Small Steps to improve your daily life

Courage to Change Improves Your Plight

4 steps to move things forward financially in your household

“What small steps can you take to improve your finances today?” Small Steps Writing Prompt

Change takes courage in order to move forward and leave the past where it should be, in the past.

If you really want to improve your finances, you need to start looking at four areas of your life that need attention.

1. What you eat is costing you a fortune

Most of us take eating for granted and assume that what mom taught us was good enough. Well sorry, but when it comes to eating, most of what we learned from our parents were their bad habits.

You need to start eating way more fruit and vegetables. Start by comparing the cost of bananas per pound to the price of meat. Do the work, look at the difference. You will be amazed at the results.

To help you out, here is a list of some prices for this week from:

Thursday, May 21st to Wednesday, May 27th, 2020.

Bananas, 67 cents a pound

Chicken legs, Econo pack, $1.00 per pound

French Style Steaks, Econo pack, $8.00 per pound

Lean ground Beef, Econo pack, $6.00 per pound

Fresh Pork Loin Chops, Econo pack, $3.00 per pound, etc.etc.

As you will see, pound to pound, bananas (and other fruits) cost much less than any meat products.

Make your own comparisons and see for yourself. Most people believe that fruit and veggies are more expensive than “regular” foods.

2. Start reading labels for nutritional values

Compare the nutritional value of products you eat every day like pickles. Look at cereals, desserts, plus all that your family drinks.

The nutritional value of the food you eat is inversely proportional to many of the meds you are taking. Being healthy is a heavy cost to bear if someone is sick in your household.

3. How many times are you eating take-out or restaurant food?

I know they taste great, are easy to prepare, the mom gets a night off once in a while and that's all fine and good, but have you ever sat down and really calculated the price per person, including taxes, tips, delivery, and other costs?

If you do this exercise you will get a good idea of the true cost of a restaurant meal vs a home-cooked meal. Take this total and divide it by all your family members equally.

Next, take your total weekly grocery shopping bill and separate it into 7 equal amounts, for 7 days. Then divide this by 3 meals, and then by the number of family members. Don’t cheat, remember to take the restaurant meals out of this equation, and then compare this figure to the cost per person of a restaurant meal.

Sometimes just a few adjustments can make a huge difference in your cost of eating. It is the biggest cost in your home.

4. Have more fun

Take a part of the money you have saved on being more aware of the three tips above and plan a trip together, buy a swimming pool, change the car, or buy a bigger TV.

Create a plan where you are all involved and have more fun, more often, and let everyone participate. I know it sounds corny but if you benefit in more ways than one, you will all benefit.

In today's world, there are not many ways you can make money by having banks keep your money sitting in your accounts.

Go to Disneyland, fly off to Spain, go play golf in the islands, take a cruise around the world. Create a bucket list and have the best fun of your life.

Just a nudge can help you keep your head on straight. Look at yourself and be realistic; it is pretty hectic out there.

Raising a family is not an easy job. Is has been said that the responsibility of a mother raising at least one child is equal to two full-time jobs. How can creating meal plans, etc, plus working another job out of the house be more than a daunting task at best?

I know this all sounds pretty crazy, but let's take things one day at a time, be smart, and look at the picture above one more time! See what I mean?

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