Blissful and Domestic - Creating a Beautiful Life on Less: live on a budget

Hello lovelies!! This afternoon I carved out some time and filmed a video for you all on how to create your own budget using the spreadsheet method. This is a simple way to create a working budget, that you can customize for your family. Before we get into the how to of budgeting, I wanted to take a quick minute and talk about why budgets are so stinking important.

The first reason being that budgets are your game plan for the month. They let you know how much money is coming in and how much is going out. It essentially lets you know what you have to work with.

Budgets also keep you out of debt. Knowing where all your money is allocated, let's you know if you really have enough for all those purchases you plan on making.

They also help you set and achieve financial goals. Deciding as a family to save or spend your money greatly affects what goals you achieve. Communicating and making conscious choices with your money will allow you to get closer to whatever aspirations you have this year with your finances.

And lastly, budgets give you peace of mind. I may grumble to myself and feel like I am too busy to sit down and make out my monthly budget, but I grumble a lot more when I don't. Months I don't put in the effort to be accountable, leave me further from the financial goals my family has. I like knowing where our money is going and how we're making it work for us.

Now on to the actual budget creating...

To start out you need to write down what your income is for the month. Next write down all your need to pay bills... Utilities, rent, food, etc. All the necessities of life. Save any extras, like eating out, for later. We need to first make sure you have enough money for the basics.

Once you have everything written down, check to make sure your income covers all expenses. If it doesn't you need to cut the fat....Meaning stop cable, internet, shop around for insurance, etc. Cut anything you can to keep you in the black.

Now move onto the spreadsheet. Input all your expenses and income into the spreadsheet. I like using a spreadsheet because it deducts everything for you. I have included a link to a google budget template. This is the same template I use for my family. It is customizable too! Save a copy onto your google drive, so you can use it too.

Customize the fixed categories to meet your needs. Same thing with the variable expenses.

If you have money left over, after all your necessities are met, then add categories to your variable expenses and start allocating your money. This will allow you to put money aside for eating out, entertainment, etc.

Pick a day each week that you'll sit down and check on your budget. Make sure upcoming bills are paid and add a date into your spreadsheet for when things are paid.

Give yourself grace as you budget. It's a learning process, one I'm still learning myself. Take it a day at a time and know you CAN do hard things. The more you work on budgeting, the easier it will become. We're creating healthy financial habits this year and it all starts with the budget.

Watch the video for more how to tips and encouragement. We got this friends!!

XO Danielle

Tonight I am sitting back and enjoying my view of Mason jars filled with chopped pineapples. Oh how those yellow chunks make this mama so happy.

Canning pineapples is one of the first things I learned to can. My sisinlaw and I learned at the same time. We were very eager to fill our pantry shelves with homemade goods.

That was a few years ago. I canned so much pineapple that first night, I haven't needed it since. Now that we were finally running low, I decided to take advantage of Bountiful Basket's add ons and order a case to can. I went in with a friend, which kept our cost down. I only wanted to add about ten jars to my food storage, since my family does not go through pineapples as quickly as other fruit.

We paid $14.50 for one case of pineapples. It was 22 lbs. My friend and I each paid $7.25 for the case. We were able to get 21 jars from those pineapples, making each pint only cost 69 cents. She took home 10 and I took home 11.

We raw packed our pineapple chunks into hot, sterilized jars. I sterilized my jars in the oven like last time. We then poured hot water over the raw pineapples, added the lids and rings, and processed them in a water bath for 15 minutes.

We did three batches, which gave us plenty of time to chat. That's why I love canning with a friend. You can catch up and it makes it go ten times faster.

You can do your pineapples in a syrup, but we wanted to keep it simple. I also liked not adding extra sugar to my fruit.

We will now use our pineapples in various recipes. The next time Bountiful Baskets has pineapples I might stock up again and purchase some for the freezer. I sure do like having them in smoothies and my freezer fruit is dwindling.