Trimming The Fat: 10 Things You Can Do THIS Week

WELCOME to another installment of “Trimming The Fat From Wallet to Waistline”, a joint effort with Katharine Barrett of “Just A Thought”. If you care to read all the posts in this series, just go {HERE} and be sure to go to Katharine’s and read her posts as well!

Today I have for you a list of 10 things you could do to begin implementing some new habits into your household as far as budgeting and healthy living. None of them are too involved…at least I hope they are not. 

The point is to get us thinking and looking for small ways to make significant differences in our daily lives. It’s about encouraging our children and spouses to get involved and get THEM thinking!

10 Things You Can Do This Week To Build Better Financial and Healthy Living Habits

1. Have a family meeting and discuss the family financial goals with kids that are old enough to “get it”. For our family, we involved the children as early as 4 and 5 years old. We would not just tell them “we cannot afford” an item. We would tell them we could probably afford it, but we are choosing to use our money a different way. Now that they are older and the hubby and I have fallen into a pit of debt, we have explained to the kids how and why this happened in the hopes that THEY will not make the same mistakes we made. We do not burden them with it, but we explain why we need to make cut-backs and why we are NOT going on vacation this year. It is helping them to see consequences and blessings of sound financial choices.
2. Make a two-week menu plan. Menu planning is one of those “sure things” when it comes to budgeting the food bill. Ask the kids/spouse to make a list of their top five favorite recipes. Collate them and come up with a 10 meal rotation. Leave one day a week for left-overs. PLANNING to use left overs can alleviate up to 90% of food that is tossed in the trash at the end of a week. Sunday can be designated “crock-pot day or any other simple fav to keep Sunday simple yet yummy.
3. MEASURE out your meats into portion control sizes and freezer bag the right amount for your family. If you can, buy an inexpensive kitchen scale. My general proportions are 5 ounces for boneless,skinless chicken meat/pork chops; 4 ounces for red meats; 1.3 pounds ground beef for tacos; 1.5 pounds for meatloaf. Determine to STICK to those portion sizes. This saves not only money, but gives a REAL picture to everyone what a healthy portion size really is! 
4. Designate ONE day a week for dessert. That’s right. Just ONE dessert for the week. Have the kids/spouse make a list of their top 3 desserts.  It gives everyone something to look forward to. On the in-between days, stick to fruit/veggies. I admit, this one’s a bit a harder, so I will make Jell-O. It’s very inexpensive, not too “unhealthy” and “There’s always room for
   Jell-O!

   

5. Find a home-made recipe for a side dish that would generally use a “box mix” {mac and cheese, rice-a-roni, taco seasonings, hamburger “helper” etc.}. This one might not be much cheaper, but the health benefits will be huge! And trust me, store-bought mixes have NOTHING on home-made. Consider making mixes in bulk and storing in a covered jar.
6. Start an “ask for it before you take it” policy. Building this habit cuts back on the amount/size of snacks family members eat. Also, it makes you very aware of how often some members of the family eat throughout the day. Take inventory because there’s a chance that person is either a picky eater or “not hungry” at the next meal. I can honestly say we have stuck to our guns with this one. My kids are 14,15,18,21 and unless they have purchased something with their own money, they need to ask if it is okay for them to take _____***_____. It’s shocking to see kids at young ages dictating what it is they *want* to eat and *when*. They simply go in the fridge/cabinets and take whatever they want, whenever they want it. How much of what is taken is even eaten? Half apples, partial yogurts, nibbled bananas, etc. and the rest is deemed unfit to eat because it has a brown spot or “ew! someone else took a bite”. In this world, 53% of children under the age of 5 will DIE of some form/side effect of malnutrition. Is it really THAT hard for children to wait 60 minutes to eat? I’ll also put here this thought: Kids eat what they are given and if they choose not to eat it, they can wait until the next meal and eat it then. There are no “special” meals and if a kid wants to eat yogurt and granola for three meals…um…no. That’s not the real world, it is not all about them, they need to deal. Just my 2 cents. FWIW—I did that with all 4 kids. 3 eat whatever is given, 1 even as an adult, is super picky and would rather go hungry. Go figure. But doing this made life easier for me :0).
7. Give a “visual” for children {3-17} for “where” their money goes. Give them each three containers—old Snapple jars, mason jars, etc. and label them GIVE, SAVE, SPEND. Start off with whatever cash they may have on hand {if they do not get an allowance/paid, consider starting them off with a dollar or two}. Determine a percentage break down for each category and distribute into each jar. Make GIVING the first jar. Kids need to know THEY are not the only ones in this world. Teach them as early as possible to be givers and use the money to help others in whatever way works for your family. Tithe, give to a food bank or shelter, to a family in need,  even an animal shelter. It is important that THEY do the actual giving so they can know how awesome it feels to care for someone else.  Determine a goal to set up a saving account at the bank {most banks have kids account options}. What goes into savings STAYS there. Encourage healthy spending habits. Start this week by letting the kids know that if they do not have the cash in hand to buy “whatever” then THEY need to save up for it. Encourage them with each dollar they get to divvy it according to the percentages you decided on. I guarantee, when they are using their OWN money, it will not be as easily spent as if it were your money freely given!
   
8. Teach kids how to compare prices by taking them to the store this week. With pen and paper in hand have them write down the price/price per pound/ounce of products they LOVE. Are they “name brand” lovers? {Another shocker to me! WHY do kids get to determine they will not “eat” off brand foods???}. Compare different brands. Decide which item{s} you will try a cheaper brand of. When these are eaten, discuss the taste and help them to see that, for the most part, a cheaper brand is fine to eat. Okay…I admit here and now: We only like Hellman’s Mayo and Heinz Ketchup. If there are brands you really do taste a difference in, find another place to cut back. it doesn’t save much to buy food no one will eat.
9. Be honest about your family income. This is challenging for some families, but I think it is important to break down the income and give the kids a clear picture of what comes in, how it is spent, and how much time the bread winner needs to actually work to earn enough money for {fill in the blank}. When I explained to the kids that Dad has to work FOUR hours to pay for {fill in the blank} it got them thinking. It is interesting to see their faces when you tell them “Dad has to work 3 weeks after taxes to purchase that laptop” or “Mom needs to work 4 hours overtime to purchase that X-Box game”.
10. Do some research about how families live in third world countries. Sometimes we want to shelter our children{ourselves???} from the horrors that go on in this world. For the most part, I would agree. We change the channel on the news if something is overly graphic or particularly horrible {the Sandy Hook tragedy comes to mind}. However, there is something to be said about giving kids a controlled look into lives that are so far from their own reality. Hunger, poverty, oppressive governments, etc. These are topics that can be carefully broached  as we strive to teach our children that our American lifestyle is one of awesome privilege. Even the poorest family in this country has it better than those in say Sudan, Haiti, even Mexico. They should be taught to be “others’ centered, to pray for those in need, and to sacrifice money, time, material things, etc. for the better of mankind if it is within our power to do so. Again, this takes the discretion of a parent to know when kids are old enough to understand this and it should not be something we dwell upon to feel “guilty” about how God may have blessed a family. 

So, there you have it. Ten things you could do this week…this month…to start making changes in your family. I hope you find them attainable and not too “off the wall”!

We have implemented all of these at one time or another and have seen good “fruit” come from it. It’s not a perfect or an all inclusive plan, but it is a start!