Thrifty Panda Ramblings

[windwalker]

Good morning budget concious buds.

One of the few positive things about the current financial situation we are in is that people are going to relean the skill of putting a little away for the future. Most of us have learned to live right on the edge of financial disaster. I'm determined to get out of debt as soon as I possibley can. It scares me that we can't live on just one of our incomes.

We have started doing some little things to both get in the habit of holding onto our money and to have trip money without having to stray from our journey to get out of debt.

Erica, my sweet lady, bought a couple of those big Coke bottle banks at Disney and every day out pocket change goes in. We carry the pennies with us so we just get the silver change back when we buy something.

Every week I put a $20 bill in an envelope for 'Trip Cash' then when we get ready to take off on a trip we already have the cash and don't have to hit the ATM before we leave. The checking account doesn't take the hit either. Like having extra money so doesn't hurt the budget.

I put a $100 into a savings account each week when we get paid. I transfer it to savings and look at it as though our pay check was $100 less and we don't have it to spend. This is the vacation fund but also the emergency fund for stuff like the fridge quit.

The ecomomy can hit any of us unexpectedly and we should start getting into a 'what if' mind set so we can plan for it. Right now nobody knows how safe their jobs are. Even if we don't get laid off there is still sickness or injury.

One of the ways that Erica and I have been saving for quite some time is getting water to drink at meals when we go to sit down or carry-out both. That soda that a lot of people get with a meal can add quite a bit to the eat out bill and isn't healthy like the ice water, with a lemon slice.

Thanks or reading and if you wanna share little saving ideas please do.

Thrifty Panda

 

[SamSam]

Thrifty Panda, Great thread for these economic times. DH and I have made vacations a priority and in order to do that we've had to trim other areas.
We very seldom eat out anymore (we save that for trips), when we do eat out we often split a meal.
We seldom buy new clothing, trying to control impulse buying.
We are putting off some home projects till the economy improves.
DH quit buying DVD's.
We keep our thermostat down in winter and up in the summer.
I don't watch QVC!
We also save all our loose change.
I also always send in for rebates, etc., if available and that money goes to the trip can.
For things I have to buy, if possible I purchase on line through ebates.com and the money from that goes into the trip can.

Now, when we're on vacation we do go a bit overboard on eating out but we feel like we more than make up for it at home with our cost cutting.

 

[Creativebeth]

I am an avid coupon-er. I usually save anywhere from $30 to $50.00 a week with store savings and coupons. Seeing that we hardly ever eat out, I have to get alot of groceries for the week!

I pack breakfast and lunch for myself every day of the week, and ds#1 packs every day for school. I think we save a fortune that way! I save at least $6 to 10$ every day with packing!

I have been saving for a long time, but even more now with the ecomony. Coupons at the store are a big pain, but when they slash $40.00 off your bill, its worth it!

We too have been ordering water on the rare oppurtunity of eating out....saves a lot!

Beth

 

[Duanerice]

Interesting post. Hoping to get a few money saving tips.

We have ordered water with our meals for as long as I can remember. It is a pet peeve of mine when we take someone out like our grown daughter and her boyfriend. They have to have soda or iced tea or something. Ugh. I am not cheap but that just irritates me. A soda after you add on tax and tip is easily $3-$4. Heck, I can get a 12 pack for that

We rarely go out to dinner anymore, not that we went out much before. But, we use to take off on say Saturday and not eat anything before we left. Of course we would get hungry and have to get something to eat. That usually turned into a $30 meal. Now we just grab something at home before we go out. If we do go out, we usually use a coupon from one of those coupon books.

I pack my lunch every day. I see so many people at work that complain about money but they always go out. I don't even run that many errands at lunch. I used to go out just to run to the store to get out of the office. When gas went to $4 a gallon, I stopped going out. When gas prices started coming back down I didn't start back. Heck, that is 5 trips every week that I don't need to make.

We just started keeping change. We'll see how that stacks up.

We have cut back on special things. We don't go to movies that often. Heck a movie with popcorn and soda is about $30 a couple. I used to get a massage every 2 weeks at the massage school ($25). I have one about every 5 weeks now.

We used to get pizza EVERY Friday night. Now it is frozen pizza. It's not bad, I just got tired of spending over $20 on Pizza - delivery of course.

I don't want to sound like a cheapskate as I still have lawn service and still take vacations. I still buy $90 running shoes. Although I used to buy Asics Kayano's I now buy Asics 2130's (I think that is the model) for about $40 cheaper.

I just look twice at what I spend money on. I rather buy something for $40 then go to a $40 dinner. When I am done with the dinner it's over but if I actually bought something I have something to show for it.

Keep the tips coming!
Duane

 

[windwalker]

Thank you for the inputs guys. With the economy the way it is and the way it probably will be for a while, we all need to start thinking differently.

Thrifty Panda

 

[funwalker]

Great Ideas!

Add to those all ready shared:

I carry very little cash - it is too easy to spend on little things and it can really add up.

I changed all the light bulbs in the house - over time - to the Energy Star newer ones.

I put everything possible on one credit card that gives me cash back - I never carry a balance from month to month.

I prefer to buy one good quality item rather than several okay ones.

With my preferred clothing being the tech fabric - using a drying rack instead of the clothes dryer.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Lots of great tips everyone!

I also have $100 automatically withdrawn from my account every week. It goes into a savings account - which usually gets used for trips but it is nice to have something saved up just in case.

DF and I don't go out to eat much anymore. It's hard to control exactly what we're eating and even eating out once a week even if it's just Subway, it really adds up. So we stay home and cook now.

I order water at restaurants too but have gotten the stinky eye from the occasional waiter. What's up with that?

Duane/Beth - I also pack my lunches and breakfasts. There are some days it's really hard, especially when most people at work go out to eat. But then I think about the money I'm saving ... and if I'm going to eat out, I'd rather enjoy it with friends instead of wolfing down my meal in a 1/2 hour.

Margie - I use a drying rack too for most of my clothes. I also wash in cold water.