To Buy This I Can’t Buy That – Budget What Is Important

We have adopted twice and are starting the process for our third adoption. Last year we also made the decision to send our first daughter to a private, Christian school for kindergarten.  These are very expensive decisions.  I do make an above average salary at my job but my wife does not work outside the home so we live on my salary alone.  The question we sometimes get is, “how can you afford that?”  My answer is to afford the things we consider important we do not spend money on less important things.

Obviously this is a very simplistic answer.  There are so many things that go into a family budget it is hard to boil it down to single point.  My consistent income is a big part of what has enabled us but I do not think this is the key to success.  My brother-in-law and his wife have been able to adopt and be successful on a salary well below average.  It is not easy but they make it work.  Here is an excellent article on whether we should earn more or save more.

I figured I would share some of the decisions that my wife and I have made with our finances.  These decisions were very personal for us and they may or may not work for others.  The real key is that we each have to find ways to cut costs in any way we can.  These have been some major keys to trimming our budget but these are not the only ways to save money and they may not be right for all situations.

1) We only buy well used cars

Sure I dream of owning the new Camaro but this is just not realistic for our lifestyle.  If we did not have kids, we could have a new car but that is not our priority right now.  We own two paid off vehicles.  A 1996 Ford Explorer and a 1998 Honda Accord.  Our plan is to keep these as long as we can keep them running.  Not having a new car payment saves us between $150 and $250 per month.

2) We have only basic cell phone service

My wife and I have shared a family cell phone plan for many years.  We have been able to stay within the limited minutes for several years now.  I estimate we have saved nearly $50 per month by not upgrading our plan.

3) We don’t subscribe to cable TV

We only subscribe to cable internet service.  I work from home most of the time so this is mandatory.  Beyond that we do not pay for cable TV service.  This saves us about $30 per month but we feel this helps us save in more ways than just the monthly cost.  The fewer commercials we and our children see the less we spend on things we really don’t need.  Also we only have one older TV in the house.  It sits in our living room and we can watch movies as a family on DVD.

The list above is only a few of the cost cutting decisions we have made over the years.  But these are some with the most bang for the buck in our budget.  There are lots of smaller decisions that we have to make on a weekly basis.  We want a new Wii.  We have long wanted to go to Hawaii.  I really want an IPad! There is a never ending list of things that come into our lives and vie for extra money.  It comes down to making decisions every day to spend money on what is really important.  If we want to adopt again, if we want our daughters to go to private school, that means I can not have my IPad right now.  If we want this then we can’t buy that.  Budget what is important first.  Then if you are blessed enough to have some left over . . .