Cutting the monthly budget! Snip snip!

[lucigo]

My husband just got a teaching job 450 miles away. Because we want to make sure its going to work out and that he will have a job for fall before we even think about moving, he is going to go live in an apartment and we will stay in our home. So...I'm cutting the budget so we don't sink from having a mortgage and rent!

Here is what I have so far...

Cut the cable bill -$48
Cut the cell phone bill -35 (I will miss my blackberry internet!)
Cut my son's computer subscription -$20
Cut the Orkin guy completely -44
Bye bye gym membership -$25

Hoping that with his new job benefits I will be able to cut the dental ins. we are paying $100 a month for. (Health ins is free, retired military).

Cut eating out down by 80%. I picked a random week in October and we had spent $97 eating out. This week $20 but that included my husband eating on the road between new job and home. So that should save us $320 a month and make us healthier too. Ok so say we have to buy more groceries thats still at least $200 a month savings.

Ok budget-minded friends, where else should I look?

 

[andrews_dad]

My husband just got a teaching job 450 miles away. Because we want to make sure its going to work out and that he will have a job for fall before we even think about moving, he is going to go live in an apartment and we will stay in our home. So...I'm cutting the budget so we don't sink from having a mortgage and rent!

Here is what I have so far...

Cut the cable bill -$48
Cut the cell phone bill -35 (I will miss my blackberry internet!)
Cut my son's computer subscription -$20
Cut the Orkin guy completely -44
Bye bye gym membership -$25

Hoping that with his new job benefits I will be able to cut the dental ins. we are paying $100 a month for. (Health ins is free, retired military).

Cut eating out down by 80%. I picked a random week in October and we had spent $97 eating out. This week $20 but that included my husband eating on the road between new job and home. So that should save us $320 a month and make us healthier too. Ok so say we have to buy more groceries thats still at least $200 a month savings.

Ok budget-minded friends, where else should I look?

Great start. I am doing mine cutting right now, as well. Baby #2 arrives in July so that means maternity leave for the wife plus all of the baby costs. So, I cut out caller ID and call waiting ($13 per month), dropped some cable stuff and asked for a promo deal ($30 p mnth), no lawn care/grass treatments this summer ($250 total).

I will be calling my cell phone to see be blackberry costs. I have unlimted data plan. Want to drop that altogether. I hope I can. I am not sure if I am locked into that with my contract or not.

 

[lucigo]

Great start. I am doing mine cutting right now, as well. Baby #2 arrives in July so that means maternity leave for the wife plus all of the baby costs. So, I cut out caller ID and call waiting ($13 per month), dropped some cable stuff and asked for a promo deal ($30 p mnth), no lawn care/grass treatments this summer ($250 total).

I will be calling my cell phone to see be blackberry costs. I have unlimted data plan. Want to drop that altogether. I hope I can. I am not sure if I am locked into that with my contract or not.

The guy at AT&T told me he would have to see if I could drop my internet or not...my first thought was well if you say no I will just get a regular phone...but luckily he said I could...that was $30 a month and honestly it wasn't good for me, I had my nose in my phone way too much!

I was going to turn our home phone off but we have a $99 bundle with our cable so I just turned off all of the higher channels and the digital box in our bedroom.

The school my DH will be teaching at is very close to Disney so in the long run I think it just might be worth all this

Congrats on the new baby!!

 

[hockeyprincess]

Car Insurance/Home Owners Insurance....shop around and you can get great reductions. I changed companies last fall and saved $800 for renewal, and that was for 6 mos!! $1600 per year for auto insurance!!

Also wanted to add, join a coupon train and clip those coupons. They really help out with the grocery budget. I don't have any stores near me that do triple coupons ever....1 store does it maybe 2x per year and that's it. But I can double coupons at Meijer all the time and I regularly save $25-30 per week on just coupons, more on their sale items.

Good job so far and best of luck with a permanent job for the DH!!

 

[dawson5]

can he rent a room instead of an apartment? Might be cheaper also.

look at you home phone. at&t offers a basic service for $15/mo. No call waiting, caller ID, etc. Just the basic phone service. We won't give up home service entirely.

Look at your long distance also. There are cheaper places to get it than the phone service provider (unless it's part of some package deal). We dropped it entirely and just use our cell phones for long distance calls. We haven't gone over our minutes yet.

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

Can your Dh rent a room instead of an apartment?

 

[2Eskiedogs]

Congratulations on your hubby finding a new job.

When my husband gets sent out of the area on a job, we've had to really watch our budget too. He usually gets put in a hotel and his work will cover one meal a day. So he usually takes off with a cooler full of food. Ours is one of the coleman plug in ones, so he can use it as a refrigerator in a room.

I've cut eating out of our budget completely right now. I started making more items from scratch, and freezing more items.

I don't window shop(which always ended up as a spree) anymore.

I second the idea of comparing prices on car insurance.

I've wanted to list to check into selling items on craigslist. Don't know about you, but there is plenty to pick from my house. That could add a little extra money into your budget.

 

[lucigo]

Car Insurance/Home Owners Insurance....shop around and you can get great reductions. I changed companies last fall and saved $800 for renewal, and that was for 6 mos!! $1600 per year for auto insurance!!

Also wanted to add, join a coupon train and clip those coupons. They really help out with the grocery budget. I don't have any stores near me that do triple coupons ever....1 store does it maybe 2x per year and that's it. But I can double coupons at Meijer all the time and I regularly save $25-30 per week on just coupons, more on their sale items.

Good job so far and best of luck with a permanent job for the DH!!

Hey good advice! Our car ins. is about as good as its going to get with 4 cars and 2 young drivers. House insurance though, I called because post-hurricane it is now $1400 a year. She said if I pay $75 for a wind inspection they will be able to lower it. So going to do that after the 1st of the month.

 

[lucigo]

can he rent a room instead of an apartment? Might be cheaper also.

look at you home phone. at&t offers a basic service for $15/mo. No call waiting, caller ID, etc. Just the basic phone service. We won't give up home service entirely.

Look at your long distance also. There are cheaper places to get it than the phone service provider (unless it's part of some package deal). We dropped it entirely and just use our cell phones for long distance calls. We haven't gone over our minutes yet.

Can your Dh rent a room instead of an apartment?

He actually is renting a room for $500 a month including utilities. He met the woman yesterday and it went very well. She even said we could come down and visit and stay over the weekends if we want to start looking for a house. Its only 5 miles from his school so should work out well.

As far as phone, I will cancel our home phone when our cable/internet/phone package runs out in May. I asked about cancelling it yesterday and it was actually going to make our bill go up!

 

[lucigo]

Congratulations on your hubby finding a new job.

When my husband gets sent out of the area on a job, we've had to really watch our budget too. He usually gets put in a hotel and his work will cover one meal a day. So he usually takes off with a cooler full of food. Ours is one of the coleman plug in ones, so he can use it as a refrigerator in a room.

I've cut eating out of our budget completely right now. I started making more items from scratch, and freezing more items.

I don't window shop(which always ended up as a spree) anymore.

I second the idea of comparing prices on car insurance.

I've wanted to list to check into selling items on craigslist. Don't know about you, but there is plenty to pick from my house. That could add a little extra money into your budget.

DH knows how to eat cheap, he was a bachelor paying mega child support for many years and can live off spaghetti and ramen noodles LOL Our biggest problem is I have 4 kids who think we are supposed to eat out all the time! They are slowly realizing things really are changing!! WHen I say make a list for the store they better be making a list if they want anything to eat! The oldest 2 are in college and can always go buy their own, but my 14yo I think is going through Burger King withdrawal LOL She finally is getting it though and asked me to pick up french fries next time I go to the grocery store

I'm with you on the window shopping...I have stayed home more in the last month than ever in my life! I'm actually tempted to keep the $19 a month gym membership only because if I get out to do that it will keep me from wanting to go walk around in Target just to get out of the house. LOL

Craigslist is a good idea too, I sold a bunch of stuff on ebay to pay for Christmas this year. I still have a lot of things I really want someone to just come get that aren't worth selling! LOL

I will feel so much better when that first check comes in and he really has the job Orientation was yesterday and they said it would take about a week to get everything processed.

 

[minnie1928]

How about things to cut your expenses like cloth napkins & rags instead of paper towels, tap water instead of bottled, unplugging unnecessary electronics, using a drying rack to dry clothes, vinegar as a cleaner, etc.

If you have Netflix, can you scale back to the lowest plan?

 

[lucigo]

How about things to cut your expenses like cloth napkins & rags instead of paper towels, tap water instead of bottled, unplugging unnecessary electronics, using a drying rack to dry clothes, vinegar as a cleaner, etc.

If you have Netflix, can you scale back to the lowest plan?

Good ideas! We don't have netflix, but I admit I did keep DVR on my cable, as its the only way I ever get to watch anything! LOL

Working on the electric bill....have all the windows open and enjoying a beautiful day today!

 

[tinkarooni]

DH knows how to eat cheap, he was a bachelor paying mega child support for many years and can live off spaghetti and ramen noodles LOL Our biggest problem is I have 4 kids who think we are supposed to eat out all the time! They are slowly realizing things really are changing!! WHen I say make a list for the store they better be making a list if they want anything to eat! The oldest 2 are in college and can always go buy their own, but my 14yo I think is going through Burger King withdrawal LOL She finally is getting it though and asked me to pick up french fries next time I go to the grocery store

I feel your pain. We never really did the drive thru thing but we did eat out. It is stopping around here. Along with the ridiculously expensive junk food in the house. MY DS11 is OK with it but my DD9 acts like she's dieing.
Our new rules are healthy and from scratch!

My advice is to watch that grocery bill, for us it is our biggest flexible expense. Clip coupons, shop the sales and try to cut out the pricey pre-packaged convenience food. Good Luck!

 

[lucigo]

I feel your pain. We never really did the drive thru thing but we did eat out. It is stopping around here. Along with the ridiculously expensive junk food in the house. MY DS11 is OK with it but my DD9 acts like she's dieing.
Our new rules are healthy and from scratch!

My advice is to watch that grocery bill, for us it is our biggest flexible expense. Clip coupons, shop the sales and try to cut out the pricey pre-packaged convenience food. Good Luck!

This part has actually been really easy for me because I'm on a low carb diet so I am only buying "real" food. Tonight we had grilled chicken legs and broccoli and cheese. Not much of meal but it wasn't prepackaged and no one complained...and very low carb. Rest of the family better watch out or they may get healthy too LOL

 

[QVCshopper]

I read this is a magazine and it really works. Instead of food shopping every week, stretch it out to every 10 days. I sometimes will skip entire weeks except for two small orders of $10 or so each for milk and produce, etc. Plus, buy your meat when it's cheap (I just snagged .99 cent ground beef at Wegmans and froze the rest.) Just be sure to use up what you have before buying more.