Debt Dumpers 2026

[CGB]

Going to try a low spend month. Not talking about necessities like church tithe, groceries, gas-tolls and my weekly meal I have to eat out for work. But going to try and cut all other discretionary spending. It will be super tough, but it's only for 4 weeks (March 27-April 23) since we budget on a 4-week budget. I've got a debt, the $1,700 bank loan, I feel I can pay off if I can cut back for 4 weeks. And four weeks isn't a long time to shoot for. I got my hair cut last week, bought my 3-month supply of meds last week and have already paid all the bills due the first 2 weeks of the month. So, it seems like a good time to give it a whirl. Any special tips from you frugal people?

Track your spending. I'm currently challenging myself to only spend 50% of my monthly paycheck, which includes all our living expenses. I write out all my monthly bills and then track my groceries, gas, and miscellaneous spending as the month goes on. Tracking keeps you focused on how much money is going out and really makes you evaluate needs vs. wants.

I know you prefer fresh meats. Check out the loss leaders of your local grocery stores. I have a couple of local grocers that I check the sales flyers on-line each week. We're getting into the months when we'll start seeing some great sales.

 

[Cfabar1]

Track your spending. I'm currently challenging myself to only spend 50% of my monthly paycheck, which includes all our living expenses. I write out all my monthly bills and then track my groceries, gas, and miscellaneous spending as the month goes on. Tracking keeps you focused on how much money is going out and really makes you evaluate needs vs. wants.

I know you prefer fresh meats. Check out the loss leaders of your local grocery stores. I have a couple of local grocers that I check the sales flyers on-line each week. We're getting into the months when we'll start seeing some great sales.

I'd love to get to 50%.... not there yet.... are you investing the balance or planning to use some of it later to enjoy?

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

Track your spending. I'm currently challenging myself to only spend 50% of my monthly paycheck, which includes all our living expenses. I write out all my monthly bills and then track my groceries, gas, and miscellaneous spending as the month goes on. Tracking keeps you focused on how much money is going out and really makes you evaluate needs vs. wants.

I track every dollar we spend on a spreadsheet. Have since probably the middle of last year. It's very eye opening to say the least. Almost scary. I wish I could spend 50% of my paycheck. I spend about 75% of it on bills alone. That doesn't count food, gas-tolls or extra/miscellaneous spending. After I budget all that, we have maybe $200 leftover.

I know you prefer fresh meats. Check out the loss leaders of your local grocery stores. I have a couple of local grocers that I check the sales flyers on-line each week. We're getting into the months when we'll start seeing some great sales.

And we buy all of our groceries at Walmart. They don't ever have sales on meats that I know of. And I never see coupons or sales of any kind come to think of it. Everyone else does, so I'm not sure why Walmart doesn't. But we do meal plan, and we buy just what we need for the week.

 

[CGB]

I'd love to get to 50%.... not there yet.... are you investing the balance or planning to use some of it later to enjoy?

I will be retiring early later this year and my pension will only be about 50% of my current income. We currently live on my income and DH's pensions go into savings for larger expenses & trips. I'm hoping to continue using my pension for just living expensives, so I'm working on trimming the budget now while I have some room to maneuver.

 

[CGB]

I track every dollar we spend on a spreadsheet. Have since probably the middle of last year. It's very eye opening to say the least. Almost scary. I wish I could spend 50% of my paycheck. I spend about 75% of it on bills alone. That doesn't count food, gas-tolls or extra/miscellaneous spending. After I budget all that, we have maybe $200 leftover.


And we buy all of our groceries at Walmart. They don't ever have sales on meats that I know of. And I never see coupons or sales of any kind come to think of it. Everyone else does, so I'm not sure why Walmart doesn't. But we do meal plan, and we buy just what we need for the week.

I've been there! Tracking my spending was the best advice I ever got about my finances. I read it right here on this Budget Board years ago.

With my second suggestion, I was hoping to persuade you to look at a grocery other than Wal-Mart. It's easy to get into a routine at a certain store, but sometimes there's better deals at other places. I just looked on-line at Kroger's sales ad for your local area for the upcoming week. Chicken legs/thighs are .99/lb and spiral sliced hams are .85/lb. Those are excellent prices and worthy of a quick stop to buy just those items. I learned not to ignore other grocery stores, even the really expensive ones, because sometimes their loss leaders are much better deals!

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

I've been there! Tracking my spending was the best advice I ever got about my finances. I read it right here on this Budget Board years ago.

With my second suggestion, I was hoping to persuade you to look at a grocery other than Wal-Mart. It's easy to get into a routine at a certain store, but sometimes there's better deals at other places. I just looked on-line at Kroger's sales ad for your local area for the upcoming week. Chicken legs/thighs are .99/lb and spiral sliced hams are .85/lb. Those are excellent prices and worthy of a quick stop to buy just those items. I learned not to ignore other grocery stores, even the really expensive ones, because sometimes their loss leaders are much better deals!

Thanks. I did see the spiral ham. Might grab one for Easter lunch. But I'll have to find a cooler because the nearest Kroger is about 15-20 minutes away from here (our Walmart and Sams are literally 2-3 minutes from the house).

 

[barkley]

We're getting into the months when we'll start seeing some great sales.

yup-saw chicken drumsticks on sale today for 89 cents per pound-didnt need any but that's a good price!

And we buy all of our groceries at Walmart. They don't ever have sales on meats that I know of. And I never see coupons or sales of any kind come to think of it. Everyone else does, so I'm not sure why Walmart doesn't

I save at Walmart by doing the bulk of my shopping as curbside pickup. I reserve in store shopping for dairy/meat/produce. I save b/c as I fill my cart online i'm watching how much it goes up (or if I remove an item-down). if you do your shopping of this nature through Walmart online once you set up an account (costs you nothing-i don't pay for the Walmart+ or anything like that) there's an area when you click on your account that's called 'get Walmart cash'. click on it and you are taken to an area with manufacturer coupons and deals (you also see these offers when you are shopping products-you just click the offers you want to use). the coupons do NOT reduce your bill like traditional coupons, instead you earn Walmart cash that you can use on a subsequent online purchase. I like to let it build up a bit to offset future orders.

 

[Tygerlilly]

But I'll have to find a cooler because the nearest Kroger is about 15-20 minutes away from here

You don't need a cooler for a 20 min drive. We live 45 mins from Sam's and do a big shop there monthly. The food is perfectly fine for the car ride home if you put it away quickly.

 

[princesscinderella]

@WDW_fan_in_TX I really hope your wife takes a multivitamin if she eats no fruits or vegetables. Best of luck on your no spend month! You are making good progress.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

@WDW_fan_in_TX I really hope your wife takes a multivitamin if she eats no fruits or vegetables. Best of luck on your no spend month! You are making good progress.

And takes a fiber supplement.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

yup-saw chicken drumsticks on sale today for 89 cents per pound-didnt need any but that's a good price!

Seems like a good price. I wouldn't know as we've never bought meat on the bone. We strictly do chicken breast from the frozen section or canned chicken.

I save at Walmart by doing the bulk of my shopping as curbside pickup. I reserve in store shopping for dairy/meat/produce. I save b/c as I fill my cart online i'm watching how much it goes up (or if I remove an item-down). if you do your shopping of this nature through Walmart online once you set up an account (costs you nothing-i don't pay for the Walmart+ or anything like that) there's an area when you click on your account that's called 'get Walmart cash'. click on it and you are taken to an area with manufacturer coupons and deals (you also see these offers when you are shopping products-you just click the offers you want to use). the coupons do NOT reduce your bill like traditional coupons, instead you earn Walmart cash that you can use on a subsequent online purchase. I like to let it build up a bit to offset future orders.

This is a great idea. We buy all of our paper products and toiletries online. We also buy chips, canned goods, anything non-perishable online. However, we don't buy anything cold online, and we don't buy bread, fruits/veggies online either. We were told by an employee to never buy cold stuff online. So we do all that in person. Really helps to cut down on our time in Walmart, well my time. DW won't step foot in a grocery store. Absolutely hates going to Walmart. Bu yes, we love Walmart cash. Got about $75 in there right now. Just holding it for a rainy day.

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

And takes a fiber supplement.

@WDW_fan_in_TX I really hope your wife takes a multivitamin if she eats no fruits or vegetables. Best of luck on your no spend month! You are making good progress.

No to both. But thanks. I'm trying to make progress. It's a slow process. I want to get out of debt immediately. But I realize I didn't get into the mess overnight, so I'm not going to get out of it overnight either.

 

[mmbrad02]

You don't need a cooler for a 20 min drive. We live 45 mins from Sam's and do a big shop there monthly. The food is perfectly fine for the car ride home if you put it away quickly.

Same for us. And all grocery stores are at least 15 minutes from our home; I never use a cooler, even in the heat of summer, I just go straight home, unload, and put it away.

 

[EilonwyWanderer]

I am right there with you @WDW_fan_in_TX on the eating out expenses being crazy. We're a family of four and while we are trying to cut back it is HARD when we're running in different directions with the two kids, working full time jobs (with secondary and even third jobs!) and trying to keep up with everything. Some of the kids activities don't have us home until 9 pm and it's a race to see if we can even boil pasta sometimes before we have to leave -- so fast food is often a go to on those nights.

We've found meal planning helps...but only if we have time to hit the grocery store, which can be hit or miss! So I totally know how difficult it is to cut back on the expensive convenience of eating out!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

we pay each year based on the value of the car (.45/$100 of value for the yearly ones). I think I had to pay about $600 this year for my car taxes and registration.

How much of that is the value of the car vs the fees?

We pay yearly property taxes here as well as sales tax at the purchase of the car. In my state the calculation of the property tax amount is based off of 30% of the market value of your car each year (market value is using MSRP and the age of the car) plus the county you are in.

The minimum the state charges (for non-antique vehicles) is $24. That's the amount my car has been at for years being a 2002 that wasn't all that expensive to begin with (I remember my amount being something like $150 or so when I first bought it in 2005).

However, there is $42.25 in fees that I pay. Then to pay online there are convenience fees and card payment fees. It normally ends up being $68 and change after that. You can save on the fees if you mail a check, if you pay in person it's a $5.00 fee (on top of the card fees) per vehicle. Paying online is super easy and quick and I normally get my car tags in 2 to 3 days. You do however have to have had your car insurance company electronically transmit the policy information to the DMV in order to be eligible for a PIN number to do it online. I've only had one year where there was a glitch in the insurance company's system and it didn't transmit but I went in person before the $5.00 in person fee was added years back.

Our county is known to be decent price in terms of the amount you pay, the county above me not at all. I looked up what my husband's leased vehicle is and it's approximately $240 more if we had to register the vehicle in the county above me and that doesn't include the fees (a $620+ vs $389+excluding fees). When my sister-in-law was living in her grandmother's house it was technically in the county above me but she had been keeping her permanent address at that time as her parents in the county we are in. She ended up registering her car in our county because the county above us was more than $1,000 more to do it in the county above us.

This all reminds me I got my car tag renewal notice in the mail last week it just got shuffled under my husband's P.E. license renewals for several states

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I've never heard anyone give that as a reason for leasing. I would imagine they still pay their own registration fees, but I'm honestly not sure. I've never leased before.

You still pay the fees in our state. A leased vehicle is no different than a non-leased vehicle as far as car tags at least in our state. The only difference is the title and as a leased vehicle you don't have the title as it's never your car. A financed car your titled is released to you pay off the amount.

I think you can do your own the first time it's registered but you have to bring with you the registering and title paperwork from dealer or leasing company (as well as the normal car insurance) and I would imagine that most of them would just do that on their side. It's possible if you're getting it from a very smaller dealer or less than well-known one they may make you do your own registration for the first time. Our leased car was from a big enough Hyundai dealer here who just did all that stuff as just part of their process. The dealer sends in the information to the state in order for you to be able to get the plate (as you're driving around with a temp tag at first). The subsequent years you pay on your own the car registration.

In our state the month it is up for registration each year goes by the first letter of your last name, in this case they use the company's name so Hyundai and our registration month is June. We started the lease in early September IIRC so it was pro-rated for those month and then we had to pay for the following year. My car is due in April, my husband's old car was due in August.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I am right there with you @WDW_fan_in_TX on the eating out expenses being crazy. We're a family of four and while we are trying to cut back it is HARD when we're running in different directions with the two kids, working full time jobs (with secondary and even third jobs!) and trying to keep up with everything. Some of the kids activities don't have us home until 9 pm and it's a race to see if we can even boil pasta sometimes before we have to leave -- so fast food is often a go to on those nights.

We've found meal planning helps...but only if we have time to hit the grocery store, which can be hit or miss! So I totally know how difficult it is to cut back on the expensive convenience of eating out!

That sounds exhausting.

Dh would be pushing for me to cut back on activities. He was always kind of old fashioned that way, that we should all eat dinner together, at the table. Our kids did karate which was very flexible. They offered a lot of classes but suggested 3x per week, one was on Saturdays. The weekday classes were at around 4:30, 6 and 7. So they could go before or after dinner. Not very chaotic.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Correct. I usually buy 2 apples, 2 oranges, 2 bananas and a pack of grapes. Stuff to last a few days. Then rebuy on Monday. So, I try not to waste stuff. I usually eat one plus some grapes each day. And then I buy bagged carrots too to snack on. And buy frozen veggies for meals. I try and do what I can since it's only me eating fruits and veggies.

Have you considered frozen fruits?

I buy the berry medley and add it to a sheet pancake I make and then freeze for breakfast for me as well as using it for overnight oats. Plus you can use them for smoothies. They have ones for pineapple, mango, bananas and strawberry mix and all sorts of fruits.

If you're wanting it as topping for something like oatmeal you can just add them in the last minute or so of cooking the oatmeal to quick defrost without too too much loss of firmness.

I also use fresh apples normally sweet ambrosia in a baked oatmeal recipe that I make and then freeze for future breakfast options. There another one that's a banana bread one with baked oatmeal that I'll buy bananas and then let them ripen up enough to use in that recipe, still making them then freezing them for later usage.

Most of my suggestion is about using the frozen fruit for recipes but if you're into some of those things I mentioned above or if you're interested in looking up other recipes that you can make then freeze for later usage that can help out with the costs and frequency in grocery shopping. You're not sacrificing on nutrients to get frozen.

 

[barkley]

You don't need a cooler for a 20 min drive. We live 45 mins from Sam's and do a big shop there monthly. The food is perfectly fine for the car ride home if you put it away quickly.

I agree-we are a minimum of 30 minutes drive from ANY grocery store, 60 to Walmart and stuff is still plenty cold/fully frozen. when we first started doing Walmart curbside pickup I hesitated to get any cold/frozen items but then I gave it a try and found that if I time it to do my pickup AFTER I do my in-store shopping the cold/frozen are colder than than if I had been walking around the store with them in my cart.

 

[DanceDisney23]

That sounds exhausting.

Dh would be pushing for me to cut back on activities. He was always kind of old fashioned that way, that we should all eat dinner together, at the table. Our kids did karate which was very flexible. They offered a lot of classes but suggested 3x per week, one was on Saturdays. The weekday classes were at around 4:30, 6 and 7. So they could go before or after dinner. Not very chaotic.

It’s very time consuming when your kids are in a competitive or travel sport.

DD does competitive dance, which means twice a week I have to start work an hour early so I can leave by 4 pm to get her there on time. Twice a week we don’t get home until 8:30 or 9. She is in the studio at least 9 hours a week, 4 times a week. And that usually increases right before and during competition season.

Our neighbors’ son plays baseball and they have to drive over an hour each way to practice once a week. The rest of practice is nearby. Their girls do competitive swimming and soccer, respectively. We only see them in their car, leaving or coming home during the school year.