Cutting back?

[AnyDream]

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.

[DoubleK]

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!!

[Fleur]

Takeaway

So many nights where we would...but....

[Astrid]

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).

[*charmalea*]

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 !!

[Tinks]

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.

[~Trish~]

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.

[fionas]

Definitely cut back on magazines - that's a big vice of mine.

And lunches - we try to take our own.

And food generally - about to do menu planning for this week.

[AnyDream]

Krystal - I know what you mean, it drives me crazy when something needs doing/fixing/organising at home and we just don't have the funds to get what we need to do it!

Astrid - I hear you on the cost of toasted sandwiches! I don't normally patronise the golden arches but there was a time they were doing cheese toasties for $1.50 or something which is about right I think!

We used to all have a snack & a drink before we did the grocery shopping (the whole family goes on friday evenings) but I have since discovered I can get "minimum chips" for $3.50 which keeps DD2 happy in the stroller and tides everyone else over and there are not so many impulse buys going in the trolley!

Tinkerbell I think you are right about a lot of people cutting back - that and takeaway too. When I was getting my $3.50 chips last week the place was deserted and it was right on that time you'd expect the families to be queuing up for Fri night tea.

Charmalea - I do your trick of bulking everything up with veggies - one serve of meat turns into 2 or three nights dinners. It sounds like you're a frugality powerhouse LOL

Trish I'm a huge fan of the baby and kids markets too. We've got one on this weekend here.

I'm finding it really interesting reading all this. There's a big difference between being frugal because you have to, and actually consciously choosing to not spend your $ on particular things. I guess scrimping always leaves you feeling like you're missing out, but if you feel like you're making a conscious choice then you feel more like you're in control and things are going the way you want them to, kwim?

[Laranna]

Great thread!

Magazines are the number 1 thing I've cut back on. I've got a couple of subscriptions due for renewal and I really want to renew them but....on the other hand one of them is money magazine which means if I renewed I could claim it in my tax and it will give me money advice over the next year...catch 22!

I also bulk up my meals with more veggies and every meal I make enough for DF to take leftovers for lunch and for DS's dinner the next night. I've also dropped a meat meal and have 1 vegetarian dish a week, usually a mushroom risotto or something like that.

Am using bicarb and vinegar to clean, haven't bought cleaning products in ages and this saves us heaps.

I'm a part time cloth nappy user and at the moment I need to increase my stash to go full time but we just can't justify spending the extra money.

Our big expenses at the moment is our wedding and pumping all our spare change into the mortgage.

[Astrid]

Astrid - I hear you on the cost of toasted sandwiches! I don't normally patronise the golden arches but there was a time they were doing cheese toasties for $1.50 or something which is about right I think!

I used to wonder why so many parents bought Happy Meals for their kids, well now I really understand after seeing how much it can cost for just some basic food at a cafe.

I have found a cheaper option for us these day if we are going to the supermarket after the rest of our shopping. I will get a small quanity of ham or salami from the deli and one of those little packs of biscuits and cheese. Will also pick up a small choccie to share. Nice cheap lunch/snack to have in the car on the way home.

We used to all have a snack & a drink before we did the grocery shopping (the whole family goes on friday evenings) but I have since discovered I can get "minimum chips" for $3.50 which keeps DD2 happy in the stroller and tides everyone else over and there are not so many impulse buys going in the trolley!

Gosh I remember the days where we survived on minimum chips ($2) and a couple of potato cakes. When we first bought and were cleaning out the cupboards in the new house we could come across coins. If we found a $2 coin we would go "yeah, we can eat tonight!"