That beauty you see is my new car. It’s great. It’s fuel efficient. I can trust it not to breakdown in the middle of the road (at least for a couple years). And it’s just plain pretty.
While purchasing the car was quite the hassle, it was my first morning as a new car owner in which I experienced a panic attack. Not just anxiety but a real panic attack. I’m a person that likes financial security (who doesn’t?). My advantage is that I’ve always had financial security.
With a new car loan and increased insurance payments my paycheck is being stretched. Combine that with increased gas and food prices and I am now for the first time in my life practically living paycheck to paycheck. To think that I laughed at Upper Middle Class America when they complained about the impact of the poor economy. The good news is that if I change my spending habits I can start saving some of my paycheck again.
In order to force myself into a budget I am officially declaring here that starting August 4th I will be attempting to curb my spending and stick to a budget for 3 months
Here are some ideas I have already have for curbing my spending:
- Suspend Netflix - Netflix allows you to suspend your subscription for 3 months at a time. It seems like a movie only comes on Netflix that I really want to see every couple of months. By waiting 3 months I’m not wasting money on movies I have no real interest in seeing but watch out of obligation. If in 3 months there is nothing I want to see I will go ahead and cancel.
- Stop Shopping at the Upscale Grocery Store - My heart belongs to Wegmans, along with my pocketbook. I will use ALDI for what I can and Walmart for the rest of my groceries. The majority of my grocerty list is produce which will be purchased from the farmer’s markets in the area.
- Stop Driving Home for Lunch – When I got my second job I started driving home for lunch everyday to ease the strain on his puppy bladder. He’s no longer a puppy, yet I still drive home everyday. It’s only a 3 mile drive one way but that adds up to 30 extra miles each week that I waste. I’ll start by cutting back to only 3 days a week of driving home.
July 16, 2008 at 5:38 pm |
That’s pretty shinny! We just bought a second car so that I could go to work and yeah, it has been an adjustment.
July 16, 2008 at 6:48 pm |
Okay, some other ideas:
1. You could shop at Wegemans but just clip more coupons. Also, think
2. Suspending Netflix is good but you have to have a life and enjoy a few things. Is this the most bang for your buck in terms of low-impact and high financial reward?
3. I like the no-driving-home-for-lunch plan except that I spent less money driving home and eating lunch than I did when I packed a lunch, decided not to eat it, and went out for lunch with my co-workers.
You’ve already stopped cutting your hair so that’s a good savings, too.
July 16, 2008 at 7:23 pm |
Crap, I can’t type with a cat on my lap. Also meant to write…
1. You could shop at Wegemans but just clip more coupons. Also, I think shopping at Wal-Mart might negate any environmental karma from buying the Fit.
July 16, 2008 at 11:04 pm |
I’ve tried to cut back my spending by shopping at Aldi too. It really does save a lot of money but there are still items I can’t or won’t buy from them. It is a very cute car, I like the color.
July 17, 2008 at 6:32 am |
Lance – It certainly ended up being more money than I thought. Like the random $80 charge from the insurance company to “add a new vehicle”
Laurie – I don’t have access to coupons. Netflix is okay because almost every movie can be downloaded illegally these days. Eating at work would be good for my diet since there’s no limitless icecream there. Oh and my hair still needs trim and the ghastly highlighting which costs big bucks.
HR Minion – I won’t eat their cereal. I once found a fist sized ball of sugar with little cereal bits mixed in one of the boxes. Otherwise I’m pretty open to milk, eggs, produce, etc.
July 17, 2008 at 7:03 am |
My library has relatively current movies. It costs nothing to check them out. (My former library charged $2/movie, which was more than the Blockbuster, so like, what was the point?)
Look for the Vietnamese grocery store near you. Their produce will be just as good as everywhere else (although not as glossy and pretty as what you’d find at Whole Foods) and a lot cheaper. A lot. (Aldi’s produce stinks.)
What do you mean no coupons? You don’t get the Sunday paper?
July 17, 2008 at 6:45 pm |
Class – I don’t get the paper. Is that weird?
July 18, 2008 at 3:57 am |
It is great that you are figuring out ways to live on a budget, but there are ways around some of the choices your making. From someone who has always lived on a budget and still shops at Wegmans.
- Shop in season and do use the farmers market when it is there. Splurge only when you deserve it (truly, truly deserve it)
- Only buy things on sale unless it is an absolute necessity. Staples like pasta, milk, rice and eggs are important but even these can be cut back on.
- What is your Netflix plan? I know you can have 1 movie at a time for about $5 a month and you can get a new one in a few days if you don’t like it.
- Don’t go out to eat more then a few times a month. Meaning bring lunch and go home only if you have to and kindly say no to the lunches out.
- Find free ways to entertain yourself: hiking, reading a book from the library, riding a bike or just surfing the internet that you have (not free but already available).
Okay, well those are some ideas from someone that has only watched what it means to not live paycheck to paycheck. Enjoy your new car and good luck on the spending.
July 18, 2008 at 5:06 pm |
OMG, the internets is a great place for coupons.
July 18, 2008 at 5:51 pm |
Laurie – I used to be all into that. Now I’m too lazy to hook my computer up to a printer. I think I lost the cd with the printer…
July 19, 2008 at 4:38 pm |
Melanie – Splurging is definitely my biggest issue. I need to learn to live simply.
July 24, 2008 at 7:56 pm |
Congrats on the new car!
$80 to add it to your insurance? I don’t think so. Next time something like that you may want to consider asking to speak with a manager. Then tell the manager how long you have been a customer and that you are taking your business elsewhere unless they waive the fee. You can do it nicely and it works (for me at least). I’ve had late fees waived (b/c I’m never late, but was once on a credit card), yearly fees, got interest rates ratcheted down, you name it. I’m always polite about it and it works 90% of the time. I’m not a cheapskate, but I expect good customer service and for my loyalty to be rewarded. If it doesn’t happen, I go elsewhere.