My own "austerity measures" and goals

**ZSB3** · 11-16-2011, 11:20 PM

A few weeks ago, I was given the heads up that I would be getting getting a layoff notice in the mail. Great. It seems the county I work for is having budget issues. So, unless a different proposal is accepted, there will not be room in next year's budget for my position.

Everything is in limbo for now, but I decided to take steps to cut corners just in case. I am also going to include some goals that I've been working on before any of this ever hit the fan.

Austerity Measures: I finally cancelled my old car insurance that I'd been putting off. Our vehicle & homeowner's insurance are all wrapped into one policy. Got a refund from the old company (which was fantastic and I'd been with them for years) and put that into the shared "No-Touch Bill Pay/Emergency Only" account.

My next measure is to cancel the gym membership. It's relatively cheap, as far as gyms go, but we never end up going and it's going to waste. I can find better (and free/low cost) ways to work out.

Goals: A major goal is to get rid of my off-site storage unit. It's $95/month and I've had stuff (mine and other family members) in there for years (I guess maybe since 2004 or 2005). I've been trying more lately to work on throwing out all the actual trash/junk and taking the re-usable stuff to Goodwill. I think I am going to try and put some of the larger things on the local Craigslist ads to see if I can make just a little bit of money from them.

One goal I've had for a while is to use up all the random bath/beauty/etc. products I have and then to make my own (I've seen some fantastic ideas here and on other sites). Most of the products I currently have were well-meant gifts, so I would feel bad about just tossing them out. I've managed to give some away (unopened) to people who like that scent/product, but I'm still left with quite a bit. I don't wear make-up for work so it tends to stick around a while.
I realize there are concerns about the expiration dates and what-not on cosmetics, but unless the color or texture is off, or it smells like it's gone bad, I'm going to keep them around until they're all used up. I've been trying to make it a point to wear at least a bit of make-up on my days off, unless it's a million degrees and I'm doing yard work or doing *major* house-cleaning (like dusting the ceiling fans--yikes). It's nice to look a little more polished--even if I'm just running errands or whatever.

One more goal (since this is getting long) is to de-clutter and re-use/re-purpose things in the house. My husband and I share prepping for emergencies as a value, but I *know* there are better ways to store and utilize the things we have and ways to reduce the amount of things and the room they take up.

I'm sure there will be more added to this already lengthy list, and hopefully some progress updates as well. Suggestions and or comments are always welcome--thanks.

**ladytoysdream** · 11-17-2011, 06:29 AM

Hi and welcome.

Goals: A major goal is to get rid of my off-site storage unit. It's $95/month and I've had stuff (mine and other family members) in there for years (I guess maybe since 2004 or 2005). I've been trying more lately to work on throwing out all the actual trash/junk and taking the re-usable stuff to Goodwill. I think I am going to try and put some of the larger things on the local Craigslist ads to see if I can make just a little bit of money from them.

If I was you, I would try to sell quite a bit of it on craigslist. And also have several garage sales. No sense giving away what you been paying storage fees on. Then the tail end leftovers, you can donate. Set things up to get ready for a garage sale....put some ads on craigslist...and then when people come for the CL ad item, you can mention you have other things getting ready for a garage sale, and maybe make a few more $$. Price a wee high, and then if the buyer wants to offer less, you still will make decent money. A lot more people are looking for bargains because of the rough economy.

**peanut** · 11-17-2011, 11:06 AM

Sorry to hear the news. You are right to cancel the gym membership. DH and I went through this because our winters are very cold and no one seems to own a shovel to shovel their sidewalks, and the City plows the street in front of the house about twice a year. Consequently everything is icy ruts and walking is treacherous.

We decided to not have a gym membership, but instead go to the malls for serious mall walking, and to have workout routines at home. I have a 10 minute circuit I do in the house instead, that includes going up and down stairs about 20 times. Very good for me. Our basement family room doubles as a weight room/exercise room.

**Debbie-cat** · 11-17-2011, 12:24 PM

Welcome to FV! I think you have a good plan in place and I agree with the OP in trying to sell as much as possible on craigslist. Every dollar is a dollar that can go towards bills! Good luck and sorry to hear about the possible layoff.

**ZSB3** · 11-17-2011, 10:04 PM

Thanks for the advice & encouragement. As far as exercise goes, I got a copy of the P90x system and that works for me. The video game room upstairs nicely doubles as a workout space.

**ZSB3** · 11-21-2011, 10:00 PM

I had the day off today so I finally decided to start on a project I'd been wanting to do for a while now.

It's a hula hoop rug! I got the directions from a site, but it won't let me post the URL here until I have made 15 or more posts. I guess PM me if you want to know the site URL. :-/

I decided it was finally time to do a purge of the t-shirt drawer, but some of those shirts have a lot of memories attached to them. This easy project gave me a way to re-purpose my favorite tees and free up some space. Now those shirts have a new function AND the rug can simply be tossed in the wash if it gets grimy. Alas, I am unable to post photos, as I have not made 15 posts yet, but I guess I will do so when I have reached my quota.

Anyway, I have pretty much used all the "free" and ratty/old tees I have on hand, but if this rug turns out well, I think I could head to the thrift store to get more and make these as inexpensive gifts for people. There are also directions for how to make a woven basket out of the t-shirt sleeves on that same site. Super-easy and fun project that cleared out some shirts that were just taking up space.