I drive 60 mi/day to work, and here in Phoenix our public transportation sucks so the most helpful thing I’ve done so far is carpool It’s saving about $100/month. NO, it is not convenient!! we have to spend a lot of time coordinating schedules, and I have to forego some of those things I used to do on the way home from work. But, it’s all worth it and thank goodness we have a deal not to talk much in the mornings

I also try to combine errands when I can, and before going out for happy hour, have a couple of drinks at home first (if I’m not the driver of course.)

I won’t compromise on quality food and continue to buy organic fruits and vegetables. I don’t eat a lot of meat or cheese so I suppose I save money there.

Because I live in the heart of the city, I take public transit (in Canada bus passes are tax write offs at the end of the year - you get 30% back) and walk as much as I can for the exercise. Work is an hour’s walk away one way and the walk is very pleasant. I do not own a car and rent one when I need to, thus saving on insurance, gas, and car payments. I’m considering joining a car co-op which would cost $500 a year. Though I might buy a smart car (they’re incredibly cheap and get good mileage).

I don’t go out to movies much anymore, not so much because of the cost but because too many people behave like assholes in theatres now and I hate that. So its mostly DVDs and going to the movies when seeing it on the big screen counts (like the latest Batman flick).

One big savings area is clothing and shoes. I very rarely shop for new clothes anymore because I have buttloads of clothes and usually when I look in my closet I wonder “what the hell were you thinking?” I work at home mostly so I don’t have to dress up anymore for work, which is a plus. I used to buy so many items of clothing at full price. I have no desire to do that anymore.

When I shop for furniture I invest in things that will last for many years. It may cost more up front but in the end it’s worth it.

I avoid using credit cards now and the credit card I have has a very low lifetime interest rate of 5.99%. I keep this for emergencies.

When I go on vacation I look at things to do that are economical. For example, I wanted to do a personal health retreat and instead of going to one of those fancy hugely expensive spa resorts, I’m going to a yoga retreat on one of the Gulf Islands hosted by a local person who owns a lovely house there. The entire week will cost $750 including organic meals vs the health spa @ $5,000. I think I’ll get more out of it, too.

Anyway, just a few things I do. I wish I’d gotten a start earlier in my life with savings, but it’s never too late and I’ve got a nice nest egg built up. Plus my work has a great pension plan, so I won’t have to worry past retirement.

We rent an apartment and have have all utilities paid except electric (usually $50/mo). We only have one car and will own it next year, plus it has really good gas mileage. We hardly ever eat out. I don’t buy new clothes, we hardly ever go to movies, and I watch where we’re driving so we don’t waste gas.

We live paycheck to paycheck right now because of the baby’s medical bills. That, plus daycare, is killing us. We are paying the total of two car payments in PAYMENT PLANS to cover what insurance didn’t for NICU, labor and delivery. And when I went back to work my milk dried up so I can’t breast feed anymore, so we have the major cost of formula to add to the mix as well.

We work really hard at packing lunches and not getting lazy by picking up fast food. I hardly ever get my hair done, and we buy generic brands whenever possible.

Honestly, I don’t know any other ways to cut back since our expenditures have increased dramatically with the baby. Freecycle is helpful, and so is Craig’s List but that’s not enough. I’m looking for a better paying job and so is my husband because it seems like the only way out is to bring in more money.

I try to put things in perspective though, and realize we’re not alone and sadly there are people a lot worse off than us. We have jobs and health insurance (although both crappy) so that’s something. Plus a perfectly healthy baby–and iin the end it’s all worth it.

Yeah crappy economy and George W. Bush! I can’t thank you enough!

Walking to the store (I am a SAHM, so sometimes just filling a day is hard) gets us a healthy activity (my son bikes!) and saves gas.

Sell the crap in your house on Craigslist - declutter AND make money!

Surveys!

I think I would much rather have experiences than things anymore.

It helps to make a budget matrix with cost categories going down one side and columns going across the top: Importance, Variability and Frequency

Food has a high importance, a high rate of variablity so you may need to look at your budget for food more frequently and tweak your spending in other categories.

It’s a tool to help focus quickly on what is important and what may be wrecking your budget.

Just shitting you, but wow, it is like the critism jumped over here from PD. I stopped reading over there just bc of all the drama. I think perhaps some people missed the idea that you are not wanting your own lifestyle critiqued but wanting to hear things that others are doing.

OK, back on task. I started riding public transportation. The university I work for pays all but $5 of monthly fee for the bus pass. My husband is driving my gorgeous 1997 Chevy Cavalier (he likes to pick up the chicks in it) instead of his gas guzzler truck. Since he started began his PhD two Januarys ago, we have not been out to eat more than two or three times that we have paid for it. Since we severely cut back there, we do not really ever cut back at the grocery store. We also make an effort to use what we have at the house. So instead of going to the store and picking up another jar of this or box of that, we look before hand to make sure we don’t have it already. We also make an effort to use what meat / other food product we have on hand rather than buying something else just because we want it.

We have fairly basic cable and a family cell phone plan with a provider that allows free minutes to others on their service. That saves us a ton since my husband likes to talk on the damn phone all the time.

I have started making some of my own cleaners, not for the $ but for the natural aspect of it. It is amazing how well baking soda mixed with a couple of other ingredients works to clean so many things.

Next up I am going to stop shaving. I know my husband will love that!