If you go to the pool make sure you not spending $5 - $10 a day at the snack bar. It adds up!
Bring food from home.

I shop post season sales for next year and stack the new, bigger sizes on the top shelves in DDs closets so I don't forget. I also buy a lot LESS clothing for them - Each DD had more clothes and shoes than my husband and I did combined!

I also stopped buying them so many books and started using the library even though I would get their books at Scholastic's 50% off warehouse sale.

I use Michael coupons for birthday gifts. It's easy to shop there for elementary girls as they usually always some sort of craft or art supplies.

Cut landscapers and mow and maintain lawn yourself.

Look to see if your property tax is equal to other homes in your area. Sometimes assessments can be a little higher for some reason unknown to me.

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who are saying cut cable - we would except it's cheaper to get the cable+internet bundle than it is to get just internet. What is your monthly internet bill and what's the best deal? DH works from home 2x a week so he needs high speed. Thx!

I have Cox. I have the lowest speed internet, but it manages Netflix just fine (even though they say it's for email browsing hah). No cable, no tv. I pay $45 a month.

Anonymous wrote:OP We're on a family plan with our parents for our cell phones. That brings our unlimited data/text/calling plans to $32 a month. We did have to change our numbers to get on that, but it's worth it.

We don't have cable, never eat out, only buy timeless designer clothes (but very few) and use Dh's miles and hotel points for our vacations. (Just went to Europe for 2 weeks for $1000 total).

Also, if you DH likes sports, make him go to friend's houses or a bar. Much more entertaining than sitting on the couch mindlessly watching sports and cheaper too.

Oh - no, no, no. You have not been to a bar recently. Those places with the appetizers and the drinks (even on tap) are not cheap.

OP We're on a family plan with our parents for our cell phones. That brings our unlimited data/text/calling plans to $32 a month. We did have to change our numbers to get on that, but it's worth it.

We don't have cable, never eat out, only buy timeless designer clothes (but very few) and use Dh's miles and hotel points for our vacations. (Just went to Europe for 2 weeks for $1000 total).

Also, if you DH likes sports, make him go to friend's houses or a bar. Much more entertaining than sitting on the couch mindlessly watching sports and cheaper too.

For those of you who are saying cut cable - we would except it's cheaper to get the cable+internet bundle than it is to get just internet. What is your monthly internet bill and what's the best deal? DH works from home 2x a week so he needs high speed. Thx!

The main thing is to track your expenses, which you can do by using mint.com. You'll see a lot of places where things are off-- you may have some fees, subscriptions, etc. that are taken automatically out of your account that you are not aware of-- TIVO, angie's list, online banking, etc. Check your pay stub-- are you paying for a gym that you don't use? Mint.com tracks expenses automatically and categorizes them (you can fix any mistakes that mint makes) and you'll be able to see month to month how much you spend on eating out at fast food vs. restaurants, or groceries vs. gas, etc. Once I started using mint I really started to get a grip on our finances.

Sorry -- forgot to inclue the above book is titled "The $1,000 Challenge: How One Family Slashed Its Budget Without Moving Under a Bridge or Living on Government Cheese" by Brian J. O'Connor of The Detroit News.

We used this:


http://www.amazon.com/The-000-Challenge-Slashed-Government-ebook/dp/B00C5R7AG8




Middle-class incomes are stretched more than ever. Feeling the strain himself, personal finance columnist Brian O’Connor decided to put his own family’s spending to the test. He began a ten-week experiment to see if his family could cut its monthly living expenses by $1,000—without sacrificing anything truly important. From groceries and transportation to entertainment and insurance, O’Connor ruthlessly tackled his family’s Top 10 spending categories with an eye on rooting out big savings.


As he shares his family’s cost-cutting adventures, O’Connor offers helpful strategies for getting your own finances back on track. Whether he’s sharing secrets to shrinking your grocery tab or helping you scour bills for unnecessary fees, O’Connor tackles the frustrations and fears of controlling your own financial fate.

With 2 active boys and such a nice weather (we are from Northern Europe) we are always out and about.
Condo building has a pool and exercise machine.The fee is slightly more than we would like to pay but we plan to rent out our parking that goes for about $170 a month, we also rent out our storage.Plenty of street parking...
Instead of cutting $1000, try cutting $500 and earning extra $500 to meet your goal.
When we are out,I take water and snack with us.We used to always interrupt our activities by thinking where to eat.It was always about eating when out.I stopped that. Take-out at the park is only for special occasions.
As somebody mentioned, we need to know more about your budget to suggest further.

I use a Tracphone. The Mr Money Mustache website has recommendations for cheap data plans.

My office has a Kcup brewer, so I stopped buying coffee at the cafe nearby. You can also get a reusable cup for those things and put your own coffee in.

I got a crock pot and cook big batches of food, so there is generally something on hand for dinner.

There are tons of great free activities for kids around town. Try the websites Kid-friendlyDC, Red Tricycle DC, and the NW current.

Leave your debit cards at home when you go to work. I realized DH was spending $800/mo at work.

I started tracking last year and realized we were spending way too much on food and groceries. That category included liquor and going out and was regularly in the 2800 range per month which I thought was just insane. We were eating out plus I would buy too much groceries anticipating that I'd cook. What I learned was to lower my expectations for week night dinners so I didn't feel so overwhelmed and limited us to 1 night out a week. With a family of 4 dinner with 2 glasses of wine for each parents with tip its regularly 100 so it adds up. I'd rather do other stuff with the cash. We also have a boat but i need to work on DH for that. It truly is a money pit and for the cost each year, not that enjoyable.

Anonymous wrote:I'm struggling with this too. Good food is incredibly expensive at the grocery store. I don't eat meat as it is, but an apple costs like $2 and I'm not willing to skimp on produce because I have 2 young kids.

we don't have a car and we never eat out. no tv, no magazine or newspaper subscriptions, no memberships, we don't pay heating bills. I am in desperate need of a new wardrobe but will probably hold off a few months. ugh.

I'm only trying to save an extra $400/mo, but we're living pretty lean as it is.

Where the hell are you paying $2 PER APPLE?? $2 per pound, maybe. If you're paying $2/apple, find a new store.

Raise insurance deductibles
Drop collision coverage on old cars