Tag: money

a tip for spending less money

In our house we are getting serious about paying off our debt and saving money. Funny how as soon as you tell yourself that you can’t spend anything, all you want to do is buy stuff! For real, though.

I’ve long known that for us it’s the little stuff here and there that adds up, but it’s so easy to justify those small purchases. So when we cut out all extra spending recently, I had to find a way to deal with the urges to buy things. “Retail therapy” really does work in the short run, but since it’s not in line with my overall values I know I’ll regret it later. On the other hand, I know that if I just flat out deny myself, I’ll eventually feel oppressed or make excuses as to why a particular situation doesn’t count.

This is what I began doing instead: when the urge to spend money arrives, I think about what’s causing it. What is that craving really for? And how can I satisfy it in another way?

For example, the other night I had a strong craving for ice cream. (Let’s be honest, that happens every day.) But not only is that unhealthy, we didn’t have any ice cream in the house so I would have had to buy some. My first instinct was to suggest a frozen yogurt outing for the family. But I thought about it a bit more and realized what I really wanted was something cold and creamy. I had all the stuff at home to make a smoothie, so that’s what I did, and I was happy. Honestly, even just applesauce would have satisfied the craving at that point.

Another example: I recently began feeling dissatisfied with the state of our house. I got all these ideas on how to refresh it, but they involved buying things: a new couch, a rolling cart, a rug, etc. So after realizing that I couldn’t do that, I figured out that what I really wanted was a bit of a change. Decluttering and reorganizing/repurposing what I do have will give me that same sort of high. So I scheduled a decluttering day, and for the things that I do actually need to add to our house, I’m searching the free section of Craigslist and Freecycle.

So far this strategy is helping immensely. It’s also fun to keep track of the things that I didn’t buy, that I ordinarily would have, so I can see exactly how much we’ve saved. What are your best tips for saving money?

June 9, 2015
how we are making our money matter
It’s the end of the year, which means Christmas shopping and budgeting for next year. For us, it also means that pretty soon we are going to be adding another child to our household and all the costs (*cough* daycare *cough*) that go with it. I have been thinking about money and finances a lot lately: how to save it, where to spend it, and how to make it matter. It’s a never-ending battle.

We’ve been working on paring down our spending for awhile in anticipation of a drastic increase in expenses. Here are some things we’re doing to save:
- Took a look at all of our recurring bills. Canceled or cut back on the non-necessary expenses (cable, subscriptions).
- Changed phone plans to one that fits our lifestyle better.
- Trying our best to be more energy-efficient with the thermostat and electric usage.
- Set up separate savings accounts for annual expenses (like our HOA dues and Christmas shopping) that we pay into monthly so that we’re not hit with that all at once.
- We hardly ever eat out, take advantage of lots of meals with family, and eat what we have in the house till we’re desperate (I’m still working on the whole cooking thing though…)
- No “for fun” shopping, no trips to Target just to get out of the house, and I unsubscribed from all shopping emails and newsletters.
- Begging for and borrowing hand-me-down toddler/baby clothes and supplies.
- Set up a “change” jar. It might not seem like much but spare change can add up to pay for little splurges at the least!
Another thing we’ve done is switch from our traditional bank to a local credit union. I was seriously going over our expenses with a fine-toothed comb, and I noticed that suddenly we were being charged a $10 monthly fee to have our checking account open. When we opened it we got a great deal with no fees and a high interest rate, but slowly all the benefits decreased until they were gone. After doing some research I realized that a credit union was the way to go! Here’s why:
- They are non-profit! The members are the owners, so all money going in comes back to the members in the form of dividends, rebates, lower interest rates, etc.
- They are part of the local community so putting your money there helps improve the local economy and infrastructure.
- They have all the same services of big banks but with no fees and better rates.
- No worry about convenience because most credit unions are part of a shared branching and ATM network.
We seriously love our credit union and I’m actually mad we didn’t switch earlier!

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This post is sponsored by Make Your Money Matter, in association with PSCU, though all views expressed are my own.
December 13, 2013
a weekend like that

Y’all. I had such a great weekend. I didn’t even realize how much I needed some time off where I wasn’t having my insides ripped out of me, puking my guts out, or recovering from either of the above, but I can tell you now that I needed it. I know because today I am happy, and I didn’t even mind getting up at 4:30 a.m. on Daylight Savings weekend to go to work. It was such a great weekend that I am about to relive it right here – not for YOUR benefit, per se – but for my own.

After I got let off work early on Friday I unknowingly headed straight into a traffic catastrophe that put my commute home at 2 1/2 hours. I admit that my good mood faded somewhere around an hour into the drive when I had only made it a few miles. But the ease of driving my new car and a good audiobook made it bearable. I arrived awhile later, only slightly frazzled, at my in-laws’ house to meet my husband for dinner, and we enjoyed a meal that I realized was an exact replica of the one I ate immediately before I got sick a week ago. The fact that I did not, in fact, get sick again I took to be a sign of better things to come.

After sleeping in on Saturday morning, I indulged in something I should be ashamed of, but am not: Farmville on Facebook. Yes, I play it; I enjoy it because it is a mindless and soothing distraction. And did you know that there are more Farmville players than Twitterers? So I promise not to be annoying about my Farmville habits if you promise to just block it already and not make fun of me. Anyway, on Saturday morning I had some time and I made a lot of changes to my farm and now it’s pretty and yeah I can’t believe I’m actually still talking about this but that’s what happens when I’m in a good mood! I ramble!

During this time my three dogs, who were quietly sunbathing in the backyard, suddenly went into an uproar. A stray dog had approached the gate, and they were beside themselves. They got so riled up that Cleo and Oliver transferred their fury onto each other and launched into a full-fledged battle, while Eddie stood by and barked. I know a person is not supposed to get in the middle of a dog fight, but my other option was to let them kill each other or at least injure one another to the point of very high vet bills. I hate to brag, but at this point I’m kind of an expert at breaking up dog fights. Unfortunately in my weakened condition I managed to stick my leg in the wrong place and ended up with a rather painful bite to the calf muscle. Don’t worry though! Not only am I okay, but we just kept the dogs apart overnight and they made up the next day.

Next on the agenda was a couple of extremely satisfying errands such as picking up my Nintendo gear from the FedEx office (more on that later this week) and getting a new EZ tag for my car. The EZ tag lets you breeze through the tollways in Houston, and although I’m not in the habit of using the tollway unless I must, you can understand that I was dying for one on Friday night when I was stuck on the feeder road because I didn’t have any cash for tolls. The best part was that it didn’t cost me anything because I still had money left on my truck’s old EZ tag.

Afterwards I met my sister-in-law for the much-anticipated pedicure, and I believe this sentiment sums up my feelings perfectly:

Then David and I made good on a Christmas present we gave to his parents and took them to eat at Friday’s (the bruschetta chicken pasta was excellent) and saw “Shutter Island” which was an extremly well-done movie.

After a lovely church service on Sunday morning a friend of mine told me she’s pregnant and I didn’t even cry! I allowed myself to feel miserable for just a little while, but then I channeled it and went on a surprising cleaning/productive spree that I hadn’t planned. In fact, I had purposefully devoted this weekend to NOT cleaning in order to simply relax, but it turns out that my idea of relaxing is doing laundry, sweeping and vacuuming the floors, shopping for groceries, washing my truck to get it ready to sell, and wiping down every possible surface in my home. I have to say that I don’t regret it, because a clean home is better than almost anything.

David and I finished off the day by spending a couple hours doing our taxes, and let me just say that Turbo Tax is worth every penny. We are getting a rather large tax return, which is not only a blessing but a relief because going into it I had no idea what to expect. But it turns out that if you get yourself a mortgage, pay a ton of money in student loan interest, and give a lot to charity you get a bunch of deductions. When you look at it that way it’s not near as much fun, so I’ll just continue to think of this as free money.

Why can’t it always be the weekend?

March 15, 2010
Friday Mash-Up

Some randomness for your reading pleasure:

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One of my very best friends, Megan, is somewhat new to blogging. Well, the truth is that she blogged sporadically for awhile, and then stopped updating. So I took her off my list of links, which apparently offended motivated her. After some hearty encouragement on my part, she took it up again. She has assured me that she will be updating frequently, and she is a woman of her word. Basically what I’m trying to say is that YOU SHOULD BE READING IT. I don’t encourage just anyone to blog. Megan is a better writer than I’ll ever be; at once witty, inspiring, thought-provoking, and hilarious. She and her husband are currently living in Scotland for the year, and they are recounting their adventures here. Megan also has a travel blog, where she is retroactively writing about her journeys across the world.

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You may or may not know that my youngest brother works stage crew for the Alley Theatre, which is one of Houston’s premier theatres. This is awesome because it means that we get to see most of the plays for free, and the others at a discounted price. I feel very cultured. Anyway, this week we saw the world premiere of Gruesome Playground Injuries with Brad Fleischer and Selma Blair (you may recognize her from Legally Blonde, the Hellboy movies, or Cruel Intentions). Both David and I liked it a lot, which is actually rare. I even heard David laughing several times. Afterwards we got to meet the cast, which was fun because the most famous person I have ever met up until now was Derek Webb (and I was too nervous to even say anything to him).

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One of my coworkers introduced me to the website mygrocerydeals.com. It basically has all of your local grocery store sale flyers in one place, and it will e-mail you when a new one is available. You can browse by store or by category, create a shopping list, and print it or e-mail it to yourself. I love it and it has already revolutionized the way I shop.

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I got the H1N1 vaccine today. I did it because I am a direct caregiver to many people who are at high risk for contracting the virus; people who, if they got it, would get very very sick and perhaps not make it through. So the vaccine is more to protect them than to protect myself, because I know that my body could handle any kind of flu. I have to say though, I was nervous. For some reason my old fear of needles came back to me, and I was not feeling up to getting stuck. I think it’s because I’ve given two intramuscular injections this week, and both times I’ve seen the muscle quiver. It kind of gave me the shivers. Anyway, I looked away and barely felt the needlestick, although my arm is quite sore now.

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I wrote most of this post early in the day, then forgot to finish it until now. I almost went to bed without posting it, and now I’m barely squeezing it in. I’m super tired. Good night!

November 13, 2009
Can’t Live Without

What can’t you live without, even when money is tight? What’s most important to you?

I’ve heard it said that you can tell what’s most important to you by looking at how you spend your money. In the past, I haven’t wanted to believe that because I was ashamed at all the frivolous things I paid money for, but I think it’s probably pretty accurate.

These days if you look at our bank account you’ll see that most of our money goes to our mortgage, other household bills, and food. I guess that’s the part of growing up that isn’t too fun. But even so, I think these expenses say something about us. We didn’t have to buy a house, but it was important enough to us to have a place to call our own, to settle down, and to have a yard for our dogs to play in. We don’t have to pay for cable and internet, but it’s our link to the world. We don’t have to give money to our church, but we believe that God gave us everything we have anyway, and our church is our family. It couldn’t support itself without the giving of its members.

Apart from those things, there is very little that I won’t deprive myself of in the name of saving money, especially now that we’ve started our new budget. But the following are the few things that I find myself purchasing no matter what, even now.

Lean Cuisines for lunch. I realize that these are relatively expensive to bring to work every day for lunch compared to bringing leftovers or making a sandwich. But I can’t tell you how much I love them, and the ease of just throwing one in my bag in the morning is a big draw.

Netflix. First of all, we don’t really go to movies anymore. $9 a pop? No thank you. Netflix is more expensive than using Redbox, but we do it for the selection. It’s our compromise. Right now we’re watching through some of our favorite TV shows that we missed the first time around.

The occasional new book. I’m a big fan of the library, and I’m also a member of Paperbackswap.com and Bookmooch.com, so I rarely have to buy books I want to read. But sometimes our book club chooses a book that is either insanely popular or brand new, and then I have to bite the bullet. If I can’t find it used, I go to Barnes & Noble because I still have a membership there.

Of course, what I really can’t live without can’t be bought with money. Love of family and friends, hope for a future, and a purpose for my life are some of those things. If I had those things, I could live on the street scrounging for food and make it through.

What about you? What can’t you live without?

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This post is a part of 20SB’s Blog Carnival: Can’t Live Without, and Alice.com is awarding prizes to lucky bloggers and readers!

November 4, 2009