Tag: Planning ahead

Kendall: Preparing for Guests

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From May of 2021 to January of 2022, we hosted 16 people in total at our home (one of those 16 visited twice totaling about 2.5 months). As a hostess, I have nailed down the art of preparing for people. With warmer months fast approaching and the lifting of pandemic restrictions, I expect many of you will be together for the first time in a long while. I also expect that you may feel a bit rusty on what to prep for. Luckily, my OCD tendencies have your back. Here is a list of things I run through when preparing for guests in my home.

Food:
– First, determine if any visitors have food allergies or sensitives. This may impact your budget.
– Set a budget (take in to consideration the length of visit, number of people, dietary restrictions, and how many meals per day you will be responsible for) and review it with your partner or roommate.
– Meal plan. Once you know the meals you will need to provide, plan them out! This helps with not only staying in budget but giving you a fairly definitive grocery list. Don’t forget to write your meals down so that you don’t forget why you put a particular item on your grocery list.
– Make a grocery list. Consider your meal plan, snacks, and a few contingencies.
– Split up your grocery list. Don’t shop for everything in one place. I know it’s really easy to just try and get everything from Costco… and you might be right! But what I have found is that even with large parties of people, products from Costco can be wasted or under utilized. I like to buy certain items from Costco, Trader Joe’s, and the local Hannaford or Shaw’s Supermarket. It’s a lot of shopping but honestly is worth it because I know I am making the most financially sound decisions. This can get quickly out of hand if you try and stick to one stop shopping. While the idea of one stop shopping is sexy, it’s also a marketing tactic.
– If shopping in advance, freeze certain products like meat. Find a way to label it all so that you don’t forget what you have/ can’t recognize an item through the haze of freezer things.

House:
Welp, if you know me you know that I have an unnatural compulsion to have a clean home. And, it is… it’s always clean; always ready to house people or entertain. But if you aren’t me (which hopefully you are not), you need to clean your house. I don’t care if you live in an apartment, condo, or sprawling estate. Make sure your home is ready to welcome people. It might take some extra prep to sit down and clean up but just do it. No one likes walking into a mess. For me, I make a list (surprise, surprise) of things that need to get done. Do guest bed sheets need to be washed? Guest towels? Inflatable mattresses blown up? Once your friends or family have arrived, I highly suggest maintaining the cleanliness of their bathrooms or any shared bathrooms. There are a lot of germs floating around these days and bathrooms house a lot. Look for daily cleaners that you can just spray and leave. Staying on top of it makes everything a lot less work for you when you are cleaning up after your guests depart.

Activities:
Skiing? Hiking? Lounging? Make sure to mention to your guests things that they should bring to make any activities you have planned possible. For example, if your guests want to ski, make sure they know to bring warm clothes. Find rental spots in advance so that you know where they can call to reserve equipment/make a rental appointment for said equipment. Trying to find that stuff out on the fly can waste a lot of time. And then, what’s the point? As we head into warmer days, our pool will be opening so I make sure to tell all summer guests to bring a swim suit. I then prep all of the swim towels (cheap at Costco and Target). Headed to the beach? Make sure you have a beach bag and a cooler prepped and ready. Have sunscreen for all to share in case your guests forgot!

General Entertaining:
This is my gas and booze spiel. Considering the state of gas prices and the predictions for the foreseeable future, budget OR plan for gas to cost more. Don’t overlook this. To fill up my car is now about $70-$85 dollars. I have no tips for you here but want to encourage you to THINK about it. And now, for booze. Booze can be an expensive part of entertaining. Some ways I have found to keep it simple is to have main staple alcohols like vodka or rum. From there, some tonic and citrus, of course. If you have a summer guest, have a themed cocktail or two that is easy to whip up and doesn’t require any speciality ingredients or liqueurs… that can add up- trust me. Or just have some beer in the fridge. Keep things simple. If your guests want something, head to the store together so that they can purchase what they want. And while you are out, fill up the car… just in case.

In the upcoming month we have one visitor here for two weeks and potentially another here for three weeks. I am actually doing ALL of the above to make sure I don’t miss anything. We often have visitors because our families don’t live nearby! They hail from Seattle or Houston and with a toddler and being pregnant, it’s just easier if people come to us. Sometimes though, it can also be tough. If you missed the news: I am pregnant with baby #2. I am now in my third trimester. I am big. I am tired. I am swollen. Planning ahead IS THE way to keep things simple not just on me from a planning standpoint but from a physical one as well. I am limited in how long I am on my feet. Some days, I am good. Some days, my feet are so swollen and my pelvis is so achey that I am off my feet by 5:30 pm. I am planning for all of this so that everything goes smoothly. Normally, my husband would jump in to help and takeover beautifully BUT right now he is not only working but doing grad school in the evenings. We just have a lot on our plates. So we plan for it together. You need to think the same way. What’s going on with work? Are you going to be home? Can you take time off? Do you have someone to help and split all the things up with? Or are you solo? Be realistic. I know lots of people want to visit us after our new baby is born. I’ve said no for the first month and half after. It’s not because I don’t love people or want them to meet the baby. It’s because we will have a whole new dynamic to adjust to. It’s because I want to be able to breastfeed freely without covering up. I want my husband to be able to be on paternity leave and finish his final grad school class so that after we can freely entertain together. I want to focus on myself, my body, and my family- selfish? Probably. Needed? Very. Postpartum is tough and I learned the first time that I have to take care of myself before I start worrying about others or else I can’t be a decent mom. I get distracted. It’s my own failing but it’s one I recognize I have. It’s also why sticking to the above lists and considerations are so important! I don’t want to let any guests down because we didn’t plan for it. I always want a guest to leave feeling refreshed and happy!

As we emerge from our homes and into the world, I want to say welcome back! I hope this is the start of not being limited or afraid of the pandemic. I hope this sticks. When you are hosting or visiting your loved ones in the coming months, don’t take it for granted. Who really cares what you eat or do? Sometimes it’s just being together that counts. I think that’s something we can all agree on. Stay safe.

Next week? Tips on being a great house guest!

Photo by Vie Studio on Pexels.com

Guest Blogger Brianne On 5 Budget Tips: Preparing For Your Future

by thesaltyexchangeLeave a Comment on Guest Blogger Brianne On 5 Budget Tips: Preparing For Your Future
Guest Blogger Brianne On 5 Budget Tips: Preparing For Your Future

I am sitting in my cubicle typing away on the black keys when I get a text from my Mom. Trouble at home. It is only my first week on the job, my first real I-just-graduated-from-college job. I read her text, something is wrong. I respond. They haven’t given me much work to do yet. They just have me reading a 300 page document for eight hours. I continue texting with my mom, she wonders how I am doing. My computer beeps at me. I have a new e-mail. From the girl that sits on the other side of the cube from me. “Maybe you should find something better to do than texting.” I am instantly enraged. I click reply. I have no words. Instead I get up, walk around the grey walls and confront her to her face.  “Excuse me, is there a problem?” I cried more in those first 6 months on the job than I even remember crying before.  

Is this the way work is supposed to be? Sitting in a cubicle reading something that’s clearly busy work for eight hours of my life and apparently I don’t even have the freedom to text my own mother. So much for having freedom. So much for being human.  

No, this is not acceptable.

I immediately started plotting for something different, but it was two years before I reached my breaking point. 

When I started looking seriously at changing jobs, the biggest fear I faced is whether the next one would be better or worse. My budget is what saved me, it gave me the courage to know that no matter what happened I would be okay. I had enough in the bank that I didn’t have to put up with being treated like a prisoner. My budget was the soft cushion for my fear to land and I was able to leave that awful job and find one where I have freedom, respect and get paid a lot more money.

Budgeting is where our souls meet the surface. It is how we take care of ourselves. Our financial life gives us freedom, confidence, options, leverage and flexibility to create a life we love. Where our souls can swim free. Where we can be human.  

  1. Budget with Purpose

The first step is to get clarity on why we want to create our budget. We want to identify that deeper meaning, so we can create a budget that is valuable to us. Some questions to ask to get the wheels turning:

  • What makes you forget to eat and forget to pee?
  • Where do you picture yourself five years from now, how do you want your life to be different?
  • If your doctor called and gave you one week to live, what would you regret not doing the most?  What did you not get to do?  Who did you not get to be?  
  1. Create a System

Our budgets are not a fix it and forget it type of activity. They need daily love and attention from us if we want them to flourish. Tracking expenses daily is one of the most powerful ways to reach your budget goals. And when it’s done daily it only takes about five minutes.  

  • What is part of your daily routine that you could add tracking your expenses into?  

I like to do mine on my morning break at work.

You are putting that loving energy into yourself by taking care of your spending habits. It is like exfoliating your skin when you are in the shower. You give it a quick brush and make sure everything feels right.

  1. Simple Living

It is not about spending less money; it is about spending all our money on the things we value most highly in life. Simple living will also require that we set financial boundaries for ourselves. Our values will differ from the values of our friends and family and they may not necessarily understand our budgeting goals. This is where we need to get a little tough sometimes. Like a mama bear protecting her cubs, we protect our own goals and values. You may hear yourself saying something like “We can’t go this weekend, we are staying home and working around the house.” Or “We would love to, but we just can’t make it this time.”  

  • What is one boundary you know you need to be better at setting around your finances?

The stronger and deeper your connection to your values and your budget, the easier it will be to communicate your boundaries.

  1. Create a Zero-Based Budget

I cannot say enough about zero-based budgeting. This essentially means that each month we make a plan for every dollar. It can feel overwhelming when we are creating our first zero-based budget but it becomes easy once we have our system in place and we are looking at our budget regularly. To create a zero-based budget you start with your monthly income and then subtract out all of your debt payments, bills, expenses and then allocate whatever is left into your sinking funds.  

  • Have you used a zero-based budget? Has it worked for you?

There are a ton of printables out there that will help you do this or check out the TrailBound Financial Life Planning Workbook here that will help you get clear on your goals and values, identify your budget purpose and walk you through setting up your zero-based budget.

  1. Regular Reviews

At the end of each month we will need to close out our budget. This means we record all the actual expenses for the month (whereas at the beginning of the month we wrote down the budgeted amounts). We compare the actual amounts to the budget and see where we were over or under from our budget.  

This is also when we get to see how much we can put into our sinking funds from the month.  I love the feeling of seeing how much money I am saving towards my goals. It gives my life purpose and makes me feel excited about budgeting for the next month.  

  • What budget categories did you overspend in last month?  What categories did you underspend in?  
  • How would you like to improve your budget for next month?

The review will also help us understand our spending habits better so we can keep improving our budgeting each month.

It is the daily action we take to achieve our goals that frees our hearts to follow what we most desire in life.  It will be scary, but when we take it one day at a time and have patience and love for ourselves, we can accomplish anything!

Brianne is not only a friend of Shari’s, she is also a CPA, life coach, full-time accountant, and the owner of TrailBound Financial (follow her on instagram @trailboundfinacial). Her dedication to living life to the fullest and sharing her knowledge of finances has sparked her latest creation; the TrailBound Financial Life Planning Workbook (autumn edition here). We appreciate her excitement to guest-blog and share some of her budgeting tips with us!