Budgeting and the Seven Ps

The Seven Ps

Prior planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance.

Budgeting

Where to begin?  How much information to share?

Both Mrs ERJ and I will be retired by the end of the summer.  Our "gross" income will be much, much less than it was 18 months ago.  I will share that we fell short of the 80% of pre-retirement income that most financial advisers advise.

We started our family relatively late in life.  We still have two kids in High school.  That makes a difference.

According to the author of Rich on any Income, nearly all budgets are fiction until they are reconciled with several (3-to-6) months of data.

Our current, best fiction is that we will have $1.50 a meal to work with.  That is a very workable number until a kid walks into a restaurant or a fast food barfatorium (henceforth to be known as FFB).  $1.50 will purchase a soft drink.  One meal ordered by a teenager will burn through two days worth grocery budget.  The days of blithely walking into a FFB are over.

Many trips to FFBs were because we found ourselves miles from home with a hungry kid.  A hungry kid is a cranky kid.  Prior planning and preparation can prevent those surprises.  We are no longer affluent enough to use cash as a safety net.  We must rely on our wits and better planning.

Request to the audience

I marvel at the keeping ability of dried dog food.  Are there any cookies that can keep in a snap-top, plastic container in the trunk of a car for a month?  Any other portable food ideas (summer sausage + Ritz crackers) will be much appreciated.