Official Budgeting Challenge Thread

OK, here we go everyone!!!

For those of you looking to just cut back or to those of you looking to pay off tons of debt, here is the official budgeting challenge thread.

Anything goes here!

Share your ideas of how you are cutting back, how much you have saved-----even feel free to post if you have totally blown your budget and need a nice kick in the a$$ to get back on track.

I hope this is helpful and inspiring to many.

Re: Official Budgeting Challenge Thread

Bumping for a few more of you who posted who are interested.

Re: Official Budgeting Challenge Thread

I'm in.

Anyone who knows me IRL, knows I've always been pretty frugal (grew up w/ a blue collar single parent but 3 weeks ago DH was laid off again... entire sales staff cut... 3 jobs in 3 years So here we go again .

Today, I'm sending DH to grocery store for only the things we absolutely need for the week. I'm using up what's in the freezer and pantry. Using recipe sites to use as much previously bought ingredients as possible.

Only using cash to pay for gas... trying to get DH to do the same yes, those few dollars a fill-up add up.

My other project for the week is to trade in my DC's clothing on www.thredup.com. And post some toys on craigslist.

I'll post a list of other things later.

DH is not as good about this as I am but in his defense, I really watch ever dime. Growing up, he didn't have to.

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Sorry to hear about your job loss!

I hope things look up soon.

Re: Cooking sites.

I remember someone shared supercook.com awhile ago on here and it's a great site to use what you have on hand.

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Earlier in the week, DH erased his 7 year old Dell laptop and traded it in on:

www.gazelle.com

We should be receiving a check for $108.



Make sure you thoroughly erase your hard drive before turning in any electronics.

He also tried out a new barber shop, $8.
He's blessed with a lot of hair

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DH and I are saving for a house. I'm trying to do anything I can to cut back.

I used to just food shop and get whatever I wanted. I would stuff the cabinets. Now I write out a list of dinners, use that to mae a grocery list and STICK WITH IT. If its not on my list, I don't buy it.

I also started bringing my own bags to the supermarket (its a very little savings, but every penny counts, right?).

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DH wants to treat us to bagels this morning as a reward for getting a great new job through his business.

We rarely buy bagels out, but I told him instead of getting us individuals with toppings, to just buy a dozen and whatever is leftover we'll take to work during the week and I will make bagel pizzas with.

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I ran to the grocery store this morning, stuck to my list of things we were out of only that need, and got in and out for around $25.00 and change.

I also changed up the supermarket I usually go to and noticed that it was cheaper at this one.

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I started doing subscribe and save for diapers and wipes and am saving 30%+ over what I was spending getting them at BJ's or Walmart.

I split what I buy. I tend to shop Stop & Shop with the price gun for produce, dairy, and some meats (great way to stay under budget) I"ve also started shopping walmart and Target for cereal, frozen and some dry goods. For paper goods I tend to hit up BJ's but I recently renewed my Costco card. I know when I go in there what I spend on items at the grocery store or Walmart/Target to know if I'm getting a deal or not.

We brown bag lunches.

We line dry most of our clothes.

I also do swagbucks and mypoints and get gift cards to amazon and gap etc from that. (If you want a referral link, FM me)

I use coupons via Mypoints too.

Message edited 2/20/2011 11:48:50 AM.

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My husband is a miser. People laugh at him all the time.

If it wasn't for the kids he would never turn on the heat. Before we had kids it was always on 60 so the pipes don't freeze, now he generously puts it up to 65. It goes on in November and off in March.

He only drives cars that are given to him so he never has a car payment.

All of our lights are energy savers. He runs around turning the lights off behind everyone.

We did not have cable before we had children. He would cancel it now if I let him.

He doesn't have a cell phone.

He likes to run the dishwasher and laundry after 10pm because it's cheaper.

He never buys anything. He makes me shave his head to save money. He returns cans. The list can go on and on...

I use the Brita pitcher instead of buying bottled water.

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I amde a list to go food shopping today but decided not, and to cook from what I had instead. I took a good look in my freezer and pantry cabinet and decided to completely cut back on my list.

Tomorrow I will go to the store for only the necessities instead of what's on sale.

I keep the heat really low. We have a wood stove and use it alot.

I really have to look into cutting back the cell phone bill.

I need to stop running to the store for just a "few things" - either the pharmacy when I p/u a rx or the supermarket to just get milk or whatever and end up spending alot more. That is my challenge.

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I need to fully potty train my daughter-- pull ups are $$!

Be more mindful if my grocery list. I spent $163 this week. I do buy a lot of organic/hormone free but there has to be a cheaper way!

We're renovating and trying to DIY a lot of projects. I'm learning a lot.

I bag my lunch and cook every night except Fridays. Friday is pizza night. My husband is starting to bag his lunch too, but it's harder for him. He has to network a lot more than I do, so lunches out are part of his job.

I just took a defensive driving course thstcwill lower my liability/collision by 10%.

I have to put a ton of stuff on eBay. I've been slacking in my sales.

I took on extra projects at work for more $. I have to work Saturdays now and very late Mondays, but the extra paycheck is nice.

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I usually make my own pizza on Friday nights instead of buying it from the pizzeria.

It's so much cheaper. DH and DS love it too and there's so many ways you can change it up.

I bought a pizza and salad a couple weeks ago and yeah, it tasted great, but it also cost close to $30.00.

Fresh dough is like $1.25 at my grocery, or you can get the frozen 2 pack for a couple of bucks.

Mozzarella cheese seems to always be on sale at the grocery store.

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we try to go to a mantinee movie when we go to the movies or tuesdays is bargin movie day.

try to shop for two weeks of grocerys by bulking up on stuff from BJ's

Re: Official Budgeting Challenge Thread

Posted by MrsSpring

Posted by mzsocialworker1

I usually make my own pizza on Friday nights instead of buying it from the pizzeria.

It's so much cheaper. DH and DS love it too and there's so many ways you can change it up.

I bought a pizza and salad a couple weeks ago and yeah, it tasted great, but it also cost close to $30.00.

Fresh dough is like $1.25 at my grocery, or you can get the frozen 2 pack for a couple of bucks.

Mozzarella cheese seems to always be on sale at the grocery store.

i love that idea. im totally stealing it.

Re: Official Budgeting Challenge Thread

Yesterday we went to Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead.

Last year, we got a family membership for DC's birthday. Yesterday was trip #7 (yeah, I'm over it ) but definitely got our money's worth.

No way was I buying lunch there at a $20. minimum.

I grabbed some coupons from Subway (used to save them when DH worked in the city). Lunch for 4 was less than $10. We left, went down the block and then came back.

Member ship last year was $135.

So family of four for a day out was:
$10. for lunch
$20 approx cost of visit (membership divided by 7 visits)
plus gas.

Not bad.

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For those of you who try to eat Organic, shop at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc.

http://healthylifedeals.blogspot.com/

is a great blog that shows the sales, coupon match ups, etc. for organic, hard to find coupons.

And Trader Joe's does take coupons!!
It's just hard to find the coupons for most of the brands they sell.

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I am trying to pay off my student loans as fast as I can. I started out with around 65K in 2003 and now my current balance is around $38K so in order to speed things up, I am

-using Netflix instead of wasting money going to movie theaters

- brownbagging my lunch. I used to blow $10-20/day just eating lunch near midtown Manhattan. Not anymore!

- limiting my trips to Starbucks. $5 for a cup of coffee, not anymore!

-ATMing only 1x a week and making that cash last for the week. If I don't have the $$, I can't buy it period!

-shopping for clothes only if I really need something.

-if we go out to eat, we don't splurge on expensive restaurants as much. We look for casual restaurants that have deals sometimes (2 entres for $ 20, prix fixe, etc).


If I can sock away $1K-1500 toward my monthly payment, I hope to be completely debt free by 2013.

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I plan to live like a pauper.

Cutting coupons for only the stuff I really need, buying only groceries I need for the week

Waiting until I actually run out of stuff to buy them etc...

Oh and I also bought power strips so I can turn off things like the tv and the dvd player while we aren't home so we can save a little bit on electric

Message edited 2/21/2011 3:42:23 PM.

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I turn off the lights if I'm not in the room.
I only buy DD's clothes that are on sale. I refuse to pay full price
I sometimes shop at King Kullen and use 1.00 coupons so they double.
I'm an amazon mom/ n subscribe n save so I save tons on diapers.
My dh and I go out to din maybe once or twice a month.
We both get a 100 a week which we even use for gas.
I hardly shop for myself and if I do i use coupons (ny&company)
We just got a high efficency washing machine so hopefully that saves on water usage.
I return bottles.

Re: Official Budgeting Challenge Thread

Another eating out tip, parents and non-parents.

DH (even when he was employed) and I rarely go out to dinner anymore, maybe twice a year... birthday/anniversary.

Instead, we go out to lunch. No drinks, alcohol really adds to the tab.

Much cheaper and easier to find free (a.k.a. family members ) to babysit the kids.

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- I only go to Target with a shopping list. I am not allowed to look at anything else.

- DH does the groceries. I never shop sales and will be the one picking the junk food. DH does the list and sticks to it.

- I have a limit of clothing for DS. Like X amount of shorts. X amount of pants. X amount of shirts. Once I have the clothes for the season, I do not buy any other outfit. REGARDLESS how cute it can be.

- I do my own dog grooming on my dogs. I got a pair of clippers and even if I keep buying blades, it's so much cheaper than paying for grooming. 1 grooming for my 2 dogs = $100 vs. Clippers = $50 (bought it 3 years ago) Blade = $25 (does 6-8 grooming).

- I clip my own kid's hair. Clippers = $25 (have it for 2 years!). Need a new one now. I cannot find blades at the store.

Whatever temptations I have in certain stores, I only buy what I came to buy. Shoes (stick to 1 pair... I would buy 3-5 otherwise).

I buy mix and match clothing. Stick to "basics" and accessorize with custom jewerly and trendy fashion handbags. Easier to update season to season and much cheaper..

If we have a school meeting for DS, since DH takes the time time off and DS will be in school, we go out to a lunch date. No babysitting cost. DH will take a day off also once in a while during the year so we have a few hours on our own while DS is in school. We don't feel rushed to go out and eat. And lunch menus are cheaper and most places are not crowded at all.



NOT worth it for me:
Doing the mowing of my lawn. I did for years. I used to do it when DS was napping. Then he stopped napping. For $25 per week, they do it in 15-20 minutes. It would take me 2-3 hours to do the same (mow, bag, blow, edge). For that amount of time, we take 1 less take out per week (about $20-$25) and I can make a whole meal at home.

Message edited 2/21/2011 3:56:31 PM.

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- I redeemed $150 from points accumulated for just using my Chase Freedom card which is all paid off each month. I think I redeem about $150-400 every 3 months.

- I signed up for online statements instead of paper on Ameritrade 'cus they were charging $2/month to send statements!!! What a rip! :P

- I avoided going to Costco 'cus everytime we go, it's another $200 a pop!

- I'm looking into cancelling my fios landline line and downgrade from triple to double play, we may use ooma or magic jack instead

Message edited 2/21/2011 4:19:59 PM.