https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:27:33 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-864295 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:04:21 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 864295@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@regberadaisy: yup - that's the way it's meant to be used!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-864277 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:55:10 +0000 regberadaisy 864277@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: hehe so if I have the app and I enter things into the account if my DH has the app as well on his phone is there a way to sync the two so we can simultaneously use it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-864132 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:23:58 +0000 Becksabee 864132@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just have a few things that work for us ...</p> <p>We do most of our shopping at Aldi's ... much cheaper than some of the other grocery stores. Sometimes, I do shop at other stores if I have good coupons. </p> <p>We have a Discover card that gives us points for purchases. We put everything on it (and pay off every month) and then use points on gift cards we can use for things we need.</p> <p>We buy our diapers at Target ... with Pampers you can almost always get a $20 gift card when you get 2 jumbo boxes. We do that, and then use the gift cards for things we need.</p> <p>Also, we make a lot of things ourselves. We were looking for flushable wipes recently but everything was so pricy. I found a tutorial online that uses paper towels, baby oil and baby shampoo. Works great and saves so much money. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-864113 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:12:19 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 864113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@regberadaisy: im not clear on your question, sorry! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863912 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:18:14 +0000 sunny 863912@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Along with consolidating cable and Internet, have you looked at consolidating your insurance policies? Home/renters, car, jewelry, umbrella, etc? You can get multi-line discounts that are significant. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863888 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:02:05 +0000 Lindsay05 863888@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We cut out our wifi device and we just use our smartphones as a personal hotspot for our laptops.</p> <p>I occasionally call utility companies and see if there are sny ways we can cut costs. The odd time they find a better package for us a save us a few bucks here and there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863879 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:56:25 +0000 regberadaisy 863879@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: can you share between accounts? We're getting rid of our iPhone soon so I'm not going to get the app just yet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863757 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:47:12 +0000 jhd 863757@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We use YNAB. I read @Mrs. High Heel's recommendation &amp; my husband heard about it from a blog he reads around the same time. He is the numbers person so he takes care of entering all the info. But it has helped us so much! We are currently able to live off last month's income which has changed our outlook completely. No stress about when bills need to be paid, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863590 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:31:29 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 863590@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrskc: then we'll be freaks together! *high five*! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863567 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:19:48 +0000 doodlepoodle 863567@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We haven't put anything on a credit card in 3 years. The last thing I did was wedding stuff :-) if we can't afford it in cash, we don't need it. We generally live frugally though, DH is not someone who buys things and now that I'm the one making money/figuring up bills that's changed me. We are awful about setting an actual budget so hopefully we can do that after our lives settle down! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863556 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:16:55 +0000 mrskc 863556@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: you totally converted me to be a YNAB freak! haha </p> <p>@regberadaisy: Definitely give YNAB a try. You can try it free for a month. It's a little confusing at first (for me at least), but once you get the hang of it, it's awesome! Only thing is staying on top of entering transactions can be tough. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863544 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:13:04 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 863544@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@regberadaisy: I am such a huge fan that I feel like their unofficial spokesperson. Their iPhone app is now free too (it used to be $4.99)! It has completely changed the way we budget. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863538 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:10:04 +0000 regberadaisy 863538@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: @mrskc: I have to check out YNAB now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863537 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:08:27 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 863537@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would've said everything @mrskc: said! Ynab helped with itemizing too like @kjpugs: suggested, and meal planning made a huge difference for us too since food (groceries + eating out) made up a huge chunk of our expenses.</p> <p>We also separate our categories into fixed expenses (utilities, mortgage), monthly expenses (groceries, personal money, eating out), wants/nice to haves (gifts, saving up for a laptop, house renovations), and yearly expenses (like property tax, AAA bill)</p> <p>Ynab has made it so easy to allocate money in these various areas and give us a snapshot of where our money is going. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863498 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:50:59 +0000 mediagirl 863498@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@regberadaisy: my questions were generic. I didn't mean to point them right at you. :D </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863495 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:49:51 +0000 regberadaisy 863495@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mediagirl: haha you know I'm already pretty frugal so it's more of a "share" thread. And maybe I'll catch a couple "aha!" tips.</p> <p>I asked before signing up daycare doesn't give a prepay discount. :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863477 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:44:28 +0000 looch 863477@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mediagirl: That is a great tip on the daycare, I am going to call ours and ask if they have such a program, and if not, the director should seriously think about instituting one. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863433 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:23:58 +0000 mediagirl 863433@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh and we just made up our own spreadsheet for our budget in Google Docs (Drive). That made more sense to us than using a spreadsheet that worked for someone else. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863432 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:23:07 +0000 regberadaisy 863432@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@zippylef: this is a great tip! We need to pay off some bills from when I was laid off. Def will do this once that's paid off. I want to get to a spot where there is X$ in savings and emergency fund! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863430 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:22:15 +0000 mediagirl 863430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not sure what you're spending you're money on? Trying to cut down on expenses? Use all cash. Write down every penny you spend. That's my best tip. :)</p> <p>Oh and direct deposit savings or saving during repayments. </p> <p>Example - we pay daycare 6 months in advance from our big savings account. We only remove money from this account for daycare. We pay early so we can get a 20% discount. We pay our savings account back each month as if we were paying daycare. But, we don't pay just what it would have cost each month. We pay what we would have paid for the infant room without a discount. We end up saving about $2200 over 6 months. Easy savings. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863417 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:18:46 +0000 NorCalWayfarer 863417@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LindsayInNY, @zippylef, @MrsKC: Great ideas! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863409 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:16:38 +0000 mrskc 863409@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You Need A Budget (YNAB). This software has really opened my eyes on where our money goes. </p> <p>Also, take yearly expenses or things that don't pop up every month and put money aside every month for those expenses. things like car maintenance (oil changes, etc), car registration, medical, home maintenance, If you track all your money, you'll slowly see what these kinds of expenses are and better prepare for when they pop up. </p> <p>Meal planning has really helped us cut our grocery budget. And making big meals and eating a lot of leftovers helps too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863406 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:15:20 +0000 SugarplumsMom 863406@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our budgeting tip is to only buy things outright. It forces us to save and really think about big ticket items since it's basically coming directly from our savings. It also eliminates impulse buying. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863393 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:10:29 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 863393@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LindsayInNY: same! so helpful.<br /> @zippylef: same! it's like we don't even know we get it! it's a great way to save. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863385 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:07:44 +0000 loveisstrange 863385@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our biggest budgeting tip is probably more of a saving tip. We direct deposit a certain amount into our saing every month. It comea straight out of our paycheck and its like it doesnt exist. We gradually have increased the amount over time and we gradually adjust our spending each month to accomodate the lower total in our checking account.</p> <p>Its really helped us build our savings, we have about 6 months of DHs paycheck saved now. We could stretch it more living sparingly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863372 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:02:02 +0000 MrsTiz 863372@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@kjpugs: I'd like the spreadsheet too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863355 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:57:57 +0000 LindsayInNY 863355@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't know if this is a budgeting tip per se but we don't take into account any raises or bonuses. We're still living off the same salaries as we had when we started working 5 years ago. Anything extra goes into savings! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863354 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:57:48 +0000 looch 863354@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Freckles: love it! I am thinking about getting one of those sleeve boards as well...I used to iron some of my husband's shirts inside out and he complained that the crease was the wrong way around, bless his little heart! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863348 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:56:18 +0000 Freckles 863348@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: i only see a small difference when i'm ironing the shirts. DH's ironing skills are horrible. I do want to invest in some sort of collar brush though. My parents used to own a dry cleaners, and the collar scrubbing helped get out those nasty sweat stains! I actually got one of those sleeve boards so you don't get that crease on the arms. Can you tell that i was the daughter of a dry cleaner yet? :P </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/best-budgeting-tip#post-863344 Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:55:32 +0000 fancyfunction 863344@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We sit down and go over our budget every so often too - it helps to keep us on track and see where/if we can cut. One thing we're planning to cut down is our cell phone bill. We're paying for a lot more data than we use, so for us it's silly not to cut it down. </p>