What frugal tricks will you loose

[druthb00]

....I started couponing and I love the results. It does take time and effort- but it keeps me sharp!

I find that there are alot of coupons for processed foods, but instead of buying those I use coupons for other things like:flour, oil, sugar, yeast, eggs,milk, yogurt, cheese, meat, frozen veggies and fruits and healthy drinks. Also, by using coupons on all household items like tp, cleaners, soap, health and beauty items and pet foods I end up saving enough to buy better fruits and vegies. I am able to buy cage free organic eggs now for less than regular eggs. It works for me.

I am with you on that one! Seeing how much money I save, I don't think I could ever not use them again. I use them a lot on dairy (shredded cheese for .53), chips for BF (Lays for $1), meat, cereals (usually .60-$1), condiments, dressings (Kraft at less than $1), canned/frozen veggies (many free this week), and even wine/liquor. I had a coupon with me today for a free Gillette body wash wyb a Gillette deoderant. Well CVS decided to clearance the deo's for 1.37each! You guys do the math LOL. I walked out of CVS today with $14 worth of product for only a couple of dollars. I will NEVER give up my coupons

[COLOR=Purple].......On paper, I guess we are doing "fairly well", but it only takes one poke of the Murph-meister to get the ball rolling. We've gone from "ok" to "dear gods, how will we keep our daughter fed and the lights on" to "where we are now".

I see other people who were even "better-off" than us, and just as financially and frugally minded as me... but, now broke, and it scares the heck out of me...

Completely agree. I'll never live beyond my means. I thank my mother for instilling that belief in me at a young age.

[danni]

I would stop babysitting and dh would give up his 2nd job.

Right now dh is working 1 fulltime job, 25+ hrs at a seasonal job and fills in casually for another job. He loves the work so he doesn't mind but it would be nice if he was at home more.

I homeschool all our kids, run a dayhome and decorate cakes. I would like to be able to just focus on my kids and do cakes in the evenings. I don't hink there is a lot of other stuff we'd change though.

[druthb00]

I guess I could answer the OP's original question in addition to my previous babble LOL.

I would definitely say that a bump in our income would allow me to buy more seafood, which would really only add $5-$10 a week to my grocery budget and I LOVE seafood. I am also holding off on buying the two dwarf citrus trees for my patio until we have a month with an "extra" check. There's 5 Friday's in April so I'll have them soon I would actually get a part-time job if we had a bit more money. It may seem counterintuitive but we would have to dip into our savings on the income BF brings home just to buy a second car right now. So until he gets a raise (hopefully after 90 days), we've decided that $300+ to register/plate another vehicle, plus gas/maintenance and INSURANCE would not be in our best interests. It'd have to be one heck of a part-time job to offset what we'd have to shell out in the first place. So, until then, I will continue to cook and clean and coupon

[Dancing Lotus]

I wouldn't mind a real cell phone, not a prepay that I'm always rushing people off of.

But much of what I do I do because it's not only frugal but it's green. I have gotten to a point in my life that all the waste and over consumption really bother me.

[Jerseygirl]

Now that we are at a point I would call comfortable (able to pay off the house and still have over a year of our gross combined still in the bank, well funded 401ks etc) I haven't given any habits up. I still do my best to do everything for as little as possible. I do more than I might have when we were struggling to get out of debt, I might buy an extra outfit this month (that I might have walked away from when I was in pay down mode), but I'm still gonna wait til it's onsale and I have a coupon!

[mauimagic]

Great guestions!!

Other than being able to travel more, I am really content with our lives the way they are. It seems as if we have all of our needs met, there may be a few more wants - but then, they will always be there !!!

[Siebrie]

There were a few weeks where I had to say no to anything that involved money, like travel or food... I used my creativity to get out alive and kicking and healthy and with a degree, but I really hope I'll never have to be that creative again.

[mnmarty03]

I would buy a gently used car for myself if we had more money. My car is rotting from underneath me, and probably won't last for too much longer. When it dies, I'm not sure what we will do for another car (we need two for our work situations). We're hoping we can make it last for a while still, but we'll see.

We'd also travel more. We have family in Germany, Spain, Nevada, Colorado & Minnesota. We also have friends in California, New York City, & by the end of summer in Florida. Additionally, we just love to travel and lately have been dying to go to the upper New England states - especially Maine.

BUT, we are paying down debt and will be for some time, so traveling is going by the way side except for a few weekend trips here and there.

We'd also love to rent a house, but simply don't think we'll be able to afford it this year. We like our apt now, but are both dying to have a yard to spend time in. We're hoping to find something nice but inexpensive once our lease is us, but have both agreed that we will only move out of our current place if we find the perfect deal. Paying down our debt is top on our priority list right now, because we are so tired of it tying up our money. We day dream of all the "extra" money we'd have if we only didn't have debt.

Sigh. But being debt free is still awhile away.

[krbshappy71]

Hm. I hope not to lose any of my tricks, and as far as spending I will probably go out for sushi more often. I wuv sushi. I miss it.

[pollypurebred39]

"I rarely buy any clothes for myself. If finances allowed I would love to have some new outfits, shoes and purses. I really scimp on myself. So I would love to be able to say "I need such and such" and be able to go right out and get it."

I agree with this completely. I'd also add to that sentiment that I look forward to the day that I'm no longer buying face cream, makeup, hair care on the clearance rack.

Other then that I'd say VACATIONS, boy do I miss our romantic get aways.

And

Good coffee! So tired of bluky coffee.

And

I'd increase our food budget so we have healthier food in the house.

I've always lived frugally, but medical debt and the economic down turn really changed our world.

[leighcat]

I would like to be able to quit my job and go to school full time and get an education towards a career that I would enjoy. I am not very happy at my job now. It pays the bills but it isn't something I want to do for very much longer.