Are you drastically changing?

[DistilledRose]

We ate out of our pantry for a couple of weeks when we had an unexpected bill. You'd really be surprised how much food you might have in there. I would recommend doing an inventory of your food and making a list of possible meals you can make. Maybe you can make something really awesome and all you would need to buy is one red pepper... who knows.

[SouthShoreGirl]

We recently bought our first home so we planted a garden in our back yard. We save money on fresh produce that way. I joined the library and take out books for free instead of buying. I write a grocery list and stick to it. My husband gave up smoking and also now brings lunch to work (we both do actually!). These are some "small things" that actually add up and save us $$$$. We also don't go out to dinner as much and spend more time at home around the house instead of going out and doing things that spend $$$.

[purplefdu]

We started living more fugally a little under a year ago when I decided to look into pet food coupons to offset the cost of getting a second dog (and a baby puppy at that). Since we've stockpiled on a small scale there's not too much we've done on the drastic scale. Small things like cutting out a second shopping trip to hit up a good sale again.

[saving maglet]

I haven't bought anything that wasn't necessity (food, gas, meds) for a month. I did it as a shopping detox of sorts. But it's not hard. Not as hard as it was day 2 or 3!

I haven't been driving here and there all willy nilly. I stay put and if I NEED to go somewhere I do. Gas lasts longer and again, I don't NEED to go anywhere. We have food, we have a big backyard, the kids have things to do right here, and we can bike all around our development (our dog gets a workout from that, too, so he benefits).

There is barely no public transportation here, so we can't utilize that. I wish we could because I'd take the bus a LOT.

Also, my debit card doesn't get much of a workout anymore. I've been paying for stuff with cash on hand. Swiping that debit card is intoxicating and way too easy. I don't feel accountable when I swipe it somehow, even though it's coming right out of our checking acct. LOL!