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Originally Posted by bjornb17
Food - $350/month (eat out only once a month or so... mostly just grocery expenses)
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Aldi's or other discount supermarkets for your processed foods. Mexican or Chinese markets for your veggies (cheaper than the super). Make everything from scratch (except noodles). Fry, steam, boil. Baking is very inefficient.
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Cell Phone Service - $95/month (verizon's most basic family plan plus $5/month for 250 text messages)
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Wow, that's way too much. It should be more like $60/month for 2 phones. I think Sprint is the cheapest company. Call Verizon up and threaten to switch to another company. Call the other companies and tell them you need cheaper service. Go with the lowest rate. Stop texting unless they'll give it to you for free. Use skype if you make any international calls or if you're having trouble staying under you minutes.
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Internet - $41/month (Time warner roadrunner)
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You should be able to get it for $20/month. See if you can cut down on your bandwidth. You never get 1Mbps anyway, and 768K is plenty wide for most users unless you're running a web server or have 3 or more computers streaming video at the same time. See if AT&T will give you cheaper rates for DSL.
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Phone line $21/month (AT&T - we don't use the phone, only have line for security system)
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Cancel the phone and security system.
Do you have homeowners insurance? They'll cover your stuff if it's broken/stolen, or you can just choose not to own anything worth stealing. Check to see if your policy savings are bigger than the cost of the system.
As for personal safety, if you keep a cell handy, you can dial 911 and get a police response rather than a rent-a-cop who probably would be ineffective in a violent home invasion anyway.
You can get internet on a "dry loop" line without phone service if it's DSL. If you can't find an alternative to a phone security system and you want to keep the security, I think you're stuck. Phone lines don't go cheaper than 20. It's usually 12 for service and 8 for taxes and fees.
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I am consdiering swtiching to AT&T DSL since we already have the phone line, that would cost only $10 more per month, then we can save $30/month over Roadrunner.
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Good idea. A dry loop could save you $40/month, but it's sometimes a hassle to set up and maybe you won't be convinced by my security system arguments.
Other suggestions?
Put yourself on a strict budget. Withdraw that much cash at the beginning of each week and only pay cash. You ALWAYS spend more than you think if you use a card and "keep track". If you run out of cash, you buy nothing more until next week.
Lower your thermostat to 65 or less. Put on a sweater.
Change to CFL's.
Do not drive your car unless absolutely necessary. Carpool. Bike. Walk.
Sell a car if you have more than one.
Sell your house, move into something smaller with lower mortage/rent.
Move to a cheaper region of the country.
Move to a cheaper country.
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Fortunately we never let food to go to waste... i think i maybe eat too much of it haha. 
