SandrA9810
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2005
- Messages
- 9,392
i remember she mentioned they drive a long ways. It wouldn't be suitable for an SUV to drive that everyday.
I would seperate out the health products and cleaning supplies from your list. Those are generally monthly items, not weekly. And only buy them when they're on sale. So one is in reserve when you run out, no more need to pick this up cause you're running low and paying full price.
I understand living in a rural area, you might need to have some sort of cable package in order to recieve your basic channels. But cut it to the bare.
Since you are rural, have you tried starting a garden? Asking your kids to help tend to it during the week. I know it's late in the season, but i'm sure there's some fall-late summer plants. And eat as much as you can out of your garden. And you don't have to worry about the water bill.
Have you done everything for cutting your electric down?? Water heaters are the biggest user, since that's off the gas, that's some savings.
82 is low, but there's always lower. Limit TV time, and use power strips with an off switch. Because so many things drain power by being on standby, even your tv is. Power strip every one's cell phone charger. Charge them all over night, and turn the switch off each morning. Even my phone tells me, "unplug power supply to save energy" when i take it off.
One thing that really helped was using three accounts. 2 checking and a seperate savings. The weekly paychecks could be divided into more than one account, either by a percentage or set amount through direct deposit.
When we both worked, it was 15% into savings on top of workplan retirement accounts. Then it got changed to a set amount to cover the rent.
The remainder went into a second checking account, which was used solely for online bill pays. Paychecks went in thursday, bills came out friday.
The first checking account was the debit card account. This paid for gas, food, and any bills not paid online.
Thursday i could transfer over any extra amount to the debit card. Of course important things were purchased like gas. And once it was gone, it was gone.
Do you share an account?? Do you each have a debit/credit card tied to the account? That was a major culprit in wasting money. Lets say i knew there was 10$ in the account, kari knew there was 10$ in the account.... We'd both wind up spend 2 or 3$ thinking nothing of it... Then find out we were at less than we thought.
Either share one card, so money can only be spent at one time. Or open a second account as your hubby's spending account. Tell him how much is in there, enough to cover gas and anything else he needs daily. Then once it's gone, it's gone and he better hope the gas isn't on empty. That way you know how much is going out, and he can be accountable for himself. Who knows, he might not spend everything and start building up a little extra.
And never never never pay for gas at the pump. Always go inside and prepay. It takes two seconds for them to credit your account if you put too much. But it could be 2-3 days before the charges ever appear when paying at the pump. And it only pings your account for a 1$. Or just use cash. I have gotten into a strong habit of paying inside. Because i've been burned by the charges appearing 2-3 days later.
Do what works for you. Some people go cash only with envelopes. For me, having several bank accounts was my invisible envelope.
I would seperate out the health products and cleaning supplies from your list. Those are generally monthly items, not weekly. And only buy them when they're on sale. So one is in reserve when you run out, no more need to pick this up cause you're running low and paying full price.
I understand living in a rural area, you might need to have some sort of cable package in order to recieve your basic channels. But cut it to the bare.
Since you are rural, have you tried starting a garden? Asking your kids to help tend to it during the week. I know it's late in the season, but i'm sure there's some fall-late summer plants. And eat as much as you can out of your garden. And you don't have to worry about the water bill.
Have you done everything for cutting your electric down?? Water heaters are the biggest user, since that's off the gas, that's some savings.
82 is low, but there's always lower. Limit TV time, and use power strips with an off switch. Because so many things drain power by being on standby, even your tv is. Power strip every one's cell phone charger. Charge them all over night, and turn the switch off each morning. Even my phone tells me, "unplug power supply to save energy" when i take it off.
One thing that really helped was using three accounts. 2 checking and a seperate savings. The weekly paychecks could be divided into more than one account, either by a percentage or set amount through direct deposit.
When we both worked, it was 15% into savings on top of workplan retirement accounts. Then it got changed to a set amount to cover the rent.
The remainder went into a second checking account, which was used solely for online bill pays. Paychecks went in thursday, bills came out friday.
The first checking account was the debit card account. This paid for gas, food, and any bills not paid online.
Thursday i could transfer over any extra amount to the debit card. Of course important things were purchased like gas. And once it was gone, it was gone.
Do you share an account?? Do you each have a debit/credit card tied to the account? That was a major culprit in wasting money. Lets say i knew there was 10$ in the account, kari knew there was 10$ in the account.... We'd both wind up spend 2 or 3$ thinking nothing of it... Then find out we were at less than we thought.
Either share one card, so money can only be spent at one time. Or open a second account as your hubby's spending account. Tell him how much is in there, enough to cover gas and anything else he needs daily. Then once it's gone, it's gone and he better hope the gas isn't on empty. That way you know how much is going out, and he can be accountable for himself. Who knows, he might not spend everything and start building up a little extra.
And never never never pay for gas at the pump. Always go inside and prepay. It takes two seconds for them to credit your account if you put too much. But it could be 2-3 days before the charges ever appear when paying at the pump. And it only pings your account for a 1$. Or just use cash. I have gotten into a strong habit of paying inside. Because i've been burned by the charges appearing 2-3 days later.
Do what works for you. Some people go cash only with envelopes. For me, having several bank accounts was my invisible envelope.
! I can only buy milk now til the end of the month and trust me - the cereal will run out and so will the yogurt 
does the laundry not me but I buy the stuff. I have switched the fabric softner to vinegar as suggested by the Vinegar Thread. He hasn't said whether he likes it or not though. Does homemade detergent work for a front loader? I would be interested in knowing that.
No seriously.
Find a good place to start. Honestly, we have a high grocery budget and it's just 3 of us here, no pets at all. We started our grocery budget with what we *had been* spending, quickly found out that that was WAY more than we actually *needed*. Note: we put the house stuff, cleaning stuff, etc into the grocery budget. Some months you need laundry detergent and Comet; other months you don't need those things but you need shampoo etc etc (though I've just fallen in LOVE with Sauve coconut shampoo and conditioner, 99 cents each! makes DH and DS happier too, compared to the Green Apple etc scents of other shampoos). It all evens out for me. And if there's money left from the grocery money (I keep cash in a zippered little purse/wallet thing, and try to not spend the coins) that goes straight to the current debt (our car). But again, that's ME thinking too far ahead! Anyway, so the second month of our budget, I lowered it by $100...next month I lowered it again. and I think once more. 
