How to live on less

With this crazy economy and the recent fear because of the dips in the stock market, I'm hearing and reading a lot of tips and tricks on how to "cut back." The instability of the market gets Mike pretty nervous, so I've been listening for new ideas ways we can tighten our budget and reduce our spending. What's cool is that I'm finding that most of what is being suggested are things that we already do. For instance:

- Don't spend more than you can afford (seems obvious, but it's a foreign concept to most Americans)
- Pay with cash - it hurts more to see the actual cash leave your hand than simply swiping a credit card

- If you don't use cash, pay off your credit card every month
- Save for big ticket items long before you need them

- Track your receipts to see where you're spending your money

- Separate "needs" from "wants"

- Create a budget and stick to it, adjusting it every few months, as needed
- Consolidate errands or carpool to save gas

To reduce the grocery budget:
- Pre-plan your meals for the week
- Clip coupons (there are lots printable coupons online now)
- Shop from a list, don't impulse buy (I've heard it said that for every extra minute you spend in the grocery store, you spend an additional $2.50)
- Eat what's on sale at the grocery store and stock up on seasonal items. For example, baking ingredients will be on sale as the holidays approach, cheese is really cheap before Cinco de Mayo, condiments and BBQ items can be FREE with sales and coupons around Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day, whole turkeys are the cheapest price of the year just before Thanksgiving - that's when I buy our Christmas Day turkey and put it in the freezer for a month, things like that.
- Look for mark downs like the "day old" bakery items and perishables (like meats) that are getting ready to expire, but can be frozen in your own home to eat later
- Check out your local store's savings plans and policies: some stores double and triple coupons, other stores except competitor's coupons, a few stores will accept a manufacturer coupon AND a store coupon on the same item and Super Walmart price-matches local grocery ads.
- Don't eat out, even during the day - pack sack lunches for the family
- Learn to only drink water; cut out soda, coffee and alcohol and just say "no" to $3-5 Starbuck's drinks!
- Bake and cook from scratch - it's healthier and usually much cheaper than buying something prepared by someone else. Involving the kids will teach them great kitchen skills and they tend to try new things if they helped prepare them.

- Don't make meat/chicken the main course in a meal
- Incorporate cheap, healthy, filler ingredients for protein, like eggs and beans

Cheap family entertainment:
- Go on a walk or ride bikes around your neighborhood. This morning I decided to hike (if you don't belong to a gym, you can still exercise outside and at home!) before Mike left for work, since we're potty training and I didn't want to venture out yet. Afterward, I did some yoga in the family room and the kids thought it was hilarious. Here they are doing the airplane and triangle poses with me...

- Instead of renting $5 movies at Blockbuster or joining Netflix, check out DVDs from the library for FREE or find a RedBox near you for just $1 per night. (Free 2 Be Frugal posts free RedBox movie codes on Mondays and the movies can be returned at any RedBox location, nationwide - so you can rent them for roadtrips for the kids, look up online where there's a RedBox at your vacation spot and drop them off when you arrive)
- Wait a few weeks and go to the second-run movie theatre instead of paying $9.50 a ticket in the regular theaters.
- Find local parks in your area to take the kids swinging or have a family picnic
- Camp in your backyard (it's finally getting cool enough to do that here!)
- Play cards or board games...remember those???
- Take advantage of seasonal entertainment in your area...pumpkin patches, parades, festivals, etc.
- Fire stations give free tours and kids LOVE to climb all over the fire trucks
- Barnes and Noble has story time every Monday at 11am and the third Friday of the month at 7pm (check your local store to verify)
- Lowe's and Home Depot offer free Saturday workshops for kids - they're great dates with Daddy

New ideas that we may try:

- "The envelope system" - I know many people who take out $XX each week and divide it into several envelopes, designated for specific budget categories. For example: $100 in the grocery envelope, $40 for gas or public transporation, $10 for dining out, $15 for entertainment, etc. If you don't use the dining money this week, keep the money in the envelope and it rolls over into next week's allowance. If you use all of the grocery money and run out of food, you shuffle cash from another envelope and make sacrifices or decide to eat PB&J for the rest of the week. This isn't something I look forward to, but Mike mentioned it last week and I'm preparing myself mentally for trying this system.

- Unplugging items when they're not in use. I've heard about this from energy-saving activists for years, but I heard a lady yesterday say that she was really neurotic about this habit all spring and reduced her electricity bill from $260 in March to $80 in May. She also turned off the A/C, which would NEVER happen here in Phoenix in the summer, but I think I'm going to give this a shot. Maybe not unplugging the computer equipment or the tv (how would my DVR record my shows???) but I walked around yesterday finding things that didn't need to stay plugged in, like the cell phone charger, the video monitor (that's only on an hour a day), Mike's razor and electric toothbrush, the stereo in my craft room that I never listen to, nightlights in the kids' rooms that are off during the day but stay plugged in all day long...things like that. Even when an item isn't being used, it still uses electricity.

- Bartering - There are so many ideas for bartering: you can trade services, your time, meals, the list goes on and on. A few months ago, I started a dinner swap with a friend in my neighborhood. Every other Thursday, I double my dinner recipe and bring 1/2 to her house at 5:30, hot and ready to eat. The opposite Thursdays, she does the same for me. Before we had kids, I babysat my neighbor friend's son (because she was a hair stylist) and she gave me free cuts and color. I love the idea of trading babysitting so you and a friend can each go on a weekly date night. Last year, I hosted an "Everything for $1" indoor yard sale with some friends. We all brought stuff we wanted to get rid of and basically, traded dollars back and forth while getting rid of things we no longer needed. A year later...I still wear a pair of jean shorts I bought for $1 and use my $1 purse every day! I got a bunch of great clothes for the kids and sold some kitchen supplies, a waffle iron, some DVDs...one person's trash is another person's treasure!

- Find a specialized seller or local butcher to purchase meat/poultry. My Dutch friend said that in her local market, she's found that their products are almost always cheaper than the grocery store (except maybe when there's a sale), there's less packaging, and they have fewer preservatives. She also suggested just trying the meat counter in the grocery store (since I've never seen an actually butcher here in Phoenix) - asking the guys working behind hte counter for the off-cuts, bones, etc. They'll probably either be free or really cheap, and you can use them for soups and casseroles, rather than expensive cuts. Boil the bones to help make the stock, then whatever little bits of meat are on them can be cut off and used in the soup.

So those are some frugal tips that work for me and a few ideas that we may be incorporating pretty soon. If you're freaking out because of the economy, are in debt up to your eyeballs or laughed out loud while reading this list...just take one step at a time. Like anything, living with less is a process and it takes time to create new habits. Sit down with your spouse and your kids (if they're older) and explain that things are going to be different from now on.

I've heard people (teasingly) scoff at our family's cheap ways, but I love that we're debt-free and have money in the bank. Would I prefer to get monthly pedicures and join the club at Massage Envy...um, yeah!!! I like getting pampered and shopping at Ann Taylor just as much as the next person, but I can't have my cake and eat it too. I actually have a friend who took classes at a massage school with her husband so they could learn how to properly massage each other. How smart was that?!?!

Just remember to think outside the box, make small changes and develop new habits and your checking account will thank you. If you have other tips that I forgot to mention, please leave a comment!

Here are some frugal blogs that give great ideas:
- Money Saving Mom (she posts the weekly ads for grocery stores, Target, Walmart and the pharmacies with links for printable coupons to save even more money)
- Free 2 Be Frugal (lots of links for freebies on this blog)
- Frugal Upstate (click here for links to her Frugal Food Series with tons of recipes for cheap meals)