Motivate ME Monday!~Balancing Life: Part 2: Budget

I know it has been awhile since I last published a post and I am SORRY! My life has taken some crazy turns these past few months. Things have finally settled down for my family! 

Now with things finally becoming balanced, I am ready to re-energize the things in my life that I enjoy; like my blog! For me figuring out how to go from a stay at home mom to full time working mother has been very difficult. My daughter and I are still learning how to keep things balanced. Over these past few months that I've been away from my blog, I've gained a better understanding of why balance is so important. For my family having balance means that things are calmer, life runs a little smoother.

This second part of my four part series is about balancing your budget. In order to balance your budget, you first have to create one.  Educating yourself about your finances can only help your future grow.  In this part of the series I will share some tips that helped me create my budget and gain balance over my finances.

Part 2: Budget: Tips for creating a balanced budget

1. Determine your budget goals~ For me I had two budget goals. The first was to be able to save. I wanted to be able to save, in two separate accounts; short term and long term. My second budget goal is to be able to keep up. I want to stop living pay check to pay check. 

2.Figure out your income~If you don't know how much you make, you won't know how much you can spend/save.

3. Wants vs. Must Have~Categorize your expensive into wants and must haves. Must have are things like the mortgage, water bill, ects. The wants are things like the gym and Starbucks in the morning. You might have to to take a hard look and let some things go if you want to balance your budget. 

4. Re-evaluate your goal~Make sure your original goal is realistic with what you are working with. My original goal was not really realistic. I am still able to save into a short term and long term saving account, but not as much as I originally targeted for. I am not there now, but I confident that I will be in the near future.

5. Set your calendar~Every month I sit down with my budget and calendar and mark when bills are due and when I am getting paid. I find that handwriting it out on a calendar helps me remember what kind of money I have available. It has also helped me to stretch my paychecks. Stretching your paycheck can help you not to live paycheck to paycheck!

6. Individual "have to" budgets~Set your individual budgets for things like groceries, household bills,fun, etc. Once these budgets are set stick to them!

7.Bind it up~ Keeps your monthly budget and bills all in one place. This will help you keep track of everything and where your money is going.

8. Re-evaluate how you did the month before~Take a look at where all your money went. You might just find ways to save better and you will be able to track your finances. 

Since I started my budget goals I've found that my budget is becoming more balanced. I've been able to save into my short term and long term accounts. I am still working on the "keeping up" part of my goals ( my student loans are killing me). Using these tips has really helped me not feel like I am drowning. I know where my finances are and that helps relieve so much stress. Releasing stress can only help balance your life!

Check out the rest of the series!
Balancing Life: 4 Part Series that will help You balance your Life
Part 1~ Routines
Part 2~Budget
Part 3-~Meal plan (coming soon)
Part 4~Chores (coming soon)

Motivate ME Monday!~Balancing Life: 4 Part Series that will help You balance your Life

My daughter and I are currently going through a BIG change! I am going back to work. :( I love being a stay at home mom, but right now my family needs me to have a job.  With all the changes going on right now there is one main thing that is on my mind; Balance! I am stressing out about how I will balance being a working mother. 

I know that balance won't come easy and it won't come overnight. To help myself (and baby girl) I have narrowed down four areas that I need to really focus on. Routines, Budgets, Chores, and Meals. All four of these parts of our lives are going to be heavily affected. In each part of the series you will follow me through my journey. I will share tips and tricks, and what did and didn't work. With this series I hope to help you and myself achieve balance in everyday life.

Balancing Life: Part 1. Routines

Routines are HUGE for me. And the routine that I have the most difficulty with is the MORNING routine! I am NOT a morning person! So much so that I sleep trained baby girl to sleep in till 9 am! That is right ladies; my 2 year old will sleep in till 9 am! Like most jobs, mine requires me to be there in the morning. Thinking of having to be up before 9 am scared me! I knew this was going to be one of the hardest things about going back to work. 

After the first morning I realized that I would need a routine or I would never get out of the house on time. I have to be honest, I have not gotten my AM routine down. Each morning it does get better. When it came to creating my routine I found that these 10 tips made the mornings seem not as bad. Your AM routine sets the tone for the rest of your day and these 10 tips will make it easier to streamline your morning and the rest of your day.

1. Wake up first- I know that you have properly heard this one before. The first morning I had to wake up for work I didn't follow this tip. I should have! Waking up before baby girl does not only give me time to get ready, but it gives me quite time! Like I said morning are horrible and I find it helps if I don't have to wake up and be instantly bombarded. 

2.Do something small- I find that doing something small like making my bed or emptying the dishwasher gets my motor running.  Doing something small can keep you from becoming lazy in the mornings.

3. Eat Breakfast- I never eat breakfast. Never really have. I normally would wake up at 9 am and not eat until baby girl would go down for her nap at noon. That won't work for me any more. I am still trying to figure out how to work breakfast into my mornings because it is the most important meal of the day!

4. Prepare the night before- Preparing the night before helps you streamline your mornings. Make lunches right after you clean up from dinner or make a to do list for the next day.

5. Go over daily details- Each morning make sure you go over any big or usually details about that day. For example, note if your children are going on a field trip and their after school bus will be late. Going over daily details will help you prepare for later on in the day.

6. Start with your BIGGEST task- Starting with your biggest task will not only get your motor running, but will also take stress off later in the day. 

7.Breath, don't rush- If you are late, then you are late! Just accept it and move on, don't let running late ruin the rest of your morning. When you rush you might leave out big important details of the day. Don't worry, it happens to everyone!

8. Know your timeline- Create a timeline for your mornings, learn it and follow it!

9.Help your kids help you- Allow your kids to be a little more independent in the mornings. Have a morning zone area for your kids. Have their book bags, shoes, lunches, whatever they need for the day in one area. Have your children help you prep the area the night before so that they know where everything is. This streamlines both of your mornings.

10. Tell someone you LOVE them- This one is my favorite part of my routine. When someone says " I Love You" it makes them smile.  I love seeing hubby and baby girl smile. The smiles on their faces make the mornings worth it!


Routines help you so that you are not always playing catch up from the day before. But there is one thing I need to catch up with and that is Relaxation. Being a working mommy leaves me little time for some of the things I use to like to do. Everyone needs relaxation or they will eventually bust from stress.  That is why I have purposed to hubby that we create a PM relaxation routine. 

Crunch time during our routine seems to be in the beginning of the evening.  Evenings are rough; dinner, homework (we don't have that yet, but I can only imagine what that will do to our routines), bath, kids to bed, chores, prepare for the tomorrow, etc... Where does relaxation fit in?!?!?!?  The point of our relaxation routine is so that we can decompress from the day and spend healthy alone time with one another. Part of the routine is that we spend at least one hour a night doing something that we find relaxing. For example on Sunday nights I like to blog and hubby likes to watch old T.V shows.  Each night we do something different during our relaxation routine. One night that is a must on our routine is electronics free! We turn off our phones, iPad, computers, T.V. Its nice to be free of social media and noise! Our PM relaxation routine allows up to stop playing catch up!

Do you have routines? What are some things that help you with your routine?