G and I close on our house in a week. We're so busy preparing for the move, and on top of that God has decided to really place things on our hearts. I want to scream that I don't have enough time, money or energy for this right now, but I constantly remind myself that God does not call us to easy or comfortable. If it were easy or comfortable enough people would be doing it that He wouldn't have to recruit.
So we're looking into things, including local soup kitchens to try volunteering at. I love working with Special Olympics groups, so once our schedule settles down and we get into a routine (because consistency is important) we are looking into getting involved in that.
We're also trying to live more frugally, to put money away for the future. We have big things planned for the next couple years, and big plans sometimes take big funds. We're working on a game plan, writing things down, coming up with ways to put extra away.
But some things I cannot live without. Beauty products, especially moisturizers. I've talked about before that I have skin that easily gets dry and flaky. I've combatted that with oils and vaseline, both fairly cheap. But I wanted to know if you, my lovely readers, could suggest any cheap or natural (or both) beauty things?
Also, have any substitutions you make in your life to save money? Off brands you would recommend? Ways you pinch pennies?
My Grandmama has always said to save your pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves. Basically, don't just try to save big, save small and it will add up. We're taking that, and I am going to enjoy sharing some of our ways to put money away as we go along.
One of the big things we came up with tonight is awesome, but not unusual. We like to eat out or grab coffee. And that's not a bad thing. We save money for dinners out, we budget for it. We've been blessed enough as a young couple to be able to afford these little luxuries. But are they always necessary? Could we just as easily make coffee at home and sit and chat? Could we recreate a dinner out at home for less? We decided the answer was an obvious yes. So when we say to ourselves, "We have the money, we should go out tonight" we are going to ask if we would be willing to stay in that night instead. If we decide to stay in, the money we would have spent going out is going into savings. Easy peasy, and it will add up.
Any ways you save you would be willing to share? Anything you are saving for? I love hearing from you all, so please leave a comment!
Super speedy comment from me since I was just going through my reader and your new post popped up! :)
ReplyDeleteI run our budget without any 'extra money' in it (the way I get paid I have two months with 3 checks and the rest have 2, plus any extra jobs we work, tax returns, etc are all considered 'extra' money). Since we maintain throughout the year without those extras it allows us to do big things or save big at different points in the year when the extra money shows up. We also have things that are long term goals (like our daughter's college fund, she's 18 months old) that we save for with automatic transfers. I do direct deposit with both of our checks, so (for example) every time my check deposits a set amount is transferred into other savings accounts. So even though right now all we can afford to do is $25 a check for her college fund, we are still we are saving something and (since it's auto-transfer) we don't even have to 'think' about it or make a choice, it just happens and we don't have to worry about it.
Wow, long response from me. :) I get really into finances though, since I am the one who runs ours and I want to do it the best way I can figure out!
What a good idea.
ReplyDeleteWe still eat in restaurants now and then, but definitely, when you move into your own place and have a pleasant place to eat, dining in is so much easier.
ReplyDeleteAside from the food, we make sure we're always stocked up with wine (Charles Shaw from Trader Joe's is $3 a bottle and a great house wine), and beer which we buy in mixed cases (20% discount) from a store with a great selection. Even though we probably only have 1 drink a night, the price of the whole bottle of wine is half the price of a glass at a restaurant!
I also like going out for coffee, but I limit myself to 1-2 times a week and supplement it by getting free Starbucks gift cards from credit card points (I pay off the credit cards, so they really are free). I love your staying in / putting $ in savings idea!