Saturday, March 01, 2008

How can we live frugally?

Kurt and I have been meeting with a Christian Finanical Advisor for many different reasons. First off, we need to live more within our means. I admit it. We have a lot of work to do. We want to save a lot more than we are. We want to have ZERO debt. We want to tithe and donate more than we are to charities. Right now, we are doing it, but it isn't the priority we want it to be.

Soo.... we are looking for ways to drastically change our lives so we can feel we are more in control and living comfortably, while also giving as much as we can to others.

Some things we are discussing:

* The possibility of having one car or Kurt carpooling to work.
* The possibility of trading in our Honda and then buying a car (5-6K) straight out so we have no car payment.
* Downsizing our home
* Getting rid of child care and having the kids home with me while I work
* Getting rid of our land line phone
* Getting rid of Netflix
* Downgrading our internet package
* Finding more income (both Kurt and I)
* Having a huge yard sale with all the stuff we have that we don't need (about 50% of our stuff is just stuff)
* Having ZERO budget for eating out, all meals from home
* Making large meals that make lots of leftovers, then freezing them
* Stopping off first at the Dollar Tree store when we before we go grocery shopping (they have a LOT of stuff that we buy for full price at Food Lion)
* Cutting our heat back 2 degrees
* Turning off lights/TV/etc.. when not in the room

Anybody know of any other good ideas for living frugally? Up until now, we haven't been living as we should, so we aren't used to this mindset.

Any ideas are welcome! What works for you? What is something you heard or read about?

1 comment:

Rachel Tramontana said...

Jen, I recently read this article about grocery shopping. It said to make your list out - and anything you grab that ISN'T on your list that you pick up, put it in the 'basket' that the kids would sit in. While you're in line to check out, assess what you've put in the basket and hand the check out clerk (with many apologies) the items you REALLY don't need but grabbed. I've tried it and it works. Good luck.

PS: There is truly no need for a land line phone these days .....