<p>The pay cut I feared has materialized, but it’s a lot smaller than it could have been. Son is starting college in the fall, and there two sisters behind him. We’ve been trying to spend less money and I feel we’re making little progress. I’ve actually done fairly well simply by not shopping - or rather, not taking my daughters shopping.</p>
<p>However, last night Husband got a speeding ticket. He gets them on a regular basis. In Texas you can pay the fine and take deferred adjudication, so it doesn’t appear on your record, but I bet we pay for at leat 3 speeding tickets a year for him! Hard to tell the girls they can’t have new jeans when Husband has just flushed $225 down the toilet!</p>
<p>Anyone proud of their belt tightening this year? Please share!</p>
<p>We’re thinking hard about whether we should take a family vacation–even a short, simple one. After my son left for college, I increased my work hours (I’m self-employed). Who knows how long the work will last, so we’re being very conservative about spending overall.</p>
<p>It’s the little things in our house. Cutting out luxury items like Starbucks, consolidating errands to save gas, cutting back on take-out, no matter how busy we get, and cooking dinner, bringing lunch as opposed to buying…</p>
<p>All of these things are adding up; we are definitely spending less.</p>
<p>Last year I quit smoking and then after many more months I quit the Nicorette. I rarely buy coffee, but I did start taking my lunch to work. I used to go through $300-400 cash/month. Now I rarely spend any cash. The money I saved went into photography gear, but I am about done with those expenses and have a fun hobby that is paid for.</p>
<p>We gave up eating out, though we sometimes still do take out; we dropped the house temp to 62 degrees from 65; we cut all but basic cable; cut the call waiting and caller-id; raised the insurance deductibles; spent less on Christmas gifts and/or overlapped Christmas gifts and ‘needed’ items; cut out new boots in favor of re-soled older ones; cut the home delievery of the newspaper in favor of the read on-line version; are about to switch dentists because our current one raised his price for a cleaning by over $100 - I can use the mailer coupons for the same service for the old price - particularly for cleanings - cut out some short winter excursions we once did; we see less movies at the theater and more on net-flix, though we did go to the movies last weekend, but drank water and skipped the popcorn; haircuts are less frequent.</p>
<p>Husband is enamoured with the local “dollar” (now $1.50) movie theater, but it is so old and out of repair (sometimes you try to sit down and the seat is missing; other times springs stick out onto your bobo) that I’d much prefer to wait a week or two and get the same more on Netflix.</p>
<p>I went to the movies about 5 years ago. I still get haircuts with the same frequency. My wife learned to cut my hair many years ago and I never go to a barber. I won’t drop the temperature in the house. I already hate winter and am ready to burn old tires in my backyard with the hope that it will help with much needed global warming. We still get the newspaper but probably not for long. The paper is getting worse and worse and thinner and thinner.</p>
<p>Things we’ve given up and don’t miss (much):
Eating out
Hair care (no more highlights for me, we cut each other’s hair)
Movies out
Car wash
New clothes for parents (still buy some things for kids)
Home improvements (as opposed to home repairs)
Land line
Recreational shopping of all kinds</p>
<p>Luxuries I’m hanging on to like grim death:
1x/month housecleaning
Out-of-U.S. travel (we’re down to about every other year) with kids
Sports fees/music lessons for kids
Occasional bottle of good wine</p>
<p>No-cost/low-cost pleasures we’ve (re)discovered:
Long walks with our dogs
Netflix
Leisurely cooking
Dinner (at home) with friends
Book/discussion clubs
Wood fire
Puzzzles and board games
Library-sponsored museum passes
Hot showers
Community service</p>
<p>Seesh! That last list sounds like copy for a personals ad…</p>
<p>Bottom line, like many families we’re rediscovering the truth that many of the best things in life don’t require MasterCard.</p>
<p>I am shopping much less, which is a huge savings. I’m also trying to stretch out haircuts/color appointments. We are cooking at home more instead of picking up prepared food. Christmas seemed to cost a lot less this year. We are just generally being careful. I’m taking my lunch to work most days.</p>
<p>I’ve colored and highlighted my hair myself for years, but I’ve never been “out” about it. I wonder if now more of us will be wiling to admit all the little ways we save money?</p>
<p>We do many of things listed above and have for years. Some other ones that we have done more recently:</p>
<p>We pay for lawn care because we have tried some years to do it ourselves, but the task to great. I do all the pruning and weeding to save on those extra costs.</p>
<p>All of us shovel the driveway and walkways (we have a snow blower that purchased 20 years ago and split the cost with our neighbor). Actually, we have always done this though.</p>
<p>We all like to have coffee on the go. We have tried not to buy it in stores for years. We have purchased nice hot cups with lids in bulk and we find it cost effective. Also, I keep bottled water and occasionally soda cans in my trunk. This way I don’t use vending machines or pay $1.50 for one bottle of water unless it is above 90 degrees. I try to take healthy snacks with me so I don’t end up purchasing junk food, or even healthy food from vendors. My H is brown bagging more, and our youngest son is on a tight budget for his lunch.</p>
<p>Also, I have a relative who is the same size that I am. She has been trying to get rid of the extra “stuff” in her closets. I have accepted her generous offer of some sweaters/jean jacket/spring coats. I would not have bought these things anyway, but now I won’t need to buy these type of things for at least 2 or 3 years. All of these things look brand new! One jacket she told me she wore exactly twice. She said it is a bit too heavy to lug around. She told me that she paid $100 for it on clearance!</p>
<p>We have excellent tap water where I live and I got my D to give up bottled water in the house (I never drink bottled water, take plastic glass with me in car)</p>
<p>I have also cut down on shopping quite a bit. I didn’t get my annual handbag. We are going to cut down number of family vacation, that’s usually our big expense. We are not cutting back on the kids yet - ballet SI, study abroad, lessons… Waiting for a good sale for Apple Mac. Kids have been good about not asking for too many things. In general, we are just being more careful. Many “why not” items are being more carefully thought about. Going to hear about our bonus in a few weeks. Hopefully it won’t be a disaster.</p>
<p>Not so good, lately. Let’s see, in the past 2 months we’ve bought a new dishwasher, new washer and dryer, paid a semester’s worth of tuition & room/board, new tires for one car, rims for the studded snow tires on another car, several plane tickets, new brakes for my car, and a Wii. UGH! I guess we’re doing our part to stimulate the economy… right?</p>
<p>My husband loves driving his 1994 mini-van with 240,000 + miles on it. The thing is, one of these days - and I think sooner rather than later - it will have to be replaced. We’ve paid cash for every vehicle we’ve bought in our 19 1/2 years of marriage, but the cash just isn’t there right now.</p>
<p>I can not think of many ways we can cut down. Home maintenance is DIY. I’m the master landscaper/gardener of the house. I cook dinners every night, mostly from scratch. We bring our own lunches to work and rarely stop by Starbucks, except during road trips. We are not eating out often except when it means business (networking with old friends, catching up on major work-related gossip, etc.). I clean the house and do laundry. I have never taken anything to drycleaners in my entire life (a lot of “dryclean only” stuff can be washed; if it can’t - I do not buy it). We are saving a few $$ this year because we are not paying for DD’s activities, but I can hardly call that “savings” because we are paying for her tuition. I did go shopping this month (could not resist the $5 shirts at Macy’s and the clearance rack at TJ Maxx). H splurged and bought a Wii Fit which we could not find before Christmas, but that was the week before his company warned the Street. Now H is reluctant to go on any vacations this year because the “out of sight out of mind” psychology when it comes to selecting candidates for layoffs. However, he would not let me take the Fit back to the store :)</p>
<p>We’ve been doing many of the things mentioned on this thread (except the DIY snow shoveling since we’re in SoCal.) I’ve noticed that spending for things has a different feel now. </p>
<p>For example, I was really not pleased to find that the bedroom TV, the 13" 1982 Sony Trinitron was so old it had no jack so we could attach the digital connection box (for which we got the government coupon.) I had no intention of replacing that oldie.</p>
<p>Making lemonade out of lemons, we trotted down to Circuit City, who’s going out of business. Some chatter we heard made us realize the liquidation prices were, in fact, HIGHER than the previous sale prices before CC declared BK! So we cooled heels, waited a few weeks, and went back. Prices had dropped further. We decided a 19" Toshiba HDTV was a reasonable replacement at $255 (excluding tax and CA electronics recycling fee.) We got rabbit ears at Radio Shack for $35 rather than the cable connect to bedroom for $120. </p>
<p>Bottom line: Unlike before, when making a replacement, we went for less, not more although, in the end, it feels like more since the old Sony was indeed old. It was my first TV after grad school.</p>
<p>We’ve been (trying) to live more frugally for years (not always successfully).</p>
<p>One area that I always ended up spending full-price was gifts for kids (& others) b-days & holidays. This year, I shopped ahead at (shhh) Good Will. Got a bunch of great gifts for nephews (brand new, in box) for $1, $3, $6 (highest spent–for huge, brand new, racing-car set). This saved a bunch of money. Got a $5 shirt for my son at Plato’s Closet (used teen clothing) that he loves (tho he’d never shop there).</p>
<p>Husband has (for the first time in his life) shopped for 2 sweatshirts for himself at Walmart while we were there getting other stuff. He always had to have Ralph Lauren Polo everything (even shorts, which he’d end up getting paint on). So far, Walmart brand is holding up well!</p>
<p>I have significantly dialed down the level of stores at which I shop. I now check out Old Navy and sales at Gap/Limited instead of grabbing my usual brands at Nordstrom. It helps that there is not a Nordstrom here in my city. I also do a search for coupon codes when I buy online to try to get free shipping or higher percent off the price. It is challenging right now because everything is SO reduced that I want to buy it all!</p>