegal thing and I put all the $180 in an envelope and pay PCDI out of that.
Whheeew.....I do go on, don't I? Oh, yea....I do get child support but my dh husband pays over twice as much child support out..so as a household it kind of cancels out...almost
I've often joked that we should just have my ex pay his ex and leave us out of it. LOL
I don't know if this helped anyone....hope it didn't aggravate anyone. I promise my dh will be home soon and I'll stop gabbing so much.
I haven't visited this site for a long time...I had to re-register. One of the things I was going to ask about were the little animation guys I see in the other postings. They are too cute!!! so you'll be seeing them alot in this reply. 
My message was so long I'm surprised all of it posted, but there was one important item I forgot to mention that I put in my budget. Spending money for you and your husband. You need to have spending money that doesn't go on bills or the household. You always hear financiers tell us to pay ourselves first. I'm not sure I agree with that, but it is important to have some money just for you. I also forgot to have some fun with the these little animation guys, so here goes...
OK, now I'm really done!
of same has to outweigh the pain 
of change." Meaning, staying the same is more painful than changing your habits. I tend to apply his little saying to my life all over the place. 
