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Significant savings from less commuting, lower gas prices and eating out. Had to cancel a vacation in March (still fighting for some of the refund). Decided to aggressively pay down debt.
I've said for years that if most people spent as little as I do, then the Great Depression would look like boom times. I am looking for even further ways to cut my spending. Good luck trying to sell me anything. LOL
I'm already frugal, so I'm not slashing spending because there's not much to slash. I don't eat out, buy new clothes often. I was going to buy new athletic shoes, but I've put that on hold.
I was going to buy new area rugs, but decided to have some yard work professionally done, instead, which needs to be done (cutting down huge trees near the house...they are a danger, and block water drainage in yard). I applied the stimulus check toward that big expense.
I don't think I can afford a new car, but for those who can, this is a good time to buy a car, IF you need to buy a car, anyway.
Not many other ways I can cut spending, except to cut groceries. I was going to buy a larger main tv because I can't read the words on the tv, now that I've gotten older. I've put that on hold, but if there is a good sale for Memorial Day, I MIGHT get that. But maybe not. It's not absolutely necessary.
I don’t track our spending closely enough to know a dollar or percentage, but we pretty much stopped all discretionary spending. It’s not so much from fear, but because the economy is shutdown and we can’t go anywhere. The only thing we’ve been spending a lot on is food. We switched to healthy, prepared foods for everything to get a jump start on weight loss while were working at home. It’s expensive to do this much meal prep (21 meals x 2).
Last month we had the scariest credit card bill I've ever gotten, 3x normal. We went through it line by line and yup we spent that money. This months is on track back to 1x, ramped up spending ended unless someone gets sick.
Spent a LOT on grocery deliveries 2 months ago, cancelled Instacart because of ridiculous overcharging for items not delivered. Last overcharge was over $40 buh-bye. We watch our money and catch mistakes when possible.
Younger people (we're retired) are the economy's biggest engine, bars and concerts, getting married, buying and setting up new home, having babies. Their whole extended family contributes to this. We won't be going to a close relatives wedding in Utah this summer, $3000 unspent.
Location: Danbury CT covering all of Fairfield County
2,636 posts, read 7,433,232 times
Reputation: 1378
No new clothes in 2.5 months, other than 1 pair of shoes to replace old shoes, will have to get another pair of exercise shoes this week once the store opens up. Gas use cut in 1/2. No haircut since March 4 (usually in every 3 weeks) or other self care in 2.5 months. Wasn't charged gym membership on last 2 statements. No movies in 3 months mininum which involved usually drinks and food at the bar before or after. No alcohol purchases, using what I have had home, but not really drinking much. Only 'non-regular' purchase was new comforter set and a couple pillows to replace one that was about 9 years old and ratty. Was out usually 5 days a week for lunch, now done to 1-2 at most. No bar since March 6.
Groceries are MORE because I have to drive my dad to the grocery store so when I'm there, I end up buying a bunch of food. Been buying more fruit than usual. No vacation this summer, which is okay. Minor savings due to no children's activities. Staying home on weekends, so not driving as much.
But we just bought an electric car to take advantage of the pandemic price drop (saved $5,000) to replace the 215,000 miles one, and a new refrigerator due to the old one was 50 degrees. Technically, the $2,400 stimulus money paid for that with some money left over.
We were tightwads before, but now we've cut about 30%-50% of our budget thanks to not spending anything on museums, classes, travel, fuel, restaurants, and clothes.
I did have plans to buy some big-ticket items this year; a car and an RV. Those are on hold as I wait to see if the economy will really fall into a recession/depression. In that case, I'll be looking to pick those items up from repo auctions for pennies on the dollar.
I've said for years that if most people spent as little as I do, then the Great Depression would look like boom times. I am looking for even further ways to cut my spending. Good luck trying to sell me anything. LOL
I've been frugal for most of my life- except when it comes to eating out. Since the pandemic, I have driven much less (riding bicycle) and forced myself to cook new cuisine and buying many less items than before. I have hunkered down even more since I did not qualify for stimulus/govt programs and have seen reduction in income.
Location: Fort Bend County, TX/USA/Mississauga, ON/Canada
2,702 posts, read 6,030,437 times
Reputation: 2304
Saving more than anything, what is hitting me the most is grocery
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