View Full Version : March; march into savings a bit at a time
I saw someone started this last month so i will keep it going
had a former coworker over for coffee; she suggested we meet somewhere for lunch but because i have an allergy to saliscylates; preservatives, dyes etc. i suggested she come here; so figure i saved roughly 9.00 lunch plus drink
and 1.20 as my husband drove me to the y and back
so yesterday 10.20
off to a great start; feel free to join in
cross your fingers; someone has inquired about my sewing machine; i am not ready to donate it yet but have come down on the price; so we shall see
Boy, have I ever been lax in the area of calculating my savings lately. Shame on me! http://www.gifmix.net/smiley.php?image=bad-smilies/11.gif The person inside of me keeps reminding me to be more vigilant and aware, while my outer, just wants me to be free. Will try and get my act together so I can join in with you.
Groceries came in at $60. this week and I budget for $100. :)
But:
DH thinks there is a hole in my car's manifold that will undoubtedly cost a lot more than we can save from groceries this month:(
On the brighter side, keeping my great-on-gas 16-year-old Saturn chugging along is truly one of our best frugals when you look at the big picture, so I think I'll just focus on the big picture here - look, I got my smile back :)
I've also decided it would be really fun to track our grocery expenditures in excel, so I'm going to start doing that tonight.
we saved 12.82 at the grocery store; i sold my sewing machine so there in 40.00; i forgot that dh did not buy his usual treats over the weekend so thats around 11.00; and we watched a free video from the library; so not sure what it costs at the video store; 3.50 we will say;
thats great rosa on the groceries; we are always finding items to stalk up on; hope it wasn't too much for the manifold;
and mrs. m you can jump in whenever; i am now at 87.72! gotta tell dh as it inspires him to spend less
Good work Babr. We seem to be losing ground as the week progresses, Mon - car repairs about $430., Weds - DH got a dental filling at unknown cost but we have a $100 dental deductible. DH also ran to grocery store for a "couple of things" to the tune of $20. Oh well.
We have roughly double what I need for self-employment taxes in savings, so our ER fund is robust at the moment... Nearly 10K in 6 months (half of which will go to taxes). So is house savings, though our travel to see my DSS graduate from college will take a lot of it. However, that is what it's for! And so worth it.
Hopefully, we will keep socking away the same amout for taxes, and build the ER fund. Too damn bad savings interest is so puny. We have it in ING, and have made all of $15 on it. CD's are dreadful too.
This weekend, I am opening the door to how we will attack my extremely high student loan debt, which has been in forbearance for over a decade, while I helped DH raise his kids. They took financial priority; the consequence is huge interest, nearly half of the debt is interest, even with a consolidated rate of 3%.
There is a program for those in the non-profit sector which, after 120 payments that are income sensitive, will dismiss the rest of the debt... IF the program exists in 10 years! I calculated that I would end up paying the principal back and no interest in that 10 years. I'll shift my debt from Sallie Mae to the gov't program, and they will honor the low interest rate I have. I will be paying this off for years, sadly. Stupid choices many years ago, when I did not know better. Ah well... I am happy for the MA & consequent career improvement. The pay increases over my lifetime will probably make it just worthwhile, and the happiness factor in havng meaningful work is an enhancement.
And the retirement fund... Also slim. We need to divert significant funds there, too. My running joke has been that I have a younger husband as my retirement plan. He's rather sick of hearing that... However, given that I have about 5% of what I actually will need already stashed, am almost 57 and he'll be 43, it's the truth. Payback for putting my professional development on hold to raise his kids.
I am making an American Girl doll sleeping bag for my DD's birthday. I found some online for about $20. Mine is costing me about $3. I am using some fabric I got in a bundle at a thrift store. $17 saved.
flowerseverywhere
3-8-12, 8:12am
I have a beautiful new granddaughter and I wanted to make her some dresses. I helped MIL clean out her sewing room and she had quite a few big pieces of fabric that were much nicer than any fabric I would find today so I came home with a bag of it. Some heavy flannel and cotton/polyester blends that will be perfect. She even gave me a stack of sewing patterns, zippers, buttons, and interfacing.
I have one dress done and one I am working on that I'll have when I visit next week. I would have spent at least $30 in the fabric store just for these two with the patterns and notions and I have lots more projects I can make out of this bundle. One of the fabrics is light pink with little rosebuds on it, another is solid mint green and a third is gingham for an example of what was in there. The flannel is over four yards of pink- I'll save it until she is a little older.
I also was called to fill in at a jobsite I sometimes help out at so I will be making several hundred dollars unexpectedly. We are very close in our car fund to be able to purchase a small new car for cash. Our first Honda was 13 years old when my son took it to college, and he had it for several years after that, my current is 12 years old and still running well so it might be good for several more years. But when the time comes we can buy one for cash which in the long run is a huge money saver because you can really negotiate when you tell them you have cash for a car.
you guys are doing great! i comend you redfox for your hard work on your debts; it would be difficult for me; well daunting
we have a retirement party for mil to go to; i own only a few dresses; but found one in my closet to wear that mil gave to me! that will be perfect; so i figure it would probably cost me around 10.00 for dress and dusted off some old shoes from my employment outside the home; so didn't have to purchase shoes even though they may not be "right" for the outfit who is going to look at my feet; so there is another 6.00; so at 103.82 so far
sorry rosa about the costs; they are there for me but i cheat and don't offset them; but appreciate your honesty
Talked dh out of buying a digital camera for our next trip; he was looking in Walmart; i checked the prices; around 60.00
i personally do not care for cameras; you take pictures they look great then you file them away and they are never looked at again end of story; he is going to get a disposable one so i guess i will need to subtract that from the 60.00
Big news is dh sold all our shares in a fund we have had for a long time; we are slowly getting out of the stock market; as much as we can; dh still has his 401K equivelent but that is about 70% in index funds; long story; anyway the check will be over 8,000.00!
oh and i got our rebate on dh's beer 5.00
as i write this it makes me laugh; i need to get some sleep but first dinner; so i am a bit goofy
this month will be a jackpot worth of savings imo
can't believe it; received a ck. for a return i made; 9.94 i should have played the lotto but probably would have lost a 1.00 or 2.00
well more savings; we cancelled a life insurance policy this year; it was going to go up to 385.00; plus i was going to buy a lock for the y but because of my cognitive problems with dh's gentle help i couldn't figure out where i would put the key; i swim and there isn't a spot that isn't noticed; so that was 5.00; i made rice for dh and so he made his own homemade things that he used to buy over the weekend thats around 11.00; so we are up to 579.76! i dont want to blow my own horn or do this to brag; its about the small things that add up; but if it ends up being a blog oh well; i can be a loner; but would love to hear if anyone else is saving even if its just a bit''
take care
I posted this on another thread too, but between some monetary gifts from family members and my FIL, who is a carpenter, and his brilliantly frugal solutions to some of our problems we have saved $1800 so far in March on our home improvement projects with another $500 in savings later in the year on another project we will be doing.
FIL also stocked my pantry fridge and with the kinds of things he likes to eat, about $200 in various organic whole grains, vegetables, tuna, salmon, peanut butter, honey, cocoa powder and other simple foods. He left yesterday and left them for us. I will be putting them to good use! We had oatmeal with peanut butter and cocoa powder this morning for breakfast. Totally free! He also brought me 3 dozen eggs from his chickens. Organic, free range eggs aren't cheap, so that actually saved me some money too.
It wasn't until this morning that I realized how frugal I have been over the course of the past two weeks. I've made just two trips to town, and in-between those two trips, have bought nothing in the way of extra, in the way of food, things, etc, and, have been dipping into my stock of frozen meals/goods to subsidize goods-on-hand, so savings have been exponential this month!
Problem with savings like the ones I've been enjoying, is it's next to impossible to calculate any sort of figures related to, but just knowing household savings are up while spending is down, is good enough for me!
rosarugosa
3-12-12, 5:37pm
You folks are doing great, and I'm just here to make you feel better about how well you are doing. I was pleased that we came in under budget by $15. on groceries Sat. Well we spent $73 of that at Trader Joe's today! So if I'm marching anywhere this month, I'm marching backwards! !Splat!
good to hear from you guys; way to go Stella!!! and mrs M; i know what you mean; we eat at home every night; so how do you calculate that
and i have been hitting it high this month; but last month i tanked after two weeks;
rosa; i do cheat; i mean we are taking a trip of a life time to Hawaii; but we did cash in our shares of a fund; not because of the trip but it will take care of the trip
maybe i have to come clean and say i had to buy a hat for hawaii as i have trouble with the wind on my face and can't get sunburned; and it was 27.00 with the shipping taxes; god i hated to do that; i never spend money on myself; but my normal hat was not going to survive without being blown into the ocean as soon as we got off the plane and it won't work for hiking; kayaking etc.
plus we are going to have to get a waterproof bag for dh's drivers license etc.; when we go snorkeling; as they have said on several sites; do not leave anything in the car, even the trunk; so god only knows what that will come to;
oh and dh did buy new luggage at 60.00 so i better subtract all this; darn i hate spending money; except when it comes to travel; my passion; probably said that already but oh well; constant brain fog here;
we did save 15.00 by ordering our yogurt rather than buying off the shelf at the coop; dh said don't forget to add that; he is so cute; and so good to me; works hard; so he spends but not alot; and its a stressful job; but who isn't stressed these days; okay gotta stop before i get too much more off track
well i forgot that i went to get another bathing suit for the trip and i swim twice a week anyhow but they were built terrible; so saved 38.14
rosarugosa
3-14-12, 7:41pm
Babr: I don't think the Hawaii trip is cheating at all. Like JD Roth says, you're saving money on the things that aren't important to you so you can spend your money on what is really important to you. You can't take it with you, right? I think we can all make our own rules with this sort of thing. I don't feel guilty about the concert tickets we bought for April. But I can't pat myself on the back for saving $15 from the grocery budget on Sat when we then went out and spent $73 on extra, fun-type groceries on Monday, especially when many of them were chocolate groceries :) And there were cookies and hyacinths too. I don't actually feel guilty about any of this, but I certainly was not scoring any points on the frugality front. We eat nearly all of our meals at home too. We probably average once a month for eating out.
how do you know you actually saved?
i caution using the word "savings" for anything that is not describing an actual bank account with an actual balance of money that is in savings.
would you still have spent that money had it been for full price?
thanks Rosa; you right; thats why i work my butt off; doing everything i can to spend less money; and travel is where we put our bucks
hey dude you make a good point; though some people do put it in a jar etc.; i think its more the psychological uplift and the greater determination to keep ourselves low on the spending; thats what it is for me anyway
rosa i would have loved to have shared in your chocolaton; sounded wonderful
speaking of savings; i again dodged the bullet of purchasing used pair of jeans and a second swim suit; so that adds up to probably 25.00 total; i don't feel all that comfortable swimming with my old suit as my body has changed so much since entering menopause! yuck!
take care everyone
well i rode my bike to run errands so there is 3.00 plus 2.50 as dh wanted to get a drink for happy hour and i just stuck to water; and today is a no spend day!
rosarugosa
3-16-12, 7:09pm
Good work, Babr! I've been a good girl since Monday; I believe I had four no-spend days in a row. I brought my lunch each day, so that's about $10. that I didn't spend. I tend to stash away my unspent allowance for future fun things or discretionary spending.
early morning
3-17-12, 11:50am
RE: Heydude's point: For me, this has been more of a mental exercise. Most of our money is in one pot and I don't really budget ahead. I do track expenditures. So, in general, there are no physical dollars to put in savings; there is just more in the checking account. Perhaps if I started a separate track of those "savings", or money-not-spent, and moved it monthly to savings, it would help me stay on track. I should try that. I have a limited number of free transfers monthly, so that's been my excuse so far. It does lead to what is (for us at least) a healthy balance in the checking account - keeps me safe from overdrafts, lol. Still I can see that it isn't as an effective way to actually keep dollars from being spent, since there is always cash in the checking account. Hmm. This is what I love about this site - it makes me really look at things from different perspectives.
thanks rosa; and good for you as well
early morning love your signature; yes i love othersinfo/suggestions/ideas/perspectives; it really keeps my creative juices flowing
we really spent low at the food coop; wish i had the bill; normally we can easily do over 50.00; and dh and i have tried hard to use it up; well i keep yelling in a fun way; use it up!
we had two no spend days and sunday i wanted to take salsa lessons; it was a one evening thing; 10.00 each for the lesson and dancing afterwards; well the paper probably got it wrong, i don't know but the place was locked up; dh and i went down to a downtown watering hole to see if they opened later and spent 7.00 but thats still 12.00 to the positive!
did a return also for 5.00
should be counting these things up but as we all know gotta get my other things done!
keep saving everyone
went to the grocery store and came in under budget; probably close to 10.00; dh has really done a good job in not eating out all weekend which saves us another 12.00
baked bread for dh which is another 5.00; thats what it would cost to purchase the artisan bread i make which i got from a poster here; so thats 20.00 for the month as he would normally go there every week for bread
also no spend these last two days; gonna do a tally of this month as we are rounding the bend; i will be honest and factor in the stuff we bought
well yesterday we saved approximately 25.00 by not purchasing things we had considered buying and ordering special items at our coop alone saved us 15.00; dh and i discussed hey dudes question and dh admitted that he thought it wasn't real savings either but i countered that if we made the purchases we were considering for example that comes out of our stash of money; when the credit card bill comes in; you have to pay for the purchase; but since you decided not to purchase an item that money remains in the savings; so my answer is that it is true savings!; maybe after this month i won't keep posting this as who wants to read my blog in this venue; however i will continue to tally it at home; its become a great tool for me; to really think about a purchase; and decide, is this worth taking my money out of the savings?
early morning
3-25-12, 10:27am
ME! I want to read your "blog" - you're an inspiration!
rosarugosa
3-25-12, 6:19pm
Babr: Me too; I always like to read about your progress :)
Oh you guys! what a compliment! really means alot that someone would read what i have written; can't thank you enough
as i finish today which was no spend day i also forgot to add that we had planned on buying a lined mattress cover; king size on sale; for about i think 45.00; but we both completely forgot; i guess that tells you how much we needed it; oh and i haven't gotten my hair cut since last november; i would get it cut about every two months; actually shaved as i wear my hair very short; but dh got some of the professional clippers; which came to about 63.00; but we saved approximately 30.00 to the good by dh doing the cutting; actually i think he does a better job; he is very picky when he does things; so i will subtract 30.00 from my total this month; but its a great feeling that i can just have my hair cut at home; unfortunataly he won't let me do his; but he is probably right on that as i am not detail oriented; oooh long winded; better go or won't have any more blogger fans lol; can't thank you two enough for the compliment; makes my whole month!!!!
rosarugosa
3-26-12, 7:16pm
Babr: That is a triple score on the haircuts - money saved every 2 months, DH does a better job, and the convenience of not having to go to the hairdressers. A frugal strategy that gives you a recurring savings on a regular basis is the best kind of all!
early morning
3-27-12, 8:22am
I cut DH's hair with clippers and have, mostly, for at least 6 years. It does add up! I wish I could get DD to cut mine, she cuts and colors her own, but she is afraid to do so. I cut the front of it when it starts to get in my eyes, which lets me go longer between cuts. I used to have long straight hair which was much easier, but it was too heavy and gave me horrible headaches - now I just have to deal with the constant need-a-trim state, grr r.
yes cutting each others hair is such a great way to save; too bad e.m. that dd is afraid to do your hair; i encouraged dh by stating that i wasn't picky; who looks at the little errors; maybe encouraging her to experiment on mom would help her to branch out to others hair if they were interested; she might be able to pick up a bit of money
well yesterday i was looking to buy some fleece lined jeans; the pair i have i just love; have had them for years and thought i might be able to pick some up for a deal since its spring; but they were too pricey; the cheapest ones being on ebay for around 16.00 which i think were the cheap walmart variety; so there is 16.00; dh did purchase a disposable camera for our hawaii trip which was probably around 7.00 so will subtract that from my 16.00. so i am 8.00 to the positive; oh but wait dh was looking at purchasing a decent pair of binoculars for our trip as we will be doing hiking and wanted to see the flora and fauna as well as all the cool birds; but he said they started at 100.00; so he walked away; and so (love my so's lol) thats 108.00! this will be a record month and i will keep this going on my own starting next month; as i said it has really gotten me even more focused on how some forethought, imagination, ingenuity adds up to more savings
early morning
3-28-12, 5:26pm
Well, I'm excited - we cleared the cans and scrap aluminum out of the barn and sold it for $95! We bought ice cream for $10 and I gave DH 10 for mad money, which leaves us with $75 for savings. Yay!
rosarugosa
3-29-12, 4:45am
Nice work early, you not only gained $$, but I'll bet your barn seems a lot bigger too.
yeah way to go early!
I dodged yet another spending bullet by talking dh out of getting my bike realigned? my handlebars are off a bit but i am going to wait; its not a problem now so i probably saved 25.00 minus 1.50 for a soda; oh wait i forgot wandered into an ice cream place; they wanted 3.75 for 3 scoops of ice cream; figured i can buy a carton for alot less at the store; so thats 27.25! gotta add this all up; am excited to tell dh; as i hope he gets the waiting game as i have been doing
OMG i totaled everything and as we round the bend we are 810.85 to the positive!!!!! A big pat on dh and my back for our hard work; makes me feel so good; i mean imagine; we could have spent all that money bit by bit and not even think about it!
oh rode my bike today so didn't need the bus; so thats another 1.20 so make that 812.05!
That's great babr!
I found a $20 bill when I was cleaning out my mail sorter today.
Dad gave me his $28 Costco gift certificate to put towards Cheyenne and Travis' birthday party food. I will also be saving money by having a combined party for them. Really only Cheyenne (age 8) cares. Travis (age 1) is completely and totally oblivious that it is his birthday. He'll happily eat the cake with the pink flowers and not care.
wow stella thats great! when i worked at an amusement park basically sweeping and cleaning up the "upchuck" as my mom used to say; we would also be looking for the money people left on the ground; everyone did it and it wasn't a whole lot; plus if you found the money say at a food stall and there was a ton of people who would you ask whether they had lost this dollar bill; i still look on the ground for coins; dh laughs at me; hey even pennies count right?
and good news about the money towards your kids bday party; sounds great; i love sweets; i want to be the one year old who gets a whole cake for themselves; i think i will do that on my next bday
today was a no spend day; and tommorow we got free tickets to go to the local university baseball game; we have been wanting to see them play but didn't want to pay a fee; anyway that is another 10.00 to the savings pot;so 822.05:cool:
just so you know i don't do this to brag; just makes me feel good; thanks for putting up with my comments and the compliments
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