Trimming the family budget...

[Kristie]

So, with the possibility of having to pay more concessions and having a possible total income loss of - maybe - 50% or more/less...

I'm looking for ways to trim down the family budget...I can't do much about dh eating out during the week because it's tyically a non controllable issue and i don't like him eating cheap taco bell all the time (starts to collect around the waist), but I do already have him on a $20/day budget for food. I can't do much if he has to commute, but now that he's at the SLC base, there should be less of a hotel commute issue (hopefully).

I already don't eat out or spend almost zero cash when DH is gone except maybe to buy gas and that's costing us a extra $30 every 2 weeks!

other than taking away cable, eating out, traveling and all the "fun" stuff... what are some of the things you do to trim the fat per se?

I'm not much of a coupon girl as we don't always go for the brand that's being given a *discount*...nor do we typically buy in bulk since we're a family of 2 and don't have all that much storage space (no garage space for me to put things in etc).

Thanks for the ideas!!!:grinning-

[Bigsweetie]

Well, you talked about all the big things to take out. But some of the little things that we do is:
1. Don't buy gas on the weekend. And, of course, no unnecessary driving.
2. Eric actually doesn't eat out on the road. He packs food in his suitcase and eats in his hotel room. Eric spends about $20/week. Alot of Ramen noodles and microwave meals. Not the healthiest choice, but we can't afford for him to eat out.
3. Eric doesn't get hotel rooms when he has to stay in his base, he sleeps in the crew room. Not fun, but again, no choice.
4. Watch how many lights you have on in the house and how often you're watering your lawn. You'd be surprised how much money you can save on utility bills.
5. Also, I keep the blinds closed on the sunny side of the house so that I don't need to run the air conditioning as much.

I'll try to think of some more, but you might want to consider a lifestyle change, if necessary. Hopefully you won't have to bite the bullet as much as Eric and I have to.

HTH

Tanya

[Kristie]

what's the difference between buying gas on the weekend vs weekday??

I already keep most of the blinds in the house closed, no matter if it's on the sunny side or not - but your right, you do notice a big difference when you have them open vs having them closed!!

I highly doubt i could get doug to eat or sleep like Eric does! he's already done all those things and really doesn't want to go back to that. if it came to that, i think he'd exit the airline world alltogether! haha

Thanks for the ideas!!

[Chi829]

Kristie-

You know what Bill and I do that helps a "little"? Not alot, but a little. On the day that he commutes out say on a 3 or four day trip,,, I always pack him a lunch and he eats it in the crew lounge before he flies,,, believe it or not it saves us a little money,,,, the thing that is REALLY different you and Doug is that you guys are having to go "back" to doing things from the past which makes it really tough,,,, for Bill and I since he is still in his first year,,, we dont really know what we're missing out on because we haven't gotten to have it yet ya know? Bill doesn't sleep in the lounge BUT he doesnt have to get hotel rooms either,,,, luckily his mom lives in ATL and he just takes the MARTA to her house when he needs to.
Instead of cutting out something completely like eating out,,, or the movies, try just cutting back at first,,, instead of going cold turkey,,, Going cold turkey,,,, could hurt
Good luck. Let us know if you come up with any other good ideas.

[MQAAord]

Here's a few suggestions:

-Sell everything you don't need/use
-Put less 'strain' on your heating/air system by keeping the house a couple degrees cooler in winter and warmer in summer
-Pay bills online, saves on stamps
-Use eBay! I buy almost all my clothes on eBay, Hilfiger, Gap, Polo, all quite affordable
-Use coupons only if the item is something you use
-Be dilligent about turning off lights/appliances in rooms you're not in (this was a bad habit of mine that I've really changed my behavior with)
-Grocery shop at Aldi's, they're an off-brand store that has groceries at literally HALF the prices of the name-brand-big-name grocery stores. Seriously, their products are as good as the big names, and my grocery bill is HALF of what it would be otherwise
-Scour the weekly sale ads at the grocery store, and use their savings club cards
-Freeze credit cards, actually put them in Tupperware encased in water. They'll freeze and then if you want to buy something you'll have to wait for the card to defrost and that gives you time to think about your purchase, eliminating impulse buying
-Sell any CDs or movies that you no longer listen to/watch, there's second hand stores that pay cash
-Use a programmable thermostat to set your house heat, with that you can turn the house temp way down at night (use a down comforter to stay warm) and set it to come back up 1/2 hour before you get up in the morning, it can be set to roll back again for the workday, and warm back up again before you get home from work


We've given up eating out, we seldom travel and when we do it's just to drive to the farm. 90% of the boys' clothes are hand-me-downs, the rest are bought off the sale racks or eBay. I use eBay and Craigslist.org (online classifieds) to buy and sell things. We roll the heat back at night, using electric heaters (oil-filled radiator style, with a tip-over auto shut off feature) in the boys' rooms to keep them warm (babies/toddlers never keep their blankets on). During the day we have the heat turn down 2 degrees from 12-2, especially when it's sunny. We don't notice the difference, and it saves on heating costs.

[Bigsweetie]

Kristie-
At least around here, gas is typically cheaper on Tuesday and Wednesday. They hike up the prices toward the weekends. Buying on Tuesday saves us approx. 10-15 cents/gallon, sometimes more.

HTH

Other things I do is:
I have my aunt give me haircuts. I wait for birthdays/Christmas to get new clothes. I use lower wattage bulbs (saves a little on electricity). I agree w/ Amber, sell stuff!! if you don't need it anyway it's like cash in the attic!!

Unfortunately tightening the belt is HARD. There's no easy way around it. Hopefully you won't have to do it too much.

Tanya

[MQAAord]

Oh, speaking of lights:

Using florescent light bulbs in place of incandescent ones saves BIG time on the wattage. They're a little more to buy, but last for years and use a lot less electricity.

Does your local Sam's Club have a gas station? Here, gas at Sam's is anywhere from $.10 - $.25 a gallon cheaper than anywhere else. But not every Sam's Club has a gas station. Does your car have a flexible fuel engine? Putting ethanol instead of straight gasoline in our Tahoe costs about $.15 less per gallon. Not every engine can run ethanol though.

[Kristie]

huh ... i guess we're already doing a lot of what others are! we only do our bills online (we only have stamps at xmas time), we turn off lights if we don't need them.. we keep the house at a 78 level all summer/winter long.. we already have programmable thermostat's and i only buy clothes twice a year (i'm not the shopper i used to be! we're so frugal, it's not even funny!).

I've thought about selling the BMW but we owe the same price as a new car would be, so there's not much point in that right now.. unless we were to get like a used toyota or somehting - then we'd probably get back about $15K..something we're considering altho i like having an SUV around (just not the gas prices).

I love the idea of freezing the credit cards but we really don't use our credit cards unless we're traveling - which is an expense we're going to have to cut down (how, i dunno yet). we're going to leave that as a last resort!

I'm not sure if our BMW can take any other types of gas.. i guess i could ask my service advisor but i betcha he's say "no way".. and of course the manual says use supreme but we never have! hahaha

as far as selling things - we have a big garage sale coming up and we have a ton of stuff we could get rid of, that we've gathered TO get rid of..just that i'm not sure i can get even $10 for a work suit (skirt/jacket) that hasn't been worn hardly ever and i'm thinking we could actually get more money by donating most of our, what would be, expensive electronic items like camcorder, old cell phones, cameras etc.. i'm even thinking that i could get a better deal by donating my clothes even vs selling them in a garage sale.. cuz you know how those things go - they want to give you pennies for something that you would think would be worth $5 if not $10 in today's economy (esp when you need the cash!)...

so that's something i'm still mulling over...garage sale or donate & take it off on taxes?? one thing i know is that for taxes, you get 25% of what the value is.. since i haven't done a garage sale since like i was a small thing, do you think it's reasonable to ask for 25% of the value at a garage sale or am i pushing my luck?? from what i recall, people will typically ask to take it for 0.50 if your asking for a dollar!

Amber - you can use florescent bulbs in incandescent sockets?? we have halogen in most of ours - or maybe they are florescent..hmmmm...all i know, is they're tiny things with major heat coming off of them!! *keep in mind, that the florescent i'm seeing is like in commercial buildings where they tend to *flicker* hahaha

man, i wish i had someone around that i knew that did hair and would do my cut/colors for free.. those were the first things to go on the first round of concessions.. i'm down to getting my hair cut every 3 months and colored every 6 months.. it sucks cuz i hate when my roots are growing in and it's like i have this line around my crown! hahahha

selling the cd's/movies is a great idea! there's got to be some consignment cd shops around somewhere - esp since all our music is now on itunes & our ipods...but my VCR movies can definately go cuz we don't even have a VCR anymore!

hey.. anybody want any stuff??? hahahaha

in a sense, i feel like we already are minimized in our expenses.. sure a few more *wants* can go but for the most part, our big bills are doug's commuting costs, business costs, atm fees (which we're working on fixing that!!), car & house...

[MQAAord]

If you want a good realistic idea of what you could sell something for, check eBay. See what similar items are selling for, if those items are not selling or if they're selling for less than you would accept, then you know to donate.

Some things you are better off taking the tax deduction, and some things are better off being sold. Totally depends on the 'market'.

[Tonya]

To save some money on food http://www.lhm.net/angelfood.htm

You might want to check out the above link. From my understanding this is sponsered by local churches to help support their food drives. I have never used this program (only because I always manage to miss the deadline somehow) but my parents, my siblings and several of my coworkers use it. Basically anyone trying to stretch a budget for whatever reason is welcome. Once a month they provide this food and since they buy in bulk it is cheaper then if you bought it seperately. There are no income or need restrictions. I have pasted a sample menu and some FAQ from their websites. The web site is mainly for Oklahoma but there is a link check to see if Churchs in your state are participants if so just give them a call for more info.



<I>What is Angel Food?
It’s a non-profit organization that has developed a unique food outreach program. Once a month, using high-volume buying and volunteer labor to cut costs, they are able to make boxes of food available to the public at a fraction of the normal cost.

How is Angel Food different from other food programs or food banks?

First, there are no applications, no income restrictions or other requirements to be met, etc. People can order one box or many. Second, this is fresh, name-brand foods, not just another “give-away” program using commodities or outdated foods. Third, it’s not really a food bank, since all the food is distributed on a single day. And since people are required to pay something for the food, they retain a sense of dignity often taken from them by other programs.

Who can benefit from the program?
Everyone! While it’s terrific for those in the most difficult financial situations, (in fact, we are approved for the Food Stamp program), it is also designed as a tool for those who want to stretch their budget in order to be able to give more, or who are trying to save money to reduce their debt… and we have countless people who are doing very well financially, but buy several boxes to give to those in need. It’s a great way for the average person to do a little each month to help others!

October 2005 MENU

One 3-lb Chicken Breast Filets
One 2-lb Pork Riblets
One 3-lb Breaded Frying Chicken
One 1-lb Choice Ground Beef
One 1-lb Ground Turkey
One 28-oz Betty Crocker Beef Crock Pot Classic
One 20-oz Progresso Steak & Mushroom Soup
One Pkg Totino’s Pepperoni Pizza Rolls
One 3-lb Bag Apples
One 2-lb French Fries
One 16-oz Cut Broccoli
One 16-oz Corn On The Cob
One 12-oz Breakfast Cereal
One 8-oz Pasta Salad Mix
One 7.5-oz Macaroni & Cheese
One 7-oz Biscuit Mix
One Dozen Eggs
One Family Dessert


ALL THIS FOR THE LOW PRICE OF JUST $25.00
No Applications
No Qualifications
No Limit On Quantity Purchased

And this is not “day-old”or outdated” food. It’s all fresh, top quality, name brand products, shipped from the manufacturers to the Oklahoma Area Host Sites on refrigerated trucks for same-day distribution.