Exit 2- Food, Food, and Food

Good Afternoon everyone! I have decided to show you a few techniques for the next couple of weeks that I personally use to stay on the right financial path. We all know groceries can be one of the biggest expenses when it comes to families or even singles such as myself.

I have narrowed it down to 2 steps that will help your grocery bill split in half: Price matching & Meal Planning.

Couponing has became one of the newest trends around the U.S today. There are many different strategies that are used in this process that I however find confusing or time consuming. Living in the fast paced and hectic world that we do taking the time to coupon can be too stressful. I have found the solution to this problem, price matching. Price matching can be one of the most helpful tools I have started using in my own personal life.

The first step when price matching is to create a list of the groceries you will be shopping for while also grouping them into categories such as : Produce, dairy, meat, etc.

Second you will determine which stores you would like to "Price match" with. I have found that it is much easier to surf the web for local stores around you that have an online weekly ad. If you are living in the Southwest region of Missouri here are a few that I find most helpful along with the link:

• Dierberg's
• Hy-vee
• Aldi
• Harter House
• Dillons
• Gerbes

Next, you will go to each web page and find their weekly ad they have uploaded for you. Some stores have categories and some have a basic traditional ad. You can start by going through your list and recognizing if their are any of the items on sale. If so, then next to your item you will simply right the name of the store and the sale price next to it.

Along the way you will discover items that are not on your list that may be a very good deal. It's important to stay on track. However, if there is something you or your family may be able to put to use, add it to your list.

Once you have gone through each store and have your final list ready, now it is time for the fun part: Wal-Mart! I have found that Wal-Mart does not require you to have the ad's present. However, some grocers may require this. If so, you can simply print them off and have them along with you.

Exit 1- The Financial Plan

First stop on our financial trip, acknowledging your situation. The key to any financial plan is to recognize your faults and what you want to establish. I'm going to show you in a easy 3 step process how to gain financial stability.

Step 1: Gathering Info
Gathering all upcoming, outstanding, or future bills is the first step. Once you have all of your information it is time to decide what bills are necessary and what can be eliminated for the time being. Financial statements covering that past year will be helpful in assisting you.

 
 
 















Step 2: Creating a Plan
This step is very crucial in your financial journey. It is important to establish your short-term and long term- goals as to what you hope to gain from this. There are many ways you can create a plan, but one of my personal favorites is the "envelope" system. This works well for people who aren't the best with managing money or balancing a checkbook.

• The first thing you will do is take all of the information you have gathered and create a "list" of your bills.
• You will then create an envelope for each bill with the amount and date it is due written clearly on the front of it.
• Each week or 2 depending on your pay period you will take your check and disperse it into the envelopes
• You will also create a "Misc." envelope for remaining funds.
• Depending on your funds you will choose to keep the money for emergency, create a savings, or have extra spending money.

* Another helpful method for those with multiple outstanding loans is to combine them all into one: eliminating multiple bills and interest rates.

Step 3: The Follow Up
This would be the most important step to any financial plan. It is crucial that you stick with your plan and make it something that you will abide to. Following up each month ensures that you are on the right path and achieving your desired goals. If you find yourself drifting from your initial plan or coming up with negative results you will then go back to step 1 and start again.


I will be uploading post's each week for budgeting tips and financial tools. Please feel free to comment with any questions or suggestions for upcoming posts.


                                                                                                           Lindsey Lillard
                                                                                                           Central Bank
                                                                                                           Finance Major