I think the common idea here is priorities. You just have to decide what's important and look to that. I think a lot of us get caught up in the day-to-day and kind of go with the flow without stopping to think, "Where's my money going?"
There are SO MANY things people spend more on than they need to (in my opinion, based MY priorities... which, I'm sure, aren't the same as anyone else's!)... For instance, we eschewed high speed internet (gasp!) until Verizon came out with a DSL for $14.99 per month. Now we get to keep it at that rate as long as we have it. Woo hoo! I think it's up to $17.99 or $19.99 now, but still a LOT cheaper than cable. And speaking of cable, we don't NEED a TV service at all, but we do have the Dish TV Family plan with no local channels, and it's $19.99 per month. We don't have a cell phone. We have local phone service with voice mail (so we can check remotely and it doesn't poop out if the electricity goes out), but no caller ID, etc. We just decided that since we were on the Do Not Call list, it wasn't worth the $4.99 or whatever per month to avoid the two charity calls we get each month.
We drive two paid for vehicles. We bought the 1997 Astro in 2003; after I'd purchased it, another dealer with whom I'd dealt called to follow up with me. He asked what I bought, I told him, and he laughed and said, "1997?? Do you know what year it is NOW?" Um, yeah. And I won't be bullied into spending more money when I don't need to!
We moved from a more expensive part of the country to a less expensive area a few years ago. We were really fortunate to have made a deal on our house and to have paid cash for our house here. Believe me, not having a house payment helps a lot. We could have gotten what seemed like a mansion to us if we'd been willing to take out a loan of about $50k, but we knew that wasn't what we wanted.
My husband gives me $210 cash every two weeks. I have that to spend on groceries, meals out, clothes for my daughter and me, and any other entertainment items (movies, museums, etc.). I clip coupons and shop purposefully. I buy smoked sausages when they're on buy-one/get-one-free AND I have a coupon. I buy bagged salad and meat after it's discounted 'cause it's about to expire (that weird green color cooks out
). I go to a store where they double and triple coupons, and if I HAVE to shop at Wal-Mart (shudder), I make sure to have the competitor ads with me because Wal-Mart WILL match prices. I drink about a 2 liter of diet soda a day (yes, I need help), and I adore Coca-Cola, but purchase the store brands instead.
If we eat out, we usually go to places where we have coupons. IHOP, El Chico, Red Lobster, and many other "not McDonald's" places frequently have coupons in the paper.
I never EVER buy clothes full price. I get stuff on eBay, or at the second-hand kids' store, or on the 75% or more off rack at stores like Kohl's, Belk, Mervyn's, Dillard's, etc. I haven't paid more than $12 for shoes for myself in my life. I don't pay more than $10 (and usually alot less) for a shirt or pants. The same for my daughter. Especially for her, since she outgrows stuff in three weeks, anyway.
These are tiny things that add up.
While you probably won't be selling your house tomorrow to move to the sticks, there are things you can implement to free up some money now. The biggest thing is to know where it's going. And if you model these things for your kids, they'll get into it, too. I think it's fun to see where I can save the most. We are fortunate: both my husband and I had good examples (my dad is JHannah, Mr. "11 cruises in 3 years," and the one who's taking US on our first
Disney Cruise... Thanks, Pappy!). We're trying to insulate our daughter against the "gotta haves," too. I frequently point things out to her like, "Look at these pretty jeans! They're on sale, too. But Mommy has three pair of jeans. I don't really have an excuse to buy any more." So she knows we're not obligate to get everything we see, and it's not just us telling her no. It's us telling ourselves no, too.
AND FINALLY...
While I DO scrimp and save during my "real" life, I do that so I can splurge on vacation! When I hear people talking about how they buy groceries and take snacks so they don't have to eat out, I cringe!
Half (okay, more than 3/4) of the fun of being out and about is experiencing everything to its fullest, gourmet-wise, to me. Our trip is paid for before we lock our front door on the way out, so I don't count pennies -- or calories! -- once we leave the yard.
LOVE traveling! Love this thread!
.....I live in a very very very small town in west central PA (the 2006 graduating class only had 115 kids) and i am thanking my luck stars that we do...we purchased a lovely 1850 square ft remodeled home last ST. Patty's Day for 72,500 yes that is 72,500 not 725,000 I just wanted to say I LOVE BEING A HICK!!!!....lol
Very few homes over a million here.
Think of property taxes on 900,000......$13,500 per year just in property taxes. CA real estate has lost their minds!
