1 post tagged “saving money”

What have you cut back on to save money this year?

I've become very good at talking myself out of buying or doing things in an effort to save money. Among them:

- New clothes for myself. I'm making do with existing jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. It also helps that I occasionally get free clothes at work. I did need to get some long-sleeved shirts (on sale - 3 for $15) and sweatpants (2 pairs for $13), and I also need some socks and undergarments. And as much as I would like a new pair of shoes, I've been able to successfully talk myself out of them for the past few months.

- Dining out. Lunchtime at work is the only time I would eat out, but I've been saving money by either brown-bagging it or going across the street and getting frozen dinners (2 for $2! You can't beat that!) or a salad. I'll splurge once a week or so and spend $8 on lunch somewhere, but that's considered a treat.

- Excessive road trips. If I need to go to the grocery store, I stop on my way home. If I need to run errands and can't manage them during my lunch hour, I stop on my way home. Weekends are typically spent at home, but if I need to run errands (as I did this past weekend), I do all of it at once.

- New craft supplies and books. It's not like I have the time to create or read these days, anyway. (I still have yet to design our Christmas card.) And let's be honest - I have enough craft supplies to teach daily scrapbooking classes for an entire year. So now I don't even bother looking at the Sunday ads for Michaels or JoAnns, and I've dramatically scaled back my Amazon.com visits. After all, it's easier to wear blinders and not know what you're missing than to see it, want it, and later need to talk yourself out of it.

- Vending machine vists. Rather than feeding the vending machine 75 cents every time I want a bag of chips (and we all know those bags are woefully inadequate), I buy a big bag and keep it at my desk. I do the same with granola bars, cookies, and crackers.

- Using my credit cards. The interest rates are ridiculously high. As it is, I now only have one that still carries a balance, and I'm desperately trying to eliminate that, too.

When you don't really do a lot of extra stuff to begin with, it's hard to scale back for the sake of saving money. It's not like I'm a Starbucks afficianado or can't function without an Egg McMuffin first thing in the morning. But I cut back where I can.