Let's admit it...even when practicing black belt frugality, some of us aren't REALLY as frugal as we could be.

Are there any areas where you know you could tighten up the purse strings, and if things were REALLY bad, you might, as radical as they might be?

For me it would be buying anything extra. I set $200 for misc. things and go over it every month. It's hard simply because I have such a large extended familoy and we tend to have get togethers and such that we buy things for. However, soon-to-be hubby and I bought fishing licenses with trout stamps on them which cost about $50 but would be helpful if we could get enough fish to feed the family.

Oh I know there are several areas. We could cut the satellite once the contract was up. Cut my cell phone and not have 11 pets. I could cut groceries also in a dire emergency(though higher carb noodles etc is not good for me).

I could cut out the satelite dish, the cell phones, and my daily (practically) Almond Joy bar. I could say no to the kids more often when they ask for a toy. I could say no to hubby when he wants to eat out once every two weeks or so.
I would never however, give up my membership to the Y. For 54 bucks a month we get use of the pool, free baby-sitting while I work out, and membership to a great community! That is not a luxury for my family.

Sure there are-- we still have some luxuries here as well.

I'd drastically cut our meat consumption

We'd not eat out at all.

I'd ditch all the snack foods that I buy now (we buy some for convienence, some for fun)

We'd stop insuring the vehicles that we don't drive every day (we have some that we keep tagged/insured in case one of ours breaks down)

We'd cut out some of our day trips (we do this instead of vacations)

Yes, we could be more frugal. We ended up picking up a couple of books and some candles while were out to return something on Friday. Little things like that add up through the month. Also, I'm a sucker for getting the kids little things like smoothies at Sam's Club and stuff like that. We probably could be a lot more frugal. The irony is that we are being pretty frugal for us.

We could cut out the sattelite and cell phones, which would give us another $150.00 a month. Actually, I would go for this now, but SO will hear none of that. I'd like to think if things got really tight he would see the wisdom of it though *fingers crossed just in case *

I could cut back further in the food spending category.
I could cut out caller i.d. on the phones but honestly I'd hate that one just about the worst. lol Come to think of it, I can only get dialup where I live, so I have an extra phone line. I could go down to one if I had too......

I guess if I really started thinking I could shave off a few hundred a month expenses if needed.

And here I am longing for the dvr thingie so I can record my fave t.v. shows.. But I won't let myself go there, don't worry. lol

I eat out way too much. :smooch: and I are both excellent cooks, but we eat out a lot, which is a real shame. Usually on our pool dates, we go to a fantastic little Irish pub for dinner on their 1/2 price menu night. But we really need to stop that.

Otherwise, I rarely spend any money. I don't drive very far or very often (usually to and from work, to and from :smooch:'s place and on Sundays I go yard-saling) and my groceries are almost always healthy good things, rarely do I buy junk food. I don't buy random purchases, as I know I can find them at yard sales (though I'd kill for a stand-up KitchenAid mixer) and I rarely buy clothes or books. So for the most part, I think I'm pretty frugal. :)

:smooch: teases me about it all the time, but it's rubbing off on him. The other day he and a friend went to dinner and he ordered steak. This cost him about $40 and he went through the roof. The next day he went to the grocery store with the same friend and was comparison shopping for different cuts of meat. His friend was laughing at him, but I of course was smiling inwardly when I heard this story. :laugh:

I keep my cell phone for emergencies. My mom was pretty insistant that I have one. Several things happened all at once to encourage this, and I am glad I do have it now. I came out to the car one day and my tire was flat. Fortuneately I was near a gas station and could have someone enflate it for me. And then I came home after visiting :smooch: one night and my power was off in my whole neighborhood. My phone wasn't working and I was all by myself in this area with no flashlights or batteries or phones! So I high-tailed it back to :smooch:'s place and stayed there for the night til the power came back on. So now I have my phone in case of such emergencies.

If I wasn't so anal & had to have everything match I could have saved a ton!

I could get rid of my cable, phone, and internet. That in itself, would save me about 200 dollars a month. But, I love being able to get online whenever I feel like it, I enjoy my cable news channel and the History Channel, and I love talking to my mother. So, although it would help the financial homefront, those things may not help my quality of life.

I could get rid of the extra phone line, all the extra features on the main line, we could do without 4 cell phones, satellite could go, we could take insurance off a motorcycle that is never riden, lower our rates on our insurance by upping the deductibles, share cars instead of all 4 od us having our own, quit eating out, use library more instead of thinking I can buy used and save and still have a reference, I could insist on more family involvement in anything and everything that goes on here that wastes money.

I could do lots of things if the situation called for it and DH and I have discussed all of this. I feel blessed to be able to do these things and also blessed to KNOW that they ARE EXTRAS. This thread has been a reminder to count my blessings in a way. I enjoyed all the responses all. Thanks

There are probably several things I could really tighten up on if I had to, but I guess it all comes down to what is really important to the individual. As long as I can possibly afford it, there are things I just won't give up--internet, coffee, my cell phone ( for emergencies) etc.

I could get rid of cable tv, stop spending money on Ebay (which I plan to do), learn how to cut my own grass, make all my own cleaners and hang my laundry but the chances of my doing all these things is practically nil.

Well we could get rid of the internet and cable, but ther my life support when I need them. Insanity was almst ther when I was home for 6 months(him not working) and looking at each other every day!!! lol
Can't cut any futher on food lately, were as short as we can go, thats why I took off goals. I reached them almost month and half ago. I'm luck if were spending $40 aweek(4 people).

Maybe call dispaly i could get rid of. lol
Internet, no way!!!Hubby asked, I said okay sell truck and get car then, Hs idea to go into debt. for 16,000 .

Well, we could cut cable, but it's a package with cable internet, and dh would not go for that. Groceries I think we do good....we rarely eat out and dh takes a lunch every day. I don't buy prepackaged/conveinience foods, etc. We do indulge in coffee beans (Costco). We don't drink or smoke...rarely purchase soda at all. We could cut our auto insurance to liability only, since both of our vehicles are paid for, but they are both relatively new and still worth a fair amount, so I think full coverage is wise. We spend a fair amount on bird food...we feed several *flocks* as well as geese, ducks and quail that visit.(this amounts to about 40.00 per month) But we enjoy it and it's actually very entertaining for us! I work hard in other areas so we can have these few luxeries...but if worse came to worse...we could eliminate them, no problem. We've worked hard to get to this point in our lives....it's time to enjoy a little!

We are not nearly as frugal as we could be. I am not sure I would want to live that way all the time.

We have a lot of things we could cut out if we had too - looking back, DH and I now take home 3 times the amount of money we did at this time last year (I got a new job and DH found a great job). So we have added in a lot of "extras" based on our new income that we could cut back on if we had to. Yes, we are still living below our means, and saving and paying off debt - should be totally debt free by the end of next month, minus my student loans - but we did step up a bit with the extra $ coming in.

I could cut back:
1. Cellphones ($90/month for both of us)
2. Eating out (we eat out once a week, about $20-$30)
3. I get my nails done every three weeks ($17) and a pedicure every other week ($25)
4. We could get a lot more aggressive on groceries/couponing. I don't have the numbers right now, but I know that we spend more now that we did when I was the only one working!
5. Just misc spending on stuff we want - clothes, CDs, books, etc.

We did decide to add to the family - wait, that would be kind of hard to cut out at this stage (LOL - due in Oct!)

We could pack everyone up and go live in a tent, that way we would not even have any utilities or mortgage to pay! But we won't go there ;) Yes, I'm being sarcastic, but I think that there are ALWAYS ways that anyone can cut back. I try to be frugal, but given the circumstances, I could always become moreso.

We live below our means and save money every month.
We have 7 years left on our mortgage, I'm sure I'll pay it off befor then.
We spend less than the Joneses around us.
We're teaching our kids that money doesn't grow on trees.

And when I look at it from that perspective we're doing just fine.
And that's what counts for us.

If we had too, we could cut the satelite, cell phones, and DSL ( I don't think it would kill me, but I wouldn't like it). Once before when we first got married, we had very little money and had to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and egg salad for a couple weeks.

We all need to have a few things to enjoy, or life wouldn't be worth living.

there is always something that can be cut out of the budget. i could walk to work everyday, we could get rid of cable tv (have been talking about that, at least going to basic), not eat out (this is what i really think we need to stop) and plenty of other things.
i do control the food budget pretty well, use coupons and look for sales. i could help it more with cooking from scratch more, but don't have the energy for it right now. work school and medical issues have me drained.
dh drives the car to work which does help with gas since teh other vehicle is a van.
i'm slowly working on getting the family back into some frugal habits, but i have to go slow so they don't realise they are being lead back to frugalness. if i move to fast, they balk at it and it's like pulling stubborn mules.

We could absolutely cut a lot out of our budget. We eat out quite a bit, spend a fair amount monthly on cell phones, dsl and satellite. We have been spending some on new clothes lately and I always look at the jewelry and buy too much from the clearance racks (in the jewelry dept.). It's a fettish and I am working on curbing the urge. I try to work hard on our gasoline consumption and watch our grocery spending. But still, I could cut out a lot.

Heck no, I'm not as frugal as I could or should be. I buy too many things for DD, albeit inexpensive things like discount books and crayons and paper, but sometimes I just can't be as frugal as I should. I go through periods of black-belt frugality, but right now isn't one of them. I find my sanity gets stretched if I push the frugality too hard too long.

Hmm...I would rethink how we use the car and how often. I'd probably drop some of the groups I attend. I'd also drop the internet...I can access it at the library. I might be able to shift around some groceries yet, but it would be tough, especially if I was to keep to 'doctor's orders' on our diet.

The things I have to do to save money are big ticket things. Like buying a front loading energy/water efficient washer, or replacing windows and doors in the house. Those are the kinds of things we need to do in order to be more frugal. And one of the reasons they haven't been done is because of the big initial capital cost of them.

Jean

Like the rest, I could be more frugal if I cut the cable and cell phones. I would love it if I never bought meat again. I'm not a big meat eater. I love vegtables and grilled cheese sandwiches. My dh and son have to have some sort of meat.
Would like to get rid of my car. But I know it would be a hardship, since I am the only one here to take care of my parents.

I know I could be and should be more frugal. I am working on it, and trying very hard. There are certain things I would like to cut out of my life, that would save us a bit every month.

I find my sanity gets stretched if I push the frugality too hard too long.
I think you've hit the nail on the head. To me, frugality is like a healthy diet--it's about moderation, in the long run. I find that a moderate approach is more likely to work in real-world situations.

Like everyone else, we can definitely cut back on a lot of stuff. We are new at being frugal, so we're starting out small. But I think we're doing pretty good so far. To me, Being frugal was harder than letting go of an addiction, I also quit smoking at the same time, and it was easier to quit smoking than to become frugal. Now I have NO cravings for cigarettes, but still have urges to go shopping every now and then. But being frugal gets easier and easier, and becoming part of me slowly. Which is weird, but I like it.

We have cut back on grocery, start an emergency fund, and I have stop buying junks that we don't need. Maybe in 6 months to a year, we will be ready to let go of other things. But as of now, I think we're doing great by cutting back on spending, paying off debt, and start saving our hard earn money.

I know we will fail if we try to let go off too many things. There are still many things that we still feel that it's a need in our lives. After all, we think that being frugal is about making the most out of what we have, and find the least expensive way to live our lives comfortably/happily. If we give up too much, we will not live comfortably/happily, and then it would defeat the purpose why we're becoming frugal in the first place.

This is just my 2 cents

I could cut several items if I really had to. Cell phones could go as could dish TV. ( But then I would have DH medical bill for his heart attack when he could not watch his favorites ! LOL) We could MAYBE sell the truck in a real jam. But the biggest money wasters are all the little stuff...bottled flavored water, snack foods, ice cream cones, fast food and the like. I could also probably not buy as much for my DGD but I would be so very unhappy! That would be the last thing i would give up!

I've definately left room to cut. And I would only use them in case of an emergency. I guess it's a way to compromise with the rest of the family.

We have to have internet since DH is an internet developer. However, we don't have to have fiber optic internet. We could have plain old DSL or *shudder* dial-up.

I could get rid of my cell phone, even though we only pay $20 every 3 months for it. (pay-as-you-go phone)

We could cut cable completely. We only pay $12/month for it, but we could just get one of those powerful antennae and pay nothing.

We could definitely cut back on eating out. DH eats out once a week for lunch. We usually pick up fast food at least one meal each week, and sometimes we go to regular restaurants.

I could pare down the grocery bill. Right now I'm willing to pay for higher quality ingredients and the occasional convenience item. I hate to bake cookies, so our cookies are almost always store bought. I could bake more.
I enjoy baking bread... every once in a while. But I could start baking it each week instead of buying it most of the time. There's a lot I could do with the grocery budget.

We could cut out spending on hobbies. Stop going to sci-fi conventions for a while. DH could live without hunting for new Star Wars things for his collection. I could work with what I've got at home right now as far as card making and scrapbooking are concerned. I could even work harder at making gifts for people instead of buying gifts.

I could hang my laundry out to dry instead of using my dryer. I may try that for a few things, but really, I prefer my dryer.

The big thing that we could cut is a vehicle. We work opposite schedules (he works M-F; I work Sat & Sun), so we don't NEED two vehicles. It would be inconvenient as all errands would have to be done after 3:15pm (when he gets home). Also, if I had an appointment, I'd have to drive him to work (at 5am!! - ugh) in order to have the truck. One payment, plus insurance is $400/month, not to mention maintenance and extra gasoline. I think with one vehicle we'd use less gas, because we'd do more "on your way home, please pick up..."

Like others we could cut internet ($10 dial-up, no ads), cell phone (only one an it's only $10 on top of the first; the first phone is for dh's business). Actually, if we dropped internet, we could drop the land-line phone ($20) and keep the second cell ($10).

Cable ($30) could go, but then, as someone said, we'd have to pay the medical bills for dh's stroke! ;) Ditto the newspaper ($14).

Groceries could be tightened up - no alcohol or snack/junk food.

Honestly, if I came down to food, we could drop or change the life insurance (switch to term insurance).

We spend an average of $125 on gymnastics, ballet, swimming, ice skating, etc lessons for the dd's (scary, I know!).

The other flexible money is $40 for family entertainment (per month), $40 for my pocket money and $17 for my haircut (including tip - and if I had to give that up, I'd have a stroke myself!)

This exercise is a good reminder of two things:
#1) If I end up need to take un-paid medical leave, there are ways to cope.
#2) We are truly blessed.

I wanted to get rid of my car last year. I had accepted a corporate job that involves flying to work each week. Why have another car? DH felt so strongly against it that I didn't sell it. Good thing. My first project was remote (work from home office) and my next one was two hour north in the "big city". With it being that close to home--you guessed it--I drove it each week instead of flying.

End result: instead of becoming a one-car household, I traded my sporty car in on a more practical mini-ute. I am safer driving to the city, DSS (13-year old 6' tall beanpole) is thrilled to have real back seats with leg room, and DH and I can easily take the Moms places.

It's really hard sometimes to predict future needs.

We are pretty frugal as it is, only one (paid for) car, no cell phones, no dining out (not even fast food), rarely buy any new clothes (most of ours come from thrift shops), my food budget is as low as I can get it and still keep DH happy.

Our big "indulgences" are a reduced price membership to the YMCA at $34.93 a month for the family, and our cable, phone, and internet package which runs $96 a month for all three. I could live without the Y during the summer if we had too, but the internet is a must for us.

I could get rid of cable ( I only have attenna service at 12.00 a month) -gives us some cable stations and a clear picture.

get rid of my cell. - Go prepaid..thinking of this as it is.

No buying anything extra. Meaning nothing but bills etc.

Quit smoking!

No, we are not nearly as frugal as we could be or should be. To keep this post from being too long, lol, I'll tell you the one frugal thing I have been doing is hanging laundry. :D