Recession. Recession. Recession. It seems that everywhere I look, that’s all I see, hear, read. Everyone wants to save money and cut back on expenses. My husband and I had a major summit a few weeks ago and decided a good way for us to control spending is to look at our expenses and assign each item to the “luxury” or “necessity” category. Luxury items don’t happen and necessity items stay in the budget, although we’ll still try and find a way to cut the “necessity” costs.
The tricky part is in the translation of “luxury” between my husband and me. A necessity to me can often be a luxury to him and vice versa. My face cream? Necessity to me, luxury according to him. Pizza from his favorite pizza place instead of making dinner at home from the pantry? Necessity to him, luxury to me. All part of the process and we are finding our way.
Her are some ways I am going to enjoy my “luxuries” but keep the cost down:
Do my pedicures at home. With a bathtub to soak my feet, some lotion and plastic bags for moisturizing, and some good polish, I should be all set. It would even be fun to do this with my daughters or a friend or two for a real “spa” experience.
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Skip going out for dinner with friends and have them over for dinner. With a little planning and having friends bring a dessert or side, this is actually more fun than going out to a restaurant and very inexpensive.
Hit the cheap movie theater. First run movie tickets are $8.00 and up. For a family of five, that adds up to over $40 pre-popcorn and candy. Most cities, like mine, have a movie theater that shows pre-released movies and tickets are cheap. Tickets are usually $4 and some days even cheaper. I sneak my own popcorn in (don’t tell anyone) and get to see a film on the big screen that we don’t want to wait to catch on dvd.
Embrace the library. I am a book junkie and can easily go into a bookstore and drop $30 - $40 in no time flat. Enter the library. I get a warm feeling just walking in the front door of my neighborhood library. It’s quiet, people are busy reading, using the free computers, kids are occupied in the kids area. I am going to start borrowing books rather than spending so much money on new books.
Cut down on magazine subscriptions. In addition to books, I have a thing for magazines. If I buy one a few times at the supermarket, I end up getting a home subscription because it’s so much cheaper. However, this adds up so I am going to take a look at all of our subscriptions, assess what gets read and what doesn’t, and cancel the ones that pile up in the magazine rack. Another good idea is to pass on magazines to friends and family after I have read them. My mother-in-law kindly gives me 2 or 3 of her monthly magazines after she reads them rather than sticking them in her magazine rack. Most magazines have large portions available online as well.
How are you trying to save money in light of the current state of the economy?
10.20.08 @ 2:44 pm
HI RACHEL!!
GOT A GREAT WAY TO SAVE A LOT OF MONEY AND HAVE “NEW CLOTHES” EVERY FALL. BEEN DOING THIS TRICK FOR MANY YEARS AND HAVE SAVED A LOT OF MONEY. IT’S EASY, CHEAP, AND DOESN’T TAKE MUCH TIME OR EFFORT!!
10.20.08 @ 2:59 pm
Our family is in the same boat. One suggestion I have is if you’re a magazine junkie, ask for a subscription for Christmas. It’s a fairly inexpensive gift for a family member to give you, and that way you don’t have to completely give up your magazines!
10.21.08 @ 2:25 pm
Hi,
I like all of these ideas. During sales I have been stocking up on mixes for cakes, pancakes, ect and have been baking more at home. Especially for birthdays when I was spending $20-30 on a decorated cake.
10.21.08 @ 5:09 pm
We actually did a wants and needs day at my daughter’s school (elementary school) where we taked with the kids about what in life is a want and what’s a need. They didn’t really know the difference!
10.23.08 @ 11:48 am
Trying to cut necessities is the hard part. We are both self-employed and cannot count on a steady paycheck. After cutting our cable package to basic cable, I realized our garbage bill had gone up and up and up. We now recycle every little thing we can and we’ve cut our overflowing 2 garbage cans a week to just one that’s not overflowing. Savings= $30.00 month $360.00 year
10.24.08 @ 3:00 am
Hi there!! I am a single mother that is raising 3 girls by myself. The first time I left their father, I found myself having to go back after 3 years because of the way I miss maniged my money. This time, I live debt free!!
I have a envalope method of taking care of everything. I get my paycheck at the end of every moth and sit down and put in Electric, Water, Gas, Food, Rent, After School Activities, in each of the envalopes that is set aside for them!! Then we also have an extra’s envalope. This is the one that a list of things is made up for and then we assess if it is a must for this month, can it wait, or do we really need this at all! I live with out a visa and without a checkbook!! I pay everything cash only. And guess what, I am finding out that I can live within my meens.
It has truely set me free!!!
P.S
When I say I am raising them alone, I mean with out any help from their father in child support at all!!
10.24.08 @ 10:52 am
These are great ideas, I’m actually going to start using the library again, I love books and like you easily drop some $$ at the bookstore. And doing the same with the pedicures at home.
Great post!
10.24.08 @ 3:14 pm
These are great ideas!
Some things we are doing…
-We can rent DVDs at the our library! Instead of renting or going to the movies, we rent them for $1 a week! Kids DVds are free!
-We compost veggie and fruit waste to lessen the amount of garbage we put out.
-We shop a resale/second-hand store for our 10-month-old’s clothes. She grows so fast, and it saves money to not buy new for everything.
-I plan our meals each week, and shop every Monday to make sure we have all the necessary food for the “menu.” This lessens our need to eat out in the evening. I freeze leftovers for my husband and I to eat for lunch–no going out to lunch.
10.31.08 @ 10:06 am
The recession is making us all start to live the way we should have been right along, with in our means. I got laid off in June and for a little while it probably saved us $ because I didn’t have to spend a ton on daycamp. We’ve now cut down to one car(it’s hard) and my boys know that they aren’t going to get much for Christmas. They have learned to prioritise, too they chose to go snowboarding for their Christmas gift instead of any games etc…So only socks and underware under the tree at our house.