Best Way You Have Saved Money on Monthly Expenses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thinking small here. What have you done that has made the most impact on one of your monthly bills?

Quit buying new clothes. Unless it is 100% necessary. Unsubscribed from all retail store emails/mailing lists. I buy the kids what they need on sale 2x a year (spring and fall) but DH and I have so many clothes we just wear what we have and only replace what has truly been worn out/thrown away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Little stuff doesn't matter so much with the HHIs on this forum. The best things you can do are buy a reasonable house that is only 1x-2x HHI with a 15 year mortgage and buy Hondas/Toyotas/Subarus with cash and drive them until they die (10-15 years). The other stuff doesn't matter so much if you get these things right.

Yup. Which is exactly why we purchased in Loudoun county. 600k home, 25% down, 300K HHI, 2 suburban jobs. Life is very comfortable. Lots of room left over for savings, little luxuries, and investment.

[Anonymous]

Detailed budget for everything including savings (401k, 529s, and investment accounts) and the savings are automatically withdrawn so we never see the money.

[Anonymous]

I give myself 48 hours to decide if I want to purchase something. Most of the time, the impulse passes and then I totally forget about what I was going to buy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Little stuff doesn't matter so much with the HHIs on this forum. The best things you can do are buy a reasonable house that is only 1x-2x HHI with a 15 year mortgage and buy Hondas/Toyotas/Subarus with cash and drive them until they die (10-15 years). The other stuff doesn't matter so much if you get these things right.

This doesn't help those of us who are looking to buy a house today and the average home in MoCo or DC is over $400K.

Yes! So glad we bought in a neighborhood that was not even up and coming for 3x our then annual income and a thirty year mortgage and paid ahead. We will finish our mortgage in a total of 22 years (hopefully before our oldest starts college) and it has allowed us to have a lot more flexibility than we would otherwise have.

This means you need to think outside the box a bit (you won't be living in Georgetown or Bethesda or Chevy Chase or AU Park) but there are a lot of good options out there for a $400K house still. PG, a fixer in DC, further out in MOCO, a Hispanic neighborhood in MOCO. At first those of us raised in Lily white suburbia may scoff but if you look past your stereotypes and assumptions about where you will live, if can make your life much better. Less traffic in the not as fancy areas. Pay less for housing. Fewer asshole lawyers for neighbors (my dad is a lawyer so I love them but you know what I'm saying).

Not to mention, DC is problematic if you plan on having kids (or have them already) since you will be forced to pay for private. I'd look into the suburbs in VA and MD for something that fits your budget and has good public schools. If you narrow your search down to DC proper or MoCo you better find a way to earn more money.

Contrary to your assertion there are some very good public and charter schools in DC. You should definitely be aware of the schools before you buy, but it is ignorant to perpetuate old stereotypes about D.C. Public schools.i have two children in DCPS schools and have been very happy with their education so far (elementary and middle).

[Anonymous]

CUT CABLE. We have Internet only from FIOS and it's $90/month for a super-fast connection. We have a Roku set that allows us to watch Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, etc.

We go online for news and out to the sports bar if there's a game we really want to see. I buy about 3 Amazon season passes for shows I "need" to watch the next day that aren't on Hulu (mostly Bravo shows).

And of course pack lunch, don't buy coffee out, do your nails at home, don't buy crap you don't need, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just switched from Comcast internet to RCN. We're goign to get 3x the speed for half the cost. I hate comcast, so this feels like a victory. The extra $35 a month is just extra.

RCN raises their prices by $10/year and they won't negotiate. They just told us they are raising them $18, we will now be over $200 after 6 years. So, we're switching to Comcast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thinking small here. What have you done that has made the most impact on one of your monthly bills?

Quit buying new clothes. Unless it is 100% necessary. Unsubscribed from all retail store emails/mailing lists. I buy the kids what they need on sale 2x a year (spring and fall) but DH and I have so many clothes we just wear what we have and only replace what has truly been worn out/thrown away.

This is one of my biggest weaknesses, but I've also had to step back from clothes buying. I feel like online shopping makes it so tempting. I LOVE buying new clothes, but I've had too many months where I've spent hundreds on clothes.

Also, we've cut down on going out to eat. We used to go out to eat every Friday and Saturday. With four people that adds up quickly. At one point we were spending over $1k a month going out to eat at restaurants.

[Anonymous]

+1 on the cheaper house and cars and automatic savings each month. Our best monthly results came from cutting cable and eating out less often.

[Anonymous]

Being insanely frugal in daily life. Rarely eating out, or partaking of consumable entertainment like cinema. Cooking from scratch, packing lunches, making coffee at home. No cable (no TV!), no cell phone until it came as a gift, and then pay as you go plan that costs $100 a year, no tablets, etc. Stream movies on the sole computer in the house (from Amazon, used to have Netflix but it never had the films I wanted). Listen to NPR on the radio. Not going overboard for gifts at Christmas or birthdays.

Buying good quality clothes on eBay or second-hand shops, for the price of flimsy ugly new stuff.

Buying furniture on Craigslist or estate sales.

Keeping energy costs low by insulating the house ourselves, not heating too much in winter, not cooling too much in summer.

Having a fuel-efficient car. Living in a walkable neighborhood which cuts down on driving. Living in a small house which cuts down on costs and means we can't accumulate stuff. Taking a 15 year mortgage, and investing our money wisely.

We do have expenses - visiting our families abroad. Paying for quality music lessons. Buying some organic fruits and veggies, as well as dairy.

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah, forgot the insanely expensive meds my son is taking, as well as mine, which are lifelong. Ugh. Not something I want to remember!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've read in a few threads that you can save by cutting down on meat.....what do you buy/eat instead?

We don't eat much meat, some weeks none. Instead we eat lots of bean dishes. Its much cheaper to eat beans and veggies than meat and veggies. We did it for health reasons, but it saves money, too.

With all the resulting flatulence, it saves on the need for birth control pills.

[Anonymous]

I buy things at the proper store. For example, the grocery store is for food, not toiletries. CVS/Walgreens often has sales on toiletries, but food prices are jacked up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I buy things at the proper store. For example, the grocery store is for food, not toiletries. CVS/Walgreens often has sales on toiletries, but food prices are jacked up.

Good point. Also constantly compare prices with online retailers, and buy in bulk when you find a good deal for long-lasting stuff.

[Anonymous]

Unsubscribing from lots of store emails has probably helped me a LOT.

Cutting regular cable for Sling TV.

Canceling Sirius XM. I haven't missed it nearly as much as I thought I would.

Just changed cell phone plans. My old plan had unlimited text and data for $180/month for two lines. AT&T just put out new unlimited plans and it's actually a BETTER plan, for cheaper, but I had to request the change. It's costing me $65/month less.