I need a better Budget!!

So yesterday, hubby and I made a trip over to the SUPER Walmart which is about 35-40 minutes from me - I don't mind the drive though because the store usually has a few items I can't get at my local grocery stores/regular Walmart store- including the cooked boneless BBQ chuncks from the deli-- YUM-O - I am addicted to those things (prolly a good thing I only go to that store a few times a month LOL) - we spent a little over $200 but that included two gallons of paint for our living room and hallways, painting supplies, some chizzel tools for hubby, laundry soap, and some groceries of course - overall- NOT a bad trip. Then we stopped at another grocery store on the way home and I got bonesless chicken breasts that were on sale along with a variety of Ice cream the kids had been asking for, and a few other items- this totalled about $60 - again, not to bad since the chicken will last me the whole month and the ice cream a few weeks, etc. - not like all this stuff is going to be used up in a day!

Anyways - as every month always starts off, I say we need to budget better - my husband gets paid twice a month from two different sources, but both come within the first week of the month- now, while I like that big chunk of money at the beginning of each month, we both find it hard to balance it out to last the entire month-

The first thing I do is pay all of our bills- and we don't have anything extreme - we were lucky enough to build our own home and don't have a mortgage on it- but we have the light bill, TV bill, Phone bill, Car payment, Insurances, etc. - but with that all said and done, it takes less than half the money hubby gets in a month - and we are not mentioning how much I get from my websites as well- not even factoring that into the picture- so, when you look at it from a big picture- we have more than enough money to sustain us each month- we should be able to be saving - we should be able to take as many family vacations as we want- we should be able to do lots of things- but, I always find towards the end of the month, I'm wishing for the beginning of the month to roll around again just to start the routine all over again!!

Now, I have to say, while I don't personally by myself a lot of things like makeup, clothes, magazines, etc. - we do buy a lot for our two teens - nothing over the top, but if they want a book- or two they get it - if they want a few new shirts, they get it- a new video game, they get it - BUT- they are also given an allowance each month and when that started, they were told if they wanted any of the above things, they had to purchase it with their money- well, that's just NOT working out- they spend that money, then want me to still buy all the above stuff and I'm a sucker and give in and they know it!

AND we eat take out food WAY to much- so, I know that is the one area we could really cut back on - but it's HARD for us! They say you can buy a take out pizza from the store for $8 and save money- but we like different things - so I'd have to buy two- so that is $16 - well for a little less than $20 we can go to the local pizza place, get two pizzas and breadsticks made fresh to our liking for just a few more $$'s - to me, it's worth those few extra $'s - and the taste is better! And I always thought Beef Stew was supposed to be something 'cheap' to make- my family LOVES it- but by the time I buy the meat (and I always buy it on sale), the potatos, carrots, onions, etc. - I end up spending at least $25-$30 making the stew - grant it I make a big crock pot of it and we get a couple days out of it plus I normally give some to my parents next door as well- but for me, it's not really a 'cheap' meal lol - it makes me wonder if I'm missing the point of a stew!

So, taking all of this into consideration- I still need a better budget that I can stick to- I know a lot of it is will power- saying I'm going to do something VS actually doing it- so, this month, I'm really going to TRY to budget better - try to make less frequent trips to the stores - because going for Milk and bread always leads to a $50-$100 shopping trip instead of $10 (this goes for when hubby goes too, not just me) - so, I've paid all of our bills, got the basics for groceries, and lots of snacks- paint for our house, etc. - I'm going to try not to spend anything more until next week-- think I'll make it? LOL

I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing - wish me luck and if you have any tips, let me know!!