Saving money

C

chaya

New member
I am wondering what others are doing to cut cost because of the situation here in the United States. We are in the process of moving at the moment and the city where we are headed is pedestrian friendly.

I will be able to walk my child to and from school, 20 minutes each way, walk to the bank, grocery store, and downtown. Also, I have already taken my bike to the Farmer's Market which sells local organic products. My daughter rides her bike with me.

Where we are living now is rural and the school, bank, grocery store, etc. are 20 miles one way. Any traveling is about 40 miles round trip.

Chaya
 
I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary, really. I understand the economy works in cycles and we're in a downtrend at the moment. Sure, costs are rising but to date they haven't affected me enough to warrant a change in lifestyle.

That said, just last night I did sit down and plan out my budget for the first time in my life. Funnily enough I have planned budgets for people as a living yet it's never been something I've done for myself.

It was quite eye-opening. I'm attempting to buy a home that is much more costly than my current. Buying this home might be the catalyst to a more cost-focused lifestyle.

Before where I bought pretty much anything I wanted/needed... I'm quite excited about the idea of saving as much money as possible.
 
Steve said:
I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary, really. I understand the economy works in cycles and we're in a downtrend at the moment. Sure, costs are rising but to date they haven't affected me enough to warrant a change in lifestyle.

Yep my thoughts exactly...
Click to expand...
 
Well I agree with what Steve said as far as the economy goes. We have had to make some changes but they were a combination budget/lifestyle change. We ditched our dish network. We had the biggest package they had, HD, movie channels etc. Our bill was like 110.00 per month plus I always bought boxing and MMA PPV's so it wasnt uncommon for us to have a 150-200 a month bill for TV. We ditched it. I figure that will pay for our gym memberships and a tank of gas anyway. I drive 26m each way a day for work so the gas prices are killing me.
 
Oh yea, and poor wifey... haha. I was am spending 5 times more than her based on monthly averages from the past year!
 
Using debit cards to pay for everyhing is a bad habit to get into - it's harder to really be aware of how much money you're spending... Give yourself an allowance a week - and when the money is gone - it's gone..
 
I'm not in the USA, I'm in Australia but here are some ways we save money.

- Vege patch ( we eat mainly veges or salads at every meals, save a fortune if you grow your own and eat this way)
- Our own chickens to feed our supply of eggs. I don't eat much meat so this helps my cost for protein.
- Meal plans each week (only buy what you need for the set meals)
- Set allowance for entertainment, food, sport etc. each week.
 
If you have the time to watch to watch Elizabeth Warren's speech at UC Berkeley I think it will really open your eyes to where a family's money goes.
 
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