Budget Buster: Forgetfulness

We went away this past weekend and battled the Great Canadian Winter...  We travelled 'home' to see my family which is about three hours away from our actual home.  It was a less than awesome trip due to the very inclement weather.  We started out in freezing rain and ended up in extreme winds and white outs.  We were driving our truck which does not have four wheel drive.  When we finally arrived at our destination we ended up getting stuck at the top of a hill that was our hosts' driveway.  Lots of 'boy fun' later our truck arrived at the bottom of the hill via the other side of the hill (not meant for driving) and less one mirror thanks to an apple tree.  Thankfully, it's a beater truck and the mirror will probably be very inexpensive to replace.  It was definitely an adventure.

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Our Next Big Purchase

Currently we are saving for our next big purchase.  This is a bit of a new concept for us as we've never really saved for anything big before.  We've always just financed and paid it off after obtaining whatever it is we 'needed' at the moment.  It's actually very exciting!  We are planning to buy a new vehicle and pay for it in cash!

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Baby On A Budget: Cloth Diapering 101

Baby on a Budget is a series of posts that I'll be doing to share all the ways we've managed to save money while bringing up our baby.  When I read the stats about how much money new parents supposedly spend getting ready for a baby and caring for a baby in its first years, I cringe! I can certainly see how it happens though.... These posts are meant to help you stay away from that awfully high number!!

One of the biggest expenses that we've saved on since having a baby is diapers.  I decided to cloth diaper after being inspired by Young House Love. I had never thought much about it prior to then but it all made sense and seemed right up my alley when they talked about it.  Plus, I had no idea they made such amazing cloth diapers as they do these days! When someone mentioned cloth to me before I just thought of prefolds and diaper pins.

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Current Budget Breakdown

I have been tracking our finances meticulously for about 6 months now and have developed a fairly good budget for ourselves.  I was inspired to look at the big picture of our finances by this post the other day: Where's the Money, Honey? by Gail Vaz Oxlade (love!).  I decided to make myself a pie chart so I could see our budget breakdown.

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Our Journey So Far

My husband and I managed to get by without any debt for about the first 4 years we were together.  After that it all started to go downhill.

The debt spiral started when we moved from our original town to our current city.  My husband was laid off from his construction job (it was winter) and he was offered his current job at a motorcycle dealership.  We actually turned the job offer down at first because the job was three hours away from where we lived at the time but after a few weeks we reconsidered and decided to just go for it.  The problem was that the new job was slightly lower paying than his old job and our rent would more than double.  Further adding to our problem was the fact that it took me a couple of months to find a job at the new location and even then, it wasn't as well paying as my old one.

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Baby On A Budget: DIY Wipes

Baby on a Budget is a series of posts that I'll be doing to share all the ways we've managed to save money while bringing up our baby.  When I read the stats about how much money new parents supposedly spend getting ready for a baby and caring for a baby in its first years, I cringe! I can certainly see how it happens though.... These posts are meant to help you stay away from that awfully high number!!

We have been making our own wipes at home using paper towel since the beginning and I can't believe how easy it's been! This is not to say that I don't buy wipes every once in awhile when they go on sale (my husband is currently heading to the store, coupons in hand to grab some $4 boxes of wipes for $1.25 each!).  I use commercial wipes if I'm in a pinch, if I'm going away for a weekend or for out of the house diaper changes (I like how compact the travel wipe cases are).  At home, however, I much prefer my homemade wipes as they hold up better, smell better and I can adjust their moisture level to my preference.  As I use cloth wipes for most diaper changes, I use these homemade wipes for messy hands and faces at mealtime and diaper changes on laundry days.


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An Introduction

We are a family of three working towards a more self-reliant, financially free lifestyle.  My husband and I have been together for about 10 years.  Since then we've acquired a cat, a turtle, a dog, a house and a baby.   We do not mind working hard as long as it gets us to a place where we can enjoy ourselves and our family a little more and more as time goes on.

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