I have been writing this hideously long post about our dive into real budget tightening, but no one wants to read all that. Let me start over and just say a couple things about areas we saved money- maybe it can help others. We have a land line as part of a package deal, so we dropped the cell phone plans to go on a prepaid minutes plan. We have never had internet on the go and likely will not. We like maps and stopping at the nearest gas station for directions. Really, we do. We were paying around $75 a month for 2 lines and too many minutes. Now we pay $200 for the whole year for 2 phones with 1,000 minutes each. Our year just expired and we both had close to 200 minutes left to roll over. Awesome.
Other money saving steps have included shopping at some interesting locales for the cheapest prices. I now get almost all my fruits and veggies from a Korean stand in a lower end neighborhood. Yah, they have a "brewlesque" java joint nearby, no carts or baskets and no room for kids or strollers, but I have come away with 2 bags full for less than $10. No joke. They get things leftover from a restaurant supplier in the area and I often am getting organic and high quality stuff for merely a fraction what it would cost. Case in point: they were randomly selling pecans for $2.99 a pound bag. Amazing. Good pecan halves too.
We make things from scratch we never attempted before. I used to buy a loaf of Italian or French bread on the days we had pasta, then I bought lots of them from the bakery outlet and froze them, now I have learned to make good Italian bread at home and freeze the extra loaves. We make pizza, burgers, fries and all Asian and Mexican food we're craving at home instead of going out. Did you know it takes about 2 1/2 hours to make good french fries at home? I didn't! We ate late that night. Cereal is so expensive, I started making homemade granola from the 25lb bag of oats I got in bulk. The girls and I often eat an egg and homemade toast and they get cereal once or twice a week is all. It's saving a bundle.
I started watching a couple of kids from down the street in the mornings before school. They hang out for about 30 minutes and walk to school with us. Not hard at all, but the extra cash is a godsend!
Budgeting: Am I learning my capabilities? Sure. Is it fun? At times. Do I hate it? Mostly. But the Year of Austerity marches on! LOL
7 comments:
Nice work! I am really trying harder with the homemade bread, can you email me some good recipes???? I read a cereal post of your's awhile back and really cut down on the amount of cereal my family eats as I realized how atrocious the prices were and really, they could get better nutrition from other types of breakfast. I really wish my kids were able to eat eggs as that would be an awesome breakfast but we often do the pancakes and put leftovers in the toaster and the kids love them! We also stopped ordering in pizza or buying frozen a couple of years ago when Tim admitted that he liked my homemade pizza better, cha ching! I never thought I would have fun trying to save money and still eat well but I have found lots of fun things. Granted the bread making is definitely time consuming at times!! I tried those granola bars you recommended as well, with a few modifications. They were very good atlhough I think I overbaked them a bit, but I wil definitely try them again. I did add in a few mini chocolate chips for fun and because I cut back the sugar to almost nothing, a little bit of fun sweetness! Thanks for sharing your ideas and all of your hard work!
This might be weird to say, but I'm proud of you. Budgeting is NOT easy. In fact, I down-right hate it. But it's necessary, right? Also, I'm going to have to look into shopping for produce at other places than Costco and Trader Joes. Someone told me that Top Banana is pretty cheap. I've never gone there because I thought it would be more expensive...go figure.
It is amazing what you find yourself doing when the budget is tight, right? You've inspired me to seek out some cheaper grocery store options and to look into some healthy recipes for baking my own bread.
Nice work!! Saving pennies can add up to some serious cash. Add a little coupon cutting and avoiding Target unless you really need something would be my other advice. Budgeting is not my strong suit, but kudos to you for trying so hard this year.
lol, you and I think alike! I made my cheapwad grandma laugh today because i mentioned I make my own laundry detergent. Also, we pay 25 a month for our two cell phones on my dad's plan. Two phone lines, at&t calls to our family for free, but absolutely no minutes. We're cheap enough to not answer the cell phone from people if it's not at&t during weekdays.
Good Job! Keep up the good work.
Ugh, I'm getting really down about food prices! I already make most things from scratch, but I think I'll have to add in baking my own bread, if I can find a worthwhile recipe. We were really excited to save rent money with our move, but it's so far going to things we've put off purchasing for YEARS.
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