Money Management Suggestions

[Lostfiniel]

My husband and I are trying to figure out ways to save money right now. We're both young so our careers aren't really at a point where we can live indepenently without debt. But, luckily, we've managed to stop adding to our current debt and still have food on the table.

We've been really taking stock of things, seeing where we can cut costs. Here are a few of the things we've already done:

- Completely got rid of cable TV. Between Hulu and Netflix, we're set
- Cooking as many meals as possible at home. Saving the left-over dinners for lunch too.
- Buy generic brands and sale items at the store. Shopping for meat in the quick-sale areas and freezing those for future meals.
- Stopped using our credit cards and we're making as much as we can afford each month to paying those off.
- We're moving in about a month into an apartment closer to my husband's work. It will save money on his gas (although not unless I get a new job in the area.)
- We're renting out one of the two beds in the new place to one of my husband's friends/co-worker. (and saving a whopping 400.00 a month just in rent.)
- Taking our laundry over to my parent's when we can.

There are a few things we can't really cut back on. Those being our phones and high speed internet. My husband works in IT with a rotating on-call job. Once every six weeks, he needs to be able to take support calls from home so the high speed really needs to stay.

If anyone else has any advice or tips, I'd love to hear it! We're trying to get back to zero debt and the faster the better.

Does anyone else

[Aethian]

Zero based budget. Net income at the top and all the bills going down the list till you hit 0. Hopefully in there you can save some aside for a emergency fund and have some 'you' money which your partner can't say how it gets spent.

[Lostfiniel]

Zero based budget. Net income at the top and all the bills going down the list till you hit 0. Hopefully in there you can save some aside for a emergency fund and have some 'you' money which your partner can't say how it gets spent.

Haha, that's not much of an issue. My husband loves spoiling me so if there is anything I'd really like and we can reasonably afford, we'll go for it. But, the desire to get stuff or do things goes down a lot for me as I'd also really like to see us out of debt. Especially since we want to save up for a house. That will be the best present.

After bills, credit card payments, gas, rent and food money, we are usually pretty close to 0.00 as it is. Hopefully with the rent costs going down, it will allow us to put more to savings and debt than before. We do already put into our 401k so long-term savings are fine.

[phantasy]

I would say start working on paying off the credit cards. Afterwards, cut them up into little bitty pieces and throw them out of your car window while driving over a bridge. Remember, if you don't have the physical money in your hand, then you can't afford what you've got your eye on.

You've done a great job so far with cutting back on your budget. . Some that I would add are to take short showers, dont kee the water on when you do dishes (wash dish, turn water on to rinse, turn water off and put dish in drainer, start on next dish). Also, for when you can't get to your parents house to do laundry, try to do it by hand.

Cereal. Lots and lots of cereal.

Keep some money on the side that no one but you knows about. Thats your emergency failed relationship fund. Then you can use it toward something else when your relationship doesn't fail! I have my own fund, kept in my lingerie drawer. (no, my husband never looks in there. Isn't that sad?)

Walking/public transportation/car pooling. I really don't have any room to speak here, since I live in Peru, home to the cheapest public transportation, but walking can seriously cut your gas bill.

Finally, when at the store wondering if you should buy something, ak yourself 2do I really need it" and urposefully say "no". Dont give yourself reasons to buy it. Chances are, you really don't need it.

[r2cagle]

Whoever is better at sticking to a list, that's who needs to do the shopping.

My husband is better at not buying unnecessary things than I am, so I send him to the store by himself with a list of what we absolutely need to make it for the next week or two. The downside is that I've got to be really specific on size, brands, etc., otherwise he won't buy it and I still have to go. Still, I hate shopping, so it's win-win for me most of the time.

[trailerparkmedic]

I adore mint.com. I think you need online banking to use it and you need to trust it enough to put your banking sign in info into it. It breaks down all your spending and puts it into categories. It also helps you set up a budget and will notify you if you go over budget in different categories. I love it--I am not organized enough to keep track of receipts and I was shocked to see where all my money was going.

Even if you don't use mint, try keeping all of your receipts for a month or even a few weeks to see just where your money is going. If I don't watch myself very carefully, I will spend more than I think at Starbucks or shopping online.

Also, for grocery shopping, I've found that making a menu then making a list off of that menu helps me from buying items I don't really need and helps keep the cost down. Try some meatless meals, especially with beans.

[Magpie]

If you can get a little bit of extra money, buy in bulk. 8-kilo bag of beans? $16. 500g bag of beans? $2. Yes, it means that you need to buy a month's worth of beans at once (and presumably you're varying what kind of beans you eat), but it really adds up. Just remember that you're not saving money unless you can actually eat everything you buy.

[draggar]

I was going to recommend getting a large freezer and filling it up with meats and other frrozen items from wholesale clubs (Sam's, etc..). You're in so Cal so I don't know how reliable the power is there, it may not be worth it.

Coupons, coupons, coupons. There are tons of websites out there and even many manufacturer sites that offer coupons (right now my local grocerey store has an offer - get a 2 pack of high efficency bulbs and get $1 off that and a reuseable bag for free). The bulbs are also on sale so it's a great deal. You can even go to a site like slickdeals.net and find out deals online and at local stores.

Buy non-perishables in bulk, look for deals (buy one, get one free, etc..). Don't become a hoarder but know what to buy and when.

Amazon.com has SOME good prices on food. Every 3-4 months I'll buy several boxes of Bowl Appetites for about $18 a box ($1.50 a "meal"). Yeah, they're high on salt but I drink a lot of water so it keeps my salt lower.

Brita filter is much cheaper than bottled.

Shop around for new car insurance - they're all very competitive with each other, who knows, you might save some $$$.

High efficency light bulbs (yes, again) can help save a few bucks off your electirc bill.

Keep the AC filter clean. Its recommended once a month, we do ours every 2 weeks.

[Mishi]

- Budget carefully, and try to pay for as much as possible in cash (unless its a lot cheaper online). Anything left over can go into the debts or into an emergency fund.

- Ditch the credit cards ASAP! When/if you can, get a pre-paid credit card for online stuff, that way you only spend money you actually have.

- Shop around if you can, but try to stay local in order to save money on transport.

[taxguykarl]

Definitely concentrate on paying off the debt. Keep track of work expenses like the high-speed and phone, specifically how much is paid for both and how much is for work. Sell off or donate (always get a tax receipt) what you don't need.
Pay as many bills electronically as you can. Bundle your car and renter's insurance.

A few sites:

For low-cost menu planning.

For general frugal living.

For perscription meds.

It's good that you're both on the same page.

[Andara Bledin]

Find your local farmer's market. I've yet to visit one that doesn't have much lower prices on foodstuffs than the local cheap-y store.

Write down everything you buy. Everything. This will not only make you more aware of where the money goes, but it can be annoying enough that you may find yourself not buying non-essentials just to avoid having to log it.

^-.-^

[Aethian]

Pay as many bills electronically as you can.

Why?

[AccountingDrone]

Whoever is better at sticking to a list, that's who needs to do the shopping.

My husband is better at not buying unnecessary things than I am, so I send him to the store by himself with a list of what we absolutely need to make it for the next week or two. The downside is that I've got to be really specific on size, brands, etc., otherwise he won't buy it and I still have to go. Still, I hate shopping, so it's win-win for me most of the time.

I found the best way to do this was with the kid of a friend who is minimally handicapped - we would make the shopping list, and went online and found little pictures of the labels/packaging for the exact product on the list. The kid matches up the picture and the specific product info with the item in the store. Works like a charm! The list when printed out is formatted in a grid and they use a small golf pencil to check off each item as they get it. When they get home, the stuff goes in the cupboards to match the picture on the inside of the cupboard door, and the fresh veggies and fruits and other cold stuff goes into the fridge.

[Magpie]

People are mentioning brands. Don't buy brand name unless your local store brand has an issue with that specific product. (I don't, for example, buy No Name tomato paste, but I will buy President's Choice, and I'll buy No Name canned beans, for when I'm splurging on canned).

And Hillbillyhousewife really doesn't offer a lot of frugal tips anymore. The new owner does a lot of things like eating meat regularly, using disposables, brand-name cleaners and not managing leftovers.

[Kittish]

One possibly oddball tip- always eat SOMETHING right before you go to the grocery store, even if it's just a quick sandwich. Don't go grocery shopping if you're hungry!

Make a list, and stick to it! My list always includes a small budget for 'snacks and misc.' That way I have some built in leeway for one or two small impulse/luxury buys. I don't always use that built in leeway, but having it there means I don't go nuts on splurging and then beat myself up over it later.

Have a calculator with you when grocery shopping (if you have a cell phone, it's probably got one built in) and do price per unit comparisons on different size packages of items. You'll be surprised, fairly often the larger size package is more expensive per ounce or pound than a smaller one.

If grocery stores in your area offer shopper's cards, get them! They don't cost anything other than a few moments to fill out the form that comes with them. And visit those stores once a week or so in person to see what unadvertised specials they have. Several stores in my area have weekly specials ONLY for people who have their shopper's card. If they have a really great deal on an item you KNOW you're going to need, get it then and mark it off your list. One of the stores in my area often has tremendous deals on meats (package of assorted thick cut pork chops for $.98/pound with a shopper's card! Only hitch was, they were in 10 pound packages. Not a problem for me, though.).

Replace ALL the lightbulbs in your home with CFLs. It can be a fair bit of cash outlay, but you'll save that much or more very quickly with electric savings, and you probably won't have to replace any of those bulbs for years. Last apartment I was in, I replaced all the bulbs when I moved in, and when I moved out almost 4 years later I'd never had to change one. I'd kept the incandescants that were originally in the place, and put those back in when I moved and I'm still using the same CFLs in this new place over a year later. Only problem with CFLs is disposing of them when they do eventually burn out, you can't just throw them in the trash. Your local recycling center might be able to tell you what to do with them.

If you have a yard, or even some patio space that gets good sun, you might try growing some of your own herbs and veggies. Choose items that you'll actually eat and ones that will do well in your location and conditions. For some herbs, all you really need is a nice sunny window sill.

Watch your bill payments and transactions CAREFULLY with your bank! Especially if you ever have to ride close to the line with your checking account balance. Bank policies are almost always designed to be able to hit you with the most fees they possibly can (even if you DO have 'overdraft protection'), but they'll protest that their set up is to protect you. Bull. Your bank is probably charging you a monthly fee if you have any sort of automatic bill pay set up through them. You can cancel that and set up automatic payments with the different companies you have regular bills with for no additional fees in most cases.

Check with companies you have services with. I've noticed lately that several of them are starting to charge fees to send you a paper statement each month. If it's feasible, switch over to electronic statements with companies that do this. If you get internet and phone service through the same company, call them up and find out what package deals they have available and see if they can set you up with one of those.