Sunday, Budget cut backs

    I can't even began to explain the number of books I have read on getting out of debt, or the number of hours I have spent making up budgets.  I love to read lists about how to cut expenses, but sadly they never really helped me.  I remember one of the number one things was cut cable.  We never had cable.  Or how about cut back on drinking and smoking.  We don't do either.  Or the $5.00 coffee habit or stopping once a day at Starbucks.  Don't drink coffee.

     It was discouraging when you look at your budget and you cannot cut anywhere but groceries. If we even had money for groceries.   What I was able to find out after many years of saying I can't to almost every  suggestion, was, but Kim have you tried to do that?

One thing that is often suggested was to call services and see if you could get a reduction in rates.  I was always so busy and so scatter brained I did not even know what my rate was.  But I decided to be diligent and a few years ago, I called my car insurance, my internet, my cell phone, and a credit card and low an behold, I was able to drop my interest rate by 6 points.  I was able to save over $127.00 a month yes a month on car insurance.  I saved $25.00 on internet and over $50.00 on my cell phones.  That was over $200.00 a month with just phone calls.

I then decided to see if I could lower my utilities.  I became diligent about turning off lights.  I changed any light bulb I could to LED.  We did not put up outdoor Christmas lights. We wore sweaters and used blankets when we got chilly.  I started cooking in batches, to fill the oven when I used it.  I kept bottles of water in the freezer to keep it filled with ice. Made sure my dishwasher was full and I did full loads of laundry.  I dried clothes on lines when possible.  When I totaled our utilities for the year for my home business, our totals were down over $500.00.  Just by doing a few things to make sure we were not wasting.

Water is expensive here.  I have many flower boxes and learned how to make my own soil that would prolong the moisture so I did not have to water as often.  I learned which plants would grow well without a lot of water.  I watered at night to keep evaporation at a minimum.  I also used extra water from the house in my boxes.  Glasses of ice drinks that were melting would be thrown in a box.  The water picture at meal times would be thrown in a box.  We had a good drain system off the roof and I would take the wheel barrow with water and dump the whole thing into the garden.  We just learned to be more efficient.

You can't cut fixed expense like car payments, but you can drive less.  You can use the gas buddy app to find out where gas is the least expensive in your area. You can frequent the stores that have gas apps and use those points for cents off a gallon. I would be doing this, but I still save the most money by driving 3 miles out to the reservation.

Quit shopping the sale rack or the sale bins.  I know it is a good buy but is it on your list?  I was horrible about this.  If there was a sale, I would buy and justify that I was saving money.  So that can of coconut milk was 1/2 off.  Do you use it?  If it is  in your menu plan by all means but if not skip it.

Have a list of regular meals you like to eat and make sure they use the reagular loss leaders from grocery stores.  Burger, pasta, cheese, eggs, tomato sauce. Always check the mark down meat bin if you have one.  Meat is the most expensive part of your budget.

All I know is that it was a combination of really trying to save and not spend in all areas of my life that got us to a good financial place.

We just got home from the 5 hour round missionary trip, where we stopped and topped off our gas tank on the reservation saving .29 a gallon.  We came home hungry and hubs asked if I wanted to stop and get something, but I knew I had corn tortillas in the fridge.  I had salsa, sour cream, lettuce, cheese, onions, and ground beef I could defrost in about 10 minutes and then make up some taco meat.  I also added a can of black beans to stretch the meat, so we can have this for another meal.  I fried the corn tortillas and we each had three tacos.  This took 20 minutes.

You can always find a way to say no and not buy.  Do you need the item?  I mean right now? If you do not don't buy it.  Even if it is a good deal.  I have to say the only thing I will break this rule on is meat.  But I learned not to do it for anything else.  Quit looking at the sale aisles.  You don't need the stuff.

Now no one loves to find a bargain better than me, but I was bargaining myself into debt.

Have you ever been guilty of buying things on sale you don't need or I should say can't afford just because they are on sale and you just had to buy something?  Have you ever just gone out shopping for something to do because you were bored, or lonely, or nervous, or angry? I know I have, it was a very hard habit to break.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim