lovesaints

Hey all you other dads out there. Any of you stay-at-homers have trouble with the bills? I work part-time at home and my wife and we've have arranged that I handle day-to-day bills while she handles big stuff.



We also buy our own treats. Problem is, as I’m sure you know, bills have been getting more expensive what with the economy, and I’m having trouble keeping enough money to buy the little things that make life more fun. Do you have any tips on frugality that makes bills less onerous?

evilbrent

Give up on fresh milk. UHT tastes different but it's exactly the same thing. Exactly the same. It just costs half as much, and you don't have to refrigerate it and you can buy it 36 litres at a time so you _never_ run out.

I don't know about you, but we use about a litre a day, so we save $300-$400 doing this + electricity savings from not keeping excess milk cool + petrol savings from not having to make special trips just for milk + savings on never throwing out old milk.

Eat only boring boring boring wheat biscuits for breakfast. No sugar, no fruit no nothing. Just 'no-name' brand wheat biscuits (and UHT milk). Keeps you regular, which is worth actual gold... but it's dirt cheap. After a while it starts to taste good.

Only drink water. No coffee, no juice, no coke. NO coke. Don't waste your money on soft drink, it's not worth it. Giving up caffeine altogether is hard, but it pays dividends in the end because you never get as tired/dopey as you used to when you were caffeine dependent. I gave up caffeine altogether in Nov 2006 and I haven't had a fatigue-migraine since. I get _fatigued_, sure, I've got two kids under 5. But when I get fatigued it just doesn't affect me like it used to. I don't need that caffeine hit to get my motivation back. I last longer through the day and wake up better (still poorly) in the morning. I don't know how much you spend on coffee - but I bet it's at least $100 a year, maybe closer to $500 if you buy coffee from cafes.

I personally haven't done this one yet, but abandon red meat. It's not only an environmental disaster (eating 1kg of beef is the equivalent in total greenhouse gas emissions as driving for 250km) but it's not THAT useful to a balanced diet. It's an expensive way to get protein.

You're not a smoker are you? Because if you are, then your question about frugality becomes a bloody stupid one.

My point is: watch your pennies and the dollars will look after themselves. I think that DIET is the one huge spending black hole that people don't really think too hard about. Of COURSE I need my coffee. Of COURSE I need my cola. Of course I need my ______.

You don't need it. You'll be healthier without it. Your body will thank you. You'll live longer, be more productive and more able to make money through your life. I've taken two things out of my diet in the last year: caffiene and fresh milk - pretty simple huh? - and I reckon that's $1000 in my pocket that I get to spend on [strike]holidays[/strike] paying off credit cards.

Ride a bike to work. It saves money in at least 3 ways - obviously there's the petrol savings and wear and tear on your bike. Then there's the fact (fact) that you will live longer and have less disease and spend less of your later years paying for health problems. Thirdly you won't have to pay, AFTER your commute home, to exercise up at the gym. The exercising is free.

I have only got an 8km ride, but I think that up to 15km is doable every day each way, and that up to 25km would be something that you'd have to work up to.

But I believe that, while I'm getting seriously fit (or at least was, before Christmas. Australia's "Silly Season" lasts for basically all Dec and Jan. We're only just now getting our routines back) I've saved at least $4000.

Move closer to work, or get a job closer to home.

Buy cheap and horrible sweat-shop clothes from WalMart or whatever, it's probably pretty good, but will only last 1/2 the life-time of 'real' clothes, but that's ok, because it costs 10%.

Move to a cheaper city.

Stop 'buying the little things in life that make things fun'. Seek a deeper satisfaction in life.

What's a treat?

Change your idea of 'treat' and you'll be a millionaire. I'm not even joking here.

Sunsets, kisses, the wind, sex, exercise, thinking, writing, reading... these things are all free - and they're all far more worthwhile than any treat that costs money.

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musicmom

I agree with alot of what you say. I personally like to spend money. I do all the free things and then some.
I like Wal-mart clothes. I don't think they are "sweat-shop" though. I buy the Marykate and Ashley line alot for my girls.

I would never move from where I live either. I live in paradise. Granted it is expensive to be here but it's so worth it.

volatile

Well, I don’t know how much money you have, so I only have general tips for you, assuming you don’t want to borrow money from your wife.

If you pay the TV bills, you could try downgrading your plan. You could also try combining services, which tends to consolidate your bills and save you more money in the long term.

On a related note, many of the cable/internet/tv providers work their phones via VoIP, which is free for most local and national calls, which is great. Using Skype on your computer is the best for internationals, as international calls on Skype are like 2c per minute as opposed to 40c on traditional landlines.

Then you can save on cell services by using free alternatives. Like directory assistance, with the criminal rates versus 1-800-FREE411, which is free. It’s just a matter of research and a bit of time spent.

Trina

Brent, I agree with and follow many of your suggestions, but this one made me LOL. My DH commutes 30 miles to work, so obviously this isn't an option for him. Even if his job was closer, riding a bike is not an option during winter months here and the busy roads are not safe for bike travel.

We don't belong to a health club. We exercise at home.

DH's job is in a big city. We don't want to live closer because of high crime rates and believe it or not, higher real estate prices. We live where we do because it's within commuting distance and we got more house for our $. DH can't get a job closer to home. There are none in his field closer to home.

UHT is not widely available here, and it's not cost effective. I've seen it at our grocery store, but only in single serving juice box type containers. Our family drinks 5-6 gallons of milk a week. It also tastes gross. LOL!

aliinnc

We eliminated our home phone and went to all cellular. It was cheaper to add a home cell phone than continue with our land line.

Also we love love love our local thrift shops. We've gotten some great stuff there.

Do you have an Aldi grocery near you? They are dirt cheap. In general grocery store prices can vary tremendously. Our Harris Teeter is way more expensive than our Kroger's.

Good luck!

evilbrent

ok, so 30 miles is excessive.

Interestingly, inside the city, busy roads are really almost the safest. Cars can only hit you when they're _moving_... which they don't do in traffic.

They don't have UHT anywhere? Remember, it never goes off, so you can buy 3 month's supply at a time.

It's not gross. Mud is gross. Vomit is gross. UHT just tastes different. It's like the difference between coke and pepsi - they're the same damn thing, except if you've spent your life falling for the idea that coke is the real thing.

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