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Tightening Your/My Frugal Belt.....

3K views 20 replies 14 participants last post by  Hamada 
#1 ·
I haven't focused as much of late on my frugal habits. I've "tried" in the sense of slightly trying...to a degree...but not put too much effort into it. Because of this I've noticed an increase in our debt.

Am I the only one in this boat? I need to tighten my frugal belt in 2013 and really get a better grip on our finances. I plan on tracking every penny and joining the No Spend Challenge. Budgeting is pointless for us because DH doesn't give me half his receipts or help me with banking in any way, shape or form. You can't get water from a stone or make someone change. He's got to see the need to change before he changes himself. I can only control what I spend which will definitely help us to some degree . Hence, the point of this post.

What challenges or words of wisdom can you give me as I compile my thoughts as to how I can do better in 2013?
 
#2 ·
I am thinking of a frugal 2013 as well. Some plans:

* bigger garden
* learning to can
* keeping freezer meals ready to go (to keep us from eating out on busy nights)
* more non-meat dinners
* trying to fill more clothing needs 2nd hand (have really good luck for DD but not so much for the rest of us)
* stick to my grocery budget
* less food waste
 
#3 ·
I'm in the same boat.

2013 is going to be a huge belt tightening year for us. Despite my yearly raise, my income will continue to go down every year for the next few years due to some changes that our Governor put into place for educators, and so we need to make some adjustments.

I've already begun listing some things on eBay (and here at the village!) and am pulling out all of my old frugal living books (Tightwad Gazette...first on the list) to remind myself of some of the things I've let go by the wayside.

The biggest tip I have is to just be mindful. I think laziness (not that I consider myself lazy by a long shot, but after my full-time job teaching, then teaching piano after school, then taking care of a home and four children, I'm beat) has caused me to spend more, buy more, and not think as much about where every penny is going.

So, it's time to get my frugal thinking cap back on. :)
 
#4 ·
One thing that I do is when I go shopping I take a list with me..and If I see something I want I have to go back to the car and get the money...in the rain, cold, heat whatever..most of the time I go home with out it..U have to think about the purchase then....

second thing I am doing as of right now.... I do not spend 5 dollar bills. 1, 10, 20, 50, and 100's get spent..but not five this goes into our small savings..that we have just started we will see how it goes...

change also I let it sit till the end of the week on the dresser then it gets put up into the change jar... so know one is breaking into the change jar for soda or coffee...or the dollar menu...

these are little things but they do add up in the long run.....
 
#5 ·
second thing I am doing as of right now.... I do not spend 5 dollar bills. 1, 10, 20, 50, and 100's get spent..but not five this goes into our small savings..that we have just started we will see how it goes...
I save $5 bills, also!!!
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
First - it will be difficult to be get to where you're going if you don't know where you are right now.

Meaning, if DH is a spend thrift - you have a huge problem. I am thinking that he's not. Perhaps just not as prudent with the finances as you will be. So, let's work with that.

You need a budget. Period. You can't get to where you want to go without a map. A budget is a map. You look at it frequently.

I worked a system that I have a category (budget item) such as Mortgage. I know that I need to put $x dollars in that category every week in order to make my monthly payment. My spreadsheet I created shows that deposit in that category - every week. I can't pay the mortgage unless there is enough $$ in that category. This will hold true to every budget item I have. If I only have $20 in the grocery budget, that's all I get to spend this week.

I don't bother to save my receipts because I use my debit card. I look online everyday for any transactions that occurred... and I put that in my spreadsheet as an expenditure.

I give myself $20 cash to spend per week and I don't save any receipts related to that 'spend" budget item. I just note $20 was spent (whether I did, or I didn't spend it) If I didn't spend it, I get to have if for the next week for a total of $40. :)

Perhaps, you can give your DH a budget to spend anyway he wishes without receipt, but in return, he needs to use the debit card for any purchaes pertaining to budget items. This way, you can look online daily for any purchases made and deduct that from your budget item so you'll know how much more you have left to spend in that category.

You have to run a household like a business. If there's nothing in the budget for the item, you don't get it.

But I think I'm running off the point of your post.

sorry if I did.

It's just that a budget is really needed to start with. My system is much like the envelope system, except I have virtual envelopes that exist in my spreadsheet rather than carrying cash around.


Hope this helps somewhat.
 
#9 ·
Meaning, if DH is a spend thrift - you have a huge problem. I am thinking that he's not. Perhaps just not as prudent with the finances as you will be. So, let's work with that.

You need a budget. Period. You can't get to where you want to go without a map. A budget is a map. You look at it frequently.
I have to save all my receipts because I have a home business. I weed thru them and pull out the ones related to my business and then go from there.

No, DH isn't truly a majorly spendthrift guy. But he needs more work on being frugal than me. I'm hoping that he'll improve even more, but like I said you can't change someone.

Thanks for advice on budgeting. Any and all frugal advice I'll take! I love reading how to better myself, so bring it on!
 
#8 · (Edited)
We plan to have a tighter 2013 besides a few events already planned. We are concentrating on saving very heavily right now for retirement since our goal is 60 and we will be 43 in the spring. We are saving 20% of our income currently in investments. We had been saving my pay from my part time job for the spending on the anniversary trip for a while. That totally proved to me we could live without it. Our goal after the trip in Feb is to save 100% of my check for investing and save my tips towards the summer concert event. Dh gets a small raise in Jan. Right into 401k. If my math is right we will be saving around 40%. It will all be worth it if dh can retire earlier. His job takes a toll on him.

~One of the big ones I need to get better control over is the grocery budget. We have done much better on eating out the last 2 months though. Sure we are not eating out but our grocery budget has went up some.

~ we need to keep doing well on not eating out very much

~ I need to get back into multi batch cooking and freezing.

~ dh will have a garden again this year

~ keep working on keeping the gas costs down

~ Once the youngest ds gets a job we will stop with the allowance. So far getting as job since the move had not panned out for him. So much competition for the jobs a kid his age can do.

~ I will be trying to talk dh into changing to a prepay cell plan once the contract is up in Feb. Our bill with his discount isn't bad ($68 for 2 phones) but less would make me happy.


~ dh recently shut the satellite radio off in his work truck. That will save $16 a month.

~ I need more clothes but have several totes stored in 1 and 2 sizes down. I will get into those or be naked!

~ I am taking over all pet feeding because the guys over feed them big time and it is starting to show!

~ I have a few big items in the extra garage I plan to sell once the weather is nice.
 
#10 ·
My plan for 2013 - track all my spending on my phone/app. I can easily track as I spend vs saving receipts til I get home and then sit at a computer to key them in.

Also plan to:
* re-work our garden to hopefully get another great yield for the season and fill the freezer again for winter w/hm tomato sauces and garden veggies
* batch cook/cook from scratch more to fill the freezer as well - nothing like shopping from home for a meal
* finish decluttering and setting up our home and be done with it

Tips that may work for you:
* de-clutter your home. Know what you have so if you see it on sale/at the thrift store, you can pick it up w/o guilt and not regret it should you forget to check at home and make that trip back to the store to pick up said item
* know your prices & frequency of which you go through items (grocery/HBA etc)
* don't buy things to add to your stockpile or *think* you might eat/use just b/c its on sale and/or you have a coupon
* don't browse the flyers unless you specifically need something - ie you've opened your last jar of PB - only NOW start scanning the flyers for PB on sale. The less you see of something else on sale that you don't need right now, the less you spend
 
#12 ·
I'm in the same boat. We only have a little over $3K left on DH's student loan and a little over $18K on the car loan so I'm aiming to cut that total amount in half this year (get rid of the student loan completely) and have to do so using DH's small salary and my very sporadic salary. Some things I know I'll be doing include:

~ Getting "gazelle intense" on selling items we don't need/use to make a little extra money
~ Taking more time each week to plan means/search store circulars/clip coupons and make sure we're getting the most food, HBA, etc. for our weekly budget.
~ Stockpile food/HBA when I can (maybe a few dollars every week toward the stockpile)
~ SEVERELY limit the amount of money we spend on eating out.
~ Spend more time cooking at home and batch cooking so I have meals for the freezer.
~ Make more gifts/cards so we're not spending money on these every month.
~ Setting up a small container garden (we live in an apartment) and taking any and all produce that is thrown my way!
~ Making a more concerted effort to stay on top of tracking our spending...as in DAILY.
~ Get and keep our checking account up to date.
~ Doing everything I can to lower our electricity (unplugging items, keeping lights off) and water usage (shorter showers, mainly)
~ Continue to add change to the piggy bank for use at the end of the year.
 
#13 ·
I use a monthly spreadsheet and view my banking account online to make sure what is on the spreadsheet and in the bank is correct. You might want to monitor yours and your husbands spending also online. If you can determine an amount that your husband spends each month maybe he would be willing to have an allowance. Maybe just some gentle nudging on your part and team effort could be a goal for 2013.

When I am out for a long period of time I usually will take a water bottle and some snacks with me. So much cheaper than buying something when out. When you get the urge to either eat out or buy something new give it some time and ask if it really is worth it. Many times I can talk myself out of it by saying I could make what I want at a restaurant for cheaper and that something new just becomes unimportant after some time.

Take advantage of making extras of a meal to freeze. Those frozen meals come in handy when you are in a hurry or just do not want to cook. Make a list of some easy quick meals you can make with what you usually have on hand. It definately comes in handy when you just want to order in.

Try to start making new habits little by little. First could be keeping track of a monthly budget. Second could be creating a stockpile with sales and coupons. The stockpile may seem odd for a little while but soon enough it will be full and well rounded. Come January personal care items are great item to stock up on. Third could be saving on utilities. Just keep on going this way and you will eventually end up with habits not just trying to be frugal.
 
#15 ·
I use a monthly spreadsheet and view my banking account online to make sure what is on the spreadsheet and in the bank is correct. You might want to monitor yours and your husbands spending also online. If you can determine an amount that your husband spends each month maybe he would be willing to have an allowance. Maybe just some gentle nudging on your part and team effort could be a goal for 2013.
This is where I fail the most. Do you just use Excel and look at your banking online?...and not use a program to help you? What are your tricks and tips?
 
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#14 ·
BTW: these posts are all great advice. Thank you all.

Cheers!
 
#17 ·
Will he surrender his credit & debit cards to you? You can keep him in check with cash only. If he needs more to buy more expensive item, it must be discussed.

Can you split checking accounts? If both working, pay in percentage of expenses based on income. Example: She earns $50k and he earns $25k; she pays 2/3 and he, 1/3.

If he will agree to either, you have a chance.

Try to shave money off toiletries, food and your own allowance to put towards emergency fund. You CANNOT discuss this. If you husband has taken money from your wallet or other signs of compulsive spender, you need to have the bank statements sent to your work or use email with memorized password. If you cover a couple emergencies and he shows interest in how you saved it up, share some changes you made to your own spending to save the money. Ask him to pick some of these strategies to give you a little extra money toward emergency fund when he pays his share of expenses.

Warning, some people will go out and set up more credit accounts to meet their needs and you find out later. If husband goes out a lot or comes home with lot more stuff than possible on allowance or his earnings, this is probably why. You can try running his credit on annualcreditreport.com to see if he has new account set up.

As a last ditch resort, failing to pay a light bill on time would get across the point of 'broke'.
 
#19 ·
I keep a list ongoing on my counter. I go shopping Thursday after work. Everyone is to write anything they need on the list. If you didn't write it then it waits til the following week. I refuse to constantly run to the grocery store - I HATE grocery shopping. This keeps me from running back & forth to the store. I buy 3 gal of milk a week. Make it last there will not be more in between shopping trips. Some weeks only 2 gal get drunk. We have a huge pantry & shelves in the cellar office. We mostly live off of those & the freezers.
 
#21 ·
Sorry QM first time I saw your question. I have a spreadsheet that I adapted from what came with my computers software which is MSN. It has the bill section on top, what I pay every month such as rent, utilities, doctors, prescriptions, etc. Then there is a section that contains the dollar amount each month for laundry, food, getting hair done, savings, and miscellaneous items. You can adjust the spreadsheet to fit your means. Say you pay for gas one time a year then divide the amount by 12 to set aside that amount each month to save so you have the money once it becomes available.

It takes awhile to get used to using the spreadsheet. But it keeps a running total of what I spend which is in the miscellaneous section. Once the spreadsheet hits a zero balance then it is a matter of not buying anything else until the next month. That is the way I look at it. It may also take some time to figure out a spreadsheet that will work for you. I can switch between windows to view my bank balance online and the spreadsheet to make sure everything adds up. I have very little different types of expenses which also makes it easier to manage. Once you get used to it then it is easy to see what progress you are making and also makes me more consious of what I spend my money on.

Hope that helps.

Men seem to be more visual so having a spreadsheet where you can show your husband all the expenses for one month may get him more interested in saving.
 
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