What have you cut back on?

I've started sharing needles.

 

I definitely pack my lunch every day. Lunch in our cafeteria is a little expensive. Nothing outrageous, but definitely worth packing my own.

I'd like to cut back on my cell phone bill, but I have about the cheapest you can get, and I plan on adding when I update in the near future. Oh well. I just cut back elsewhere (dinners, movies, blah, blah).

 

Got rid of or adjusted...

Netflix - $25 a month
Cleaning ladies - $180 a month (we got them when Lil 93 came along and it was worth it while she was still so needy).
Newspaper (one subscription) - $12 a month or so
Napster - $12 a month
Eating out is rare, but Lil 93 limits what we can do.
DirecTV to Comcast - $75 a month
One newspaper subscription to three days - $12 a month saved I think.
More Costco and less Ukrops. My wife is a coupon hound as well, and I cook or grill almost every night.
The wife works three more hours a week at about $30 an hour.
I eat more soup for lunch at work. That saves about $3 a meal total.
We have done flexible spending this year for daycare and that should make us about $1,000.

Our income has not changed (neither of us got any type of raise), but the whopping daycare bill cuts a very close budget for us. Once that is gone, it will be like getting a huge pay raise. It's just that we will not see that for a few more years.

So it's been about $700 dollar swing. We have not seen the benefit of it yet because her Pathfinder has needed about $500 in repairs the last month (we do not have a car payment, two crappies and one nice vehicle), and I needed to buy a $350 dishwasher for the townhouse I rent.

 

Changed to a cheaper tennis club.

Only restring my rackets once every 3-4 months instead of every month.

Keep the thermostat at 85 in summer.

Dropped SI and Time. Still get Newsweek, TENNIS and Consumer Reports.

Told lawn service to come only every 21 days. They were coming every 10 days.

Buy most clothes at Wal-Mart.

 

In two months I can stop spending money for formula. That's almost, what, $50-$70/a month over the cost of regular milk? Yippee! Can't wait for potty training to start.

 

I dropped SI, but kept ESPN the Mag (free) and Playboy (don't care what it costs.).

I have cut out golfing this summer....for now. I've hit the range a bit lately and have gotten the itch.

It's been hard to lay off the golf, poker, and gambling. It'll be really hard come football season. I'm sure I'll give in. That's usually how it works.

I could be divorced by Thanksgiving.

 

A couple of things work related: I've stopped buyng coffee in the cafeteria saving about $8 bucks per week and for the past three or so months I've stopped using the vending machines.
Three months ago we began renting out the bedroom in our basement at $600 per month. I was surprised at how much of a difference it's made.

 

Yeah, coffee can add up quick. Brewing a big pot in the morning and nuking new cups throughout the day saves me at least $15 a week.

Also, I found a golf course that doesn't care if you sneak out to play a round in the twilight hours. Just gotta dodge the sprinklers.

 

That reminds me, dropped SI as well.

Don't go to as many ball games either. I miss those the most.

 

I tried packing my lunch, but I just end up eating it on the way to work. Maybe I should pack two lunches.

 

No more eating out -- none. Brown bag or Michelina's frozen dinners at 99c a throw.

Grocery shopping at Costco and Save-a-Lot: no more trips to the yuppie supermarts. Real meat once or twice a week. Rest of the time, pasta or veggie dishes.

Cut cable TV, kept internet for job searches. That's a grand or so a year. For about 5 years in the mid-1990s, I went without TV altogether - that might be next.

No more concerts -- I usually go to 4-6 a year, with travel expenses that comes to a couple grand a year. I might get to go to ONE if sibs decide to buy me a ticket for my birthday or something.

No more ball games (I used to go to maybe a dozen a year, with all the incidentals that probably came to a grand).

No more movies. It's not like I went to many anyway, but that's out the window too.

No vacations -- no biggie really because the company decided to cut all paid vacations; all employees have the option to take 2 weeks unpaid if they choose. With no money for gas to go anywhere, might as well keep working. Plus working a second job as I likely will be soon, almost impossible to get time off from both at the same time.

 

I'm probably going to go that route with my satellite TV service. No point in keeping it when I can watch a lot of my favorite shows online.

I have no desire to cook, so pulling the plug on eating out is easier said than done.