Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 12,991
Ways to trim spending.
I'm trying to pare things back to as little as possible as far as spending for the next few months. I want to save up a cushion for emergencies as we've completely depleted ours. And we're doing the steps, pretty much Dave Ramsey style.
So, give me your best tips for reducing spending in those areas of the budget where we have control: groceries, clothing, gas, and more...I know we have a great thread going on groceries so let's focus on the other areas.
I'll post some of my own ideas in a reply...
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We are considering dropping to one vehicle. I work from home and we live in town. I know that this is not always do-able for those who live rurally. For us, the savings would be (payment, ins., gas) $700 per month.
Line drying
Efficient appliances. We used to have an old freezer that we got rid of when we realized how inefficient it was. The savings realized in buying in bulk were destroyed with the electricity the freezer used. We bought a new fridge that had a large-enough freezer in it.
Tankless hot water heater. I borrowed a gadget from our library to see where we were using the most hydro and found out our 40 gal hot water tank is responsible for about half of our monthly $200 bill.
ETA: portion control. Everyone in my family was either eating too much or the little ones were filling up on the wrong stuff. This issue has dropped our bill almost in half.
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Jeni - wife to a great guy and mama to 3 at home plus one adult child who is expecting Feb -09!
Madison, Jeni, and Mickey in Temagami on the Dream Catcher Express
Clothing: accept all hand-me-downs with gratitude - really, they just keep coming once people know you're happy to have them. Even my clothes are part hand-me-down.
Thrift stores for clothes, assuming they're available. Another 1/3 of my wardrobe is thrift clothing. The rest is discount/outlet/clearance.
An oft-overlooked clothing savings option is fixing clothes. Mending a hem, figuring out how to remove that darned stain, etc. I've even mended kids' underwear (in the name of compacting - though that's gone by the wayside some with this moving crap).
And, of course, having fewer clothes.
Gas: Like you said, combine trips, think about where you're going.
Keep the car tuned up and the tires at proper pressure. I should really practice what I preach on this one...
Decide if a trip is worth $5 or whatever the cost of the drive will be. I frequently find myself not going to get the $2 Dagoba xocolatl bar that would cost an additional $4 in gas to the HFS. Even when I'd rather go to the HFS, I frequently make do with Kroger because I prefer not to make the longer drive. And I doubt the HFS would save money vs Kroger.
Use public transit if available. Even if the cost is the same as gas, it's also saving wear and tear on your vehicle.
Carpool. Not always an option, again, but my kids and I can carpool for field trips, etc with my neighbor.
Food: I totally forgot about Big Lots. I love their grocery section. Once I got almost 100 vegetarian instant soups for 25 cents each when I was in college (and lived 4 blocks from Big Lots). That was my lunch for a semester. The one here has surprises all the time like organic pasta sauce for $1, etc.
Just thought of another one: vacation for free or close to it. Tent camp in state parks. Have a good friend whose parents live at the beach. Ok, I got lucky this year - I slept on a screened porch for a week, but it was worth it!
Seriously, the camping is something anyone can do, and most of us already have the stuff. We just never use it because someone (in my case, it's DH) thinks it's too much trouble to camp with kids. It really isn't. It's a lot of fun, really relaxing, and inexpensive, to boot. I just came to the conclusion that I have to camp with my sister, not my husband.
Just put the money away, with the cards, and pretend like it's not there. One thing I've learned lately? If you don't have it you can't spend it, no matter how much your brain normally tells you that you "need" something. At times like this you realize just HOW frugal you can be, when you previously thought that you *were* frugal. But, you've been here before haven't you? So I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.
clothes...ask friends and freecycle for the size you need before you buy. yes, xt, accepting hand me downs excitedly have kept them coming for me. i'm super grateful for hand me downs! omg...jodi...i could not be more grateful for the clothes i got for kendall from her before she moved.
my biggest challenge is keeping the clothes to a minimum. it's easy to feel like it's ok to have tons of clothes if they are all used/cheap.
gas...super hard for me to conserve! i am doing SO much better with this. i am doing my best to have 2 days/week that i do NOT leave the house AT ALL. besides that, i am just figuring up how much it's gonna cost me in gas, and then make my decision about whether it's worth it to go out. i realized our movie was due back to the library the other day, and almost jumped in the car to take it/play at the library. then i realized it was going to cost me more than $1 (late fee) to drive there, and that we would be closer the next day.
our "family fun" time is hard too. we have decided that it will be cash/envelope system so that we just can't budge on it like we usually do. it's $80/month and includes all eating meals out, getting ice cream out, coffee out, dates, and parking fee and costs of anything fun we do.
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Stephanie, wife to Tim (almost 9 years) and mama to Isaac (3) and Kendall (13 months)
I'm often when I hear someone say: "Oh it's only $100 bucks."
When $100 doesn't seem like an amount of money that is important, I feel a little worried.
When I need to cut back, I think in terms of $5 bills when I am considering spending on a want. I might have $5, but do I have four $5 bills to spend? Something about thinking I need to have ten $5 bills ($50) just seems too high. If I think of lump sums, I talk myself into things easier.
Also, figure out your hourly wage. That was an eye-opener. I figured out how much dh got paid and subtracted everything to had to pay for. Then, the leftover was his hourly wage. So, working 3 hours for a $10 item suddenly doesn't seem that important.
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I think the biggest thing is going to be to learn to make do with less, unless it's free. I know when Aileen was getting out of debt, they let a LOT of things go. Kids didn't have as many nice clothes, cars went without repairs that COULD be put off (brakes not being one of them, lol). After the debt was paid off (or in your case, savings is rebuilt) that money that was being put away could now be used on the things that they did without.
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Allison mama to:
DH (lol), Chrissy 15, Mikhail 12, Kiera 10, Kivett 8, Aislinn 6, Alannah 3, and fresh from the oven Kian Oliver-Bell 11/15/07
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 12,991
Thanks mamas. The suggestions are helpful but at this point most of the "tricks" are used up. The one place I could definitely do better is clothing. But, I have no friends w/bigger kids to hand down to me. My kids are the biggest. We used to get great hand me downs. Now I'm just stunned at how much clothes cost, and they're not easy to find on sale here, or used - the thrifts are bare, almost always, and cost a lot in gas to drive to. Now if we had a Target...LOL...I'd be fine. Or a Kohl's, or TJ Maxx, or whatever. Anything. We have a Penney's that's very poorly stocked, that's it. And a Walmart. An hour's drive. And, my kids don't fit in "regulars" unless they have adjustable waists, but are too big for slims...I have 5 pr of size 10 reg jeans handed down/gotten at the clothing swap for Kate, but they're too big around and a smidge too short. But the 10 slims we bought are too small, and 8 reg are too short. Ack! I'm thinking if I sew elastic in the waistband of the 10s and cover in fleece for softness, that will work. Maybe hem them too; she's complaining they're long.
We have a free clothing swap coming up in Oct, and you can bet I'll be there the second it opens. But, last year there was almost nothing for the kids.
Stacy, I like the idea of thinking in $5 bills. I think dh and I both think in $20 increments, LOL, and we don't add up the little purchases here and there, on special foods the kids want, or whatever. (I bought hot fudge and caramel sauce for ice cream last week. There went $10. Ouch. I need to say "no" more often.)
Allison, I think you're right - just mining for ideas maybe I've skipped over, but definitely just doing "without" some of the things we "need" will help a lot.
Location: if this were the wrong decision you'd already know it
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ThirtySomething
Think in $5 bills not $20 bills.
I'm often when I hear someone say: "Oh it's only $100 bucks."
When $100 doesn't seem like an amount of money that is important, I feel a little worried.
When I need to cut back, I think in terms of $5 bills when I am considering spending on a want. I might have $5, but do I have four $5 bills to spend? Something about thinking I need to have ten $5 bills ($50) just seems too high. If I think of lump sums, I talk myself into things easier.
Also, figure out your hourly wage. That was an eye-opener. I figured out how much dh got paid and subtracted everything to had to pay for. Then, the leftover was his hourly wage. So, working 3 hours for a $10 item suddenly doesn't seem that important.
Love this, too - all of it. Really eye-opening for me.
Location: if this were the wrong decision you'd already know it
Posts: 40,853
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maiden Comfort
I think the biggest thing is going to be to learn to make do with less, unless it's free. I know when Aileen was getting out of debt, they let a LOT of things go. Kids didn't have as many nice clothes, cars went without repairs that COULD be put off (brakes not being one of them, lol). After the debt was paid off (or in your case, savings is rebuilt) that money that was being put away could now be used on the things that they did without.
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 12,991
These are really awesome suggestions, btw - I am learning a lot.
Case in point, what drives me mad. Just sent dh and the kids to Hardwick (10 mile drive each way) for groceries (expensive Grand Union, but we got only what was necessary until we're in town tomorrow, it's stuff to make birthday cake and chicken for J) and to pick up meds.
He came home with $5 hydrocortisone cream for my rash that I didn't ask for. BUT, my rash is bad. I told him I'd return it, but then he threw the box in the garbage and it got food on it. Then he put the tube itself up on top of the cabinet where I would never see it. When I asked where it was, he said he put it there because I said I didn't want it. Meanwhile an hour ago before he left I had *said* "don't get it because it's too much $ and it's getting better already."
And that's the good part. The bad - he didn't check the bags when he picked up the meds. He's missing his Nexium, and he can't go one single day without it, so he will have to drive all the way back for it. They put one container of Jake's medication in each bag - he should have known it was 2 containers in 1, and 1 in the other, but he hasn't been picking up 2 containers for J because they're always out of the second one.
ARGH!!! Must get off computer now. Anyway this or "oh I forgot XXX" is typical. :P
Even when I'd rather go to the HFS, I frequently make do with Kroger because I prefer not to make the longer drive. And I doubt the HFS would save money vs Kroger. 
One thing I've learned lately? If you don't have it you can't spend it, no matter how much your brain normally tells you that you "need" something. At times like this you realize just HOW frugal you can be, when you previously thought that you *were* frugal. But, you've been here before haven't you? So I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.
when I hear someone say: "Oh it's only $100 bucks." 
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