How we started our Spending Diet

Times are tight for a lot of people right now, us included.  Tom's employed with a job he likes, and he goes to school at night.  I'm grateful that we're both employed at the moment, that we have health insurance, and can provide for our family, but we've felt the need to beef up our savings, and pinch the pennies. Over the summer we've had a couple of financial set backs which have eaten up our savings cushion, so here are a few things we've implemented to help keep us on track.

I call it our "spending diet," and I was inspired by Anna Newell Jones' blog, http://www.andthenshesaved.com/  She implemented similar measures to get her spending habits under control and become debt free.  I find her blog and her tweets really inspirational, please visit her site for more ideas!


Strategy for my spending diet:

• Brown bag it - every day.  I'm more successful at this than my husband is, but mainly because brown-bagging my lunch enables and empowers me to control my calories & nutrition.  I've lost about 10 lbs since brown-bagging my lunch religiously over the past 3 months.
• Cut down on utilities whenever possible - I turned off our sprinkler system.  The house we rent has a lawn in the back, and the sprinkler system has needed repairs several times. Sprinkler heads somehow break, and water gushes allover place.  I turned the timer off, and I've turned off our thermostat as well.
• Get discounts on services whenever possible - called Tmobile to get an employer discount from husband's employer (15%), and pay your insurance (health/car/etc) up to 6 months in advance to get the best rate. Always ask how you can get discounts, it doesn't hurt.
• Clip coupons - I know it's tedious, but it helps. I keep a coupon organizer in my purse, and we shop at the military base so we can save with coupons, AND save tax! I also subscribe to what it seems like endless couponing websites so I can print & clip.  (I will need to do a post on my coupon binder! Stay posted.)
• Stick to the list - easier said than done, but we spend less if we make a well-planned grocery list, with meals and specific needs for the week, and STICK TO IT! Also, don't go to the store hungry. 
• Make a weekly menu, and shop just for that - I used to buy lots of convenience foods, frozen meals, snacks, etc.  But packaged foods can cost you extra $$.  If you plan your menu by the week, and structure your grocery list around it (keeping in mind store promotions, sales, what's in season, etc. you can save even more.) 
• Make your coffee at home - I used to have a venti non-fat vanilla latte habit - that's easily $45-50 a week! I've since stopped, and make my coffee at home, and bring an insulated drinkholder to work. ***Also another way to save calories. My drink of choice is coffee, with nonfat milk, and Stevia. Bam!
• Frequent your library - free books, free movies, free free free! EXCEPT, when you have late fees. 
• Cook large batches - for leftovers, and for lunch. But key point here is to COOK! Takeout is killing you, both in the pocket book, and if you ever check out the fat/sodium/caloric intake of what you're ordering, you'll see what I'm talking about.
• When you think of spending quality time w/ your family, aim for an activity, instead of shopping/going to the mall.
• No new clothing purchases - This has been a tough one for me, but I've been pretty faithful to no new purchases of clothing/shoes over the past few months (except my sister's wedding.) I'm in need of some wardrobe updating, but I want to hold out as long as I possibly can. And when I do buy something, it's nearly always from the clearance rack - I'm going to revisit thrift and 2nd hand shopping again as well.
• No new makeup, and only cheap toiletries - Make-up can last several months, thank goodness. But I've even steered clear of my green brands for haircare, and bodycare.  I just cannot justify spending $5-10 on 1 bottle of shampoo or conditioner. And you can't get coupons for Aveda products.
• Keep a check register - I got rid of this practice when online banking came out. I figured, it would be the best and quickest way to find out how much money I had, anyway, so why keep a check register? Well, your online account is not going to account for upcoming debits or checks that have yet to clear. Keeping a diligent practice of writing down all your spending habits makes you aware of exactly where all your money is going.
• Drink water, and use a filter - save on packaging, stop buying drinks at the store, and use a water filter in your fridge, or buy one to filter tap water. Water is good for you, saves you unnecessary calories, and it's cheap!
• Make your own cleaning products - you'd be surprised what you can do with vinegar and baking soda. And it's better for you, and the environment!
• Making more money - well, I know we would all like to make more money, but it's a matter of maximizing your time. Tom has taken on a ton of over-time with his job to help generate more money. I've made the commitment to work 2 Saturdays a month, to incur some overtime every month - which will generate about $150-$200 extra a month.  That's going into savings, because I'm a bit obsessed about generating an emergency fund. Which brings me to:
• Establish an emergency fund- I know this is like Budgeting 101 and most people already do, but honestly we blew through our savings recently both from automotive maintenance costs, health insurance premiums, and just being irresponsible and not seeing it as a fund that we needed to protect. My goal over the next 6 months is to beef it back up.  Just knowing that we have that cushion, and then extra to cover emergencies is worth so much, just for peace of mind.

Days 5 & 6

Day 5, Tell me about a time you've thought about killing yourself?

wtf? Never.

Onto Day 6, "30 Facts about yourself"

1. I love horror movies . 
2. Because I'm such a horror movie fanatic, sometimes I play with zombie apocalypse/horror movie scenarios on my head (...like, where would I hide out, if there was a zombie horde surrounding my house? - or What would I do if I were getting chased around the woods by a psychotic murderer?) Strange, I know, but that's what happens when you watch too many horror films. 
3. I have deep longing to live away from the city, on a plot of land, where I can be a hippy, raise & grow my own food, and not be concerned with keeping up in this rat race. (I don't know where this comes from, I have a black thumb, and the only animals I've raised have been dogs.)
4. I have a love/hate relationship with my phone (mostly hate.) But I don't want to shell out the money for a new phone, and I'm addicted to checking my emails/tweets on it. Damn u, smartphone, damn u.
5. My husband and I co-sleep w/ our 2 year old, even if it's a detriment to our sleep patterns.  Kicks to the head, and the ribs are a frequent occurrence.
6. I have just recently mastered the art of balancing my checkbook.
7. My husband and I have put ourselves on somewhat of a spending freeze - but the exception seems to be when  we're shopping for our son.  Then, magically, it becomes a free-for-all.......within reason.  We will not be buying Calvin an iPad, or any game consoles anytime soon. (Yeah, we failed at that last statement. We are in possesion of an iPad 2, and more expensive toys) smh
8. I'm nearly always late on returning my library books. Much to my chagrin.  But hey, 2 wks is simply not enough time to read all the goodness that I check out!
9. I think most everyone I work with spends about..........70% of their time surfing the web on the job. 
10. I've struggled to lose weight since I've had Calvin. Pre-baby I was around 120-125, which was still on the unhealthy, non-fit side of things - Calvin is 2 1/2 now, and I'm around 135.
11. I snore. Heavily.
12. I am left-handed for hand-writing purposes, but I use my right hand for nearly everything else.
13. I am inept at hairstyling.
14. My favorite soda is ginger ale.
15. When my nails grow long, they curve downward, resulting in a not-so-pretty look.  So I have to sport them short, OR get acrylic tips, which I kinda hate.
16. As of this past summer, none of my grandparents are living.
17. I have a love-hate relationship with the military (since I grew up a military brat, and have issues with how much time my dad spent away from the family).........and because I know the military life sort of breeds dysfunction.........long distance, separation from family, from your roots, being transient.....it just messes with you. My husband is ex-Army, and was deployed.....A LOT.
18. I have a goal of having 3 months' worth of our income in savings, and being debt free by 2014.  
19. I am a pretty darn good cook.
20. This is my second marriage.
21. I have a soft spot for big, cuddly, dogs.
22. I refuse to share a bathroom with my husband. He is a slob.
23. I took swimming lessons long ago, and I still swim poorly.
24. I have never been skiing or snowboarding.
25. I make a kick ass chicken adobo.  I am 33, and I just now mastered this Filipino dish.
26. My purse is usually a hot mess most of the time, yet I damn myself  by continually purchasing large purses.
27. I like second-hand, thrift store scavenging.
28. I detest sentimental hoarding.
29. I love volunteering, and getting involved in the community.
30. I can never follow t.v. series - I resent having to plan my life around t.v. shows.

Day 4, "Yours Views on Religion"

When I was a kid, my mom would drag me to church with her most Sundays.  When you're growing up on a miltiary base, you generally have 2 options: Catholic mass, or Protestant service.  My mother told me, pointedly, that my dad was raised Catholic, she was raised Protestant - when they went to get married, the Catholic priest would not marry them because my mom wasn't Catholic.  She had an obvious disdain for the rules and ways of the Catholic Church. 

A high percentage of Filiipinos are Catholic, and most of my classmates in school went to Mass regularly.  When I went to Protestant service, it was filled with mostly Anglo-American families. But I liked how no-nonsense it was.  There were hymns, a sermon, some hymns, Communion, bless your neighbor, more hymns, and we all went home.  When I witnessed a Catholic mass as a young adult, I was fascinated with all the ceremony, the rising, the kneeling...........the ritual. It was foreign to me, and I felt alienated from it.

I don't like the idea that there is a only 1 path to know God.  I also have a real issue with churches, and their views of the LGBT population, birth control, abortion. I also have a real conflict taking peoples' interpretation of the Bible as gospel truth.  If you've ever had a religious studies class in college, than you know there are numerous translations and versions of the books of the Bible, because they have been translated from "original" texts so many times over the centuries.  Clergy and churches have had the opportunity to alter the word of God many many times, and I believe strongly they can interpret Scripture, in any way that benefits them.

Since Calvin's been born, I have often thought about introducing a religious element into our lives, but I want him to view life open-minded.  Too often, I feel that religion closes minds - I struggle to find a way to provide spiritual enrichment in our day-to-day, without excluding various points of view. 

Compassion, empathy, hope, sincerity, self-lessness.........I know many religions espouse these ideas.  I want to instill these in Calvin, in our family..........but I still can't bring myself to adopt just one way of looking at the world.