In the past I sometimes struggled not to spend money every day: parking, gas, food, whatever.
Since I moved out 18 months ago from the house I shared with two horrible housemates I have changed so much, and have so much less stress in my life. I bring my lunch to work about 95% of the time. If I don't I go home for lunch as I live less than two miles away. No spending there.
I have class at the college for two fitness courses four nights a week so I pack a dinner most days as well to eat before going to work out for 90 minutes. No spending there as there is no time!
Most Fridays I come home from work exhausted from a long work/class week and don't go out with friends much. Sometimes I do, but if I do I meet them for a drink, (usually at a place with free appetizers) and leave when they begin talking about ordering dinner. I just choose not to spend money on food when I have full cabinets, can cook well, eat healthier, lower sodium, higher nutrient food at home.
Saturdays is homework/house cleaning/running errands day. So planned spending is the only spending on that day.
I do my grocery shopping on Sunday. I pay cash for everything that is not a fixed expense (my weekly allowance/gas/groceries) so I always go off a list. I shop at the grocery store, target, the grocery outlet occassionally.
On a whole other topic related to our wallets:
I work in emergency management and used to teach disaster preparedness courses. This earthquake and resulting tsunami has reminded me that my emergency kit is not up to snuff since I moved. Not even close. I don't even have water anymore! This weekend I am going to be shopping for the few emergency supplies that I absolutely need. I sorted out what I do have today when cleaning out the closet and know what I need.
Reader poll:
How many of you have at least 3 days of easily prepared food and water for your families?
How many people know that with careful planning you could build an emergency kit for your families without spending extra money to do so? (another blog post coming.)
Do you know what you need for your family?
Do you know what you would grab if you had 15 minutes to evacuate? A list prepared of the items to take and where they are located that is easy to get to?
No Spend days, emergency planning
March 13th, 2011 at 05:00 am
March 13th, 2011 at 12:54 pm 1300020869
What would I grab? My cats. That would probably take the whole 15 minutes. I do know where their carriers area, but they never make it easy for me to get them in them! I would grab my purse and my computer if I had extra time.
March 13th, 2011 at 01:11 pm 1300021868
After the cats, though, i'd also grab the cheap viny briefcase kept in a convenient to access location. It contains essential paperwork including my homeowners insurance info and current coverage, my will, deed to my home, SS card, car insurance paperwork, birth certificate and so on. I had kept some of this stuff in a safe deposit box which went by the wayside as a cost-saving measure while unemployed. A lot of this stuff is important to be able to access to prove your identitiy and file claims in an emergency situation when you can't access this stuff at home, such as flood or fire. Instead of keeping it in a file cabinet, I consolidated all the most important stuff and put it in the briefcase which i could quickly grab if i needed to get out in a hurry. It could save lots of delays and headaches down the road.
PS If you only had 15 minutes, a list wouldn't work; you'd want to consolidate everything beforehand that you can.
March 13th, 2011 at 03:00 pm 1300028407
Next, I would grab my budget envelopes and my purse.
March 13th, 2011 at 03:42 pm 1300030968
March 13th, 2011 at 07:30 pm 1300044612
I would grab all my gift cards that are stuck in a drawer, my notebook of financial information and my safety boxes first. If there was still time I would grab a few more clothes and as many of my miniature rooms as possible.
March 18th, 2011 at 09:04 pm 1300482282
Jerry