Yes, gentle readers... I'm trying to live by a budget. When we were a two income family I didn't think much of dropping a twenty here or there (rarely a major purchase, mind you, but nickels and dimes all the time). While I love my life without that job, curbing my spending is harder than I thought it would be.
Using Mint.com to make a budget is easy... living by it is another story. We're three days into our new financial life, and I'm actually already feeling it!
1. While trying to cut the electricity bill, I've lived two days without air conditioning. Today's high is 100... let's see how long this lasts.
2. While trying to cut the grocery bill, I made Chicken Parmesan instead of Grilled Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas; I had all of the ingredients for the former but not the latter. Pineapple cravings can't be reasoned with... they don't understand the concept of budgeting. The Chicken Parmesan was great, but I still want pineapple.
3. While trying to cut the library fines section of the budget, I returned a movie two weeks late instead of three. Gotta start somewhere, right?
I'd better send out that job application today.
Read others' small successes this week and share your own at Faith and Family Live.
7 comments:
LOL! Love this list. Curbing spending is so difficult!! You can do it though. Baby steps. Just keep thinking of how awesome it will be when your golas are reached.
Have a great week!
2 weeks late instead of 3! LOL!
This is a great list. I do think that those little ways to save a bit really do add up....however, I am not sure how I'd do with the A.C.! I think I'd be a cranky mother in the heat!
YAY for you! GREAT JOB!
We're joining you in the electric bill cuts...we are hanging clothes out to dry and trying to do without AC as well. We're also unplugging major appliances like computers, tv, dvd, etc...each day...this helps!
And don't forget about HuLu...you can watch movies FREE there online! (Don't let the kids browse without you though...you have to be selective)
Happy for your success!
I had to turn our A/C up (down?) to save money...our electric bill was out of hand. I don't think I would live if it was off though. It gets HOT here!
Great job working on your budget, that is a hard thing to master. We have lots of areas that could use some looking at...
I understand being on a budget. We are flat broke at the moment. I am absolutely dieing for a caesar salad from the local pizza place. But, that entails dishing out about $40 for us to get the full spread from them. No matter how hard you try, it still comes out to that. So, no can do. I sympathize over the pineapple. And I wish you all the best in the A/C cut back. It's hot here, but since it's Canada, I just suffer for the afternoon, and then the evening is cooling way down.
No A/C in 100 degree weather is really rough. I can sympathize with you over the food. We're drastically cutting back on our eating out habit and I'm learning to make due with the foods we have on hand when it comes to making dinner. I've been craving foods from the litany of places I like to eat out. Good luck sticking to your budget.
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