unnecessary spending?? Lets all do a project together..

[marty22]

Eating out costs a lot. Both my wife and I work, sometimes till 8pm. Grabbing food at the Diner is a lot easier than preparing it at a late hour. And: the Diner has the Yankee games on TV. So there!

[andrew]

One area where my wife and I have known issues is: wholesale clubs.  We have memberships to BJs, Sams, and costco.  Somehow, our careful buying habits just go down the drain in those places.  We're suckers for good deals and end up buying way more stuff than we need. 

[wpruitt]

One area where my wife and I have known issues is: wholesale clubs.  We have memberships to BJs, Sams, and Costco.  Somehow, our careful buying habits just go down the drain in those places... 

Why have memberships to all three ? They are basically six of one, half dozen of another (I had all three at one time, too - Sam's was near home, Costco near the office, and BJ's had a software package I wanted).  I'm own to one now !

[hammerdrill376]

We usually eat out once or twice a month and we usually go to a local bar and grill at Happy Hour for 1/2 price specials on food. Being on the road I used to eat out daily but I cut that out and started bagging my lunch. I figure I am saving  about $1500.00 a year that way. We also got rid of our land lines and use cell phones only.

[Antimidas]

I went through a lot of these this summer to cut back on expenses.

I eliminated internet charges by convincing work that it was necessary in my job as an IT Director supporting 500 users.  $63.16 per month saved.

I eliminated land line phones and rely on my company provided cell phone.  Approximately $50 per month saved.

As a single person, I do not have more than a 13 gallon bag of trash per week, so I stopped trash pickup and got my emloyer's permission to bring the single bag to work and throw in the dumpster.  $36 per month saved.

I paid the car off in June.  $453 per month saved.

Refinanced the house from 6.375% to 5.25%.  Saved $210 per month.

If I am watching TV, I do not have any lights on and I also do not listen through the stereo unless it is a really good movie.  Turned off all unnecessary electronics.  Saved about $40 per month on the electric bill.

Started washing clothes in cold water only.  Saved $30 per month.

Will not turn on the AC unless it is over 85 degrees and we have only had a handful of 80 degree days this summer.  Only three of them in August.  Compounded into the electric bill savings.

Only buy gas on the weekend when there is a 5 cent discount per gallon.  Every penny adds up.  As my great grandfather stated, "Mind your pennies and the dollars mind themselves.

One other regular saving tip I use is to never spend anything smaller than a $5 bill.  If you buy a pack of gum, it costs you $5.  The change goes into savings.  You would be amazed at how much money you can accumulate that way.

Over $853 saved per month not including the enforced $5 rule without modifying eating habits.

[andrew]

One area where my wife and I have known issues is: wholesale clubs.  We have memberships to BJs, Sams, and Costco.  Somehow, our careful buying habits just go down the drain in those places... 

Why have memberships to all three ?

That's just part of our illness.  A good first step is cutting back on one membership.  We're going to cut the Sam's membership.  Baby steps ...

[Kplum]

This is a great topic. The month before I married my wife over 3 years ago, we went to see a Financial Counselor. Probably the best thing we did.. We adopted the cash envelope system. In this system we take out money for entertainment "eating out", gas money, and grocery money, we both get a little extra for two weeks for incidentals.. By that I mean a soda here and there.. We also have an account for bills, then another account that we transfer money to for Clothes, Auto Insurance, Vacation Fund, Oil changes, etc.. etc.. So when the time comes to do those things we dont have to worry where the money is coming from.. Also I must mention we do not have kids, so we do not have the challenges and expenses of someone with kids. All of our investments are accounted for...

Really the only spending that I have done which I havent really needed to is all of these "Great Products" you guys keep telling me about.. I justify this to my wife by saying "Honey, i dont get haircuts anymore, I dont buy shampoo. So I am entitled to this.." I wonder how long that will last??

It did suck that when my truck went south.. All we had saved in our car fund was enough money for a 2005 Honda Civic LX.. Oh well.. It does get great gas mileage..

[aarrggh]

Eating out costs a lot. Both my wife and I work, sometimes till 8pm. Grabbing food at the Diner is a lot easier than preparing it at a late hour. And: the Diner has the Yankee games on TV. So there!

          Same here ! Usually up at 5:00AM and back late at night...Eating out 3 times a day is normal and it keeps the day moving better....Have no ambition too cook and clean morning and night .......

[aarrggh]

I paid the car off in June.  $453 per month saved.

        HEY !  It`s about time you got that 1971 Ford Pinto payed for !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Antimidas]

2006 Mustang.  But close!  First time I have ever owned a car outright since 1987.  What a great feeling.

[BaldRob]

Started washing clothes in cold water only.  Saved $30 per month.

I've done a lot of the same stuff that you've done...  BUT, certain things really need to be washed in warm or hot...

[Timmay]

Started washing clothes in cold water only.  Saved $30 per month.

I've done a lot of the same stuff that you've done...  BUT, certain things really need to be washed in warm or hot...

for me..towels and washclothes are a must for hot water...

[PeripheralxMvmnt]

Mrs. Mvmnt and I went through our house and our finances when we moved in and we were able to cut out a lot of unnecessary spending. Our insurance dropped 110/mo by getting condo ins. with our car insurance (plus some other tweaks that happened to work out for us). we also instead of going to the store and getting a whole bunch of food, we go about once a day to the store to get what we want for dinner. that way we are able to make sure no food is wasted, and we only get what we need. weve cut down a lot on "oh, that would be nice to have!" and other wasteful habits. plus, every so often we have enough of uncooked leftovers that we can make a whole meal out of it.

[Timmay]

plus, every so often we have enough of uncooked leftovers that we can make a whole meal out of it.

its called "Pot Luck" lol

[PeripheralxMvmnt]

plus, every so often we have enough of uncooked leftovers that we can make a whole meal out of it.

its called "Pot Luck" lol

whatever its called, its (usually) pretty good!

sometimes things taste better in your mind than they do in real life.... haha