My 5 Budget Busters

Kyle at Rather-be-shopping.com tagged me for this post.


This is my briefly thought out list of my top
5 Budget Busters

1. Impatience- My husband who is a natural researcher, hand wringer and big thinker when it comes to any purchase over $50 knows all too well how impatient I can be. I don't like to dilly dally about any decision big or small. We work well when we make decisions together because he makes me slow down and I make him 'pull the trigger' when it's time to purchase. However, when I'm on my own it's a different story. Thank Goodness my wants are usually small.

2. Poor Math Skills- I never have like liked math. My brain tends to want to shut down when I have to figure out price per ounce or what 35% off of the sticker price will be. This is one reason why I try to do my research with the grocery store circulars and coupons before a planned outing to a big chain grocery. I frequently have my figures scribbled out beside the item on the paper to see if a purchase is a worthwhile buy. If it's just a quick run into a grocery for something I try to stick with Aldi or Save-A-Lot where the price is generally better. But, still I've made poor purchasing decisions too many times because I didn't want to mess with math.

3. Kids spoilage- My children have too many toys. Those little five dollar toys from Wal-Mart and Target occasionally make their way into the cart- we do get a lot of mileage out of a die cast Thomas train. I have a hard time going to the Goodwill and not buying a toy if it's cheap enough and looks like good quality. I'll even prep the kids before we go into a store not to ask for anything because I'm not buying toys that day. And inevitably I'll decide just to get it for them to make them happy. I like to see their happiness no matter how brief and no matter how quickly that cheap toy will become car fodder and clutter on the floor of the toy room.

4. Gracious Giving- I'm not necessarily talking about charitable giving although I can do crazy with that too. I am a big over buyer when it comes to gift giving. I tend to forget what I've already gotten and as a result end up with too much money spent and too many items bought. As a result I have two filled totes with leftover gifts. They will be given away eventually but I think I'd rather have the money I spent back.

5. Laziness and Luxury- Oh, how easy is it to call Pizza Hut when I've had a bad day with the kids. And my wonderful husband is so nice about picking up a little something from a drive thru for those bad Mommy days. I like that he never gives me grief about the extras but I think I might take advantage too often. My menu planner certainly doesn't completely erase these take out nights but it does help to lessen them. Also, I'm not too much of a keeping up with Joneses for myself but, I like for my kids to look similar to their friends. I will spend more money on them if I can find clothes that they will look cute in. I want them to look nice and although I try not to spend a lot of money- I spend too much. For a Mom who does laundry everyday we have way too many clothes. My children could get by with 5 nice outfits, 2 church outfits and 2 play outfits and they have triple that amount. My big weakness is spending on cosmetics. I have a !hard! time passing up the Clinique/Lancome bonuses. I'm not too snobby to pass up Rimmel and Wet 'n' Wild but I prefer the department store goodies. Now that I've been on a personal product hiatus since January 1st my shopping in this area has dramatically lessened. And I won't give up my tri-annual visit to my hairdresser for a good cut and some highlights. That's one area where I don't mind splurging because even my pinchy husband thinks I look better after a luxury hair appointment.

I'm tagging three blogs to do their own list of Budget busters.

My husband at Cheap Daddy Arcade.

Minimalist Mommy- a great frugality blog.

Rachel at Pursuits of Heart and Home- a fun 'new to me' blog.