2010 Lesson Learned: Saving money is something that is personal & different for everyone.
Recently I found out, through the hard way, that buying things "on sale" does not help me save $$. It actually makes me spend more without even knowing it.
Through trial & error, these are just a few things we found work for us:
- Budgeting every penny we earn in a month. (A month counts as 2 full pay checks. If it's not budgeted for or we can't "rob Peter to pay Paul" it's not going to be purchased that month. Everything & I mean Every tiny thing & every cent gets budgeted)
- Meal planning for the week/month & only buying groceries for those menu items (If I go to the grocery store without my list I spend more. If I have coupons sure I save money but I also spend more over all. If I have a coupon for my list, sure I'll use that one but only that item on my list)
- Only buying things I NEED (If I can do without then I don't buy. Gasp, even if it's a killer deal. That one took a bit to get over)
- Justifying keeping a car because I can't afford repairs. I didn't even think about not having a car payment gives you money for repairs AND repairs cost much less than a monthly car payment.
- NOT eating out all the time.
I feel like I just described the results of my science fair project! Hopefully writing these down will help me remember what I learned this past year. Getting rid of $40k in debt is a huge relief & we couldn't have done it without finding something that works for us.
7 comments:
Way to go!!!!! That is a HUGE accomplishment!
You may already have a system in place, but when I signed up (free) at www.mint.com and put in all of our accounts, my eyes were really opened up as to where our money was going.
It has budget features and makes keeping track of your money nearly automatic. Once you set budgets, it can send you emails if your spending goes above a set point, or if you are on track with your budget, or a bunch of other things.
Anyway, I think it is great and maybe it can help you stay on track.
Congratulations on learning to live debt free! You are SMART and are following the council of the prophet! :)
That is so awesome! Woo HOO!
I have a grocery budget and I do a menu for the month and break it up into 2 shopping trips. I also try and make my menu go with ingredients that are on sale.
Tyler got me a Seal-a- Meal thing a few years ago, so I stock up when meats are on sale and portion them to fit how much our family eats, that saves a ton of $. We often have extra left over at the end of the month so we are able to take the kids out to lunch or go get fun treats without feeling bad about it.
I know some people think it is all a pain, but I think it is so worth it.
Wow, that's incredible! We're trying to do the same thing to pay off our student loans. (stinking student loans. BLEH.) It really is hard and I need to do better! Now you've got me all pumped! :) I need to do the list thing, I'm horrible at that. I go to Walmart to get just a few things and end up with a cart full...I don't know how it happens!
Some things can only be learned in certain ways and sometimes it takes time to learn them.
That's awesome info! I'm excited at how much debt you've been able to get rid of. That's our goal this year....it's pretty daunting but I know it will be worth it.
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