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Bought two pairs of fall/winter slacks. I haven't bought slacks in several years and mine were showing the wear. Also bought new blinds for my bedroom windows as the current ones were "stuck" at mid-window and couldn't be fixed.
Other than that, food, some used books, household items at the Dollar store. That's about it! I do have a few Christmas presents on layaway.
We are actually spending a lot and I can't wait until we are done. We are in the process of building a solar and wind generated house. We only spend on the house and our food. There is no frivolous spending like eating out, movies, DVD rentals, etc. Just the necessities but boy they are a lot right now.
When we are finished, and I do see the light at the end of the tunnel, we will hardly spend anything for living. Woo hoo. No more electric bills, yeah and hardly ant property taxes.
That is really, really cool! I would LOVE to get a wind turbine for my home! They do have "house-sized" ones here and Texas is about to allow folks to sell unused power back to the grid! But the cost of the turbine, installation, etc. is $15,000. That's cheaper than solar but still out of my price range.
That is really, really cool! I would LOVE to get a wind turbine for my home! They do have "house-sized" ones here and Texas is about to allow folks to sell unused power back to the grid! But the cost of the turbine, installation, etc. is $15,000. That's cheaper than solar but still out of my price range.
You can see what we've been spending these past 5 months. Almost done, yeah!
Still spending, although I was never really very spendy in the first place. Plus, I am in Texas and it just doesn't seem that bad here.
I agree. If you never looked at the news online, in the paper, on the radio, or on television, you'd never be able to tell from going about town that there was anything wrong. Folks seem upbeat and chipper for the most part, some businesses don't seem to have declined at all, etc.
I'm not spending much on the holidays, but I'm single with no children so that's not really much of a sacrifice. If I had kids, small ones, I'd make sure they still had nice, memorable holidays; older ones, I'd let them know we're cutting back a bit and give them the plain facts.
I put off travel plans indefinitely (ski trip, trip to Austin), put off motorcycle-buying plans indefinitely, didn't buy a laptop, didn't buy furniture, stopped house-hunting, stuck with my 20" Sony CRT TV, bought clothes at Goodwill (you would be surprised, my two new pair of $6/each pants are very nice), decided to use some stored up gift cards and movie passes (as something to do instead of spending money), didn't spring for the high-performance tires, didn't buy a washer/dryer, didn't buy a black and white Argentine tegu, pulled out already-purchased/unread books instead of buying new ones, looked at several ways to buy groceries more cheaply/efficiently, canceled my work gym membership (instead I'll just jog outside and use my free weights), didn't upgrade my cable TV, started clipping coupons, decided no more dessert, alcohol, appetizers, or salads at restaurants, cut down on restaurant visits, started putting in more effort and more hours at work, even considered a weekend job at Home Depot (although $7/hour gross is less than a fourth what I get in my primary job), and generally contented myself with stuff I already have. More trips to the park -- it's free!
Looking for extra income and cutting costs have definitely taken up alot of my time over the past say 6 months or so. Besides that, I've definitely made more trips to Walmart and less to HD or Lowes...
I've always tried to live within my means, but there definitely were/are some things I was throwing money out the door on...
I just moved (for work)and living in an apartment. My wife and kids are with her family until I can get a house.
Bought a new LCD tv(mine as packed and I found a killer deal on one).
Bought a cell phone.
Put in a short sale offer on a house. BUT....... I think I am going to pull it. While I am under the market and would likely be ok if the market dropped another 10% in texas(including commissions), I think it is going to get much, much worse. Job losses are going to be crazy. I just don't want to get pinned down with a house. I am going to keep that money(14 months of income) just in case. I don't want it tied up in a house I may not be able to sell.
The Mrs and I are pretty frugal for the most part....no debt, no mortgage. Biggest expenses are large quarterly income tax payments and a hefty real estate tax bill. Might save a bit on the income taxes due to the beating the investments are taking nowadays.
About the only passion we indulge ourselves in is cruising.....which got very expensive this year with diesel prices hitting $5 a gallon. Our classic (old, wooden) 60 foot Chris*Craft holds 1200 gallons of fuel, so trips to the fuel pier were PAINFUL! LOL. She is powered by twin 12 cylinder Detroit diesels which drink fuel like it's going out of style. We did throttle her back a few knots to conserve and we had a long put-off injector replacement job done which helped also.
But life is too short...so we took our annual cruise to Maine (from Virginia) as usual this summer and quite a few shorter trips. We have a few more weeks of Fall cruising left (our favorite time of year), then we'll fill her up one last time to fuel the furnace over the Winter.
My spouse is on workers comp, injured, had to have surgery.
So, we are on a little bit of a reduced wages for the time being. But we now have to pay Union dues (reduced) and medical/dental/life ins out of pocket, and that totals $105.00 a month. Not a lot, I know.
Spouse just bought a shotgun after the Election:
It was $65.00. Now he needs ammo. For what?? Well, I have not a clue, but IF something went down, at least he will be ready: ok:
For his Birthday, he bought a guitar and it was $85.00.
Why he bought it not sure, since he cannot play due to shoulder surgery
.
I am trying to save money/pay down mortgage debt and pay down consumer debt!
I have bought nothing. He is the spender. Spends 50-60 per week at the grocery store, and we still spend a bit at Costco too
I need
new tires
brakes soon
eye exam if I want to continue wearing lenses
Our home needs cosmetic work, no time soon for that...
So, nope I am not really spending. I did just get my 1st haircut in 9 months ($35.00)
Oh and we spend a bit on the rental for landscaping, but that should be good until Q109!
I am such a non consumer, and I am afraid of saving $ since he is such a $pender!
Seriously, at least he is not a gambler, he has come a loooong way on the path of frugality!
Last edited by Mugsy; 11-07-2008 at 10:51 PM..
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