[speaker001:] do you um have a family budget or how do you work your budgeting
[speaker002:] well for many many years uh my wife and I did have a budget uh we were both working at the time and so forth and um that we had to do that until we finally got the house paid for and and other big bills taken care of uh we have a a budget but not as strict now as we used to because we don't have quite such a tight financial situation
[speaker001:] um-hum yeah
[speaker002:] so it it's uh it's been helpful I mean yes having a budget is very very important and that did get us so that you know the house is paid for and uh other major things were taken care of and now we can relax a little bit more because basically we don't really require as much on a daily or a monthly basis as we did before so we're we don't have to have quite as strict uh a budget as we did
[speaker001:] oh well we don't have a real strict budget um we have a a low budget to work on but we um you know for like groceries we saved up this much per week and then we we just spend about so much we don't
[speaker002:] sure uh-huh
[speaker001:] I I don't know of a a written figure of expenses that we you know keep to or anything but I know that when I go to the grocery store that we always stick within you know five dollars between here and there
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] a certain amount
[speaker002:] I think I've I do that automatically myself I mean I unconsciously uh
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] you know stay in a within a with a certain amount because I I have enough food already stored here that I don't have to make any large purchase at any one time all I normally do now is pick up little things here and there
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] as the salt goes out or we need sugar or something like that
[speaker001:] wow that's great
[speaker002:] yeah we have two freezers and course we had a large garden here that we grow a lot of our own stuff and we freeze a lot of that so a lot of the vegetables are taken care of in our own personal personal storage
[speaker001:] oh oh you guys sound pretty self sufficient
[speaker002:] well we we keep a little note pad on a on our wall when if anything is absolutely out make a note of it and then uh the next time I go to the store why I pick it up and fill it up so it's it's worked very well that way at least that way we you know if each of us finds something is missing
[speaker001:] hm
[speaker002:] uh we put it up uh the other person might not know about it
[speaker001:] yeah well that's a good idea
[speaker002:] that way we can keep up to date
[speaker001:] let's see the the other thing there the topic was talking about was if you if I don't all I can think of is if you don't keep a real real tight budget how do you control expenses but um one another thing that we do is we always fly back to California and Washington each Christmas well not fly back but somehow we get back there
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] and um this year we did it by train because it was the least expensive and
[speaker002:] well actually it's more interesting too if you've got the time
[speaker001:] huh oh yeah and um you know we could go to both places without having to spend so much for plane fare
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] and so um we find that if we're careful with our you know just everyday things like grocery shopping and and gas and entertainment things like that then um somewhere in out in the wash it'll come out that we have enough to get back there you know
[speaker002:] sure well I think we unconsciously do the same thing excuse me my throat's not as clear today as it should be
[speaker001:] uh-huh that's right
[speaker002:] uh we are uh going to be traveling to Europe with a choral we sing with this so called Pennsylvania Choral and we make a two weeks
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] tour of of uh foreign countries and of course that costs money so we uh each of us watches the funds that we spend and make sure that that we gather together over a period a time enough money to to make this trip so that that is another way of uh budgeting
[speaker001:] uh-huh that's right
[speaker002:] and I think we just sort of unconsciously do it we uh just live a normal life but we don't throw any money away particularly we save it for this trip which is uh always very very nice
[speaker001:] yeah well whenever I don't know if this is part of the topic but whenever I find you know a dime or something on the ground I will I'll probably pick it up
[speaker002:] I do the same thing I have a whole pile of those things that I have found by parking meter
[speaker001:] uh-huh yeah I have a special little jar that I keep all the money I found in count it up at the end of the year something
[speaker002:] yeah yeah
[speaker001:] but yeah
[speaker002:] well let's face it then when we talking budget it is important to to have a budget and uh I I keep track of mine on a more rough basis now by just watching the level of my checking checking account and I have a money market account also
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and uh I keep those levels up above a certain minimum and I'm always trying to