Pinching Pennies While Feeling the Pinch
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or playing endless Wii in denial) the economic state of this country is no secret, all signs point to a recession. If the widespread job loss and erratic spikes in financial markets aren’t daunting enough, briefly tune into CNBC and allow Suze Orman’s screaming to scare the bejeezus out of you. As the effects of the financial crisis begin to trickle down, many feel the need to trim the fat. A sudden shift in lifestyle seems crucial as needs outweigh wants, and bare necessities begin to tip the scales. As a result, many are shaving away superfluous fringes of everyday life in order to simplify.
Our family is no exception. Dadisodes and I had a good cry last week, post 401K check in. I am also updating my resume, just.in.case. As our family buckles down to do a bit of belt-tightening, I figured why not share some of the ways we’re doing it here and get feedback.
13 Ways to Pinch a Penny While Feeling the Pinch
1) Eat out less and cook more meals at home.
2) Give meals longevity by preparing larger portions to save energy or gas, and leftovers can be spread out to other meals.
3) Starbucks (Starcrack). Make it at home, or opt for the regular brew. Having a regular $4.50 cup of Joe adds up to $90/month, and over $1000 per year. A cup of the regular stuff is usually about half the price of the fru-fru brews.
4) Drink more water. Alcohol, coffee, and juice can really add up.
5) Ride a bike or walk.
6) Purchase store brand versus name brand (example: We love the cushiony clouds of Charmin, but buying the store brand can sometimes cut the cost of bathroom tissue in half).
7) Shop second hand/thrift stores and garage sales.
8 ) Make fewer trips- Plan an itinerary ahead of time to prevent leaving the house for multiple trips. I’m also purchasing many items I would normally buy at Target at my grocery store. Not only does it save gas, it also keeps me away from Target, where I tend to spend an extra $50 bucks on stuff I never intended to buy.
9) Vacation delay- The cost of a vacation can be a heavyweight on any budget. Until the economy mellows out, and job security is more certain, we’re holding off on any extravagant vacations.
10) Do-it-yourself toys and gifts.
11) Library- Rather than purchasing books, check out local libraries for titles (even new releases). Most libraries have on-line systems where you can search for and reserve books, CD’s and DVD’s from home.
12) Hold off on big purchases or investments. Dadisodes and I share a small car and recently moved into a home. Although we could certainly use another vehicle and furniture, we’re keeping our coins in the bank for now.
13) Stay home. It seems every time we leave the house, we spend money. So we’re spending more quality time at home listening to music, reading, or playing our 5,230th game of Candy Land.
How about you? Are you and your family taking measures to pull back on spending? Do you have any tips to share? Please share them in the comments below.
What a fabulous TT list!! I do a lot of that already and it is true.. every bit helps.
Happy TT to you.
Toni
October 16th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Love the list!
The Starbucks in the town where I work closed this last week. I’m thinking of wearing a black armband for a while…not that I could often have a drink there, but I did so love the Mint Mocha Chip Frappucinos. One day at work I fixed myself a coffee using chocolate milk and took it out with me when I moved my car on my supper break. Unfortunately, I left it in the car when I went back in. As I remember it was cold that day, and by the time I did get back, about 4 hours later, it was wonderfully cold and frappucino-ish!
LuAnn’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #2 – Poverty
October 16th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Great ideas. I hear you on that 56,003rd game of candyland and I raise you 200 games of chess with a nine year old who hates losing.
missy wiggins’s last blog post..Don’t mess with this nosy neighbor!
October 16th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
With three sons, you would think that we would have worn out the collection of board games I have. But my boys were born at just the right time to take advantage of the explosion of electronica, and so, other than chess, never got into the board game habit. So now I own 41 different Avalon Hill board games, most of them military in nature, and some of them have never been played. Blitzkreig, all three versions of Gettysburg, 1914, Squad Leader and several Squad Leader modules, and my favorite, Tobruk. And a whole bunch of others. Wanna play? Kidding. I have a book to write. And you have a writing class you’re supposed to be getting an assignment done for. How many things did I do wrong in that last sentence? My goodness. Anyway, how do you like ‘Stream of Consciousness’ commenting? I gonna get back to work now – which is driving me crazy.
lceel’s last blog post..Number 326
October 16th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
It’s a testament to the variety of attitudes and lifestyles in this country: I’d guess that for 50% of the population, these money-saving strategies are simply life-as-normal out of necessity. Here are a few more:
Drive your car till it’s dead, dead, dead. When annual repair bills are lower than annual payments on a replacement, you’re ahead.
Learn to fix stuff and build stuff, then do-it-yourself. (I was about to toss a toaster oven that had stopped working and buy a new one. While watching TV one night, I took the toaster oven apart, noticed a piece of metal that looked bent funny, straightened it, and the toaster oven is still working fine now 17 years later.)
Quit the gym; do calisthenics and go for long walks instead.
When you do go out, go to playgrounds and parks and pack picnics.
Make lunch at home and carry it with you to school or work (if you work away from home).
Buy in bulk when stuff is on sale–and don’t buy when it’s not. (When orange juice is 2 half gallons for $5, I buy 3 or more gallons. They usually last until the next $5/gallon sale… and if they don’t, I buy sparingly until the next sale. When I can’t find meat at a good price, I can usually find what I want in my deep-freeze in the basement.)
Make your own prepared foods–jellies, jams, pickles, cookies, snacks, applesauce, yogurt, bread. Three loaves of bread you can make using about 70 cents worth of ingredients will cost, perhaps, $7 in a store and yours will taste way better.
My favorite: Grow your own food. Grow too much to eat, and preserve the extra to eat during the off season… a kitchen garden can be as small as a few flower pots on a window sill. A flower pot, potting soil, and seeds might cost $5-$7, while buying fresh basil for just three meals will cost more than $7.
Daniel’s last blog post..Fruit Tree Neglect in a Small Kitchen Garden
October 16th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
We are definately eating in more and brown bagging lunches. And, skipping the coffee at Starbucks (or Dunkin’ Donuts) doesn’t hurt either. It all adds up.
October 16th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Hi, cool list! lots of good tips, I don’t drink coffee, but I do drink tea. Thus, I don’t go to starbucks. But tea probably ads up to close to the same amount. My tt is here: http://lifes-adventures.net
Cheers!
Noelle
Noelle’s last blog post..Thursday 13 2
October 16th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Great list! Unfortunately, I’m going to have to return to work part to full time November 1st as our once middle class income no longer pays the bills even with cutbacks.
Karen’s last blog post..“Rickrolled” by my 12 year old son . . .
October 16th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I’ve started cooking and drinking and entertaining way before the crisis. I live in Costa Rica and even though there are some decent restaurants the majority are a huge dissappointment, to the point that everytime I ate out I used to say, I can do way better than this and a lot cheaper.
So, now I find it so much more fun:)
marina’s last blog post..TT 13 #1: 13 Reasons Why I love Living in Costa Rica
October 16th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Go to hillbillyhousewife.com and use their flavored coffee recipes. I think you will really like them.
Undercover Princess’s last blog post..Vocabu-tastic!
October 16th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Re #6, I’ve never seen the point of buying expensive toilet paper. Especially when you consider what you do with it?
Also, Mooncup’s can save you a lot of money apparently.
Solomon@ThingsI’mGratefulFor’s last blog post..Things I’m Grateful For on Thursday 16 October
October 16th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Coupons, coupons, coupons!! We have cut back ALOT on groceries! Its sooo easy to spend up to double what your budget is on impulse items! I started planning our meals weekly and I use coupons wherever I can! I have spent almost $150.00 less a month by doing so.If you just look on manufacturers websites you can find coupons for just about anything! Alot of sites offer “free samples” as well. I got a free sample in the mail today for dove deoderant with $8.00 in coupons. Every bit helps! I def. think that the economy issues are the wake up call this country needed to get back to reality and to live for ourselves and not to impress everyone else on things we CANNOT afford!
October 16th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Great tips… staying home works really well for me, as long as I can stay off of etsy.
Also a funny note about #6 – expensive toilet paper always clogs our toilet, lol.
chelsea’s last blog post..Thrifty Thursday
October 16th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Those are all great tips. However cutting out starbucks wow that will really save some people some money.
I’m so glad I don’t live in Seattle anymore where survival without that smiling face just seemed impossible. LOL
It’s a great list and always good stuff to think about. With a family of 5 I’m always counting out the pennies that’s for sure.
killlashandra’s last blog post..Theme Thursday – Fall
October 16th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
awh, your candyland remarks was so cute, too
chin up doll
so grateful to be mormon’s last blog post..being given what i NEED, not what i WANT
October 16th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I need to do more of these. Staying home is no fun though!
October 16th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
WOW! Great list, Sandy!! Another thing to add on the list is outdoorsy fun stuff!
Bike rides with kids in tow, walks, hiking, etc…all free and fun!
Thanks so much for the note on my last post. Totally made my day. You are such a great blog buddy! I <3 ya!
C’s last blog post..Really Good News & Really Bad News
October 16th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Love it, hate it. They are all sound pieces of advice, but I don’t want to (stomp foot, stick bottom lip out, possibly stick out tongue)!
Patsy’s last blog post..Please, Use Your Inside Voice
October 16th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
I’m with you 130%
CC’s last blog post..Thearpy Thursday: Traumatic Brain Injury
October 16th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I practice quite a few of these already because I am a cheap person! Hahaha! I always take my coffee to work in a thermos. It saved me 400 dollars a year. Our economy here in Saskatchewan is still good. We were enjoying an economic boom. It doesn’t seem to be slowing down. It still is good to be prudent. One other thing I would put on your list is to stay our of credit card debt. That kills so many people.
Christine’s last blog post..Seattle It Is!
October 16th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
We are buying those kitchen staples in bulk and making stuff from scratch the ole fashion way, then we preserve those leftovers so we are wasting less food. I have tons of chicken broth canned from a whole chicken I prepared last week. Just made some soups from scratch and canned those (it really is cheaper), oh and the apples we got were a steal and we are canning those too.
Talina’s last blog post..Some odd thoughts and call for your 2 cents!
October 16th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Staying home is my favorite…How’s cutting the internet?
chris’s last blog post..I’m In Heaven
October 16th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Great list with some simple common sense ideas. Hard as it may be to believe, I miss playing Candy Land.
Debbie’s last blog post..Thursday 13 Meme
October 16th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
yes yes good tips – drink water – yes we always try to do this when we do go out to eat – Restaurants regularly charge 2.00 a drink that is 8.00 for our family! plain coffee – yes
we recycled our plastic water bottles today at a center that pays you back a little instead of just taking it away.
last but not least shop at the grocery store where we bag our own groceries – not very fancy – but it adds up and the bonus is the kids will be experienced and ready for a job – bagging groceries at a fancy store of course!
October 16th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
sister, you hit the nail on the head w/ this post. we are doing the same things… only we are moving into our new house now that need a LOT of updating and renovating!! ugh. it is costing us a pretty penny but it is an investment, and we plan on doing it as slowly as we can. making do with what we can for a while even if we don’t LOVE it…
I love all your ideas and we too are big players of CANDY LAND. ugh. I never thought I could actually HATE that cute, sweet little game, but man it is getting quite annoying.
the kids are feeling it here, though, they ask when we can go to the mall, we haven’t been in about a month or so… things are definitely changing around here, but you just have to do what you have to do.
we will survive and hopefully with the upcoming election some changes will come around and make the economy better. (I HOPE!!) I also thought about possibly getting J.O.B. but not really looking forward to day care expenses for two children. ugh. that would be a strain on the budget and I’m not even sure me having a job again would be worthwile. but we’ll see.
good luck.
and thanks for sharing your ideas!
xoxoxox
Jenn’s last blog post..You’ve got to be shitting me…
October 16th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
So many great ideas, and I do most of them. I think it helps. Every little bit does help.
Maggie’s Mind’s last blog post..Nothing Here to See
October 16th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I’m a frugal mommy all the way but with the economic downturn I’ve had to tighten our belt even further.
A couple more to think about:
Turn down the thermostat at least one degree. This helps save the environment as well as the pocketbook.
Eat a few meatless meals a week. This has help ease up on the grocery bill a bit because meat tended to be our biggest expense. Beans are a wonderful substitute and is still very filling.
Ebay is a great resource to either find what you need cheaper or to make money selling what you don’t need.
Just my thoughts. Good luck to all who are trying to cut back during this economically stressful time.
Jessica’s last blog post..Website Thursday
October 16th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Timely list with lots of excellent ideas! About a year ago I pretty much gave up walking malls with friends and shopping as recreation. It’s amazing how much money that saved me and what a relief it is to not be bringing more ‘stuph’ into my already cluttered home. The ‘Starbucks’ habit was a big one for me until I decided to buy the beans and brew it at home … so I spend a bit more than I used to for ‘coffee beans’ but considerably less than stopping in the store for coffee every day. Seems like a good compromise over all.
Hugs and blessings,
storyteller’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #44 – Sweetness
October 16th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
This is a great list! Everybody should be able to do at least a few of the items you have on here.
Have a great TT!
October 16th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
I just told my husband today that I will not longer be purchasing the daily coffees that I so crave.. it adds up Quickly!! Thanks for the great tips!!!
Kim’s last blog post..A Breast Cancer Survivor Story Written By My Hero
October 16th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Very good advice.
Nicholas’s last blog post..Thursday Thirteen #67
October 17th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Stockpile 3-6 months of food that can keep. Grow your own garden. Make your own bread. Stretch food to accommodate more than one meal.
Siobhan’s last blog post..T13: Meriland or Scotica?
October 17th, 2008 at 1:41 am
We’re doing a lot of things to cut expenses, especially since moving. Eating at home is a big thing for us, we used to eat out a lot. We now live walking distance to a grocery store, our bank, the post office, library, etc. so we walk a lot more, and stay home more too (which is nicer now that we have a bigger home & yard!). I also buy our veggies now from a produce stand; MUCH cheaper, and I started clipping coupons and comparing prices in sale flyers. We live in a small town and have several stores in close proximity so it’s not hard to shop at different stores for the best bargain. It’s more time consuming, but it can actually be fun!
I’m hoping to plant a garden in the spring, too.
Great post!
dysfunctional mom’s last blog post..My Heart Goes Out to You…
October 17th, 2008 at 4:43 am
such a good post
like checking the 401k it took me a bit to be “ready” to read.
*sigh*
MizFit’s last blog post..it rhymes. it off beat. it filled with a treat.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Good tips. We try to be careful with our money, too.
Before we make a purchase, we Google the item + coupon to see if anything comes up. You’d be amazed! My husband always says “Only suckers pay full price!”
SarahHub @ Oakbriar Farm’s last blog post..Penny for Your Thoughts
October 17th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
We’ve been eating in more, but for healthy meals rather than cheap ones. But I do think about the money we save there. It’s CRAZY how much we ate out. But no more. And we are drinking less booze and doing some of your other items. At least I love to cook and be home
Nola’s last blog post..Dearly Departed
October 21st, 2008 at 10:50 pm