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

[vampireanneke]

If you have a smart phone, get viggle app, it's free and you can pretend to check in TV shows for points. Those points can be used for things. My co-worker uses his every month for a huluplus subscription, and thus gets along fine without cable.

I love having Tea Partys at my house. We watch dvds and drink tons of tea. Have your guests bring tea sandwhiches, or cookies and your all set. It makes a good social event.

Ebay/craigslist is your friend.

[jackfan2]

Funny you should mention smart phones; i was going to suggest ditching the contract phones completely, that is, if you're at a point in your contract where you can do so. I'm going to part with my iPhone at the end of this year, which is when my 2 years is up. Going to go no-contract

[mijan]

Viggle? Huh... never heard of it. I'll look into it. :D

[apocalypticbob]

Do you have a Costco membership? If not, I do, and I don't at all mind making a run with you if you need bulk items.

Just let me know!

[mijan]

Yep, I have a membership! Although I'm wondering how much money it will really save me in the long run. Of course, I'd love to hang out with you, even if I don't need to make a shopping trip! :D

[macey_muse]

From student time, I've found that eating vegetarian can really cut costs. Also, make up big (as in, absolutely-fill-largest-saucepan) batches of freezable meals can mean more cost-efficient meals - I usually freeze chilli, ratatouille, bolognese sauce, tomato/bean stew, lentil dahl, all in single portions, then reheat and eat over rice. Tinned tomatoes frequently went as cheap as 15p, so they made a great filler. Try to avoid using tinned soups as bases, they're very salty. I also got to know the time that sandwiches / fresh breads / produce would get marked down for being 'old', and would visit the store 30mins after that, to get the best pick, although only if I knew I could use the produce or freeze it straight off. In the winter, I wore layers - I'm talking tights, jeans, floor-length skirt, thick socks (on top of tights with vest, t-shirt, cardigan, hoodie, hat & fingerless gloves. We only turned the heat on four hours a day. If it was particularly bad (and this is Scotland, and our flat had single-glazed windows) I'd wear a hot

[mijan]

I used to do a lot more cooking in bulk to freeze stuff for later, especially chili and stews. Trophy Wife doesn't like that as much, but I'll work on that over the winter more. Right now, our freezer is full of stock that I made, homemade pasta sauce, frozen veggies, and meat that I bought in bulk on sale. But yes, we do a lot of those sorts of things, and cook meals to serve over rice. I even buy rice in 20 pound bags from the Asian food market because it's cheaper.

I don't know if I'll be able to get Trophy Wife to turn down the heat THAT much, though.

[macey_muse]

Yeah, the heat thing is pretty hardcore. My parents used to actually heat the living room by lighting the fire rather than turning on the heating in the house (and this in first-world Britain; that's what you get on a single junior teacher's salary I guess). If you have autonomous control of which rooms get heated, you could try closing some rooms up for the winter, and not heating them. You also save a lot if you improve insulation - thicker curtains, fabric draft excluders under/around the doors.

[mijan]

I grew up using a wood stove instead of the electric heat. However, we don't have a fireplace or wood stove here. We do, however, shut down the heat in rooms we aren't using during the winter.

[tishbing]

You could also coupon. It does work especially when stuff is on clearance. Also, going early in the mornings to the stores is when the meat and day old bread is ready to be tossed so it's clearance marked. You can freeze the meat and it'll keep. Also, you could write articles for constantcontent.com. They're fluff pieces that can take twenty minutes and will sell for a little bit. Articles like "how to tell if she's faking it", "dating tips for men", etc. my bf did those. Currently he's selling baseball cards on eBay and sometimes he'll go yo value village and find china that is worth a fair amount that he can sell it for more.

[mijan]

I definitely clearance-shop, but I don't do coupons as much because they're usually for processed foods. I'll keep an eye out for coupons on stuff we use, though.

I've never heard of constantcontent.com. I'll check it out! Thanks!

[rubymiene]

I second the food from Asian grocery stores. Here, veggies are often half as much at conventional grocery stores. Also, using cash is a good way to spotlight your spending, but I just end up having to hit the ATM a lot because I buy lunch/dinner at work a lot

[mijan]

Let's see