Introducing The Financial Mama Series

Before going on maternity leave we made some attempts to save for the income we would soon be missing. We definitely could have done a better job. We had to live very tight during my time from work... Sometimes uncomfortably so.

I am back to work now and have many "what could have been done differently" thoughts. I want to be financially secure, provide for our daughter, go on a vacation once a year.... And oh yeah.... Retirement is not to far away.

On Mondays we will be posting the "Financial Mama Series". I will share with you what I'm doing to get my financial house in order. I would love for you to follow... Maybe we can all do this together. I would love to hear about what you are doing in terms of money in your household. Any tips or suggestions? Please share.

So before I enter 2014, let me introduce you to my first challenge:

Can you track how you normally spend your money?  In some aspects this may be a piece of cake for me.   I have a spreadsheet that states unequivocally where my money goes in terms of my fixed expenses.

Fixed Expenses: The bills that are paid out at the same time and are a fixed amount.   ie: rent,  car payment, daycare

I also have listed my variable expenses.

Variable Expenses: Money that is spent on  any particular day and at any total.  ie:  groceries, vehicle gas,  hair appointments

I do an OK job at tracking my variable expenses. I have a cute pink notebook (and it is cute) in my bag.  Flip through and you will see a section of vehicle gas.  My budget is $240 per month.   Whenever I fill up I subtract what I spent and am aware of how much money I have left.  Same for my $75 clothing budget and $400 grocery budget.

I get in trouble with the variable category I call "Miscellaneous".  Why am I calling this miscellaneous anyway?  This is the money that goes to STUFF.  Could be coffee...  a movie...  a blouse....  Wait! !

I HAVE A CLOTHING BUDGET!!

See what I mean? You will probably find that you have a hard time finding out what happened within your variable category.

Like me, you may think this first task is a difficult one.  (why am I envisioning Jack Nicholson yelling that I can't handle the truth?)  This task is just to give you a visual heads up about where your money is going.  Easy peasy.

It is usually advised that you look over 6 months of expenses.  I am using two as I have been collecting a full paycheque during this time.