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

[hippiegal22]

-Dollar Store
-Using the bus for traveling across the city instead of driving.
-Start buying/making holiday presents early.
-City Market is a great way to get fruits/veggies cheap.

There's many websites for frugal living that has lots of other great ideas.

[dracavia]

You do have to watch it with the dollar stores though, because there are some things (like cleaning products for example) that may actually get rounded up at their shops. That's where having a list handy (link in your wallet) of common staples you use and their 'normal' price is good, you can compare it to the dollar store or a sale price and see if you really are saving anything.

[mijan]

I'm kinda uneasy about the Dollar Store. What's actually good to buy there?

The bus around here isn't reliable and doesn't fit my commuting and class schedule. Also, it's hard to carry groceries back when you're buying 50-pound bags of dog food.

[brynnh87]

The first things we did when financial situation changed drastically several years ago: Cut cable channels, ditch landline, carpool/walk whenever possible, freeze leftovers (we actually joined up with several other families and swapped leftovers...gives everyone a change in meals but takes advantage of the 'cooking in bulk' idea), use thrift stores when possible, drastically cut clothing budget (mostly the teens were the culprits here. Mine was already pretty cut), cut back on utility usage. I'm sure there were other things but I can't think of them right now. We cut expenditures by about 1/3.

[mijan]

We already do a few of those things

[brynnh87]

I'm glad I could help...if only a little bit. Yeah, we loved the swapping thing. Got to taste all sorts of food I didn't know how to make...got a lot of new recipes too.

[dracavia]

Looks like you've gotten lots of good suggestions! So I'm just going to add one more to the list since I don't see that anyone else has mentioned it.

Have you heard of Freecycle before? http://www.freecycle.org/ hosts a directory of a network of local groups that you can join where people post up items they don't need any longer that others can have for free. I belonged to a group both when I lived in Niagara Falls and now over here in Glasgow, and it really can be very handy. Obviously the quality and content of the group will depend on how many people in your area belong, and what goods they have to distribute, but I find it's worth watching the digests of posts (many of the groups are run through yahoo groups) for useful items. I've both given and received items via Freecycle. You'll find just about anything on there, from fish tanks to cordless phones, furniture (your table and chairs made me think of this) to garden supplies.

[mijan]

Oh yes! I've heard of Freecycle, but I hadn't checked them out yet. Thank you!

[dracavia]

Happy to help! :D

[kel_1970]

That's a great list! I should follow the items that are applicable to me (like, for Pete's sake, not buying fabric).

And I missed your birthday while I was off-line for a while (after moving from Nasty Temporary Apartment to Money Pit Fixer-Upper). Happy Birthday!