Handling Your Bills: The Grocery Budget - Part 1

Some days I sinfully take pride in how I am able to manage our grocery budget.

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Other days I remember that every good thing I have is from the Lord.
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Every day is an opportunity to be thankful for the countless ways God has blessed me.

I'm one of those weird people who enjoys the challenge of living on a small grocery budget. I also love research, and it turns out Pinterest has unending ideas of how to live frugally. While a lot of what I have found is helpful, I try to keep things simple so that my brain doesn't hurt.

Today, I will explain the budgeting aspect of how I track our grocery spending each month. In the next post, I will list several strategies I use to help keep our grocery budget small. I'm focusing in on groceries because it is one of the areas we have the most control over. Plus, everybody eats, so this has to apply to you somehow :)

The Monthly Budget Dilemma

I originally started off having a set amount of grocery money for each month. The problem I ran into was that my spending was not balanced. By the end of the month I was struggling to stay in budget. I knew there had to be a better option.

Handling Your Bills: Creating a Budget - Part 2

Some days I pridefully don't tell my husband when I am struggling with our finances.

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Other days I remember that my husband can't care for me if I don't tell him when and how I'm struggling.

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Every day our marriage is to be a reflection of the unity between Christ and his bride.

Welcome back! This post is about to jump into the nitty gritty of creating a budget. Before you begin, please read the preceding two posts in this series as they inform what's to come in this post:

• What Scripture Has to Say About Money
• Creating a Budget - Part 1

Being United with Your Spouse

"Two practical steps can greatly help us get a grip on our spending: recording expenditures and making a budget. These steps will help us detect problem areas by clarifying our spending habits. This will improve our mental and marital health because financial disorder is one of the leading causes of personal and familial stress." 

~ Randy Alcorn, It Matters How We Handle God's Money 

From the research I've done, the consensus seems to be that it works best for one person to manage the budget. For several of my friends, this is what their husbands do. If that's the case for you, my appeal to you is to make sure you could take over the finances, if need be. I'm convinced it's wise to be able to do so because we don't know what tomorrow holds.

For Geoffrey and I, this means he knows what programs I use to track our budget because I'm the one that spends more time "in the weeds." We both have complete access to all our bank accounts. We also have a gmail account that forwards to both our personal emails. All our bills are set up with this email address. This allows Geoffrey to see what the bills are and when I pay them. Additionally, either of us can easily reset any passwords to access our accounts.

Okay, so now that I've tried to persuade you to at least be able to do your budget, if need be, let's get down to business.

Handling Your Bills: Creating a Budget - Part 1

Some days I am ruled by our budget and get anxious when things aren't going like I planned.
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Other days I remember our budget is a tool to help us honor the Lord.
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Every day God gives me exactly what I need to make me more like him.

Today we are going to talk about how to create a budget. Last week's post was on what Scripture has to say about money. If you haven't already read it, please read it now, as it sets the foundation for why budgeting is important.

A Few Reminders

Before going over how to create a budget, there are three things I want you to remember:

1. A budget is meant to serve, not rule, your family. 

There will be months where things outside of your control happen and your budget is shot for the month. There will also be months where you fail at spending your money wisely and go over budget. Both scenarios are opportunities to meditate on God's truth and remind yourself of his sovereignty, goodness, and grace.

2. A budget is simply a plan.

You are spending your money on paper before the month begins. Give it at least three months to start working. It won't be perfect the first time you do it. This article has a lot of helpful guidelines and suggestions.

3. Do your budget with your spouse!

I can't emphasize this point enough. God is honored when we are unified with our spouse and seeking to live in obedience to Scripture. This won't be possible without discussing your goals and convictions about finances together.

Now that we've got those things in mind, lets discuss the first step of creating a budget.

Handling Your Bills: What Scripture Has to Say About Money

Some days I live like God doesn't exist when it comes to my finances.

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Other days I remember I am a steward of the finances God has blessed us with.

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Every day God has apportioned my lot allowing me to rest in His goodness.

This month we are switching topics to another subject I love - *cue huge nerd alert here* - finances! Specifically, seeking to live within one's income in a God-honoring way.

If you missed last month's posts you can read them here: discussing how to grow in knowing God. I have a few more posts to add to that series so there will be more down the road, but for now we are going to talk about money.

Quick shout out to my husband, Geoffrey, for the 'punny' series title!  I'm hoping at least a couple of my readers appreciated it ;)

Before beginning, I want to make it clear that I do NOT have this all figured out. While I'm going to share Scriptures that Geoffrey and I seek to live our lives by, I do this very imperfectly. My heart is quick to covet what others have and to be anxious that God's provision won't be there tomorrow.

The couple posts following this one will be focused on the "how-to's" of budgeting. My goal is for the practical outworking of my life to be informed by God's Word. Hence, this post being first. So without further ado, here are seven principles I find helpful to consider:

1. I am to wisely use the money God has given me and will be held accountable for what I do with it.
In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus shares the parable of the talents. If you haven't read it before, please read it now, even if it means not finishing reading this post :) The finances God has given us are from him and are to be used for him. This truth informs why Geoffrey and I take the time to create a budget and occasionally revisit it.