Well to start, I was never very good at budgeting my money back when I was "rich" (working). The money went out as fast as it came in. I did make enough that covering expenses wasn't too hard, so I never worried too much about a budget. Good thing I suppose, as I would've been horrified to know exactly what I spent on fuel, fast food, and magazines.
Fast forward to now, with less resources coming in we have to be more carefull about where we spend it. Our property payment is much less, and our utilities consist of propane for the stove and fridge, Generator fue,l and saw parts to cut firewood. I does feel good to not pay Homer Electric or Enstar(nat gas) anymore.
I suppose the easiest thing about our budget is that if we have no dollars, we don't spend any. There is no utility bill being ran up though. Our single largest "bill" now is gas for the Jeep. We drive 8 miles round trip to town about once a day. Right now that equals about $200 a month. Gas in town recently went down to $4.10 a gallon. Propane is near $5 per gallon. I really need to find a way to cut our fuel costs.
The other big cost we have is going to get groceries. Since our town is only accesible by air or water, we have to take a ferry to Homer to do our shopping. Food is available in town, but the cost reflects our "remote" status. A trip on the ferry is a three day deal. Out on tuesday, thursday, or sunday, one day in town, and return the next. Or one could fly, but that is not in my budget. A typical shopping trip, not including what I buy, will cost me $200-400. Ferry fare, hotel(if it is really cold, or family is with) and fuel add up.
Plans for easing the budget include getting more work (I am a Mechanic), reducing trips to town, reducing Generator time, and renting out the kids for labor time... Well maybe not that last one, they need more training yet:)
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