Tips for Saving Money, Cutting Expenses, etc.

[texas*princess]

A few things I do:

* Every paycheck, I put away $75 in a separate account for Christmas gifts / holiday travel. That way, when the holidays roll around, I don't have to worry about finding $300 for airplane tickets and money for gifts.

* Make automatic transfers every 2 wks to a savings account away from my normal bank - this helped me build my emergency money. Ideally you should be saving 10-15% of your income - whether that be your 401K, emergency fund, saving for a car/house down payment, or a combination of them. Most people don't ever stick to budgets and won't save money if it takes EFFORT. If you make the withdrawals automatic, you don't have to think about saving money - it just happens.

* Don't use credit cards if you can't pay the balance off in full every month. Finance charges are invisible money suckers!

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by WVU alpha phi

Good point! I use my student ID still for discounts at the movies and offer my monthly tanning package.

Yup yup. I just had a fantabulous Moe's dinner and even saved half my food for lunch tomorrow. 2 meals worth for $5. I also get an SD at my hair salon. I usually only go every couple months for a relaxer because I've learned the value of DIY maintenance. I do my own hair and nails.

I cycle out clothes--when the seasons change, I'll put my clothes in a trunk and everything in the trunk comes back out so my wardrobe keeps refreshing itself without my having to buy anything.

I also have a huge bag of clothes I was going to donate, but I just saw a sign in front of Plato's Closet that they are "now buying." A lot of my clothes are stuff that are in nice condition but I either no longer want or they no longer fit. I figure I could make a little money off them and what doesn't sell can still be donated.

[oncegreek]

The ninety nine cents only store now carries groceries, and produce. You can get bags of lettuce, tomatoes, all sorts of produce for under a buck. Just get there early, before everything is picked over. The .99 sells tons of other stuff, too. Between discount stores and Trader Joe's, I manage to completely avoid the supermarket.

[KSUViolet06]

I'm definitely cooking more instead of going out to eat.

[amanda6035]

Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University changed my life. I graduated from the 13 week course this past Sunday. I look at money so differently now. I cut coupons, I have a written budget, and I dont use credit cards anymore. We use cash for everything, including gas (yes, it means walking inside to prepay gas instead of swiping the card - but it works). We are following the "envelope" system and once the money in teh envelope is gone, we're SOL until the next payday and the next allotment of money for that type of item. We use 3 envelopes: entertainment, groceries and gas. Cash "hurts" to spend, so it makes you more aware of how much you are spending.

I buy stuff in bulk at Sams Club (only because there is no Costco or BJs in this silly town), and I've started reading the drug store circulars each week to see what the prices on our normal toiletries are there, I used to NEVER shop at drug stores, and for the most part, I only get a few things that are on a super sale. I usually get generic rather than name brand, unless I have coupons which make the name brand cheaper.

My husband is still not working. We moved back in October for me to start the job of my dreams, and i LOVE it. However, the economy is so bad, he cant even get a part time job delivering pizzas right now. The good thing is, the course taught us how to budget, and we're able to easily live on my income right now (which would not have been possible a year ago) which means when he DOES finally get a job - whenever that mgiht be, it's going to be extra money to pay down our debt, and then maybe we can finally start house hunting.


some websites to check out:
www.couponmom.com
www.thecouponclippers.com
www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com
www.daveramsey.com

[Munchkin03]

Has anyone noticed that people are focusing on their health a lot more now than they did a year ago? I've always been a gym geek, but now my friends are focusing on home-cooked meals (since you can control the salt, sugar, and fat you take in), working out, and not drinking as much.

I don't know how much of it's the economy, and how much of it's just us growing up and realizing that the midsection fluff does not go away so easily now!

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I don't know how much of it's the economy, and how much of it's just us growing up and realizing that the midsection fluff does not go away so easily now!

Word. I don't know how it is with you, but it used to take like a week at the gym to get rid of the midsection fluff caused by a couple of weeks of drinking and eating goodies. Now it takes like 3 weeks of eating better AND going to the gym simultaneously. Crazy.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Word. I don't know how it is with you, but it used to take like a week at the gym to get rid of the midsection fluff caused by a couple of weeks of drinking and eating goodies. Now it takes like 3 weeks of eating better AND going to the gym simultaneously. Crazy.

I don't know how old you are, but I didn't start experiencing this until the winter of my 27th year; most of my male friends didn't start dealing with resilient midsection fluff until they were about 31/32.

Originally Posted by KSigkid

At least with my friends, it has a lot more to do with keeping busier schedules and seeing how older business associates have aged. I've talked about it with a couple of friends, and we realized that as we've started to work longer (harder) hours, we needed to be in better physical condition. If you're writing a report or drafting a document at 10 pm, you don't want to be lagging. Being in better physical condition helps to deal with those longer, more intellectually-challenging days, at least in my case. Even though I go to the gym at 5:30 am, and sometimes don't get home until 11 pm or later, I still have more energy from 3 pm onwards since I've started the early morning gym trips.

Yeah, like I said I'm not sure if it's a function of getting older or the economy. It's easier to beg off of the late-night food trucks because of trying to eat better than admitting it's because you don't have the money to throw around the way you used to. Most of my business associates are in pretty great shape (I just got lapped by my boss a few days ago); I think that's pretty typical of architects as a whole.

I ran a few miles around 9 yesterday morning, and I was able to stay up until 3 this morning, while being out. I'm feeling pretty good today too, so maybe I'm not dragging like I thought I was.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Has anyone noticed that people are focusing on their health a lot more now than they did a year ago? I've always been a gym geek, but now my friends are focusing on home-cooked meals (since you can control the salt, sugar, and fat you take in), working out, and not drinking as much.

Yeah...we are doing that too. We stopped buying liquor. I stopped drinking liquor and drink wine less frequently and try to keep it to one glass when I do drink it. Ordering water with lemon at restaurants instead of a soft drink or alcoholic beverage has also helped cut costs and has helped control weight. it is AMAZING to me how much salt, sugar, fat, and preservatives you can cut out of your food by cooking at home and with fresh ingredients.

[PhoenixAzul]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Has anyone noticed that people are focusing on their health a lot more now than they did a year ago? I've always been a gym geek, but now my friends are focusing on home-cooked meals (since you can control the salt, sugar, and fat you take in), working out, and not drinking as much.

I don't know how much of it's the economy, and how much of it's just us growing up and realizing that the midsection fluff does not go away so easily now!

I'm fortunate that I have a free gym membership because I volunteer at the place I work out (Boys and Girls Club/community center), but I HAVE noticed that I'm much more conscious of what I'm buying, and I'm definitely making more stuff on my own. Such as: Pancakes. Rather than buying Bisquick, I make from scratch. Rather than buying pizza dough, I make from scratch (took some fiddling with, but I found this great recipe: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/...omemade-pizza/ ). The stuff we're making has less additives in it, and is generally fresher/lower in salt, and I can control the portions. If nothing else, the recession has made me a much better cook!

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Has anyone noticed that people are focusing on their health a lot more now than they did a year ago? I've always been a gym geek, but now my friends are focusing on home-cooked meals (since you can control the salt, sugar, and fat you take in), working out, and not drinking as much.

I don't know how much of it's the economy, and how much of it's just us growing up and realizing that the midsection fluff does not go away so easily now!

At least with my friends, it has a lot more to do with keeping busier schedules and seeing how older business associates have aged. I've talked about it with a couple of friends, and we realized that as we've started to work longer (harder) hours, we needed to be in better physical condition. If you're writing a report or drafting a document at 10 pm, you don't want to be lagging. Being in better physical condition helps to deal with those longer, more intellectually-challenging days, at least in my case. Even though I go to the gym at 5:30 am, and sometimes don't get home until 11 pm or later, I still have more energy from 3 pm onwards since I've started the early morning gym trips.

Plus, I think that a reasonable person starts tallying up the calories in those late night take-out meals, or even at business lunches out, and realizes that they should try to cut calories (and costs) as much as possible.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

I still have more energy from 3 pm onwards since I've started the early morning gym trips.

I've noticed a difference in that and better sleep from working out. I've been able to cut back on ambien usage for sleep since I started early morning workouts and my migraines/treximet usage is also less frequent. That in turn saves me money because I'm not refilling as often.

[AGDee]

Now that my ex-husband is unemployed, I've been trying to give him tips like these. He's just dense and doesn't get it. My son told him "Stop buying Oreos, you can buy lots of pears for the cost of a bag of Oreos". LOL. It was hilarious, to hear a 13 year old boy telling his dad to buy fruit instead of packaged cookies!

[Benzgirl]

I ask doctors for samples. My cousin is a doctor -- if he has what I need, he will send them.

[Benzgirl]

I pay all of my bills online. Except at holiday time, I now only buy stamps once every 3 months.