From Dani On Budgeting

Here's some words of wisdom from my friend Dani on budgeting:

Sitting down to review where you spent your money is not something we think of as fun....but it can be a very useful tool. When you regularly sit down and see where all your income is going, you:

1. are able to see where adjustments need to be made
2. are more likely to think before spending
3. have more money (true)- it is amazing how much can slip through our fingers in small unplanned purchases
4. have a sense of control over your money rather than it controlling you
   

So sit and either make or modify a budget for your family. Try having a little "mad money" in the budget that we can spend on anything we want. It will make the budgeted life not feel too restraining.

Put 1/6 of your cash for your 72 hour kit goal in your kits this month. (We should now be 1/3 of the way to our goal! Way to go!)

From One for the Money By Elder Marvin J. Ashton:

"Teach children to make money decisions in keeping with their capacities to comprehend. 'Save your money' is a hollow pronouncement from a parent to a child. 'Save your money for a mission, a bicycle, a doll house, a trousseau, or a car' makes understandable sense.

"Family unity comes from saving together for a common, jointly approved purpose. In our home we found it unifying to have a child save for a major project and then, when the amount was achieved, we matched it with a predetermined percentage, similar to what the Church does with the wards and stakes in building and real estate matters.

"God help us to realize that money management is an important ingredient in proper personal welfare. Learning to live within our means should be a continuing process. We need to work constantly toward keeping ourselves free of financial difficulties. It is a happy day financially when time and interest are working for you and not against you."

Make a 1-Week Menu Plan

Last month we tracked for one week what we ate and spent on food. If you did it, were you surprised by the end result? Did you spend and eat more or less than you expected?

If you missed last month’s goal, just pick up where you are. Track what your family eats and what food you buy with the attached menu plan for a few days. Doing this will help you know better how much food and what type of food you will need for your one-month supply.

This month we want you to take the attached menu plan and make a 1-week menu plan of foods your family likes that will keep well for a while. It’s up to you to decide if that means shelf-stable, freezer-safe, or lasts-a-long-time-in-the-fridge. To save money, take a long look at your pantry. Think about what you could make into meals with what you already have. I like to take an ingredient or two and type it into an online recipe site like allrecipes.com or myrecipes.com and see what what recipes come up.

As we are working on our 1-3 month food storage, we’ve realized we need to get creative on some major food items because we can’t necessarily store a month’s supply—things like milk, bread, cheese, yogurt, and fresh produce. Everyone will have their own solutions and dilemmas as they work on this, but here’s some ideas we’ve discovered that might help:

MILK. Keep a pitcher full of dry milk all mixed up and ready to go in the fridge to use for anything where the taste of the milk doesn’t matter—in baked goods, pancakes, sauces, pudding, etc. You could also keep a gallon or two of milk in your freezer if you have space (it takes several days to defrost, but it tastes fine).

CHEESE. There are shelf-stable cheeses out there (Velveeta, Laughing Cow, etc.) and I learned recently how to can cheddar and mozzarella cheese in jars (let me know if you’re interested, and I can help you do it—it’s really easy!). Some cheeses will keep well in the fridge for a long time, or can be grated and frozen for even longer.

BREAD. Keeping enough bread in your freezer for 1-3 months could take up a lot of space. Why not make your own? Store-bought bread pales in comparison to the homemade stuff! Another added bonus: it doesn’t seem so much like a cop-out to open a can of soup, add fresh-baked bread, and call it dinner. We sometimes have fresh bread and hunks of cheese for dinner with a simple green salad. This can be a huge money-saver if your family buys into it! Think baking bread is something you will never do? Try it. You might be surprised it will taste, even if it doesn't turn out looking pretty!

YOGURT. Did you know you can make yogurt from dry milk? We have a little machine that does it, but basically you just take some milk, add a little yogurt with live cultures, keep it warm for about 6 hours, and you’ve got yogurt. From the yogurt you can make yogurt cheese and all sorts of great baked goods, dips and sauces.

FRESH PRODUCE. Some vegetables and fruits stay fresh a lot longer than others. Root vegetables like carrots, potatoes, garlic and onions can keep for months. Winter squashes, apples and oranges will also last long in a cool place. Or why not try growing your own produce? This is a perfect time to prepare the soil for your spring garden and start planning it out. You can get details about the right time to plant things on your local county extension service website. Our our county's website we can get recommendations for plant varieties and fall planting times.

Once you get a one-week menu plan that you’re happy with, make a shopping list and go shopping. Congratulations! You will then be 25% finished with the goal of 1-month food storage by June 30th.