MsMamaBear
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
First and foremost, we live simply:
1) no cable - we do Netflix and Hulu and save cable for vacations (it's a treat then)
2) I drive an older vehicle with 175k miles on it; it's owned free and clear. My next vehicle will be purchased with cash as well. No loan means I'm not paying interest to someone else and I don't need to allocate principle out of my monthly budget.
3) no credit cards (except a Kohl's with a $300 limit which I rarely use and pay off in cash immediately). While it's true that credit cards can be helpful in some situations and also can help to earn rewards, discounts, etc.....I've found forgoing all of that works best for me. It's so easy to get caught up in the mindset of "saving" money to the point that you're spending money buying things you don't need just to earn a point or because you think you're getting a good deal. No thanks.
4) along those same lines, I don't participate in all the rewards programs out there. I know me and if it encourages me to spend I'd rather not risk it. Figure I save more by NOT using it.
5) no non-mortgage debt - if I don't have the cash, I don't need it.
6) I shop Goodwill year round, about twice weekly on my lunch hour. Mostly clothes, on occasion shoes and other household goods. I often walk out empty handed but eh, it's a good way to kill some time, clear my head, and it's only a mile from work so we're not talking a lot of gas.
7) hang laundry in the summer to cut down on the electric bill.
8) own a dumb-phone: Tracfone for talk/text (though I hate texting), for which I pay little over $200 every 9-12 months to purchase 4500 minutes. Good enough.
9) With each paycheck the FIRST thing I do is make a transfer to savings. First paycheck is small because I have a house payment, second paycheck is usually much more. I also make an additional transfer to savings for the amount of money with I have left over in my checking when the next paycheck comes in. It adds up!
10) When I do spend, I go for quality. A previous poster mentioned shoes -- so true! If you buy everything at Walmart you can't expect it to last. Sometimes you have to hit the real shoe stores or department stores at the mall.
11) I like to hit the local Indian casino a time or two each month. Eh, it's my one "thing." I budget for it. If I spend it all there, then the piggy bank goes hungry. But if I come home with anything, either break even or money ahead, then it all goes in the piggy bank for Disney. Spare change also goes in there.
Some of the things I do to save on the vacation itself:
1) We fly out of an airport 2+ hours away -- better fares.
2) We fly Southwest -- no baggage fees! Even considering baggage fees I've not yet found an airline that can offer us a better fare.
3) I stalk Southwest daily. On our first ever FL vacation in 2013, I paid $182/person RT (or $910 for all 5 of us) for a direct flight MKE-MCO. For our second trip I ended up paying about $230/person but that was because I was stuck coordinating dates with a family member. I had booked Dec 2015 for $198/person but unfortunately had to cancel the same day for medical reasons. Still -- it's assurance that if I keep watching prices, when I am ready to book again I should be able to get it for around $200 RT.
4) I stalk Alamo daily and rebook whenever I see a lower rate. I use codes found on Mousesavers and also signed up on the Alamo website (it's free).
5) We don't stay onsite. It's a treat in itself that me and the kids GET to go to Florida. We prefer an offsite condo for the atmosphere as much as the savings.
6) We don't do all parks because that just isn't budget-friendly. On our first trip, it was SeaWorld, Disney, and Gatorland only (it was an 11 night trip). On our second trip, it was SeaWorld, Universal, and Legoland only. Disney would have been too much to add and we had plenty of fun without it.
7) We have one area we like to splurge on and that's food. It's one area which we all enjoy as we don't eat out that much at home (other than biweekly Little Caesar's because Mom is too tired to cook). But....eating out on vacation every day can get to a person, so we plan a few meals at the condo and also usually do a quick breakfast there.
I haven't gotten rid of my Directv yet, but I'm close. I bought a Firestick and we love it. Soon I'll be done with a $70 bill for a bunch of channels when we only watch about 10. Ugh!
They have those machines at the grocery stores. The problem with those is, they don't give you the exact amount you put in. That's their way of "charging" you for the convenience of using the machine vs rolling the coins. Not sure if the machine at your bank gives you the exact amount or not.
They do. I went to the grocery store before my silly self learned they have one at the bank and they take some of your money. That was my first and last time at a Coinstar!
LOL