There are plenty of demands involved with running a family. You need to make sure you get the kids to school on time, provide them with support and healthy meals, clean the home, and even go to work every day. With so much on your plate, it's easy to see why so many people have trouble finding the time to create a household budget. However, regardless of what kind of income you have, it's important to look at your household finances with care, because that's the only reasonable way to control them.

Creating a great family budget takes time, so before you start on the steps we outline in this article, make sure that you set aside a few hours on a day where you don't have any pressing obligations to deal with. Decide on what kind of goal you want to accomplish, and work from there.

1. Choose your Preferred Budgeting Style

The first step in launching a successful budget is figuring out how you're going to track your expenses. A pen and piece of paper can be just as effective as an app or online tool for some people. However, it's worth noting that software can help to reduce the number of errors you're likely to encounter when you're working on your budget. If paper feels better to you, remember that an accounting ledger doesn't cost much, and it comes with all the segments you need to organise your money.

On the other hand, if you're a digital nomad, a budgeting software tool like Mint might be the best solution, as it allows you to track your expenses in digital format and add it all up at the end of each month.

2. Don't Miss Anything Out

Sometimes, it's hard to face the truth when you have problems with your spending habits. However, it's important to make sure that you bring everything to the table when considering your finances. Everything that shows your incoming and outgoing cash, such as your bank statements and receipts, has a place on your budget strategy. Separate everything into two categories for incoming and outgoing expenses, then work from there.

Remember, your aim here shouldn't be to cut out all the outgoing expenses that aren't essential. If you enjoy things like going to the gym or watching Netflix, you'll need to think about where you can compromise to make certain expenses more manageable.

3. Control Discretionary Spending Realistically

Generally, the largest portion of your outgoing money each month should go towards bills. However, if you have an issue with overspending on luxury items like coffees away from home and nights out with your friends, then you might find that the discretionary portion of your spending starts to build up dramatically. A few pounds on movie tickets and take away a month quickly adds up.

When the numbers are laid out in front of you in black and white, it's easier to come to terms with what you're really spending - although you might not like the numbers. If you're not happy, a good way to control your discretionary spending is to stop using your credit or debit card and start using the "envelope" method instead. The money you allocate for expenses every month goes into the envelope and you stick to that number no matter what.

4. Work on Getting Rid of Debt

Debt reduction might be one of the major goals of your budgeting activities, but it should also be something that you're thinking about when you're trying to cut costs too. After all, the more you're spending out on interest each month, the less you'll have to spend on other important things - or save towards your future.

Check with your creditors to make sure that you're getting the most out of your repayments and consider speaking to a loan expert about how you can manage your costs. For instance, you might find that it's a good idea to consolidate some of your existing debt into another personal loan with a lower interest rate.

5. Commit Yourself to Your Goals

Finally, while budgeting might be simple enough on the surface, it's rarely as easy as it seems. In simple terms, a good budget starts with knowing what you earn, and understanding how much you spend. Of course, what makes it complicated is the fact that you need to decide where you're going to cut back and divert your spending.

Even if you put a budget carefully into place, there's a chance that you could encounter an unexpected expense that takes you off track. Don't let little hurdles get in the way of your overall goals. If things go wrong, pick yourself up and start again. Don't lose hope.

The garden shed is no longer just a place for spiders to gather and your lawnmower to reside. It may be a humble building of ship lapped timber, but it can be transformed from ordinary to extraordinary with these fantastic ideas.

Shed to GARDEN DINING ROOM

Seriously, how lovely would it be on a hot summer’s day or a cool autumn evening to enjoy an evening meal or an evening of socialising in a summerhouse?

But, take a look at online prices and you will see that summerhouses come at a price. If you have hundreds to spend then go for it but if money is tight, stick with a decent sized garden shed and make it into a fantastic summerhouse.

You may not have a huge expanse of glass but choose a shed with double doors and you have an expanse of wide open space from which to enjoy the garden.

As well as perusing garden dining sets from Rattan Direct, consider adding a few accessories such as solar lighting, bunting and a few cushions and throws to give it a homely feel.

At the upper end of the scale, you can make it into an even cosier retreat by insulating the shed and boarding the walls and roof with MDF boards. Paint white and decorate with bunting for a modern, fresh finish.

Shed to WINTER RETREAT

Sheds can be incredibly well-made. In the higher price bracket will be garden sheds made from ship lapped timber – this is the way in which the cross planks are fitted together overlapping each other slightly – and from pressure treated timber too.

This type of shed tends to last much longer than a cheaper version, so it is worth buying a good quality shed over an inferior quality summerhouse.

And because the structure is so strong, you can make alterations without too much of a problem.

Winter is not a season that we associate with sitting in the garden but with a log burner in a shed, you can enjoy the winter landscape!

Choose a small log burner and make sure that the flue is fitted correctly – probably best to get someone qualified to do this for you – and then position two armchairs or a sofa, if it will fit, in your shed. Enjoy the flickering flames and relax, and take a good book or why not have a snooze?

Shed to GYM

Of course, not everyone used their garden shed in the same way and so if you are stuck for space, you may find that this humble garden building can be transformed into something really useful.

Find a new home for the lawnmower and convert your shed into a workout space. Many garden shed companies create buildings for all kinds of purposes and a garden gym is just one.

If you are updating your current shed, you need to make sure the foundations on which it sits, and the floor are strong enough to take the weight of gym machines and the extra ‘bounce’ that comes with exercising.

Or, if Pilates or Tai Chi are more your thing, empty the shed, give it a really good clean, insulate the floor and lay a top layer of flooring like a quality lino or laminate and you have your own workout area, complete with a view of your delightful garden.

Shed to OFFICE

Flexible working and home working are on the increase, with more of us refusing to run the gauntlet of the early morning and evening commute to labor from 9 to 5.

However, working from home presents a few difficulties that need to be resolved: lack of space being the most prominent concern.

And the solution could be a room in the garden.

However, out of all the ideas, it is not the cheapest and also takes the longest to create;

1. Check the structure of the garden shed, if sound you can continue; if not replace with a new garden shed
2. Employ a qualified electrician to ‘plumb in’ mains electricity from your home – extension cables and leads are not safe!
3. Fix up the Wi-Fi connection – you might need an extension from your router (your sparky could help with this)
4. Insulate the walls, floor and roof
5. Fix up MDF boards to act as walls and ceiling
6. Fit sturdy locks on doors and windows
7. Decorate and accessorize
8. Move into your new garden office!

How could you put your garden shed to better use?

Rattan Direct is an online supplier of high-quality garden and conservatory furniture, perfect form turning your shed into a comfy garden room.

Summer is in full swing already at our house and that means I've been looking for Mary's fifth grade curriculum for next year. Over the past few weeks, I've been checking out the Indigo Level of Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum from Home School Navigator.

As Mary is getting into higher grades, I want to make sure we focus on her Reading and Language Arts a lot. Those are the subjects she really excels well in so I want her to get the most out of it.

Homeschool Navigator is an amazing online program that teaches reading, writing, grammar, word study, and vocabulary. The entire Language Arts and Reading program is online and uses a 36 week schedule to keep you on track with everything.

Another wonderful resource from Homeschool Navigator is they also keep an online portfolio where you can upload your child's finished assignments if you want. If you choose not to upload them, you can mark the lessons finished yourself manually as well.

The Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum is geared mostly for elementary age children and they have a helpful color coded system to see what level might work best for you. The six levels are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo. Other then the levels having a typical grade assigned to them, they also have how well of a reader your child is too for them. Mary is in the Indigo level which is the highest level they offer. According to their site, Indigo is best for fifth grade and up or for children who can read chapter books independently.

Using the Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum is super easy. When you login to your account, it will take you to the schedule for your level. Just click the week you are on and the lesson and everything comes right up for you. It honestly doesn't take a lot of planning at all other than getting the books you need and printing worksheets.

Each day you have a daily Reading, Writing, and Word Study Lesson Plan which is very easy to follow. From what I've seen on the Indigo level, they like to use picture books to help understand certain concepts. But other than using picture books to learn, they also have chapter books during the year that the kids will read. The first one for the Indigo level is Holes and for these books, they also have Interactive Notebooks that you can use.

During the 36 weeks, you'll also have 60 instructional videos that are in your lessons, a word study program that lets you make certain words to hang on the wall or make games with, a monthly checklist to help you keep track, and downloadable games too.

The Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum offers a one year subscription for each level of their program. You can enroll one or more kids and you can keep track of all of them at once too. This is perfect for big families since you can see each of your kids' levels all on the same account.

If you're looking for a great Reading and Language Arts Curriculum that has everything included, make sure you check out the Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum.

And check out the other Review Crew's reviews below!

Last month I shared about my April 2018 Smile Create Repeat Subscription box and this month I'm unboxing the May 2018 box! This month, the box is based on block printing and I had never tried it before. Basically it's like making a rubber stamp so I was intrigued on how to do it.

Of course I knew I wanted to make a bird but I did have to look up some examples so I knew how to cut one out. When you're cutting a figure out, sometimes you have to carve it in a different way than letters so looking at pictures really helped me.

For my block art, I made a penguin so make sure to check out my unboxing video below to see what came in my box and the stamp I made!


 

Like everyone knows, I'm an avid birdwatcher. I love the watch all the birds in my yard, and I get a lot of different kids since I'm out in the woods.

The other day I was outside with my camera and I spotted a male and female house finch. I assumed they were a mated pair because they were always flying together.

The next day, I heard chirping near my front porch and I saw the female going back and forth into my hanging ferns.


I didn't want to disturb her so I took pictures through the window. It wasn't until I took a closer look at the plant did I see she was making a nest!

And then this morning, we had two beautiful speckled eggs!


Just look how perfect her little nest is! I am super excited, especially as a birdwatcher that I will get to see these little babies right on my porch!

I will keep updating on our House Finch eggs, especially when they hatch!