thrifty thursday

bluedaisyus

so we used to do this on the first thursday of every month and i don't think we've done one in a while. so i thought maybe, on this first, i'd do a little check-in to see how people are doing.

um...let's do a question just to get things going...are you doing (or not doing) anything this summer to save money?

bluedaisyus

okay, now that i posted this i feel a little silly since...well, we've not been very thrifty at all lately. i got a new camera body and lens, we got a new washer and dryer and a new vehicle, and we're going on a weekend camping trip in a couple of weeks. BUT, we also sold one of our other vehicles and walked away with about 5k even after paying off what was left on our loan. we have a little bit of debt, but not much and it's all interest free until specific dates, so we're making payments and will pay them off in full before they come due.

i guess for my own question, we're not really doing anything specific, but we are going out a lot less on the weekends now which i'm sure helps. :-) we also have a zoo membership, so even though we paid for it we have something we can do any time we want over the summer--and we've already gone enough times to have made it worth the cost, so anything else is free! that's how i'm choosing to look at it, anyway.

thefamilyway904

Thanks for starting this thread up again. It's one of my favorites!

I mentioned on TTT that DW and I just got back from a vacation at the beach. We usually go all out on vacations--stay in a nice hotel, go out for all our meals, buy each other gifts, etc. This year we decided to take the economical approach. Instead of staying in a hotel, we rented a condo. We went the the grocery store and bought food for all but one meal, which was our one special dinner out. It was truly such a wonderful vacation! We were so comfortable in the condo. Being able to eat our own normal and healthy foods was great. We got a great deal on the condo and ended up saving ourselves close to $600.

We're also back to the envelope system for everything other than fixed bills and gas money. It's tough, but I really think it's helping us to be more mindful of our spending.

With the envelope system, I've stayed within our weekly budget of $125 for groceries. However, I'd really like to try to get more out of what we spend. I think I'm going to start clipping coupons to see if that helps out. I would love ideas on how to organize coupons if you have a system that works well for you.

berriesnpie

We also haven't been particularly thrifty of late. In the past week we bought plane tickets to go back to St Croix for our anniversary and paid <gulp> $1100 for repairs on the car. And we just got back from a big road trip involving lots of birthday presents pour moi. But, we're paying for the car repairs out of savings, which is possible because we actually saved lots of money over the past year. We're taking a savings break over the summer so we can avoid using credit while traveling and are planning to start again in the fall.

We've been most thrifty lately by spending less than we budgeted for. We cut one day off our anniversary trip so we could get a cheaper flight and pay less for lodging. We waited and bought our first new mattress together when Sears was having a 50% off sale. We've also just decided to cancel our cable.

2brides

So far, we're failing miserably.

I ended up having $670 of repairs done on my car last weekend.

We just went to closing today to refi our house. We had an interest only ARM from when we were in the midst of TTC/paying out of the nose for a nanny and we needed to get a traditional mortgage. Thankfully, with the lower interest rate, it only ended up being $150 more a month and now we are paying principal. YAY - but is still another $150/month.

But b/c our loan/value was so tight, we had to bring a lot of cash to the table which serverly depleted our savings. Our next several months will be spent getting that built up again.

Because the kids are switching schools - and we are on a 12 month payment plan for the new school - we are having to pay for both places for child care (new and old) for the month of August. Ouch. Thankfully, for the refi, we don't have a mortgage payment due that month - but instead of it going into savings, it is going to childcare. Boo. Plus, we have two weeks in August that the new school is closed and the other will start their fall session - so one week, we are going on vacation and the other we have to pay a sitter - which is more expensive than school!!!

Rather than having a stay-cation (which we should have done) we rented a small house in the mountains. We really need this vacation and are really looking forward to it - but it is more $$ out of pocket. Thankfully,  there is a lot of low cost entertainment (hiking, swimming at state parks, etc), we can buy/prepare a lot of our own food, and we are driving.

Wow. Writing this all down  makes me realize we have a lot of money heading out the door this summer.

 

 

Two*True

The Bad -

 - Our recent trip to CA cost us way too much.  We didn't plan the best when booking our airfare and ended up switching things which cost us a small fortune.  However, we've decided it was well worth the change.

- The air conditioner on my rental property just cost me $200

- Our dog now needs a medication that costs about $125 a month (!!)

- Our other dog was really really sick and racked up about $700 in medical bills.

- We bought all the sperm our donor had left - that was pricey.

The Good -

- I'm scoring great deals on diapers!

- I just received a bonus which will pretty much pay off one credit card

- I'm getting a raise that starts in September.  Not too much, but probably an extra $70ish a month.

- K starts her new job soon.  

 

hedgefun

I'm a little late on this - work became a madhouse this week and I have had zero time for nesting. 

I don't think we have really been doing a lot to go out of our way to cut costs more than normal this summer, but we have been saving more aggressively and for more specific purposes.  I decided to not buy the new car I really want so that we can save for/do other things.  We're considering bidding on some condos which are getting auctioned off soon - not getting our hopes up for that, but it could end up being a fantastic opportunity if it works out.  I kind of doubt they'll end up going for what we're willing to pay, but we'll see. 

ctbride08

(to steal Two's format!)

The bad:

- Medical bills are pouring in. its so bad. of course its expected, but its so depressing especially when all of the expense was futile.

- The kids' new daycare is $$$.

- My grandmother is struggling financially so we helped her out.

 The good:

- We are doing a good job of keeping the day-to-day expenses down.

- We recieved a small grant from the state to help w/ the kids' daycare costs

- Our clinic had extra vials of a donor matching our criteria and just sold 3 to us at a huge discount.

Overall we are definitely at a time when we have more money going out than we ever have before (and I thought wedding planning was bad!), but somehow we are managing it.

Two*True

ctbride08:

- The kids' new daycare is $$$.

You said you got a grant to help with daycare...I guess I sort of assumed as a foster parent the state automatically gave you some sort of stipend/allowance for the children's expenses.  Do they? Is it just so dismal that it doesn't cover much?  I don't mean to be nosey, I'm just curious as to what expenses (in your state of course) foster parents automatically assume (not that I thought it was a free ride or anything...) kwim? this problably came off wrong, but hopefully you understand. :-p

ctbride08

Two*True:

ctbride08:

- The kids' new daycare is $$$.

You said you got a grant to help with daycare...I guess I sort of assumed as a foster parent the state automatically gave you some sort of stipend/allowance for the children's expenses.  Do they? Is it just so dismal that it doesn't cover much?  I don't mean to be nosey, I'm just curious as to what expenses (in your state of course) foster parents automatically assume (not that I thought it was a free ride or anything...) kwim? this problably came off wrong, but hopefully you understand. :-p

of course i understand

We do get a stipend, but with daycare costs it doesn't go very far at all   When we were going through the homestudy process, we were told that daycare was covered in addition to the monthly stipend so we are fighting w/ the state to get it covered, but I have a feeling the answer is going to be "no" in the end and its not like daycare is going to wait for their money, so we have to pay up front. good thing the little buggers are worth it!