Mini Challenge - think quick...
Find a Conversation
Mini Challenge - think quick...
| Tue, 01-03-2006 - 5:42pm |
If you needed to cut $15 from your spending money this month, where would it come from?
| Tue, 01-03-2006 - 5:42pm |
If you needed to cut $15 from your spending money this month, where would it come from?
Pages
If you have some time on the weekend, you could stop by your local library and read that week's issue of your favorite magazines. You wouldn't be able to take it home with you while the issue is still current (at least that's how it works in our local library), but old issues 'can' be checked out. :-D You might find magazines that you're interested in that your local newsstand/store doesn't carry.
Pat
I think I would stay out of the discount and craft stores.... I could snowflake what I don't spend there.
Very good question. I think I fritter away little bits of $ here and there without thinking much about it. In my mind I think, it's only $7, or it's 50% off. I went into Ross the other day after buying some necessary household stuff next door at Target and bought a cute Tshirt for me for "only $7". It was cheap and fit and I liked it, but I don't "need" another Tshirt. Same thing with my crafts, especially beading. My middle daughter and I both love to bead and I did come up with some lovely, rather inexpensive, well-received Christmas gifts. But I've ended up with a carton full of beads, tools, etc. and I don't need anymore, but I find it hard to resist the pretty stuff. Neither one of us "needs" any more earrings or bracelets, no matter how many compliments we get on the stuff we make.
I already bring lunch to work nearly every day. Mainly because there's nothing but fast food around my office and I don't need the fries, etc. on my behind. Saves $, time and calories for me.
I would have to say groceries or eating out. We are already on a pretty tight budget. The library suggestion for magazines was a great one. Also, you can get yearly subscriptions for some magazines really cheap through ebay. I have done that a few times and have received 3 yrs of Family Circle for $7 and 2 yrs of Seventeen for my daughter for $6. You can't beat those kind of deals unless you get them free!
I saw some people suggesting bringing breakfast instead of buying. I do that, I eat oatmeal or instant grits every day. They're actually pretty tasty and only about $2.50 a box for 10-12 packets plus they are good for you.
I wish I could work more hours, but am at a non-profit and overtime is not allowed. I am thinking about trying to sell some things on ebay for extra cash. I'm always looking for ways to cut costs and save money.
Thanks!
Hello,
I'd find it easy to cut $15 a month. My husband has a monthly Everquest II subscription that he uses once or twice a week. I cancelled my account recently, knowing that I don't play often enough to justify the expense. He wants to keep the subscription, so we haven't cancelled it. Considering the number of hours he sometimes spends playing, it's relatively inexpensive entertainment.
As for an expense I could *personally* reduce, bringing breakfast to work every day would help. I've begun bringing a can of juice and yogurt most mornings. It isn't a full breakfast, but it's enough that I can have a bowl of soup OR a salad for lunch ($4) instead of both.
Someone mentioned coffee. I don't purchase coffee, since I'm allergic to it, but I do visit the Starbucks in our building occasionally for a Chai Tea. Sometimes I purchase a drink when buying lunch, which I could skip. At work we have vending machines that offer common soft drinks for 25 cents each, so buying a fountain drink with lunch would be an extra expense I could trim.
You might laugh, but there's an expense that helps me control spending: berries! If I put a small carton of blackberries / raspberries on my grocery list ($3) and eat them in the grocery store while I'm shopping, I don't get the "impulse buy" urge like I would if I'm shopping "hungry". I was cleaning out my purse the other day and noticed that I spent atleast $30 less on weekly grocery trips that included the snack. If the snack wasn't there, I could pick out atleast $15-20 in impulse buys (not regular staples) in the list of groceries. Moral of the story, I shouldn't shop for groceries hungry!
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Got Dot? Why Not? It Pays!
http://www.website.ws/runsamok/show
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished
I ususually cut from our grocery budget.
However, I HATE being so tight with grocery money! I like to make a home-cooked meal for dinner every night, and have decent food for breakfast and lunches. Pop Tarts and Spaghetti O's only go so far.....
~Aravis~
For me, $15 is from grocery money. This is a TIGHT month. We had saved for DH to go back to school, and tuition and books are paid, but the books cost more than we had expected. So, we're scrimping this month.
Most months, the $15 would come from our fun money. That's easy. All our extra money or "fun money" is spent this month. The only thing left is groceries, and we're buying CHEAP meals this month and using up what's in the pantry.
Our budget is set up for snowflaking automatically (we pay well over the minimum payments) but there can't be extra snowflakes this month. I don't even know where the electric bill money will come from. I actually do, but it'll be tight this month.
There's always next month!
I could easliy cut $15 out of groceries or going out to eat.
Dana
I would definitely have to say eating out! That is my bad habit! I am addicted to eating out! I could do it everyday and not get sick of it. I try to stay home because if I go to town I will always stop and grab something to eat!
Donna
Pages