Frugal Living

Hubby X is going on over 9 months since he was laid off.  He works in a specialty field that is really suffering during these tough economic times.  We have had a small savings nest egg and we have stretched every last cent.

Here’s how we are doing it:

• Needs vs. Wants. We had a lot of these.  I want a latte.  We don’t need someone to mow our grass.  We shut off our extra cable box, negotiated our home phone, and limited eating out.  By limiting my Starbucks spending alone, we reduced our monthly spend by over $100.  All told we cut over $800 a month by doing these things.   Hubby X made almost twice as much as my income.  Our house payment is more than 50% of my monthly salary.
• Using Coupons. We have worked on using coupons, buying in bulk, and keeping our eyes out for sales and off-brand items.  I absolutely loathe Wal-Mart, and we have always shopped at Target.  Online Target has great coupons that you can print off on your home computer and use in the store.  I couple weeks ago, they had a $1 off on strawberries.  Baby X loves these and we used two coupons while the strawberries were on sale getting almost 2 for the price of 1. www.couponqueen.com is another great resource.  Melissa has good information and tips on couponing as a way of life.  Target will allow you to be receive the sale price on an item if it goes on sale within 14 days of purchase.  Make sure to keep your receipt.  I save $10 on baby formula this way since I normally buy in bulk not to mention the formula coupon I used.
• Limiting our Social Life. I’m a very social person.  I love attending events, meeting friends for drinks, and going to sporting events.  Hubby X and I have given up our season football tickets and don’t attend events that have a cover charge.  In fact, we haven’t been to a movie in almost a year.  We frequent the library and check out DVD’s, CD’s, and books to save on cash.  No vacation for us either this year.  We spent the week at home and did things like visit the park, go swimming at a friends, or visiting public gardens.
• Energy Efficiency. We regularly replace filters and also changed out most of our light bulbs for the florescent kind.  We purchased the bulbs in bulk at Sams, 4 for $11.50.  These will pay for themselves in just 3 months.  We also make a conscious effort to unplug vampire electronics to save on electricity costs and also varied our water schedule to every other day.  We have not noticed any difference in our lawn being any less green.  In fact, we have less burn spots in our lawn since we quit using the lawn service.  Typically, Hubby X mows every week and a half or so.
• Yard Sale. Instead of purchasing new items for Baby X like books, toys, and clothes we have frequented children’s second hand shops and spent several Saturday mornings yard saling.  I bought more than 15 hard back books for Baby X for less than $12.  Store priced would be almost $100.  I also got a great steal on towels and washclothes at $0.10 a piece.  They were practically new.
• Canceling Non-essentials. We canceled non-essential things like Netflix, tanning memberships, gym memberships, online subscriptions, and magazine subscriptions.  This is the first time in 15 years I have not been a subscriber to Country Living. (*sign*)  The tanning membership alone for the two of us was almost $100 a month.  Total magazine subscriptions was roughly $100 for the year.

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