My husband and I try to live pretty frugally as we work on digging ourselves out of debt. Sometimes, though, it doesn't feel like enough, and I start to feel guilty for not sacrificing more in our journey to be debt free. Every now and then I need to step back and look at all of the things we are doing to save money.
The "Latte Factor" isn't a factor. I've brewed my own coffee at home for years now, and I get all the free coffee I can drink at my workplace. Once in a great while, I'll splurge and get myself some kind of fancy coffee treat, but it's so seldom that it might as well be never.
I wear clothes until they're unwearable. Since the temperature dropped below freezing here in Oklahoma, I've been wearing a coat I got for Christmas in my early twenties. It's way out of style, but it's super warm. All of my winter coats are at least ten years old. My clothes aren't that old, but I shop for clothes maybe once a year, and when I do I buy them at discount stores, usually on clearance.
I conserve gasoline. This is a big expense for us, as my work commute is 90 miles round trip. I give myself plenty of time to get where I'm going so I can drive more slowly. There are plenty of stores between my home and my office, so I get my grocery shopping and errands done on the way home so I don't have to make an extra trip.
We Netflix. This is our only regular entertainment expense. We're fortunate to get free satellite where we live now, though, so that's not really much of a sacrifice. We rarely go out to movies, though; most of what comes out these days, we can stand to wait the couple of months it usually takes for them to come out on DVD.
My mom cuts my hair. Granted, she used to be a licensed beautician, but that was thirty years ago. She's good at giving me trims, though, and I keep my hairstyle simple enough that that's usually all I need (if I decide I want a major change, I go ahead and splurge at a salon).
Along that vein, I do my own nails. The only time I've ever had a professional manicure was for my wedding. I've had a couple of professional pedis--once for my wedding, and one for my birthday last year, both of which were someone else's treat. Otherwise, I do my own pedicures, too.
I read what I've got. This is hard for me, because I love to get new books, and I always want to read new stuff from my favorite authors as soon as they come out. Also, our local library's selection sucks. But I used to be really bad about buying books and never reading them, so I've got plenty of stuff around the house to read, and once that's done, I can start on my husband's book collection. I won't need to get any more books for at least another year. Unless, of course, Neil Gaiman or George R.R. Martin come out with new releases before then. For them, I make an exception.
We're down to eating out a couple of times a month. "Eating out" includes getting take-out. Those two times are budgeted. If we do more than that, it comes out of our spending allowances.
We haven't taken a vacation since our honeymoon.
We drive old cars, and will until they're no longer driveable.
We have the least expensive phone plan we could find.
I could keep going, but I think I've made my case. The only area we have left that we could stand to cut back on is our groceries, and that's a work in progress. I am working on it, though, and as I look over this list, I feel pretty good about the steps we've taken to reduce our spending and live below our means.Labels: debt reduction, frugality |
