its a mad mission

Bill and I want to get the school bill paid off in the next year and a half — a very aggressive plan, but we think we can do it. Neither of us have ever been big spenders, and we appreciated that in each other from the start. I may splurge occasionally on clothes, him on a good meal. But I do my own laundry, he walks to work instead of paying the bus fare, most of our apartment is Goodwill furnished, etc. I figured we didn’t really have a lot of excess to trim from our budget in order to save more. (See bottom of post for reasons to save, or visit Dave Ramsey).

But over the past few months, I’ve found out otherwise. The more I look for ways to save here and there, the more I find. I had assumed I paid minimum prices on food, medication, phone service, etc. But after a few experiences, I’m getting into the habit of questioning the price tags on pretty much every place our money goes. Here’s some of what has worked for us—maybe it will for you. I’m definitely still learning, and hardly a saving-money role model. And maybe this is totally uninteresting, “duh” reading. But maybe it isn’t.

Use less—Uncle Joey got it long before I did. I just need to cut some stuff out. When I use less, I spend less, waste less, want less. During school, a teacher had us write a paper, then cut it to half the words, then cut it in half again. By the end you had the most important content left. Moving to NY was a lot like that. I cut my possessions in half, got here and cut off more. Only the things I valued most stayed. I oftentimes don’t realize that the things I think I “need” to have, I just don’t.
Also, what I do have can be put to better use. I can still hear my mom yelling “Don’t use so much toilet paper!” I finally understand this concept, whether it’s using a little less shampoo or wearing my dress pants more than once before washing.
Does cutting down leave me wanting more? Not really. The less I shop, the less I want to shop. I don’t covet the newest sweater nearly as much if I’m not out at the mall.

Groceries—Or maybe Uncle Joey was referring to couponing. I’m ashamed to say what our grocery bill was before. I figured since we want to eat a minimum of nutritionless foods, convert to more organic, and live in the most expensive city on the east coast, that this wasn’t budging. But after a friend introduced me to moneysavingmom.com, I’ve reduced the grocery/household bill by $30 a week (so far). Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s 30% less than before. If I could reduce everything we spend money on by 30%, that’s a whole lot of savings. (I like to think in terms of percentages rather than dollars for this reason.) Trader Joes’ has great organic stuff, amazon is good for bulk, and Walgreens is fabulous for whatever is on sale that week. I’ve been stacking manufacturer’s coupons with WG coupons and getting about $50 worth of goods for $20, including some stuff for free (some people are really good at this and can come away spending nearly nothing each week).

Verizon—turns out teachers get a discount in NYC. We filed the paperwork and got 19% off our monthly bill.

Medications
Walgreens has generics for $12 a month. 50% savings for us.

Rewards Cards
I hate credit cards. Read: HATE them. So does Dave Ramsey. But we do have a BofA rewards card that we use for necessary large purchases (flights, school bill, etc) and pay off the next day. In the past half year, we’ve earned enough for a $100 amazon card, just paying for things we have to. Plus, for BofA customers, a bunch of NYC museums are free on first weekends of the month.

These are just a few examples. I’ve been reading blogs of others who post their 2009 savings goals, and apparently they have inspired me to blog about this too.

Reducing the amount of money we live on is not an end in itself (though it has become a fun game!). Rather, it’s a means to spending more money on things we value (Bill’s future seminary training, a house, etc.). It’s also a way to make sure we have more to give. You don’t need me telling you how much need exists in the world today. I’m realizing I’ve drowned people’s cries by spending on myself. I’m called to be a good shepherd of all God gives, and with His grace, I hope to improve at that.

Sometimes I get confused as to what that involves. Avoiding “Big Box” stores because I don’t like what they stand for? Getting the best deals so the money saved can go to our children’s college fund? Eating organically to best shepherd my body? Spending extra time with my husband instead of clipping coupons? Clipping coupons so my husband can work less? Patronize more expensive but locally run stores? The questions seem infinite and daunting—I’m prone to go to one extreme and disregard the other. That’s why it’s so important to be spending time in prayer and the Word, where God can speak to me each day, reworking my mind to balance my worldview while I sit at His feet.