The Downsized Budget: How and Where to Cut Back
The Downsized Budget: How and Where to Cut Back is a series of practical household budget-cutting tips aimed at southeast Michigan families who are losing jobs, dealing with lengthy layoffs, or otherwise have less money to live on than they used to.
If you are one of my national readers and the local examples I share don’t pertain to your own community, then use them as ideas as to what to look for in your hometowns.
When do you start on your Downsized Budget plan? You start it as soon as you think your job situation is getting iffy. Don’t wait until that last paycheck arrives. Many of the steps I outline for working class and middle-class families will need an investment of time and / or money up front to see savings later. You’ll find a detailed analysis on how that works at There’s no quick fix for a downsized income.
I used the Crown Financial Ministries household budget program as my outline for this series. I became familiar with the CFM program in 1990 when I became a frequent listener of the “Money Matters” financial show hosted by the now-late Larry Burkett on an Ohio radio station.
I like the Crown program because it gives spending recommendations on budget categories, but is flexible enough to be adapted to a variety of family circumstances. Many of the basic tools and concepts can be found for free on line, so you don’t need an expensive kit to get started. But classes and materials are certainly available if you wish to follow up.
CFM is active in Eastern Michigan with partner churches in Monroe, Milan, Detroit, Downriver and Ann Arbor. You can also find some of the program’s books in the collection of the Monroe County Library System.
If you’re wondering how “real numbers” for a local family would look on the CFM budget recommendations, go to one of my post Monroe County median income: what can I spend on what?
You don’t have use, or even be familiar with, the program to appreciate the collection of money-saving tips I have sorted into the CFM household budget categories:
- Tithing and charity.
- Housing and utility expenses.
- Grocery expenses.
- Autos and transportation expenses.
- Insurance expenses.
- Dealing with debt.
- Entertainment and recreation.
- Clothing expenses.
- Savings.
- Medical expenses.
- Investments.
- School and child care.
- Miscellaneous expenses.
This series was written in late 2008. You can find the more recent tips on various topics in my archives on the category list to the left of this site.
Are you looking for a list of common household budget items that should be included in the Crown outline or another budget system? I’ve compiled such a list.
Updated Dec. 30, 2009.