Ways to trim the budget:
Posted 02-12-2009 at 04:01:00 PM by MamaBird06
Since we are having a bit of a financial strain at the moment and my job searching is not going well, we are trying to find other ways to trim the fat from our budget.
1) try to cut food expenses from 250/month to 150/month-i think this is totally doable since my stockpile is decent and i know how to coupon ! Dh has vowed to not eat out for lunch. We have not eaten out once for the month of feb! I like my homecooking better anyway!
Thats 1200$ a year 85/1200
2) cancelled blockbuster-since ds broke our nice tv-we didn't see much point in keeping it. We will probably switch to netflix at a later date. no blockbuster-21.49 savings a month-Done!
That's 257.88 a year
3) get rid of the landline-I've already called about this and we will be able to save about 17$ if we get rid of it and only have internet and the cell phones
That's 204 a year So updating this list had me remember this i was going to look into, well i did a little more digging today and found that if we sign up for a one year contract we can get interenet only for 19.95 through at &t. So that will not save us 204 year, it will save us 385 a year!
4) the cellphones: may try to see if we can save some money there-silly dh went to paperless and is getting it sent to his email which i don't have access to-but i do all the bills/budgeting, grhh, he says he will try to get it sent my account
5) Mortgage refinance-this is a biggie. We will be getting a much better interest rate, and we will save about 335$ (est) a month, hopefully we will close in a week on this. That business is booming these days so they are backed up!
That's 4020 a year
6) check out car insurance rates-both dh and i drive so little we need to check and see if either of our vehicles could qualify as a recreational use vehicle
7) cutting back on gift spending from 90.90 a month average to 75/month
27/190.80 a year
8) cutting back on clothing purchases from 36.36 to 25 a month
36.36/136.32 a year
9) dh quits smoking-that will save us about 60$ a month
720 a year
Woo HOO DH quit smoking cold turkey it's been 2 weeks now!
10) overall reduction of utitlities use, keeping the thermostat down, etc.?
Potential savings a year: 6729+
1511.24 trimmed
1) try to cut food expenses from 250/month to 150/month-i think this is totally doable since my stockpile is decent and i know how to coupon ! Dh has vowed to not eat out for lunch. We have not eaten out once for the month of feb! I like my homecooking better anyway!
Thats 1200$ a year 85/1200
2) cancelled blockbuster-since ds broke our nice tv-we didn't see much point in keeping it. We will probably switch to netflix at a later date. no blockbuster-21.49 savings a month-Done!
That's 257.88 a year
3) get rid of the landline-I've already called about this and we will be able to save about 17$ if we get rid of it and only have internet and the cell phones
That's 204 a year So updating this list had me remember this i was going to look into, well i did a little more digging today and found that if we sign up for a one year contract we can get interenet only for 19.95 through at &t. So that will not save us 204 year, it will save us 385 a year!
4) the cellphones: may try to see if we can save some money there-silly dh went to paperless and is getting it sent to his email which i don't have access to-but i do all the bills/budgeting, grhh, he says he will try to get it sent my account
5) Mortgage refinance-this is a biggie. We will be getting a much better interest rate, and we will save about 335$ (est) a month, hopefully we will close in a week on this. That business is booming these days so they are backed up!
That's 4020 a year
6) check out car insurance rates-both dh and i drive so little we need to check and see if either of our vehicles could qualify as a recreational use vehicle
7) cutting back on gift spending from 90.90 a month average to 75/month
27/190.80 a year
8) cutting back on clothing purchases from 36.36 to 25 a month
36.36/136.32 a year
9) dh quits smoking-that will save us about 60$ a month
720 a year
Woo HOO DH quit smoking cold turkey it's been 2 weeks now!
10) overall reduction of utitlities use, keeping the thermostat down, etc.?
Potential savings a year: 6729+
1511.24 trimmed
Total Comments 2
Comments
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You have some great ideas! We switched all of our lights to energy saving bulbs, and most days I don't turn them on until around 4pm (unless its a dreary day with no natural sunlight) and hope to see a reduction in our energy bill.Posted 02-12-2009 at 05:09:13 PM by mommaof2kiddos
- Good job, MaMa Bird! I appreciate your efforts to, not only look for work outside the home, but also WORK at home by saving money for your family. There's nothing as creative as a woman on a BUDGET!Posted 02-14-2009 at 06:32:25 AM by mimipaula1
