Budgeting like a Boss.

[mijan]

So... my Trophy Wife and I need to save money. I'm dropping down to part-time while I go to school. School starts on Monday. We're making a list of things that we'll be doing to save money, and I'm going to post them here so that I'm absolutely obligated to follow the list. (Accountability, right

Comments

[avidbeader]

Don't forget any things you can do to bring down utility costs. Turn off those lights. Hang clothes to dry. If your shower water takes a while to heat up, run it in a bucket and pour that into the washing machine as you start a load. Turn that AC up a degree or that heat down a degree. Do you need a landline or all those cable channels? If your companies are like ours, though, with the option to pay a set amount each month and pay the shortage/get the refund back at the end of the year, you won't see those savings until the new cycle.

Another tip for groceries: match manufacturer coupons with things that are on sale for an even bigger discount. If you don't have time to do it yourself, you can spend $40 a year on thegrocerygame.com and they'll match up the coupons to the sales for you.

Good luck with it all!

[mijan]

We really can't hang-dry our clothes. Not where we live. They'd get stolen. Plus, we rent.

We haven't used the AC much since June. We turn off lights. We don't have a land-line phone. We're planning to cut cable. We're switching to Google Fiber's free option as soon as possible.

Most of the items that have coupons are processed foods, and I don't use much of those. We don't drink soda, we don't do pre-packaged snacks or meals, etc. But I'll keep an eye out for that. Thanks for the suggestions!

[avidbeader]

It's true that coupons skew toward the junk food, but there are regularly coupons for staples like flour/sugar and canned/frozen veggies.

[mijan]

I'll keep an eye out for those, then. :)

[mijan]

Sadly, yes. My wife vetoed it. *cries*

[thistlerose]

Instead of buying books, music, and movies, use your public library. *g* I've been trying to be good about this. (If you *must* buy books, BetterWorldBooks.com is my source for cheap used books, and shipping is free.)

You probably know this already, but frozen veggies are about as nutritious as fresh ones, and usually don't cost as much. I buy packages of frozen broccoli, spinach, etc., and just thaw them out when I feel like eating something green.

Good luck! I'm trying to budget as well, though there's no way I could forgo coffee. (I buy tea approximately once a year, and it lasts.) I don't think I could forgo alcohol, though I've taken to drinking one glass of wine, and only on nights when I don't have to work the next day - or when I'm super-stressed. I can stretch a bottle out for several weeks.

[mijan]

I don't buy books, music, or movies because they're too expensive. We have Netflix, and I read things online. If I do need to buy a book or DVD, I go to Half Price Books.

Over the winter, I'll switch more to frozen veggies. Right now, my garden is producing nicely. :D

I have some wine stockpiled. We'll enjoy that slowly over the next few months. ;)

[igrockspock]

I have never saved more money in my life than when I gave up my debit card. It was a real pain in the ass, but using cash forced me to be conscious of how much I spent

[mijan]

I can't give up my debit card, but I'll try to go back to using more cash like I used to.

We couldn't go vegetarian here, but we already eat a veggie-heavy diet, and will cook vegetarian meals quite often. When I buy meat, I look for sales, buy large packages, freeze it in portions, and thaw it out later for cooking.

I go to the Asian grocery stores quite often. Very good prices on a lot of stuff. :D

And yeah, I can't give up socializing. I'll just have to give up on supplying food for everyone. I usually do pot-luck, but I always take it on myself to make a large quantity of food, just in case.

Sharing budgeting tricks is always good. Another one that I've been doing for ages is to keep the temperature on my water heater down lower. Saves a lot of money.

[mijan]

There's a tool library in our neighborhood. I'm going to borrow their tiller at the end of the season. :D

I use craigslist all the time. I buy and sell all sorts of stuff there.

I do try to use the whole plant in most of my cooking, but I'll pay more attention to it.

I make broths all the time. Every time I have bones leftover from something, I make stock.

I make an incredible beef heart pot roast. Very rich broth, very tasty. ;)

Thank you for the suggestions! I'll put them on my list. :D