Budget Budge-it Budget - Page 3

Ghoulish Delight · 08-27-2007, 11:46 AM

This thread is going to make me feel guilty for not bringing my lunch today, especially since there's perfectly good salami, bread, and fruit sitting at home in the fridge.

DreadPirateRoberts · 08-27-2007, 11:48 AM

I bet GC could save up enough money for an AP in a month, if he brought his lunch to work.

Gemini Cricket · 08-27-2007, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadPirateRoberts

I bet GC could save up enough money for an AP in a month, if he brought his lunch to work.

You know, I'll take you up on that challenge. I'll start tomorrow.

MouseWife · 08-27-2007, 11:56 AM

I would make the packed lunch more of an adventure. Take it somewhere and enjoy the view. Or make it part of a walk. Heck, you don't have to eat a big lunch every day.

I eat fruit all day and then enjoy dinner with the family.

Alex · 08-27-2007, 11:55 AM

Keeping a budget for a while doesn't just tell you how to cut out all of the fun from your life but also helps to make sure you are actually spending the money on things that are of a priority to you.

I've never really been a budgeter. When I have money I spend it and when I don't I stop spending it. I've always been good at that and it has worked for me and we've never really operated on a large credit load. But when I was looking at quitting Wells and working on MousePlanet full time we did have to spend some time looking at the math.

Once we did that it showed that we could pretty much cut our income by 40% without dramatically altering the parts of our lifestyle that were important to us. I stopped spending $150/month on DVDs (which I like to have but never actually watch). We ate at home more often (but still ate out a fair bit). We cut back on the spontaneous three-day road trips (where the huge expense was rack-rate hotel rooms since we often didn't know where we'd be until we got there).

And it can reveal some surprisingly easy ways to stop spending money in places you just don't think about. Spending $3 for a cup of coffee seems negligible, perhaps, but less so when you combine that and realize it is $720/year if you grab one every day on the way to work simply because it is more convenient than some alternative. One thing I learned when we looked at the budget was that I was spending about $200/year on newspapers essentially so that I could do the crossword puzzle on the train home.

One thing GC mentions is that he has a Costco membership. Though it is an annual expense, since he says he doesn't cook at home much I'd make a strong guess that this is an expense that comes nowhere near paying for itself. You generally have to spend thousands of dollars at Costco to recoup the expense in product savings.

If the big strain is the apartment and you're locked in for a long while, you might consider talking to your management or landlords about it. Letting them know that you can squeeze the payments but that you've maybe bitten off more than is comfortable and that if they can place the unit you'd be interested in moving on. The worst thing they can do is say no.

Gemini Cricket · 08-27-2007, 11:58 AM

Once when I was in Monterey, I actually froze my credit cards. Literally. I wrapped them in a sandwich bag and then wrapped that sandwich bag in duct tape. Then I immersed it in a jar of water and stuck it in the freezer. It prevented me from using my cards (and since I don't have a good memory, I never committed any of my card numbers to memory) and I got the balance down.
It totally works. I think I got the idea from Suze Orman on PBS...

Scrooge McSam · 08-27-2007, 12:00 PM

Preach, Alex!

(that would be visible mojo)

Ghoulish Delight · 08-27-2007, 12:01 PM

All I'm saying is don't knock it 'till you try it.

I'm good with money, thanks to learning from my parents who are masters. I lived for 8 years on my own without tracking my spending and ended up in a position where I could afford to buy property, so believe me, I know how to do the in-my-head-accounting thing. But buying said property constituted a major shift in my baseline, and getting down on paper exactly how much was going out became a necessity, at least to see it once so I could figure my new mental baseline.

I didn't expect to get much out of it other than a couple bottom line numbers. I was surprised as anyone by how much just seeing the numbers in front of me changed how I thought about spending. With it spelled out in black and white (well, actually, several different colors thanks to Excel), it wasn't even an effort to start increasing the amount of saving I was doing. When I could see in near real-time how much a simple decision like packing lunches or splitting an entree (amazing how much of one's spending flexibility involves food) was affecting the bottom line, those simple decisions that didn't negatively affect my quality of life and yet positively affected my budget bacame very very easy.

Gemini Cricket · 08-27-2007, 12:04 PM

Yes, I was thinking about talking to my landlord. She loves me. I should talk to her. I also need to talk to her if I'm going the room mate route...

The Costco membership is split still between Ralphie and me. I stockpile dinner foods from them. It seems to be saving me some money buying in bulk. That 50lb bag of rice was only $12.79. That's not bad.

BarTopDancer · 08-27-2007, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

That 50lb bag of rice was only $12.79. That's not bad.

It's only not bad if you eat it...

08-27-2007, 11:46 AM	#1
Ghoulish Delight I Floop the Pig Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Alternative Swankstyle Posts: 19,348	This thread is going to make me feel guilty for not bringing my lunch today, especially since there's perfectly good salami, bread, and fruit sitting at home in the fridge. __________________ 'He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.' -TJ
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08-27-2007, 11:48 AM	#2
DreadPirateRoberts Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 2,483	I bet GC could save up enough money for an AP in a month, if he brought his lunch to work.
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08-27-2007, 11:56 AM	#4
MouseWife Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Da' Beach Posts: 2,957	I would make the packed lunch more of an adventure. Take it somewhere and enjoy the view. Or make it part of a walk. Heck, you don't have to eat a big lunch every day. I eat fruit all day and then enjoy dinner with the family. __________________ Summa' time....when the livins' easy.........
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08-27-2007, 11:55 AM	#5
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Keeping a budget for a while doesn't just tell you how to cut out all of the fun from your life but also helps to make sure you are actually spending the money on things that are of a priority to you. I've never really been a budgeter. When I have money I spend it and when I don't I stop spending it. I've always been good at that and it has worked for me and we've never really operated on a large credit load. But when I was looking at quitting Wells and working on MousePlanet full time we did have to spend some time looking at the math. Once we did that it showed that we could pretty much cut our income by 40% without dramatically altering the parts of our lifestyle that were important to us. I stopped spending $150/month on DVDs (which I like to have but never actually watch). We ate at home more often (but still ate out a fair bit). We cut back on the spontaneous three-day road trips (where the huge expense was rack-rate hotel rooms since we often didn't know where we'd be until we got there). And it can reveal some surprisingly easy ways to stop spending money in places you just don't think about. Spending $3 for a cup of coffee seems negligible, perhaps, but less so when you combine that and realize it is $720/year if you grab one every day on the way to work simply because it is more convenient than some alternative. One thing I learned when we looked at the budget was that I was spending about $200/year on newspapers essentially so that I could do the crossword puzzle on the train home. One thing GC mentions is that he has a Costco membership. Though it is an annual expense, since he says he doesn't cook at home much I'd make a strong guess that this is an expense that comes nowhere near paying for itself. You generally have to spend thousands of dollars at Costco to recoup the expense in product savings. If the big strain is the apartment and you're locked in for a long while, you might consider talking to your management or landlords about it. Letting them know that you can squeeze the payments but that you've maybe bitten off more than is comfortable and that if they can place the unit you'd be interested in moving on. The worst thing they can do is say no.
	Submit to Quotes

08-27-2007, 11:58 AM	#6
Gemini Cricket ... Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 13,244	Once when I was in Monterey, I actually froze my credit cards. Literally. I wrapped them in a sandwich bag and then wrapped that sandwich bag in duct tape. Then I immersed it in a jar of water and stuck it in the freezer. It prevented me from using my cards (and since I don't have a good memory, I never committed any of my card numbers to memory) and I got the balance down. It totally works. I think I got the idea from Suze Orman on PBS...
	Submit to Quotes

08-27-2007, 12:00 PM	#7
Scrooge McSam What? Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,635	Preach, Alex! (that would be visible mojo)
	Submit to Quotes

08-27-2007, 12:01 PM	#8
Ghoulish Delight I Floop the Pig Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Alternative Swankstyle Posts: 19,348	All I'm saying is don't knock it 'till you try it. I'm good with money, thanks to learning from my parents who are masters. I lived for 8 years on my own without tracking my spending and ended up in a position where I could afford to buy property, so believe me, I know how to do the in-my-head-accounting thing. But buying said property constituted a major shift in my baseline, and getting down on paper exactly how much was going out became a necessity, at least to see it once so I could figure my new mental baseline. I didn't expect to get much out of it other than a couple bottom line numbers. I was surprised as anyone by how much just seeing the numbers in front of me changed how I thought about spending. With it spelled out in black and white (well, actually, several different colors thanks to Excel), it wasn't even an effort to start increasing the amount of saving I was doing. When I could see in near real-time how much a simple decision like packing lunches or splitting an entree (amazing how much of one's spending flexibility involves food) was affecting the bottom line, those simple decisions that didn't negatively affect my quality of life and yet positively affected my budget bacame very very easy. __________________ 'He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.' -TJ
	Submit to Quotes

08-27-2007, 12:04 PM	#9
Gemini Cricket ... Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 13,244	Yes, I was thinking about talking to my landlord. She loves me. I should talk to her. I also need to talk to her if I'm going the room mate route... The Costco membership is split still between Ralphie and me. I stockpile dinner foods from them. It seems to be saving me some money buying in bulk. That 50lb bag of rice was only $12.79. That's not bad.
	Submit to Quotes