Budgeting When Life is Busy

How do you handle budgeting when life is busy? When life gets super-busy for me, my budgeting can take a back seat to other things. Once I get behind on budgeting and tracking my spending, it’s easy to just let it go. But that isn’t helpful to us in reaching our financial goals.

Last spring was very hectic. First, I helped my dad after his knee replacement surgery. I was the exercise/physical therapy coach. I helped with two and three exercise sessions a day and drove to physical therapy several times a week. Then I planted way too big of a garden for me to keep up with. After that, I learned I was diabetic and needed to change the way I cooked and ate. To top it all off, I had another health issue that required surgery and several weeks of recovery time.

With these things going on, I found I was paying less attention to my budget.

Now that things have settled down for the most part, I’m back to paying more attention to my budget. And now I’m thinking about how I can do a better job staying on track the next time things get busy.

Sometimes change is for the better.

I love my trusty old paper-and-pencil budgeting method. But I found that I was making things too complicated by having too many categories. Instead of having separate categories for Groceries, Household Goods, Medications and Toiletries, and Pets, everything is all together. I am finding that I am actually spending less this way overall, and it is so much easier since I don’t have to split everything out. I did like knowing what I spent in each category, but I’m actually happier with my new system, which is based on this book.

There are many budgeting apps available, and if that is what works for you, use it. I’m old-fashioned and found that I am sticking with my new system far longer than I did any other that I used before. And I’ve tried lots of ways to track my budget!

Plan ahead as much as possible.

If you know a busy season is coming up, identify areas where you are prone to overspend. Then try to find ways help yourself stay within your budget.

With both my dad’s surgery and my own, I had plenty of advance notice. This allowed me to do lots of meal prep. One of our biggest budget downfalls is relying on takeout food when things are busy. I knew I would be busy helping my dad after his surgery. I knew I would need to take it easy for a while after my own surgery. So I made several meals for the freezer. It is so convenient to have something ready to heat and eat. This way, even if I’m not doing a great job at tracking my spending, at least I know I’m more likely to stay within my food budget if I’m using food I’ve already bought and prepared.

Simplify.

One of the things during our busy spring and summer last year that caused more stress than enjoyment were our vegetable gardens. I planted in both our garden areas, and it is a lot to take care of, with the weeding, watering and harvesting. It was extra difficult with all of the health things that were happening.

I love growing and preserving as much of our own produce as possible. I also grow extra each year to sell. And although I enjoy it, it is tons of work. Now that I’m a granny, I’d rather spend some of that time loving on the grandbabies. I’ll still plant in our smaller garden area for some fresh food and enough to preserve for our family. But I’ll no longer be planting a giant garden that requires hours of work each day to maintain.

Gardening does help our budget and we do enjoy the food we grow. I think I will enjoy my garden more if it is smaller and easier to manage.

My plan is to simplify several other areas of my life as well, so that I am better able to balance everything and give the necessary attention to my budget. As they say, we make time for the things that are important to us. I am minimizing the things that are less important to me right now in order to better focus on what I feel is most important.

Routines are key.

I try to set aside Sunday afternoon as a time to meal plan and work on my budget. I find that having a set time for this activity increases the likelihood that I will do it. Having a routine for keeping my house tidy helps keep things from stacking up. And having a routine for my budget helps me keep up-to-date on our spending.

Rewards help, too.

It may sound silly, but sometimes if I feel like procrastinating about working on my budget, I make a deal with myself. If I get my menu plan, shopping list and budget all taken care of, then I’ll make a cup of tea and enjoy a half hour of my favorite pastime, reading. If you’re finding that you are dragging your feet about working on your budget, perhaps you can think of some way you could reward yourself.

And finally, if you fall off, get back on.

If you’ve taken a detour on your budgeting journey and think you should just give up, don’t! Just like with dieting, or exercising, or any habit you’re trying to develop, tomorrow is a new day. If you’ve overspent or lost complete track of your budget, I’d like to encourage you to start from where you are. Each day is a new chance to start again!

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