After a summer filled with new babies and last minute trips, I realized our spending had become more "knee jerk" than mindfully motivated. Over the past couple of weeks, my husband and I have been discussing future financial goals and casting a critical eye on our current habits. As a result, we're doing an overhaul in the areas of our lives that we let slide the most often.
Penny pinching can sound like the least fun a person can have, but it truly can be fun! It is incredibly freeing to make strong decisions about where you want your money to go instead of wondering where it all went. Its also fun to get creative with where and how you save up!
This month, I'm tackling the food budget, one of the areas where I am most likely to slip up. I find that, without adequate planning, we can end up having to make several grocery trips a week. The problem with this is that it allows for spending on things that are not necessary - as in "run to the store for milk, somehow spend $30 on random nonsense."
In planning correctly, we cut down on those last minute store purchases. I'm also limiting instant gratification by allowing for one meal out per week - usually pizza night. We already had pizza one night this week, so that means I better have a plan for the rest of it! I'm enjoying going off what we have on hand - sometimes having to search for new recipes with whatever I have available. This is giving us more variety in our meals and avoiding the dreaded "dinner rut."
The second way I'm focusing on saving this month is by getting serious with cloth diapering. While there is always debate on whether or not cloth is indeed cheaper than disposable, it is absolutely more frugal to use diapers you already have over running out and buying more. We plan to keep on with disposables at night simply because the baby wakes more often if we use cloth, but that is it - cloth all day long, disposables at night. Since we spend most days here at home, an extra load of laundry here and there is no problem. I believe we will end up saving around $30/month.
What are some of your favorite ways to save money?
