Treading water financially - need to find ways to save

[Anonymous]

"For some of us not in the $250,000 middle class, $1200 a year is a big deal. "

If you pay for stuff to replace the lost entertainment, you may not really be saving money.

[Anonymous]

If $1200 a year is a big deal to the OP, she wouldn't have a "largeish" mortgage.

I would feel very deprived if I suddenly gave up cable/satellite and all meals out. By contrast, I don't feel deprived having switched childcare providers (saved almost $1,000 a MONTH) and having bought a house with a mortgage we can cover on one of our two incomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Say you have deluxe cable or satellite now and cut it out totally. You're saving, whta, $1200 a year at most? Gotta think bigger, like mortgage, daycare, cars, private school.

Cutting out the small stuff will only make you feel deprived and won't add materially to your savings.

Can't say I agree 100%. Just eating lunch out less (once a week, rather than every week) can save her and her husband over 300/month. That plus some of these other things that really aren't a huge deal (lattes or whatever) can save them 400/mo. In 8 months, her credit card debt would be gone. And if you cook at home, you can have nice lunches - I take lunch from home and it's often better than whatever i'd be eating if i were eating out for lunch.

Good to look at mortgage, cars, private school - but some of these smaller suggestions are things they can start doing this weekend!

All good points. Too much cutting in the small luxuries will just lead to anger/annoyance with the spending diet. On the other hand surely there is *something* that can be cut.

Also remember the economy is dependent on someone spending something.

[Anonymous]

Let the people who can truly afford it do the spending, and meanwhile, keep chipping away at that debt and building up your savings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the lentils and rice (mujadarrah) recipe, for the PP who asked:

http://greatgrub.com/stories/mujadarrah_memories

Warning: Do not put too much water in. Err on the side of less water , and add more later if the water is running out and the rice is still undercooked. The first time I made it was a total bust, it was like lentil slop. Then I saw a picture of what it's supposed to look like, made it with less water, and it was perfect. I make 1.5 times the recipe and that feeds six hungry people nicely. Or two hungry people three times. Really, one of my all time favorite dishes, and not just for vegetarians. (I'm not a vegetarian)

Yikes! I'd rather eat plain rice with a little butter than this muck.

Weren't you ever taught to not yuck another person's yums? Mujadarrah is a very popular dish, sorry if it offends your delicate palate. I'm sure that you eat things that others would find foul, but hopefully they'd be nice enough to respectthose differences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the lentils and rice (mujadarrah) recipe, for the PP who asked:

http://greatgrub.com/stories/mujadarrah_memories

Warning: Do not put too much water in. Err on the side of less water , and add more later if the water is running out and the rice is still undercooked. The first time I made it was a total bust, it was like lentil slop. Then I saw a picture of what it's supposed to look like, made it with less water, and it was perfect. I make 1.5 times the recipe and that feeds six hungry people nicely. Or two hungry people three times. Really, one of my all time favorite dishes, and not just for vegetarians. (I'm not a vegetarian)

Yikes! I'd rather eat plain rice with a little butter than this muck.

Eew...were you the mean girl in fourth grade who made fun of the Asian kid for bringing what you decided was a "weird" lunch? Hopefully your children will pick up better manners.