[Win $250 giftcard] Are you cutting your budget?

[northerncheapskate]

I've been cutting back on spending since the day we learned I was having twins! I believe in moderation in all things.... regardless of what the current economy is like.

We're constantly working to make our money stretch as far as it can. We're always looking to improve our grocery budget and to decrease our energy consumption. We're clipping coupons, using the internet to find freebies and deals, and swapping out incandescent bulbs for CFLs.

[just_kelly]

Are you cutting back on spending?

Yes! We are eating out way less. We are also buying more in bulk and storing it to get better price per unit.

[stompoutloud]

Yes me and my fiance are both cutting back. First off.. both of us work professions where we also get tips/gratuity. We are putting the tips into a bank account to build our emergency funds.

We used to keep the ac and ceiling fans running all day long. When we both leave for work, we turn both of them off. It has saved a ton on our utility bills.

We changed the shower head to a low flow. I have noticed a drop in our water bills. I have also started taking shorter showers. It's the small stuff that saves money.

I used to have two cars. I got rid of one. The amount of money saved from insurance, gas, and maintenance has helped me save more money.

[Rane2knight]

We are cutting back on everything. Instead of driving his blazer back and forth to work, my husband bought a slightly damaged scooter for 700.00. He rides it everywhere now. We are growing our own vegetables (attempting to anyway) and herbs and we buy more bulk items and freeze them. We also are making more meatless dinners, such as quiche, homemade vegetable soup, and meatless lasagne. We have done away with expensive tiers in the cable and instead rent movies. I can get some great deals on ebay for rent one, get one free offers and also I buy coupons from ebay in bulk.

[lucille]

Absolutely. We started cutting back when both gas and food started to creep up. We consolidate trips, buy more raw ingredients and have cut out most of our optional spending.

[LaurenOrder]

I'm a grad student, so my budget is already pretty tight, but I've been trying to shop strategically at the market to save money--I already make all of my meals at home so there is a limit to how much I can cut back. I find one good strategy is to make a big pot of soup at the beginning of the week and eat that for lunch rather than buy the more expensive fixings for sandwiches. I've also been hyper aware of my energy use since I'm trying to keep my electric bill down, so I've unplugged all of those appliances and items that use power even when theyre off and I replaced most of my lightbubls with CFLs.

[jomac13]

I work in Boston, an expensive city, but I've managed to cut back a bit: I walk part of my commute (1.8 miles each way) which saves me bus fare (I purchase a monthly pass for the subway) and I get some much needed exercise (can't afford gym membership at the moment). I've created a fairly strict and structured budget for the first time in my life - though I left some wiggle room so I don't end up feeling trapped or deprived. I make my morning coffee and bring a thermos to work. On the weekends I cook a big pot of something so that I have premade lunches for part of the week. Since I get up at 5:30 am, each evening I pack the next day's lunch so that it's all set to go - if I left it for the morning it would never happen! Some days I don't spend any money at all, which is quite different from my past ways. So, little cuts at a time are helping me get financially on track for the first time - and I'm 50!!!

[MelissaB]

Our family is cutting back, and most of them don't even know it yet.


I do most of the shopping and decisionmaking about eating out/other consumer spending. I've planned the holiday gifts much further in advance than I ever have, to allow for spreading out the purchasing and doing comparison shopping on items. And also avoiding that last minute overbuying for the kids.

We don't eat out as often, and I'm trying to curb our significant takeout habit.

I'm shopping much more at large supermarkets, with coupons, and trying to avoid the small, specialty stores. I'm trying to plan the meals much more thoroughly and buy in bulk when it makes sense to do so.

The $250 gift card is very appealing to me, because I would buy much needed holiday stuff with it.

[czadd]

We're definitely cutting back. The economic downturns of late just happened to coincide with the fact that my wife got a new job. Now we realize how much we relied on her quarterly bonuses way too much. Now we're livin' lean.

[gtm]

We are cutting back on spending. However, it is not necessarily because of the recession. The recession is just a good reminder to us that, even though we already live on a budget, we are guilty of unnecessary excess.

We are more careful at the grocery store; we are dining out less; and we are better at denying ourselves unnecessary goodies.

Interestingly, even though we are buying less, because of inflation we are spending more. We just had to up our grocery and dining out budgets by $140.00 just so we could buy the same or less grocery items than we did 6 months ago.

We remind ourselves daily that, despite the recession and despite inflation, we are very blessed in all respects - including economically.

Happy Saving!