I am like a squirrel, with each pay tucking away dollars for our various goals and dreams - travel, Christmas fund, weekends away sealed pot, and big bill fund (house taxes, car insurance, house insurance). I don't want to decrease any of the monies that I put there so there will need to be a 20% belt tightening to make it work.
With hubby away I shut the furnace and AC off completely (it was 25 degrees celcius here, yes, we on occasion are still using AC as we work from home and furnace has not been used since early June). I have gone around the house unplugging anything that is not being used or that must be left plugged in to save on electricity. It is surprising the amount of energy you use for just keeping things plugged in. Since August we have been eating anything that is a wee bit older in the freezer so that we can eliminate any unnecessary food waste.
I updated and organized my coupon folder, although I haven't been using many coupons this year. Still, there were a few I could have taken advantage and didn't. As my Mother always says, every little bit helps. When he is away on business I virtually stop buying groceries, only eat what is in the fridge that needs using up. The only time I stray is if there is a "too good to let pass" deal that comes up.
In the last several months we had gotten into the habit of eating out more, and that is going to need to slow down. Once I am working only from home again in October there is really no excuse for not making sure we eat healthy, well balanced home cooked meals that are better for us and much easier on the pocketbook.
Anyone else out there doing some fiscal belt-tightening this fall?
The belt will most definitely be tightening and a lot! I just left my job so things are going to be way different for us now. Good luck to both of us :)
ReplyDeleteThe freedom you will have is so worth the belt-tightening! Congrats!
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ReplyDeleteYou are such an inspiration to me. We are financially in a more comfortable place than when we were striving to pay the mortgage but i still need to squirrel away...just like you.
I'm so glad things are working out for you. And I hope you are feeling ok at the mo too.
Keep up the inspirational posts. Please!
Sft x
http://349sfttoseetheworldchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/
After the mortgage is done there is always the next "thing" to save for. We are enjoying more travelling this year. Will be going away in December again to somewhere warm and beachy!
DeleteOnce again it seems like we might be on the same path!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some job certainly back, it is so hard knowing month to month what kind of pay checks you are looking at.
DeleteI always try to tighten the belt and then something comes up. But I do try all of the time to keep our bills down. I did have to turn the heat on this week though. It was 65 in the house, upstairs!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe have been lucky and it has been quite warm, I actually had to turn off the AC so it wouldn't kick in! 65 is pretty low, usually I can't stand it below 67 or I hurt with arthritis, although an electric blanket helps.
DeleteI tried to turn on the heat but nothing happened! Furnace man cometh tomorrow. Hopefully it's nothing too serious. I'm hoping there's a "reset" button somewhere :) This is the only year I'm aware of that the only 2 months I didn't have to turn the furnace on was July and August!! That's outrageous! After my trip I'll be doing some major belt tightening myself as I work out a new budget based on my pension. But...not going to think about that til after my holiday!!
ReplyDeleteLife will get back to normal for you after you get home, so much easier to work out expenses at that time. I hope you have a great time!
DeleteAlways watching every penny but right now, with the build of our new home, we're really frugal. We have no debt, so the only things we pay for are property taxes, utilities, food, gas, insurance and the occasional item that we need, like new jeans (my purchase this week) or a gift for someone. Squirreling away every penny we can get our hands on! Good luck with your belt tightening. :)
ReplyDeleteYou sound like us. We have to plan for big expenses but basically have no long term debt anymore - so nice!
DeleteWe are always always watching our money carefully! Have you ever checked out the the website for Checkout51 www.checkout51.com. We have used it over the summer but sometimes we forget to check it out before going shopping. It does slowly add up though.
ReplyDeleteAs for eating out in Canada, it is something that we very rarely ever do. We were treated out to lunch at a local cafe in the town close to us (23kms away on a dirt road) back at the end of April and haven't had a meal out since, and we don't miss it either.
I do use Checkout 51 but haven't got quite enough to redeem yet. Today got discount on my bananas that way. You two are the ultimate in frugal travelers, part of the reason you have so much freedom!
DeleteHmm I THINK I should be belt-tightening but it's just not happening at the moment! Not spending huge amounts but just a bit spendy.
ReplyDeleteHey ho, sometimes you just have to go with the flow!
xx
Yes, my summer was like that - spendy, just trying to curb it now.
DeleteWe SHOULD be but we never do! I wish we had at least just a little of your "maturity"!
ReplyDeleteSelf employment has done that to us - we never would be able to live on what we do if we hadn't prepared several years before self-employment. Only us to count on for paychecks!
DeleteWe just canceled our cable, but we need to keep the DSL internet. So instead of $124 per month, we'll be paying about $64. We may offset those savings though by having to buy a few programs to watch. We have Amazon Prime, but the free stuff isn't spectacular. Also, I've been trying to get hubby to turn out the lights when he leaves the workshop, but he keeps claiming that fluorescent bulbs don't use that much electricity. If he could save a dollar a day, that'd be 30 bucks we could save per month (or use toward some movies).
ReplyDeleteWe reduced cable 2 months ago to basic plus news, haven't really seen a difference. Saving $30 a month though! Hubby is not quite as miserly as me, often leaves lights on all over the place. Hard to convince him of the savings.
DeleteWe haven't been eating out as much, but more from a waist tightening. In the past, when we went to town for what we call "town chores" including going to the condo to watch Saturday football (Wayne tries to convince me it is hard work), we used to eat our dinner out or buy something from a restaurant to eat while watching a game. Now we bring salads and leftovers with us that are healthier and more economical at the same time. - Margy
ReplyDeleteYes, I left out the waste tightening bit but we are the same. Restaurant meals are so high in calories, hard to justify.
DeleteIf you completely shut down your furnace (is it oil, propane? what?) that causes more damage to the system than the pennies you think you are saving. DH was a heat technician and he always advised homeowners NOT to shut the system down, just lower the thermostat to the lowest setting so the heat would not kick on.
ReplyDeleteOh well.
Live and learn.
Ours is a heat pump and runs all the time, just the ac and electric furnace part kick in when we need them to. You are right though, regular furnaces need to be ran.
DeleteHello, I would love to read your blog posts, however the font is so small it is very difficult, could you possibly make it larger? Many thanks
ReplyDeleteI tried but it makes the word huge - perhaps increase the size of items on your screen? Sorry, I wish blogger had more options!
DeleteYou'll probably like a post I have coming up soon, been challenging myself to pay next to nothing or nothing for all necessities and making new things from old, a fun way to keep on a spending diet. I'm always super frugal but I need to hurry and get on my friend's cell phone plan (Framily plan, Sprint) to save a nice bit. Doing the same thing with keeping things turned off and need to call my property owners about a rebate for our crap AC during the hottest month of the year. The little things really do add up.
ReplyDeleteYou are one of my favorite bloggers for that reason, self employment and living on less = freedom. Looking forward to it!
DeleteOh yes there is super belt tightening in my little world right now! I need a really good winter coat that can withstand wind ,snow and whatever else the Montreal winter throws at me! So I am squirreling away all the change I can to help in this, also Xmas is coming very very fast....
ReplyDeleteWe took a big decision that will change our life and we need to put extra $$$ in fixing up the house....But I am happy and looking optimistically to the future!