Anyone trying to not spend as much these last couple months?

[steelergal]

After going through our basic billing cycles/pays and impending holiday expenses- I am getting overwhelmed and stressed! I am thinking of different ways to cut back on anything and everything just so I don't overspend, overstress, and especially skip paying a bill for the holidays.

Anyone else going through this? What are you doing to stretch your money these last two months? Any ideas and or tips appreciated!

[krbshappy71]

I put $100 in the budget for Nov and Dec for this Christmas. That is for 10 people and so far so good, I bought the 3 nephew-1-niece gifts and stayed under my $10 for each of them!

Two items for my SIL were from Freecycle, brand new unopened items. I might not get anything else for her and use that money towards someone else in the list.

I think the trick to the holidays is to scout all year long and to bake for people who already have everything but time.

YOU CAN DO THIS!

[frugalwarrior2]

We have college age kids (2) and we just got an unexpected bill for $1800. DD decided to take 3 classes instead of 2 due to lack of hours at her job. And vehicle ins is due.
What I did
-Dh and I agreed to a small xmas. Homemade and used goods.
Maybe a much needed mattress

-We are paying the car ins. in full to save 150. and excluding Ds because he isn't driving at university anyway saving another $150.

-We are just not buying "stuff". No dollar store,no estate sales,etc.
-We are just buying minimal at the groc. too and shopping at home for replacements
-we are fixing stuff. We are downloading manuals that repairmen use and then troubleshooting and ordering the parts off the web.
-We are wearing 2nd day clothes to clean house and do yard work. We have reduced.
-we veiw movies and computer games and play cards. Dh getting an ereader has really reduced costs.

[nuisance26]

~I'm an end of the year stretcher too but it's not about the holidays. I want to make my goal of only spending such and such.
I'm rarely going out so that helps. I'm buying only very important stuff when I do. I actually put off buying a pack of gum because I had to think about whether or not it was a need. For my sensory kid, it kinda is.
I've needed jeans for two months but I'm making do with what I have for now.
I reduced the grocery budget by $50 last month and came really close to making it so I'll count it as a success.
I'm trying to use up what food we have here in the house instead of shopping frequently.
Another big things that's helped is my BIL sending us day old breads, bagels, chips and goodies. He's a grocery vendor and has made friends with other vendors who now let him shop their "to trash" racks. The stuff is great and has saved me about $30 in the last two months. We have a ton of bread in the freezer.
Another thing I do this time of year is to sell sell sell. I get out what we aren't using, and make some money we can spend without affecting my budget. It's my end of the year bonus. ~

[QM]

I, too, have been trying to cut back a lot. I 'thought' I was doing good in the month of September until I got my c/c bill and noticed we overspent!...AGAIN! Onto LofC it goes! So, I've tightened my purse strings and am trying to buy the minimum. I bought winter boots for both of my daughters off kijiji...paid a total of $13 for the two pairs of boots--would have cost over $80 had I paid new at a store. I try my darndest to have as many no spend days as possible and ask myself if I 'need' or 'want' something. In the past two weeks, my c/c is really low, but now I feel poor. But I'm not going to let my feelings supercede my frugal ways. I have to stay focused and realize that I'd rather feel poor than really be poor in the end. KWIM?

[piney]

I am trying to cut back by using more food from the freezer & pantry & trying to cut back on no spend day for once i go to store it hard not to spend more then i had intended to i also had car insurance this month to pay.

[auntie2many]

I do not plan on doing any stockpiling of groceries or HBA this month or next. I need every dollar that I can save. I had to cut my Christmas list down to the bare minimum of people. I only spent $35 on dh's gift. We also need to save for some things that have broken that need to be replaced. We are keeping our out of the way driving to out of the way places to only the bare minimum to the church and to the grocery stores and that is about the only places that we are going except to doctor appointments next month that are kind of far away. We are using about 1/2 less tank of gas per month by doing that.

That is all that I can think of for now. I am anxious to see what others have to say in this thread.

A2M

[jas]

We are on the budget plan with our electric and the average is 200.00 a month so like now when the bill will go down because we can turn off the air and we don't have to run the heat here in Florida but once or twice a year and that is gas , I still pay the 200.00 even though what is owed is much less. That way a few times a year like right about now we have so much of a credit balance I don't have to pay for two months. The extra expenses of the holidays is made way less of a burden this way. The same goes for the water bill and the gas bill. I budget so much a month and continue to pay that even if the bill is lower so I build a credit with those also. It may not work for everyone but it works for me.

Also my dd started working and we were sharing my truck which ment I was stuck home all week. It has saved me gas money as she pays for what she uses. Now I wait till the weekend and use the car my dh drives to work which is way better on gas to do my shopping on the weekends and just put in what little gas I actually use. I have been putting my gas savings in my ING account.

[brennasmom]

I think it's the time of year.

There are a lot of extra things to do/pay for.

I am *trying* to keep Christmas simple and stress free (ha!)

I asked the kids today what parts of the holiday that they most look forward to and what we may be able to pass on (Gingerbread houses are out!).

Hang in there.

[Libby]

I try to save up monthly for Christmas - as a regular part of the budget. Luckily last year, I was able to get a great jump start towards my goal for this year's Christmas. The budget covers: gifts, wrapping/decor supplies, gas money for traveling to visit with friends and dinners out plus a lil something extra for the 'just in case' situations.

I like the idea of giving homemade food gifts especially baked goods.

Oddly enough, DH just started asking me what I'd like for Christmas

[joyofsix]

I'm trying but Murphy isn't cooperating. I'm trying not to stress about Christmas but ...

[Momto5RN]

we seem to have a family curse that something bad happens every november money wise
and this year it came 3 days early - a car repair for dd - well several things needed repaired and since we finally got it from her to fix which is hard with her schedule of college and work - when the tire blew and she had no choice we did it all.

989 $
and my work was slow last week and is even slower this week

and being per deim i am last person on the totem pole when it comes to getting work


i shop for holidays year round for some things and for others i save up the $$ monthly or the GC i earn and save them for gifts .


when my kids were much younger i think when i just had 2 and they were under 7 i had a bad november and was very stressed about the holiday until the few days before and i decided i would never put myself in that position again. i figured a toy or item clothes etc i got at 75% off in june or a GC i earned during the year may not be exactly what they want but its better than nothing at all.

and when December comes and if am lucky enough to be able to get other gifts they may be requesting etc - if i have extras from 75% off sale they go into the gift box for birthdays or we donate them to toys for tots etc .

It was an eye opener that year that i really only could blame myself for any holiday stress - i had to shop last minute was in my bedroom wrapping when we had friends over for christmas eve - decided i would never do that again .


THAT SAID - of course come november its too late for that so:

find toys your kids have outgrown and sell them on craigslist etc

one year i sold my sons old geo tracks and used the money for a set of drums -very little money out of pocket

last year we had a yardsale and i combined the money from that and a sale at a craft store of buy 1 get 1 to get same son some k'nex kits and to buy 20yo a 50$ GC to salad works

i also just say no . even if they are santa believers i tell them santa knows mom has the final say - one thing 10 yo wants is an electric spark scooter - i said no . other gift he wants is his bigger main gift he can wait for birthday for that esp since he wont be doing alot of scootering in december ,

[Momto5RN]

i also do less stock piling and more pantry freezer eating this time of year more because of the usual unexpected money things that happen this month rather than the holidays

[NikoSan999]

Last year when I started back to work I took advantage of the Christmas Club offered. It's automatically taken out. Since I had only started getting a paycheck a few weeks before I didn't hardly notice it. I had more taken out than I would ever spend on Christmas but look at that as either emergency fund or to put in the trailer. Either way I'm glad I did it.

I've also picked up a couple things gift wise. Out of state kids and grandkids will be gift cards.

I've also been doing the major grocery trip every 2 weeks and picking up or only sales in between.

Been trying to use more out of pantry/stockpile and freezer especially since it needs to be gone and replenished/updated.

I had slacked up a little on watching the electric...not much...but some. I'm back to electric nazi.

[steelergal]

I so hear about Murphy- he always visits us this time of year, I think that is one of the reasons why I stress so much this time of year! My DH's battery is basically dead, thank goodness his jumper box is helping for now (he will be getting a new battery for vehicle later today). The unexpected bills are the biggest stressor for me!

I do try to buy throughout the year for the holidays for certain things, my girls are basically done (besides picking up my layaway). I did do a Christmas club this year, next year I plan on putting a bit more in so the stress factor is not as bad (a stress free Christmas is unheard of for me! LOL!). We have cut back on what we are getting the girls this year, but we got back into a family grab bag so that makes it a bit tighter (and of course we got both of my BIL's- grrr they are the hardest to buy for on the IL side!).

I also have decided not to worry a whole lot on the pantry/freezer stockpile, I will try to use up what we have because the last trip to the grocery store turned out to be a lot more expensive than planned (even while buying the sales and getting what was needed!).

I think I will also have several no spend days, I need to get my house completely winterized, organize the Christmas presents, declutter and deep clean the house for the holidays.