Whew, we made it through one month of a bare bones budget. You can read more on our story here, here, and here. Our biggest goal has been to cut as many expenses as possible. Let’s see how we did:
Banking- This was an unexpected switch, but we decided to change banks after seeing how fee happy our current bank was. Each time we turned around there was a new fee for something! Dave Ramsey encourages the use of local banks, so we did some research and found one we really like and will give us a great deal. We also had a secondary checking account that we used for our rental payments that we closed. There was a $4/month service fee on this account, so we saved $48/year by closing it. Now I need to find a cheaper way to order checks. Any thoughts on this? I’d love some input! Total savings = at least $15/month, but likely much more!
Taxes- My husband noticed that our state taxes were really high on one of his checks, so he went to payroll to investigate. For some reason, our exemptions were ‘0’ instead of ‘5’. He changed it and saved us atleast $15/week! Total savings =$ 60/month
Cut our newspaper subscription: Savings= $6/month
Netflix- I just dropped back down to the lowest plan, which is $5.24 per month. (I keep Netflix because our library selection is very poor) Savings = $12/month
Car Insurance- We changed a few numbers around, which only took a few minutes! Savings= $10/month
Electricity- We have tried to really work hard on keeping lights off, air drying clothes etc. It has worked, our bills was down $10 this month. Savings = $10/month
Eating out: I mentioned that we love to have a date night where we go out to eat and spend some time together every other week. I love going out to eat and spending one on one time with my husband, so this has the most difficult thing for us to give up! We normally budget (oh I cringe seeing this!) $80 per month for our date nights. Now that we are doing this, I admit that seems like so much money to spend, and I thought we were being frugal with that amount! This month we slashed the date night budget, and only went out once. We each ordered a cheaper meal, only water, no appetizers, no dessert and spent $20 including the tip. I was pretty happy with that! I honestly think that my husband will want this item the first to be reinstated when our income increases, but hopefully we can take a few lessons with us when and if we do! Savings= $60/month
Dog food- We have successfully switched their dog food! Savings=$23/month
Cable/Internet/Phone- I mentioned last month that my husband is a huge sports fan and will not part with cable and I really like high speed internet, so we have been trying to find a compromise on this. We managed to eliminate part of the package, drop the phone service (we switched to Vonage), and switch to a lower internet package. Total savings= $35/month, and we haven’t even noticed the changes (that’s a good thing!)
Other: We have cut back on hair care, clothing and any miscellaneous expenses. Total savings = $30/month
Total monthly savings = $238!
Wow! I am so happy with our progress. Who knew we could cut this much from our budget!? While some changes have been hard, for the most part it has been pretty painless. Changing phone companies and banks has been the most difficult as far as convenience goes, but both will pay off in the long run.
I think the biggest challenge is getting over the sense of entitlement, you know, that we work hard and deserve certain things. By giving up those things, it is easy to feel deprived, when really we have so much! Also adjusting to having absolutely no room for error in our budget has been hard. I still have to conquer the grocery budget, so in June I am challenging myself to a $100/week budget. That is a $25 per week cut. Think I can do it?
Next week I will share the income earning things I have done this month to bring in more than we saved without leaving home. Stay tuned!
So have you gone “bare bones” lately? What have you changed or cut out of your budget to stretch your dollars this month? I’d love to hear it!
This post is linked to Frugal Fridays and Finding Freedom Friday.
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Okay so my husband and I have always had only one income but the Prudent Homemaker makes life sound really boring. I am not sure how much I spend on groceries, etc but not much. I coupon, ad comp and buy by the sales. We only have one local grocery store and Wal-Mart in our town but I can ad comp Target, Kroger and K-Mart from the town 50 miles away. This saves some. My husband and I have went without income for 1 year of our 5 year marriage and then lived on 50% of what he was making and now we are probably within $5000 of the before injury income. You have to remember that life is not worth living if you don’t live. You can save and save and save. I should know I worked my whole high school years and college years to be able to get my degrees. It only took one bad thing happening to wipe out my life savings. Remember that while TV and internet may be splurge you have to have fun in life.
bank – if you can use USAA, do it. I have no fees. like. at all.
checks – i believe the lowest you get is just the plain ones without the receipts. But…the ONLY time I write checks is to other people I know when the amount is more cash than i want to get. I pay ALL my bills through my banks billpay for free. Also a lof of banks give you discounts/no fees if you have direct deposit. I probably write less than 10 checks a year.
I would caution using outside check vendors, those not affliated with financial institutions do not have as high an integrity to uphold and can often be traced to check fraud (at least in AL). If your bank offers free or low cost bill pay , that can cut down on check writing as well as paying directly with those you owe (yes, this is safer then ordering checks). Bill pay has the plus of not costing you postage as that can add up too. Debit card use can also cut your check usage down around town. Just some ideas to ponder from one who works at a credit union.
(Incidentally, we had our satellite turned off more then three years ago. With a now 17 and 14, this was a hard decision, but the best ever. We have much more time as a family and for friends.)
we love dave ramsey but we actually use an online banking account through ING. it’s small but even our checking account accrues (sp?) interest. we pay all our bills online to save stamps and checks. an with an online bank if we do need a check they print it for us and mail it for free.
date nights are a tough one for us. we do our best to get a mommy friend to watch the kids so we’re not having to pay for the date AND $20 for a babysitter. even then, we try to go to free stuff. there’s a free ballroom dance night once a month and the bookstore makes for a nice quiet and relaxing date.
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WOW – you are amazing!!!!!!! Every Bare Bones Budget post inspires me further……thank you!
Being the 1st on the month today, I sat with my family yesterday and together we brainstormed a list of goals and a spending (or no spending) plan for the month of June. We have some unexpected expenses that we have to cover and I am not 100% happy with the amount of savings we have. So we’re back to an almost bare bones budget ourselves. Just ‘almost’ because we are still very able to hang onto things like the kids music lessons and satellite TV as our earnings are still good (for which we thank the Lord), but we need to watch our spending a bit more closely.
Please keep up your Bare Bones posts……they help me so much!
I found your blog through We are THAT Family blog.
I buy my checks at Promise Checks. They are really cheap and you can add scripture on your checks for free. Mine – thanks, Dave – is ‘The borrow is slave to the lender’ It reminds me every time I spend money.
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$238 x 12 = $2856 Those little savings add up fast! I think it is wonderful that you are sharing all of the ways you are finding to save money! What a great way to encourage and inspire others!
I think it is important to find little ways to indulge if you possibly can. Then the changes are more likely to become permanent, even after your situation improves. I read a post on ideas for inexpensive date nights I will try to find it and send it to you.
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Stephanie,
I use the internet for a lot of free homeschooling resources as well. I understand wanting to have some things, and I know that pets are family for many.
It’s great if you can keep your cable tv; it just wasn’t an option for us. My husband loves tv. Hulu ended up being a great blessing for him. He loved being able to watch something again. (But, before we found out about it, he did get a lot of other things done!)
That’s amazing that your library charges! For your date nights, you could update your Netflix to the $8.95 plan (with unlimited download time, and one at a time). You could watch a movie and pop some pocorn for your date. For popcorn, we buy a 50lb bag at Sam’s Club and some popcorn oil. We got a stovetop popper for $20 from Target. The bag of popcorn lasts us over a year and saved us a lot over buying microwave popcorn.
I’d love to go out for dates, but I can’t figure out how to afford a sitter for 5 children each time on top of the cost of the date. Does your $20 for a date include your sitter?
Your yard sale prices sound great! I have never found much here. I do have a friend of my mother’s who travels out of state and visits some great garage sales. She goes with a list of the things I need for the boys. She has found Land’s End coats for the boys for $4 each! She loves to go to garage sales and since her children are grown, she loves the chance to look for clothes for small children.
We changed our car insurance as well a while back. I hope your garden grows well. A good garden can be a real blessing. Your dirt looks so beautiful and dark!
great job on the budget cuts!(I can’t part with Netflix either, I can usually find a small job to do or manage to sell something during the month to justify keeping it)
april’s last blog post..Super Savings Saturday
We love Dave Ramsey too! Good job on cutting out so much, that’s hard work.
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Stephanie says:
It has actually been quite fun and challenging for the most part!
Did you try Northeast Credit Union? We get our checks free and have no monthly fees at all.
Michelle’s last blog post..20 Easy Steps to the Best Quiche Evah!
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Stephanie says:
I just noticed that our info from the bank says we get our first box of checks free. I will have to call them and find out. Perhaps the service rep failed to mention that!
I am truly so impressed. Just goes to show… there is wiggle room if we search it out!
Amy @ Finer Things’s last blog post..FTF: When Cyber Friends Become Real Life Friends
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Stephanie says:
So true, and I am sure there is so much more we can live without!
If you have a Sam’s Club membership, you can order checks from them online. Also, check other online companies for comparable prices (Current, Checks in the Mail, etc).
I know you’re not willing to make some other changes, but you budget could really be paired down a lot more. If you need to cut expenses (and we have; my husband had no income for 8 months in 2007 and we have had 50% income since then, plus some big hospital bills), you can do more: cable tv is not a need. It’s a want. So is internet (I only have internet still because my husband uses it for work, and he works from home). I honestly wish we had cut it sooner (tv). I kept thinking things would change for the better, but they did not. I didn’t need that bill. Netflix is fun, but, again, not a need. Our library doesn’t have much either. Recently, we started watching Hulu for a few things. The time we used to spend watching tv has made it more possible for us to serve our families and others.
We only go out to eat about 1-2 times a year. When we go, it is because my parents have given us money for our anniversary or our birthdays (which are close) and they watch the children. We use the money to go out to eat on those occasions.
For other dates, we stay at home. After the children have gone to bed, we have watched something on Hulu, played board games, worked on projects together, and, often, just continued the regular work that we needed to do for our families that wasn’t getting done when we watched televsion at night. Sometimes we’ll have a late dinner after the children are in bed.
For our meals (which are all at home) we have changed to eating even more less expensive meals. I used to spend $5 for our family of 7 per meal; recently, we have changed to trying to eat more meals that will feed our entire family for $2. Our garden has recently been helping to round out those meals; we’ve had artichokes, asparagus, lettuce, turnips, etc to help make our meals fuller. We eat a lot less meat and a lot more potatoes. As far as pets go, we don’t have any. I would rather have money for my chilren’s needs over a pet’s needs. That may sound harsh, but who is more important to feed?
I also don’t have a cell phone, and my home phone is just service–no call waiting, no caller-id, no long distance. It is $15.60 a month, and I don’t have to buy a new phone every year because the previous one stopped working. We have one car to insure (it’s paid for). We go shopping as little as possible, which keeps me from buying unneccessary items, as well as saving on gas and wear on the car. It also gives me more time to do hings at home.
Recently, I have spent a lot of time mending our clothes. Fixing the holes makes it possible to keep wearing clothes longer. This is a great blessing to us when there isn’t more money for clothes. It makes what you have last a little (and sometimes a lot) longer. You can see the other things we do to save money here: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/shoppingwisely.aspx You can also see what we are eating from our pantry and garden each season. Good luck with your expense cutting!
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Stephanie here:
Thank you for your input! You are right, there are other things we can cut to decrease our expenses. I realize that cable TV is not a necessity, however it is one thing my husband wants to keep. He works hard and never asks for anything at all, and even though we differ on the issue, I am not going to divide our marriage over it. As I mentioned before, it is something I have chosen to work around.The internet I do consider a necessity, as it not only helps me bring in a decent income, it also provides many home school resources free of charge and so much more! I cannot imagine the increase in costs and decrease in income without it, and feel that with our recent changes it more than pays for itself. I realize that many people choose not to have pets. Perhaps I would look at that in the same light if we didn’t already have them. But we do, and they are family to us. I would never get rid of them, but certainly don’t plan on replacing them when they go
The date nights are something we have to get creative on, and we are working on it. My husband feels that if we have to skimp on it, why bother? He loves to treat me to nice things, so to him it is an ego thing. I am sure the Lord will continue to work on him in that area! As far as Netflix goes, again we use it for homeschooling a lot, but I am not against eliminating it. Our library charges us $50 per year to be a member, so that is far from free. It is a one of those things but truly for $5 a month, I don’t see that is worth eliminating at this point. I spend less than $200 per year homeschooling by using these resources. I do have a pay as you go cell phone and put $25 on it every 4 months or so. My oldest daughter babysits a lot, and I feel much safer having her be able to contact me at any moment. We only use it for those types of things though. With Vonage our new bill is $17.99 a month. We do not have a land line that runs to our house, so this is the best I could find. I found clothes for my son for .25 per item at a yard sale this weekend! I clothed him for the summer for $2.50! I would and have mended clothes, but if I can find a cheaper way that frees up my time to be more available to my family, to me that price can’t be measured! I appreciate your input on this , and it is very impressive that you managed to survive even without your husbands income. I believe we could all learn a lot from you 
Perhaps you can inspire me with cutting back my grocery bill next month! I am off to read your blog and glean from your wisdom!
a little here and a little there makes such a big difference!
nice job, we will probably be doing this also!
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