Marraige & Money - Making a Budget

Developing a Budget that is Successful

March 24th, 2010 | Budget, Personal Finance, money management techniques 

In general there is no way to overcome major financial problems without going to a budget. Even if you do not like the idea of budgeting, a good budget is like a trail boss who knows the entire forest like the back of his hand. Your budget will also prove to be the guide to your future financial success

There are five items I am sure will provide you with a basic skeleton of a working budget for you to flesh out and call your own.

1 - Teamwork - The relationship that you have with your spouse is one of the most important of all human relationships in your life. If you are married, then you need to treat your situation as if you and your spouse are one entity, which means that all of the most important decisions in your life need to be made together. Teamwork, then, is a vitally important part of developing a successful budget for your relationship or your family.

2 - Truth - It is important that you learn and comprehend what your true income actually is. Most people are not really aware of what their true income is. So what is a true income? Your true income is the actual dollar amount that the entire family is bringing in every month. These are the net dollars that remain after taxes and other withholdings have been paid. This is a reliable amount of money, and it is a for-sure amount of income that is not going to be dependent on things like bonuses, overtime or simple wishful thinking. The only way that you are going to have an accurate working budget is to know what your actual spendable dollars are.

3 - Monthly Budget - You need to make sure that you are doing your budget every single month. Prepare your budget brand new with every new month. You do not have to reinvent the wheel every single month because your budget format will already be in place, but you are going to want to prepare a brand new budget every single month because it will force you to rethink and review your spending habits on a regular basis and it will encourage communication within the family.

4 - Commit to Paper - Get your paper down on paper for the best possible results. Everything you do should be put down on paper because this makes it definitive. If your family budget is going to have any kind of an impact at all, then you are going to need to get it down on paper sooner rather than later.

5 - Prioritize - If you want your budget to have the biggest impact on your family, you need to be willing to prepare your budget based on where dollars need to go first and foremost.

Photo Credits: ThrasherDave

Originally posted 2009-10-26 03:28:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

3 Meals from 1 Chicken

This week is "Tech-Week" for my sons theater group, which means - no time for cooking each night, I HAVE to plan ahead and be very strategic or be ready to increase expenses and eat out. Since non of us are big fast food fans, I set to planning. I was essentially planning for meals ready to eat fast meals and was not planning on going to the store, so I turned to what was already in my freezer and my pantry and hoped for the best. A beautiful whole chicken was frozen, so I sat it to defrost and wondered..."just how many meals could I make out of this one chicken?" I scoured my home recipe book and found some help and imagination or "divine intervention!" filled in the rest.

I oven roasted my chicken (skin on) with thyme, salt, pepper and white wine. The spice combination was designed to give it flavor but not so much distinct flavor that I couldn't add other flavors to it. After cooling, I picked it apart, every evidence of meat was claimed and portioned. Then one, two, three I cooked three easy meals for my family of 4 that were easy to reheat and portion friendly, needed for the demands of the week!

Meal 1: Chicken & Cheese Burritos Enchilada Style
11/2 C Shredded Chicken
1/2 Onion sautéed              (Tip-cook other half of onion and add to salad below)
2 C Shredded Cheese         (Tip-shred extra cup of cheese for salad below)
2 C Enchilada Sauce - homemade or canned
4 Large Flour Tortillas
Briefly put each tortilla in skillet of warmed sauce to coat. Remove to greased 13X9 pan and fill (I stuffed!!) with chicken, onion, salt & pepper & cheese. Roll into Burrito, seam side down. Continue with remaining 3 tortillas. Add remaining sauce to burritos, topping with cheese. Bake 25 minutes at 375.
Made 4 servings

Meal 2: Chicken & Dumplings
3 C Shredded Chicken
1 10 oz can Cream of Chicken
1 C Chicken Broth
1 C Milk
1/2 t each Thyme and Pepper
1 C Bisquick
1/4 more Pepper
1/3C more Milk
Combine chicken through Pepper in large saucepan over med-high heat. Stir constantly. In bowl stir together Bisquick through milk just until moistened. Drop Bisquick dough by spoonfuls into boiling chicken mixture. Turn heat to low and simmer 10 minutes, uncovered. Simmer 10 more minutes, covered or longer until dumplings are done.
4 Servings

Meal 3: Mexican Chicken Salad
1 C Shredded Chicken
1/2 Sauteed Onion
1 Can Black Beans
2 Carrots
1 C Shredded Cheese
Optional-1/4 t Cumin
Romaine Lettuce
Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil, Honey & Red Wine Vinegar to taste
Top cut lettuce with carrots, beans, cheese, onions and chicken. Salt & pepper as desired. Mix vinegar, oil & honey for dressing.  Also fabulous with a squeeze of lime, salsa &/or sour cream.
Made 4 servings

Enjoy!

Great Coupon and Deal Site

I just stumbled upon this great resource for daily notices of local sale, deals and coupons! Give it a try.