Most will read this title and wonder how this has
anything to do with a home budget. But what if; this has everything to do with
managing a home budget?
Side Effects of Shopping
Take a moment to look around your house and you’ll probably find lots of products never used. How many were bought
as "necessity" or "need" and end up being trashed? How many
hoard products they will never use?
There are five reasons Psychology Today teaches us about
our shopping habits. To understand budgeting money; we must first understand
what type of shopper we become when we have money in our hands.
Loving Shopping
- Enormous amount of pleasure from acquiring something new.
The Loss Aversion
Switch - Describes our concern to avoid feeling bad in the future. Add
in a discount and we assume it won’t last forever and our focus switches to fear
we’ll miss out on a deal.
Twisted Heuristics
- Retailers take advantage of this by packaging up products as bulk buys, or
they include ‘free’ extras.
The Desire to Save
- Many have a desire to save. Retailers and manufacturers play this by telling
us money could be saved by buying and using their product.
Rose Tinted Lenses
- We routinely delude ourselves.
The list is accurate of how the majority spends money. If
we are are not being influenced by marketers and retail industry than we are
fighting our own emotional impulses and compulsive desires to put want before need.
How many do a physical count inventory of home items
before going shopping? How many make a million little trips to stock the fridge
and cabinets instead? How much time, gas, and money is unaccounted and wasted
on these trips to the store repeatedly to get toilet paper or soap or other daily need
items? What about pet supplies? How much time is wasted in a vehicle to
increase cost of gasoline to do these million little trips? How much time and
money could be saved and budgeted wisely by having processes to take care of
it all?
Companies use different techniques of Inventory Control
Systems. Your Article Library teaches about control that companies use of their inventory and replenish processes. Smriti Chand presents a business language article which could be difficult to understand for those who never experienced inventory control before. However, this is worth the
read to gain insight into how to create a home inventory system; based upon
business model, to learn how to control expenses by decreasing the home budget
using inventory control and replenishment processes that are effective. If business prosper by decreasing costs using inventory control and replenishment processes; than why don't we do this in our homes to buy needs versus wants responsibly?
I have known many who use different methods of inventory control and replenishment in their homes. Some budget their inventory monthly,
weekly, biweekly, and those who ran out of necessities would only go when they needed it.
Each method will have flaws, but it is better to have a plan to prevent larger and more costly errors of unfavorable consequences.When unexpected guests show up to your home, the toilet
paper may not last as long as having no guests would. It’s the little things to
consider for budgeting extra inventory to accommodate guests that will present the
biggest issues when creating inventory budget and control. There will be times of income hardships making
it difficult to budget inventory of home needs too. It can be done, even when
facing obstacles.
The internet has resourceful and helpful information for
those with the slimmest of budgets to those of the wealthiest. The more we model
our home budgets as a business budget; the more we stay in control
of the controllable and are prepared for the uncontrollable. It takes work to
get started and is worth the effort.
Your answers to these below questions will guide you
toward creating an inventory action plan. Your preferences of controlling
inventory will help you budget wiser and create balance for the supplies and
demands of residential replenishment.Investing time to do this will save money.
How to Budget Home Inventory
- What is the income cycle? Monthly? Weekly? Biweekly? Annually?
- What free time can be consistently devoted to inventory shopping? Weekends? Monday? Friday?
- Can you separate your grocery shopping trips from your household products shopping to create two separate trips? Example: Buy toilet paper/shampoo/soap/cleaning products and materials in one trip. Buy groceries in one trip. By separating both trips, greater focus can be emphasized on each inventory specialty. It will not be so overwhelming to do in one trip either. This mission will help prioritize and save money and time with two trips, instead of one.
- Can you separate your leisure shopping from your necessities shopping? Leisure shopping and necessity shopping does not work financially mature together. Impulsiveness and responsibility will always fight against one another. Impulsive shopping for luxuries will take over the responsible shopping. This leads to items getting taken off the list to fulfill personal desire before personal need.
- Can you create a shopping list and buy only the items on this list? Shopping lists do require discipline to focus and control money that is spent.
- Can you comparison shop items that are cheaper at one store versus another? Store options can be increased when focusing on the purpose of the shopping trip. This will help increase money savings too.
If you focus on grocery replenishment only, you can
create menus for the week or the month to help control costs also. By grocery
shopping only, you will be able to comparison shop and go to new stores to be
able to get the best deal on the items you regularly use. In focusing only on necessity shopping, the same
methods can be used and rewards are the same.
Creating a line of travel when composing a store
inventory list can help save time and decrease costs. Imagine store A, B, C, and D are
ten miles apart and located at different sides of the town. Start
at the furthest of distance and work your way back staying in the line of
travel. Most rarely consider the gas or transportation costs when buying home necessities and groceries. But we should to control our money.
It is easy to control inventory on the job. Most
companies have systems in place that offer checks and balances with
replenishment cycles that are cost effective, products to meet supply and
demand, and consistency that produces quality service by having items available to
customers' needs or wants.
Our homes should always have the necessities in stock before we purchase items for our wants. Money is wisely spent when we calculate our pennies before we consider our dollars. By looking at the ways we can save pennies and time; we will produce more dollars.
Inventory control and replenishment processes can help
your home become more functional, organized, and decrease stresses. An action plan
works to benefit family members and guests. This new process can be an
adjustment period when changing the old ways of doing business at home, but these
positive changes are worth any temporary headaches or discomforts by focusing on needs only.
In creating a menu for groceries and buying only the necessities
needed, one is less likely to impulsively spend money at the store if an item
is not on the list too. We would not go buy a home or vehicle or a large
expensive item impulsively. Therefore, we should not take small purchase items
so lightly either. The less we are aware to the pennies we spend and how we
spend them; the harsher our consequences will become when we have spent our necessity
money on items of want, instead of, items of needs.
Family members, employers, or no one else should ever
have to pay for the necessities of another; when they waste, spend unwisely;
and fail to control their budget responsibly. If a person ask you to borrow
toilet paper or a dozen of eggs; ask them where did they spend their money and
why do they fail to budget and inventory their money more wisely. Assist them
in their need once. Then teach them how to put priorities of their money first, and luxuries
second. By teaching others how to do for self through mature budgets , instead of, being their problem
solver and personal loan department. Stresses related to money in families and
friends will decrease when assisting once and teaching them new skills. They will either listen or move on to others who allow them to spend immaturely and impulsively. No one should ever burden another to be their continual problem solver and financial resource. Helping is one thing, but to constantly enable is to be the source of their problems too. Teaching others how to do for self is the best way to control money. Live with the money you have. Not a lifestyle you cannot afford.
