Writer's Block: Small Economies
For better or worse, we didn't have much to cut from our budget. More than a year before the economy started to tank, I'd lost my job. So we've already tightened quite a bit. But I'd be hard-pressed to define luxuries that we had to eliminate.
I can count on one hand the number of times per year that we go out to movies and/or dinner, as a couple or as a family of four. I stopped "stocking up" when I went to the store; I only bought what we absolutely needed. That cut the grocery budget almost in half. The kids don't buy lunches at school -- I pack them. I don't pack juice boxes in their lunches...we use water bottles. It's cheaper and kinder to the environment.
Other more recent changes:
1) We've gone to "budget plan" for both gas and electric...which at least makes budgeting easier
2) When I'm home by myself during the day, I turn the heat way down or off. Sweatshirts and hot tea are great!
3) We've been using only one car for several months. I walk more, and the kids walk home from school -- no pick up from me or grandma unless it's really cold (kind of like today, 19 degrees). DH uses the car for work, and unless it's important, I don't do short errands (i.e. drive 8 miles round trip to pick up a loaf of bread). I'll ask DH to do it on the way home, or I'll wait till I have other things to buy before I make a grocery run.
4) A 12-pack of DH's preferred soda runs about $5. We stopped that REAL QUICK. He can drink two 12's a week, easily, so that was a $40/month savings. We switched to decaf unsweetened iced tea, which I brew at home. He takes a water bottle of tea with lemon to work now. He's always packed his own lunches; never eats out. The box of tea bags costs LESS than the 12 pack of soda, and will last about a month instead of a week! I mostly drink water and hot tea.
5) We're learning to enjoy pasta and rice...a little bit goes a long way.
6) I color my hair (no secret for those who know me) but because the gray is "resistant" and my hair grows quickly, I had to go to the colorist about once a month. At $60 a pop, that was expensive. So I Do It Myself now, and only when needed. For an important occasion (wedding, family portraits, etc.) I'll have it done professionally, but otherwise I do it myself. I'm also letting my hair grow out a little. Longer hair can go longer between professional cuts.
The only things I have left to eliminate are my karate lessons (which, as karate lessons go, are inexpensive but if I have to put my training on "pause" for a few months, I can -- and they cost much less than most dance lessons around here. If I dropped karate so my youngest could take dance, we'd wind up spending more.) and my cell phone (which I really do need for work, but I can manage without if necessary).
We don't have credit cards. We have a home equity line of credit but we never use it -- we just want to get the thing paid off but we have a LONG way to go, and now that the interest rate has dropped, more of what I pay goes toward the balance. DH's car will be paid off in March, I think, and I'll continue to drive my 10-year old Corolla as needed for the next couple of years. We can reroute part of DH's car payment into savings and the other part toward the HELOC.
The drop in interest rates and the drop in gas prices have certainly helped us. We have more breathing room.
From our perspective -- like the majority, I suspect -- the tight just got tighter when the economy went wahooni-shaped. We weren't living large before the crash(es). We're not living large now. But we have medical coverage, we don't need daycare, one car is expendable if necessary, the other is about 6 payments away from paid off, and unlike three months ago our bills are all caught up and running on time. As far as I'm concerned, that's golden right there. :)
I can count on one hand the number of times per year that we go out to movies and/or dinner, as a couple or as a family of four. I stopped "stocking up" when I went to the store; I only bought what we absolutely needed. That cut the grocery budget almost in half. The kids don't buy lunches at school -- I pack them. I don't pack juice boxes in their lunches...we use water bottles. It's cheaper and kinder to the environment.
Other more recent changes:
1) We've gone to "budget plan" for both gas and electric...which at least makes budgeting easier
2) When I'm home by myself during the day, I turn the heat way down or off. Sweatshirts and hot tea are great!
3) We've been using only one car for several months. I walk more, and the kids walk home from school -- no pick up from me or grandma unless it's really cold (kind of like today, 19 degrees). DH uses the car for work, and unless it's important, I don't do short errands (i.e. drive 8 miles round trip to pick up a loaf of bread). I'll ask DH to do it on the way home, or I'll wait till I have other things to buy before I make a grocery run.
4) A 12-pack of DH's preferred soda runs about $5. We stopped that REAL QUICK. He can drink two 12's a week, easily, so that was a $40/month savings. We switched to decaf unsweetened iced tea, which I brew at home. He takes a water bottle of tea with lemon to work now. He's always packed his own lunches; never eats out. The box of tea bags costs LESS than the 12 pack of soda, and will last about a month instead of a week! I mostly drink water and hot tea.
5) We're learning to enjoy pasta and rice...a little bit goes a long way.
6) I color my hair (no secret for those who know me) but because the gray is "resistant" and my hair grows quickly, I had to go to the colorist about once a month. At $60 a pop, that was expensive. So I Do It Myself now, and only when needed. For an important occasion (wedding, family portraits, etc.) I'll have it done professionally, but otherwise I do it myself. I'm also letting my hair grow out a little. Longer hair can go longer between professional cuts.
The only things I have left to eliminate are my karate lessons (which, as karate lessons go, are inexpensive but if I have to put my training on "pause" for a few months, I can -- and they cost much less than most dance lessons around here. If I dropped karate so my youngest could take dance, we'd wind up spending more.) and my cell phone (which I really do need for work, but I can manage without if necessary).
We don't have credit cards. We have a home equity line of credit but we never use it -- we just want to get the thing paid off but we have a LONG way to go, and now that the interest rate has dropped, more of what I pay goes toward the balance. DH's car will be paid off in March, I think, and I'll continue to drive my 10-year old Corolla as needed for the next couple of years. We can reroute part of DH's car payment into savings and the other part toward the HELOC.
The drop in interest rates and the drop in gas prices have certainly helped us. We have more breathing room.
From our perspective -- like the majority, I suspect -- the tight just got tighter when the economy went wahooni-shaped. We weren't living large before the crash(es). We're not living large now. But we have medical coverage, we don't need daycare, one car is expendable if necessary, the other is about 6 payments away from paid off, and unlike three months ago our bills are all caught up and running on time. As far as I'm concerned, that's golden right there. :)