My Best Painless Budgeting Advice

[Suz D]

If anyone would like to contribute to this thread I think it would be really helpful for those who are just starting the road to debt/spending reduction (and also for those who have been on that road for awhile). We don't have a debt problem, but I feel like I really need to reign in my spending a bit.

I get so much inspiration and help from the budget board but I rarely contribute. As I was reading my e-mail this morning this thought popped into my head..."I've signed up on so many websites to get their specials etc. (Brad's deals, Zulily, Kohl's) that it is just one big impulse purchase waiting to happen". I've decided to remove myself from all of those mailing lists so that I don't have the temptation to make a purchase that I really don't need but want just because it's a "good deal".

If I really need something, I can spend a little extra time searching for the best price on that item only. Sounds easy doesn't it? I'm off to unsubscribe to all of those e-mail lists!

 

[disprincessatheart]

I did that a while back - helps with my overloaded inbox too!

I just got dh to change his newspaper subscription from every day to Sunday only. Its just a dollar a week now vs the$2.50 we were paying and we are sure to get all of our coupons! It's not much savings, but he rarely read the other papers and they usually sat in the driveway for days before getting recycled. Might as well keep that $75 a year in our pockets and keep the paper mess from forming!

 

[disneyofcourse]

Agreed, I used to sign up for J.Crew, LOFT and a few other shops. Ended up going to the mall to shop when I really didn't need anything. Yes, the Jeans are $20 off but do I really need more than the dozens I already have....Nope

I've also been known to head to the mall without a credit card and just a little bit of cash. This way I don't come back with new shoes or a shirt that I really didn't need.


Now is actually about the time I re-sign up for them for holiday shopping.

Here are a couples tips I'd like to add:
A very easy thing to do is to look at your bank papers and see which stores you are spending the most money in. See how often your heading over there and then cut that in half. I don't go to Target several times a month anymore. Instead I make a list in the order that the departments are set up. This way I hit each point, pick up my *needs* and don't fall for any *wants*. I completely avoid that cute section with all the wreaths, baskets and all that other adorable impulse purchase stuff. This way I don't need to craigslist or donate things so often.

 

[pampam]

We cut out the long distance plan we had with our phone service, and now use prepaid long distance phone cards for $.04 a minute. Once used, the card takes 6 months before it expires, and is good for Canada and USA. A $10.00 card takes us forever to use up.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

That is a good idea! I say this after spending the past 30 minutes looking over the Hanna Andersson dress sale. I currently have $550 worth of girls dresses & tights in my cart - which I'm not going to buy, but I'm having a hard time whittling it down to just a couple!!

I would have never clicked on the website if I hadn't read my email (and I would have never added the $20 non-sale tights if they hadn't popped up in the "you might also like" section!)! These marketing people sure know what they're doing!!!

 

[Suz D]

We cut out the long distance plan we had with our phone service, and now use prepaid long distance phone cards for $.04 a minute. Once used, the card takes 6 months before it expires, and is good for Canada and USA. A $10.00 card takes us forever to use up.

We used to do this too. For a lot of people entering the code each time you use the card is a hassle. I just programmed the phone number that you call in my speed dial at #1, and then the code in speed dial #2. That way I just pushed speed dial 1 (to dial the calling card access number) then entered say, my sister's phone number, then pushed speed dial 2 to enter the code. Worked great. Thanks for bringing that up!

 

[Suz D]

That is a good idea! I say this after spending the past 30 minutes looking over the Hanna Andersson dress sale. I currently have $550 worth of girls dresses & tights in my cart - which I'm not going to buy, but I'm having a hard time whittling it down to just a couple!!

I would have never clicked on the website if I hadn't read my email (and I would have never added the $20 non-sale tights if they hadn't popped up in the "you might also like" section!)! These marketing people sure know what they're doing!!!

I agree about the marketing people (although I think Disney has the absolute best marketing crew). I'm right there with you on the shopping cart. It was the Zulily e-mail that got me thinking about this whole topic.

 

[tlenzendorf]

To reign in my spending if I feel it's getting out of hand is to switch over to cash only for awhile. I withdraw all my checking funds down to about $100 for gas and such. I keep the cash in my safe at home and get out only what I want to spend when going somewhere. For me it's much harder to hand out cash and see it disappear than just subtract some spending from the abstract amount in my checkbook that's ok to spend down to the last $20 until pay day.

 

[sydneysmom]

We changed pretty much everything. We do the envelopes ( thanks to Dave Ramsey) and if we want something, we save up the cash.

I also subscribed to Savingstar.com, where you can get money posted everytime you purchase a product on their coupon list. (you can still use coupons in the store) I also use Swagbucks. Between the 2, I wound up getting enough in Amazon gift cards to buy my nephew the talking Woody doll for Christmas this year ....for nothing !!

We both contribute 10% to our 401K so that's out of our check right off the top. I also am a very avid couponer.....if I don't have a coupon, we generally can wait to buy it. ( unless it's something out of the ordinary)

We also have a 24 hour rule. If we want to buy something, we wait 24 hours. If we STILL want it after that, then we'll buy it. ( I can't tell you how many times we find that it's just not at all necessary)

Facebook has been invaluable for coupons and freebies. I can't even tell you how many free full size products I've gotten from Facebook. You just have to find and LIKE the pages of the products you use most. Chances are, they'll do a giveaway or an awesome coupon.

LandsEnd emails are wonderful. it seems like if you need something, they're always sending emails w/ "take an extra 25% off everything plus free shipping". Well, partner that w/ their sale and clearance and you can pre-plan the kids wardrobes for the next season. I save a ton of money on their website and their clothes are just build to last and wear great. (plus, if there's a problem, you can return them at Sears so you don't have to pay to ship them back)

I also subscribe to the blogs www.krazycouponlady.com, www.hip2save.com , www.couponingtodisney.com . They're INVALUABLE. they'll teach you how to truly "shop" CVS, RITE AID and Walgreens. With coupons and matching coupons to sales, you can pay very little for your toiletry items. This has helped us tremendously so that we didn't have to increase our food budget during this recession. They've also helped me learn how to partner coupons w/ sales at our Kroger. I'm averaging 48% savings now at Kroger and 75% savings at CVS. It's TOTALLY worth putting in the extra time. ( I mean, you're going to hang out and watch TV anyway, why not scan the blogs and clip coupons while doing it ??)

I can't wait to read what ya'll do.... it's fun to learn some new tips on how to save !! (sorry this came out so long !!)

 

[NorweJenNY]

When we were faced with one job loss after another due to this economy in the last few years, we quickly had to figure out what we could and could not do without.

We tracked where our money was going, and we figured out our absolute essentials (ie: mortgage, electric, water, groceries, student loans, etc.) vs. things that weren't so essential (ie: house phone, cell phone, cable, internet, dining out, etc.)

We then figured we could start reducing some costs and eliminate others. Some loans could be cut... like my student loans that I was able to refinance and have the interest rate cut pretty much in half. We became more aware of how much water and electricity we were using, and developed better habits to save there. Gas was a major expense for the cars, so I started trying to plot out my routes to accomplish errands without much backtracking. I began couponing by following certain blogs, which cut our grocery bills down. We completely eliminated our house phone because we rarely used it with our cell phones. Cell phones were still needed then, but we figured out how to lower our plans. We decided to keep internet but saved by switching providers - we were using the internet for extra income, so it was becoming more necessary. Since we had internet and a low-cost Netflix account, we decided we could do without cable. Our kids still had so many options, and so did we. (We decided Netflix was a considerably small splurge for a lot of entertainment.) We almost completely eliminated dining out - which can be tremendous savings, depending on how often you're in the habit of doing this, where you go, and how many mouths you feed. (We still ate out with coupons and gift certificates earned through certain survey & web browser point-earning web sites. You can pm me if you want info on some legitimate ones.)

One little step can save a little, but if you keep making steps in the right direction, it can lead to a whole new realm!

 

[PHXscuba]

Along the lines of promo e-amils, I stopped reading the catalogs that come in the mail. I don't even open them so I'm not tempted. I got myself off a lot of mailing lists (can't recall the way to do it now). If there's something I need, Amazon will have it, I can Google it, and lots of websites collect coupon codes to use.

I alos stopped getting sodas at restaurants, where they are $1.99 or more (and multiply that by 4 when my kids are with me!) I will get sodas at the gas station, but they are 79 cents there! Or 12-packs at home.

PHXscuba

 

[3mickeymom]

I brew a pot of coffee each morning and fill up a thermos to take with me. I do the same for my husband. We also fill up our stainless water bottles with filtered water from home and take them along for the day. Saves us money and we are GREEN as well. I also always bring a cooler with drinks and snacks if we are going to be out for the day. Takes a little time but is definitely wortrh it when trying to save money.

 

[Planogirl]

Not eating out saves a lot of money. I include lunches in that too of course. It costs $5 or more a day if we even use the cafe at work. That money adds up!

If utility costs are high, it can save money in the long run to make sure that your home has plenty of insulation and that the windows and doors don't leak. We have a bad window and door and my next expensive project is to completely replace them. It is expensive but will help will energy costs over time.

 

[Disney Addicted]

We cut out the long distance plan we had with our phone service, and now use prepaid long distance phone cards for $.04 a minute. Once used, the card takes 6 months before it expires, and is good for Canada and USA. A $10.00 card takes us forever to use up.

Thanks for that tip! I'm going to look into it and see how it will work for us.

What long distance card do you purchase for .04 cents a minute?

 

[pampam]

Thanks for that tip! I'm going to look into it and see how it will work for us.

What long distance card do you purchase for .04 cents a minute?

http://www.pctelecom.ca/LCLOnline/pcTelecom_long_distance_cards.jsp

www.pctelecom.ca/longdistance

I hope the link works. I'm not sure where you are. I'm in Canada. I buy them at the Value Mart store, No Frills store etc. I do know you can top them up on line or by phone , so I think maybe you can buy them from the USA as well.

To order by phone, I call 1 877 284 6361 for customer service.

 

[pampam]

I brew a pot of coffee each morning and fill up a thermos to take with me. I do the same for my husband. We also fill up our stainless water bottles with filtered water from home and take them along for the day. Saves us money and we are GREEN as well. I also always bring a cooler with drinks and snacks if we are going to be out for the day. Takes a little time but is definitely wortrh it when trying to save money.

I too brew a pot of coffee. Then I turn the coffee pot off to save hydro, and pour the coffee into a thermos. I don't usually have to leave home, so I just use the thermos to save money.

 

[Disney Addicted]

http://www.pctelecom.ca/LCLOnline/pcTelecom_long_distance_cards.jsp

www.pctelecom.ca/longdistance

I hope the link works. I'm not sure where you are. I'm in Canada. I buy them at the Value Mart store, No Frills store etc. I do know you can top them up on line or by phone , so I think maybe you can buy them from the USA as well.

To order by phone, I call 1 877 284 6361 for customer service.

Perfect! I'm in Canada as well. Next week I'll look at what we are paying Primus, how much long distance we do and see if the pre-paid card option will work for us.

 

[DawnM]

We switched to Ooma phone service. Taxes are $3.00 and change per month, but that is it. That is for our home service. Total saved: $30/m.

Called cell phone company to cancel and they offered me a killer deal. That was 3 years ago. I now pay $35 plus tax for 3 phones and 700 minutes. Total saved: $60/mo.

Cut cable/satellite. Got a rooftop antenna and Roku boxes for HuluPlus and Netflix. Total saved: $80/mo.

Cut the chiropractor. I likes it but the deductibles kept changing and I just couldn't pay it anymore. Total saved: $70/mo.

We are cutting back on our vacations as well.....not sure what the savings will be on that yet, but probably over $200/mo.

We refinanced to a 3.37% 15 year loan with no closing costs and will be saving interest significantly over the life of the loan as well as less out per month.

So far, I am not missing any of the above. I LOVE having extra $$ each month and deciding what to do with it (which savings account it should go to!)

 

[U.P. North]

We refinanced to a 3.37% 15 year loan with no closing costs and will be saving interest significantly over the life of the loan as well as less out per month.

Hi, we are talking about refinancing and the rate you posted is about 1.5% less then our current. Makes it worth it. We have a 15 year now with about 12 years to go. I am interested in who you refi with and was zero closing cost a special?

 

[DawnM]

We went through First Internet Bank of Indiana.

I was a bit hesitant because we hadn't heard of them, but I can't say enough good about them. They are a broker agent and our loan will actually be through GMAC, although we were given a choice of Wells Fargo or Chase as well.

Closing was $2,600 but we received a credit of $2,600 so it was a wash.

You do need a min. of 20% equity in your home through their appraisal and you need excellent credit.

Dawn

Hi, we are talking about refinancing and the rate you posted is about 1.5% less then our current. Makes it worth it. We have a 15 year now with about 12 years to go. I am interested in who you refi with and was zero closing cost a special?