The Weekly Worries

This week we're conducting an experiment in our house. Each weekend, we reluctantly run errands that total $200 or more. It's depressing. They're not meaningless, bored shopping trips; they're planned trips for essential items. Yet, I'm not happy with the amount of money we spend, so we've make a goal not to spend anything next weekend in order to revamp our weekly spending.

Set a Goal

Set a spending goal for yourself. Originally, our budget plan was to spend very little during the week and run all of our errands on the weekend. Our new goal is to cut our weekly spending in half by rethinking the items purchased. By trying to reach our goal we will be more motivated to leave some items at the store that normally would have come home with us.

Stick to the List

We have an awful habit of adding things to our cart that aren't on our original list. Impulse shopping is the biggest culprit of budget overspending. When heading to the grocery store, make sure that groceries are the only thing in the cart. Non-grocery items are overpriced at grocery stores; save them for discount stores.

Create a well-planned list and stick to it. Don't let your mind wander to other projects and needs while wandering the aisles of the stores. Instead, focus only on the list in hand and avoid browsing.

How Much Do I Need It?

Evaluate your list before heading to the store and ask yourself, 'Do I really need this?' Each week our list seems to be filled with essential items, but are they really? A good way to answer this question is to leave an item on the list for next week. In three weeks, do you still need it? Things somehow don't seem important after time passes. There's no doubt that my son needs new sneakers (he has a hole in the toe), but do I really need a new purse? Even if my purse shows signs of wear, I surely can get three weeks' more life out of it. Try to let one thing linger each week or set up a plan that one week you'll visit one department store and the next you'll visit another, making items wait until it's their store's week.

Avoid the Ads

Managing our weekly lists is something that everyone can learn to do. However, looking through advertisements can ruin all of your success. Sales tempt us, and it's difficult to cross something off our weekly list when we know that it's on sale. Now that the purse that I realized I didn't need this week is on sale, how can I turn it down? I shouldn't have looked at that weekly circular.

Circulars with coupons should be put aside. When an essential item is on your weekly list (here comes those sneakers) you can check circulars to find it. However, don't look through the entire circular. Instead, just look at the section for the item you need just like when you enter the store and only target those items on the list rather than browsing.