The holidays are here!!
For many, this is the best time of the year. Lots of parties, great food, presents and time with family. For others, this time of the year can mean increased stress for many different reasons. One source of stress: spending increases, income does not.
For those of you that don't know, I've recently moved into an apartment (yay!) which I love! This also means that my outgoing expenses have gone up. In order to keep doing the things I love while not eating ramen noodles every night I've started looking for ways here and there to save money. There are the obvious ways to save money like churning your own butter and learning to sew your own clothes. But I'm pretty sure those require a bonnet and an unfortunate looking dress. Both of which I am opposed to. So I came up with some other solutions.
Here are a few small ways I've found to save money:
-Rent your movies from the library (and books). For those of you that haven't been to the movie section in a library for awhile, you are probably thinking they don't carry anything current. Yesterday I would have agreed with you. But today I had a meeting by the West Des Moines Library and decided to go check it out afterwards. They have a TON of movies! I only scanned the S and T sections and quickly picked out two movies.
-Cut the cable. No your life will not end without it, yes you can still watch TV without the pretty black box that has made a permanent home on your entertainment center. First of all, TV is a huge time waster. I didn't realize how much TV I watched until I didn't have it. Secondly, you can get a surprising number of channels with bunny ears. Thirdly, anything you can't get with bunny ears can (for the most part) be watched online. And if you know a little about computers or how to Google, you can figure out how to stream your computer through your TV. I haven't had cable since I moved in October and I rarely, if ever, find myself wanting it back.
-Shop wisely and buy in bulk. Before I moved, we (I lived with Cindy, sister #2) lived right by Dahls. This made it too easy to run up there when you need something quick or didn't feel like driving farther to Hy-Vee or Walmart for lower prices. An average shopping trip to Walmart costs me $40-$50. The same trip to Dahls would be closer to $80. Buying in bulk is also great because the cost per unit is usually lower. Sometimes they put the cost per unit right on the price tag. If you don't live near a cheaper grocery store, plan to do your shopping on your way to/from work or another trip that takes you by the cheaper stores.
-Re-gift. Those presents from Aunt Irma and Uncle Ned you got last year that are still in the box? Hello white elephant gift.
-Talk to your family about gift giving. Draw names instead of each person buying a gift for each person in the family. Everyone gets something a little nicer but doesn't have to spend an arm and a leg to guess and hope you bought the right gift for everyone (I realize this may be a little late and most of you have already started if not finished your shopping, but if you have a family like ours...you haven't even started =])
-Make snacks or sides for parties instead of buying them pre-made. You've been enlisted to bring dessert to the office party and it's tempting to stop and pick up something from the bakery but it ends of being so much more expensive. If you're like me, you're not born with a natural culinary gift and to actually make something from scratch requires much more time and effort than I usually have. So I pick up the box mixes for cakes, muffins and cookies. If you want to make something a little better than just muffins there is usually a secondary recipe on the boxes to spice it up a bit. Mixes are usually 1 or 2 bucks plus a couple eggs and oil or water. Way cheaper.
These are just a few things I have found useful in cutting costs this holiday season. When I go shopping and pick something up that's not on my list (oh yes, lists are an excellent way to keep you from impulse buying), I think "Do I REALLY need this? Will this improve my quality of life?" Most often the answer is no.
To sum this up: Needs are far different than wants, thoughtfully consider your purchases, simpler is better - the less clutter I have, the less cluttered and stressful my life is and lastly, material things will not be with me very long (hearses don't pull u-hauls).
As Dave Ramsey, the man behind Financial Peace University, says: "If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else" hint: he's not talking about retirement ;)
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