Lean Family Living: Farm Family Budget

What’s a lean family budget look like — lean, as in, frugal, but also we live in the shop lean, ha! 😉 I’m grateful my mom taught me her frugal ways while growing up and even more grateful that Kyle’s mom operates this way as well. It’s been a solid foundation as we’ve started a family of our own and managing the money ourselves.

Home Decor

One of the memories that makes me laugh from my wedding day was one of my friends noticing Kyle’s camo comforter on his bed and saying she was surprised to see it — Didn’t think that was my style! She was right, not my style, but not worth replacing. We lived in that house for the next 6 years and decorated with the gifts we got for our wedding. Otherwise, there were no leisurely strolls through HomeGoods or ordering the latest pillow drop from Studio McGee. Now that we’ve moved into a new house and needed new furniture, because we left much of our existing furniture, we’ve bought pieces. A mix of Walmart and some leather we hope will be with us forever. What you won’t find here: fresh candles to burn, seasonal decor, or changing up our decorating because we wanted to.

Consumables

1. I don’t buy wrapping paper. I’ve bought a couple rolls of large craft paper for various projects including wrapping. I also save the paper stuffing that comes with a package if I know I have a gift to wrap soon, plus I save the gift bags others give to us and reuse them. I’m also the person that reuses tissue paper, yes that person. 😉
2. We have Ziploc bags and I use them sparingly, same with foil and press and seal. Kyle always says it costs us money to wash a container after I use it, but it’s got to be less money than using a disposable bag; not that I’ve done the math, but it has to be! 😉
3. No dryer sheets for us.
4. This year I’d really like to make our own dishwasher detergent, but Kyle has a year supply stocked away we need to use first!

Food

This needed a whole blog post on it’s own – read it here!

My Clothes & Girlie Things

After college and before getting married I lived with my parents. Which allowed me to take most of my earnings from my job and pay off my cows. The rest of it, I spent on clothes and jewelry and bags. Fun times. Now, much of it was bought on resale sites or on sale, but still it was “unnecessary” money spent.

Now, they don’t sell my favorite jeans anymore which means by default I have to find them used. So far, I have found 2 pairs on Poshmark.

Since I got my colors done, shopping for clothes has been significantly easier and surprisingly I’ve had more self-restraint when it comes to buying new items. Before when something would catch my eye, I would try it. Now it needs to fit the color, style, and closet inventory requirements before I do.

Kids’ Clothes

1. The baby has 5 outfits. Literally. They are non-footie one pieces so I put him in one at night to wear as pajamas then he wears it during the day. That’s also such a time save for me. Win-win!
2. Walmart sweatshirts and target tshirts are theeeee best. They go on sale, they’re plain and they’ve held up well.

3. The kids have about 4 pairs of pants each. I say about because they are gifted clothes sometimes. I keep their clothes counts low. About 4 shirts, 4 pajamas, 4 pants, 4 sweatshirts, and a few church outfits each.

4. If clothes have any life left in them when we’re done we sell them.

Toys

If you’ve been around here awhile, you’ve probably heard how blessed we are with family who loves through giving gifts. I haven’t bought many toys for my kids simply because they’ve been so blessed by others. Also, because they have great fun playing with sticks, rocks and their imaginations.

Technology

1. I have 1 phone case and I keep it as long as I have my phone. I bought it used off Poshmark and will sell this one when I’m done with it/if it’s in decent shape.
2. Phone replacements usually come used off eBay, but Verizon had a promo last year so I got a new phone for the first time in a long time.
3. Unsubscribing from all promotional emails has been such a help. If I need something, I’ll watch for a sale rather than watching for sales to buy something.

Vacations

Kyle and I have so much fun driving together. We took a few long road trips before we got married and I’m so grateful for those memories. Since then, we’ve prioritized making fun at home. In the summer, my family gets together at a lake cabin a state away. Otherwise, we’re saving our beach and Alaskan travel plans for the days that our baby let’s me out of his sight.

House Cleaner

I have a house cleaner. I feel like I need to add that as a disclaimer. She is ABSOLUTELY as wonderful as you think she is. It has changed my stress levels and our life drastically. I go around and around on justifying it; any gift money I get I put toward her. Then I think how wonderful it is to have help in the house when we’re all gone so much. Anyway, I spend money on a house cleaner once every 4-5 weeks late spring through fall and it’s wonderful. It’s worth making room in my budget for.

With all that said, my point was — I keep our house picked up so when she gets here, she only has to clean. I do my best to make it efficient for her to clean, so she spends less hours doing the cleaning.

Save our Way to Prosperity

Actually, not. I don’t believe we can save our way to wealth, but I do believe that by keeping a handle on our spending we can endure the lean times that come with agriculture.

What tips & tricks would you add?