Struggles of living within our means

Oh the struggles and frustrations of living within our means.

We are a family of 5 and a one income military family with a child with special needs. While Coupons have greatly helped us be able to stay within our means there are still times when it is hard to stick with the plan!

The Struggles ~

It's walking thru the store and struggling with the fact that I have to carefully calculate the price of every item that is placed into my cart because my Grocery envelope only has so much Cash in it while I watch dozens of others just place anything they want to in their carts without having to figure out their running total.

It's having to pass by some things on my list and make choices on what we can do without until the next payday because there just isn't enough money in the envelope for all the items I had wanted to get.

These are the things that I personally struggle with when going to the grocery store and I'm sure some of you have felt the same way at least once before. However, we have committed to "Live within our Means"!! Which means sometimes we have to pass by the snacks, expensive steaks, frozen pizzas, and yes the Soda/Pop in order to stay within our budget. (if you know me you know how hard that one is)

Living within our Means is tough! It's been really hard at times for us and we haven't always made the right choices and we have gone without a lot over the past 6 years. However, the peace that comes with being able to pay all the bills, feed the family and have enough gas to get to work and school is overwhelming.

We don't always do things right but when we do stay within our means we find blessings coming our way left and right.

My question to you is.....

1 ~ Are you living within your means? Meaning are you spending what you make? Or are you spending more than what you make each month?

2 ~ What are three things you could cut out or cut back on to help you get to where you are within your means? ie...cable, phone, shopping trips, eating out too much....

3 ~ Better yet do you know where your money is going each month? Take one month and keep track of every expense you spend money on. You'll be shocked I'm sure!

4 ~ Do you have a long term plan to help you get to the point where you are living within your means? Sometimes it takes a while! You may not be able to do it overnight but maybe within a few months or a year....set a goal and make a plan to get you there.

The choices you make today WILL affect you down the road. Stick with it! Keep your head up! And know that you aren't the only one out there having to stretch a dollar each month! Trust me I've become more of a pro at it than I would like to admit!!

**If you are struggling financially please take a moment and check out Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. It changed our financial future 6 years ago.