No Limits Ladies.com

My contract gig wraps up (finally) April 30th. Starting May 1st and lasting until the fall, I’ll be concentrating on my upcoming book launch and writing one new novel and two new novellas.

Although the hubby and I invest 100% of my salary (we’re simple burgers and fries type people, no need for a huge salary), we still do a few things to prepare.

Budget Longer Term
Usually we budget on a two week basis matching our pay schedules (every two weeks). During my time off, I draft up a mini budget for the entire duration. There will only be the hubby’s salary so if the roof needs replacing, the car needs huge repairs, and a great investing opp comes up, we’ll need more cash.

That leads me to the next point.

Increase the cash buffer
Lately, because of the good bargains out there (both in the stock market and in the resale goods market), we’ve been flying pretty darn close to the zero excess cash line. Yeah… being a conservative gal, I’m a little nervous about that. The last few weeks, however, we’ve been socking a bit more away… just in case.

Trading Time For Money
We’re not exactly big spenders but during the double income time, we are a little freer with our cash. The meals are more instant than usual. The laundry is dried in the dryer instead of on the line. The hubby eats boxed cereal instant of oatmeal. When we switch over to one income, all that spend happiness switches over also. Is that a bad thing? Actually, a big no. The hubby prefers oatmeal (with raisins and brown sugar – he’s a big kid at heart). Nothing beats the smell of laundry dried on the line. And plunking a roast in the crockpot isn’t exactly the depths of deprivation.
How do we prepare for that? We don’t buy boxed cereal or fabric softener sheets or Hungry Man dinners.

Basically, it is all about planning ahead.