Just wondering if anyone else is finding themselves in a position where they feel they need to consciously "cut back" on their discretionary spending. What have you decided to cut back on?
For example, I am not buying magazines at the moment. DD1 is now having tuckshop once a fortnight instead of once a week. I have not stepped foot inside a bookshop since Christmas, and compensate by more frequent trips to the library. We are also discussing selling one of our vehicles to get us through the lean times.
yep!!
i hate not baing able to just buy... stuff... you know, getting photos printed (which means when i DO have the chance. its costs me heaps because i havent done it forever ) or buying plastic containers to tidy my cupboards.... or a spindle of blank cds.
i actually have a list of 'bits n pieces i need to buy- looking forward to tax time!!
I am more particular with magazines, I found I was barely reading them anyway. So now I just get Womens Weekly as it give me a whole month to read it, plus it has good recipes and the odd knitting pattern that I send to MIL.
Think twice before grabbing something just because it is on special, especially with DVD's. We have Austar, so there is not a major need for DVD's. In fact I am considering cutting back on that, but the way they have the packages structured makes it difficult and I have to way up will DVD purchases increase due to it. It did years ago when cut back on it, I would save $40 only to DH go out and spend $80
Starting to cut back on spending on food when out and about with the girls (costs a fortune for just 2 small toasted sandwiches). I either make the trip quick enough to avoid needing a meal or try to take something with us to tide us over (can be hard though if it is grocery day).
Last edited by Astrid; June 29th, 2009 at 08:20 AM.
: spelling
yep we are cutting back too ! we went through a tough patch about a month ago and we struggled . things we did were stop foxtel until extra bills were paid off and DH did overtime , our groceries were planned and we used what was in the cupboard untill there was no food left , and if it wasnt shop week we had toasted sandwiches or tinned soup for a night or 2 .
I worked out what DS like to eat and only went to aldi to buy it , so muslei bars and youghurt and snacky foods . the rest of the time we go to the markets to buy our fruit and veg , bananas are about 99c a kilo and 10 bananas are gone within 2 days here so we buy heaps .
and meant we bought half of what we'd normally eat and sliced/cut it up fine and added extra veg , even DH said he like it better !!
i am a memeber of simple saving and is such a help .. so many handy ways to cut costs .
also i am switching to enjo , its expensive to buy but lasts ages and it only uses water to clean so save on cleaning products aswell ... i also use cloth nappies and cloth pads and coth wipes and reusuable things where ever i can ... my friend who is slave to huggies nappies and wipes and everything disposeable calls me "alternative" but complains her groceries are over $250 A WEEK !!!!!!
ours is just under that a FORTNIGHT !!
when i think about buying something , i always ask myself , do i need it ? Is it on sale ? its only a bargain if you need it , if you dont need it its not a bargain ....
we are selling a car as well . we have a few debts to our parents and we want them gone , so hopefully the car will sell...
we also consolidated our CC and Loan , on to a 7 yr term to make the payments cheaper , but still pay the 5 yr repayment , as if we ever are struggling again we can redraw on the loan , or make the smaller payment untill we get back on track , and if im driving somehwere i make sure that there is more than 1/2 a tank and if theres not then if its not really important (like shops , to buy something i dont need) than i dont go . so i dont waste fuel .
since staying in and cutting back , my dinners are yummier and my house is cleaner and there is money in my bank at the end of the fortnight.
also by cutting back and being frugal , we didnt go shopping last week except for fruit and milk , bread etc and we had extra money left over in DH's acc .. so it really does help
OH if were are out and needing to buy luch we buy one thing and share . usually a foot long subway and KFC large chips feeds 3 of us . for about $10 , we never buy soft drinks , just bring our own water and poppers from home for DS .. i always bring food from home to keep DS busy , and if i want take away , i think about how it makes me feel afterward , ( junk food (cept chocolate) is such an anticliamx and its never as good as we remember it ) so if im going to be dissapointed after eating it , i just dont buy it !
yesterday i went to the shops on my own and treatred myself to a coffee , but brought chocolate from home to have as a treat with my coffee , saved myself $4 ...
once you start cutting back and re thinking about spending .... being frugal becomes addictive and fun , and when you see savings (no matter how small to start off with) you will feel like your winning .. it feels good !!! GL and happy savings !!
Last edited by *charmalea*; June 29th, 2009 at 08:40 AM.
I think alot of people are cutting back on buying lunches at the moment. I work in a cafe which is mainly frequented by tradies but it's so quiet atm.
I personally have cut back my spending too. My main vice was DVDs and CDs, I have also cut back on buying drinks...One 600ml coke is around $3.50 (depending where you get it), I'd buy at least 1 a day. Now we all take a drink with us when we go out.
Well DH & I have been living like it's a recession our entire 7 years of married life LOL! DH is very money conscious and wants our house paid of quickly so we have always lived like we are cutting back. It was hard on me when we first got married! But I got used to it over time. We recently talked about how we could cut back on spending if he lost his job, but we couldn't work out how .
We do all our shopping at Aldi and it costs us about $100 (or just over) per week for our family of 4. We keep costs down by not drinking soft-drink, not buying snack foods (apart from Scotch Finger biscuits and the occasional box of muffin bars) and we even sacrificed chocolate (although we do cave in sometimes ).
We changed all our light globes over to energy saving ones which has saved us a fortune.
Our ducted heating never goes higher than 18 degrees (a huge gas saving).
We don't have cable TV, we borrow books, videos and DVD's for the kids from the library which is free .
We only buy clothing when absolutely necessary - although I buy heaps of great second-hand clothing for the kids from the baby & kids markets for only a couple of dollars each (I'm picky and only get items that still look great), no one would know!
We have a VOIP home telephone which only costs us about $5-$6 a month (including calls!).
Umm...there are lots of other things we do, but that's all that comes to mind atm. But we would definitely be pulling in the purse strings in these times if we weren't already. It's scary not knowing what the future will hold and I guess we've just got to be as prepared as we can.
Cutting back?
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) or buying plastic containers to tidy my cupboards.... or a spindle of blank cds. 
.
(although we do cave in sometimes 
).
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