Saving money
11.13.2008
So, with all the financial fallout of the last few months, we've been taking a look at our own finances. We weren't too affected by the stock market crash, because we couldn't afford to start our 401K's this year, but we are aware that the value of our house is falling. And we are aware we don't want to stay in Maryland much longer (2-3 years max). And we want to get our debt cleared so that we can start saving for when I get pregnant, so I can stay home with the baby. So, we decided one thing to do is to start with a higher-yield savings account. We went with an ING orange savings account, which I believe has a 2.75% interest rate. We also decided not to do any more lunches out. That is a difficult one, because we have a hard time getting to grocery stores and preparing dinners every night, much less lunches too! Nonetheless, it would save us at least $300 a month. I started this week by planning at least three dinners in advance and cooking twice as much to take for leftovers for the next day's lunch. It has worked great so far! I even cooked 4 times as much enchiladas one night and froze one whole pan for later. That means one dinner and one lunch for a day when we find ourselves unprepared. Gas costs had been cutting into our budget terribly, so these lower prices are a real relief right now. We are funneling some of our savings into sub-account called Gas so that if the prices do go up we don't get caught unaware. We bought pellets by the pallet this year, saving us about $50. At Christmas bonus time we should be able to pay off all of our debt except my student loan and our mortgage. If bonuses are good of course... That's another reason this part of the year is so stressful. You never know what you're getting! Last year I made an additional 50% of my salary in bonuses, and Chris about 25%. Of course, it went straight to paying off debt so we didn't get to enjoy it. But we will enjoy being debt free soon.
Here are a few tips I found online:
-Pack a lunch
-cancel unneeded subscriptions (or downgrade) - move from premium to basic cable, change your cell plan if you aren't using all the minutes
-sell something (on ebay, craigslist) - this can be any crap you have lying around the house
-turn your thermostat down 3 degrees
-buy in bulk - you can order 1/4 or 1/4 a grassfed cow, 1/2 lamb, buy beans and flour through coops
Posted bySarah at 11:43 AM
Labels: budget, cooking, food, saving money
