Pinching Pennies And Belt Tightening
By Pinyo • May 29th, 2008 • Category: Frugal LivingIt seems like everything is going up in price. Perhaps, decades of over-consumption are finally catching up to us — and I mean Americans as a whole. Personally, I am making less than last year after taking the rising cost of living into account. As a result, I am beginning to implement some pennies pinching measures to stay financially on track.
Packing lunch to work
During the past few weeks, I’ve found that restaurants are: (1) increasing their prices, (2) beginning to use lower quality ingredients to make up for the rising costs, and/or (3) beginning to give out smaller portions. For almost two weeks now, I have been taking left over dinners to work. Since take out lunches cost me $6-7 a day, this move saves me $30-$35 a week…and the food is better too.
Driving more conservatively
Over the last few weeks, I have found myself driving more conservatively and slower, as well as letting my car cruise as much as possible. I don’t know exactly how much gas I am saving by doing this, but the nice thing about taking it easy is that I am not as stressed out as I used to be.
If the cost of fuel keeps going up, I may have to switch to public transportation. The only thing that’s stopping me right now is the two extra hours this would add to my commute each day. Personally, I think my time is worth more than a few dollars I am saving in the end.
Coupons
I have never been big on coupons. However, I’ve found myself doing more and more coupon searches. I have to say that Ebates and RetailMeNot.com have been godsends over the past few weeks — especially, when I could use them in conjunction with each other!
Don’t throw things out as quickly / readily
In the past, it doesn’t bother me as much to throw some food away, or dispose stuff that are still working relatively well. However, things have changed quite a bit over the past few weeks. I am more conscious about throwing out left over food, or replacing things that are still in decent working order.
The rising costs make me appreciate what I already have more.
More careful with my water, gas, and electricity
I mentioned last week that my utility costs might be $1,500 more than last year. Although it’s tougher to conserve with 2 extra people now living at the house, and with it being occupied 24/7. I have been looking for ways to conserve energy and water as much as I could.
If I could shave off even 10%, I would be looking at a $500 savings when the year is over.
Are you affected by the rising costs? What have you done to compensate for increasing expenses?
I LOVE Retailmenot.com! I haven’t really tried Ebates because I don’t shop online that often. I’ve noticed that many people are more conservative in their driving these days and it’s not such a lonely place in the office break room during lunch anymore either. Seems like everyone is making these changes. I think it’s a great move.
Next time you fill up your tank, write down the miles you got, model of your car and how many gallons you put in and send that info over to me. I am going to do an update on my blog pretty soon. Me and about two other people will be in the update. I am seeing how much better we can do over the epa estimates for our cars. I would love to add yours on the update and I will link back to this site! I started this challenge just a few days ago.
Funny that people are suggesting taking their own lunches - I did that for years, as I can’t afford to do otherwise! But it’s interesting to see what the general populace thinks of as belt-tightening! Esp. as so many of these things are 2nd nature to me! I am thinking extreme cutting down - how to raise $ in odd places - like counseling a friend to SELL a junk car he was trying to get rid of - He got $ AND a TOW - but NO ONE but ME around him thought of it! SELL those junkers & they will go to car parts heaven! That and many more ideas at http://www.myfrugallife.com/blog_pamphyila.html (yes - low tech & gratis - my watch word.)
Yes, ebates and retailmenot are great! I’d add bradsdeals.com to that list too. He keeps track of all the top deals, as well as coupon codes and store coupons.
Great article–I love to coast to stop signs and red lights and watch others waste their gas.
Packing your lunch and not stopping for coffee/donuts can offset any increases in utilities. This is something that any one can do,
Agreed on not throwing things out as readily. This is totally throwing off my clutter insta-trash mode! Now I’m working on ways to keep around spares and extras without creating massive clutter-sucks.
In many ways this downturn has a positive effect upon how we deal with our personal finances and become more frugal, which can only help us in the long term. I think saving on energy costs is key, especially as prices are likely to continue to climb because of the growing shortage of oil in the medium term. I just realised as well that I think this might be my 100 post on Moolanomy and I l’ve been loving every minute of it, thanks Pinyo for a great blog
@David - Thank you for the offer, but I share my car with my dad. It’s a little hard to keep track, especially when he helps out by filling the tank
@Pamela - Great point. We are all used to different lifestyle so the definition is going to be different.
@Ana - I’ll check out bradsdeals.com
@Make Friends - My local electrical company just announced they are going to raise their price. Experts are predicting at least 30% increase.
My wife and I have always been frugal since we have been married (7 years this August). However, recently we have tried to cut back even more on our utility bills (gas, electric, and water). During the winter months this past year we never turned our thermostat above 65 in the house and kept it at 58 while we were sleeping. No that it is warm, we have a goal to not use our air conditioning until June. Now that it is almost June, I think we are going to shoot for June 15th. Meanwhile, all of our neighbors have been running theirs for weeks and it has not even gone above 90 yet! As far as water, I am not watering my yard this summer, won’t wash my cars, and we have cut back on flushing the toilet.
The cause of frugality recently lead us to sell one of our vehicles (the one I liked to drive best, but got the worst in-town mileage), saving us a ton in gas and also insurance costs. We also have largely stopped eating out, and we usually grow a lot of our own veggies (but not this summer, as we are about to move). I would like to start using vegetable oil for fuel, if I had a diesel automobile… and I may do that after our move overseas.
Jerry
I really enjoy your money saving tips! I love to shop online too, and I use http://www.savingswatch.com .It allows me to earn money, gift cards, and other items back for shopping online at the stores you shop. I used them faithfully years ago, when I had less money but more time to find the best deals. Check it out.
It’s madness these huge price rises, 30% is a huge increase but what can we do. I know over in the UK our has gone up 46% this year alone, there is no way that we can continue to sustain that amount of a hike. I might by a tent.
@Passive — Congratulation on your upcoming anniversary. I must be one of your neighbors — it’s difficult to cut back in this area with a baby…need to keep them happy.
@Jerry — I think selling extra car and stop eating out are great ways to save.
@Susan — I’ll check it out.
@Make Friends — I know, it’s madness.