Last Friday I posted about how I'd been feeling convicted to make changes in how I'm living. It's one thing to say I'm feeling convicted, but a who other story to actually do something about it. Today I want to get into the nitty gritty with you.
I started by writing down every single thing we spend money on in a month. Our list looked something like this:
Mortgage
Home Insurance
Car Insurance
Utilities
Home Owners Association
Groceries (and all cleaning supplies, diapers, etc.)
Phone
Internet
World Vision
Gas
Netflix
Hulu
Rhapsody
Pharmacy
Incidentals (random things we don't expect)
Dining Out
Adoption Loan
Babysitter
After making the list, I added up what we were paying in each category then whittled it down to what we have to have. Our new list looks like this:
Mortgage
Home Insurance
Car Insurance
Utilities
Home Owners Association
Groceries
Phone (see below)
Internet (see below)
World Vision
Gas
Rhapsody
Incidentals
You'll notice that our list shrunk considerably! Some of the deletions from our list ended up being coincidentally timed with these changes we were making, most were conscious decisions we made. Here's the breakdown of what we're saving per month now:
Phones- We have been paying month to month to Verizon for a year now, about $100 a month for 750 minutes and 250 texts. Completely insane, right? I've been nagging myself to look into better plans for months and I finally did. We settled on Straight Talk, which is a prepaid plan from Walmart. We both chose the 1,000 minute/1,000 text plan for $30, which ends up being about $65 combined with tax.
Total savings $35.
Internet- Up until recently there was only one Internet provider for our area. Now there are two! Dan oh so bravely called our current provider and said he'd like them to match the rate the other company is offering, which they so kindly agreed to do for 1 year. Our HOA (home owners association) does provide us with free WiFi, but I need something more reliable for my work I do from home, so we couldn't cut this completely.
Total savings $16.
Netflix & Hulu- We recently had signed up for Amazon Prime, which includes some streaming movies and TV shows so we decided to try life without these 2 services. I used to use Hulu a lot when Max wouldn't nap anywhere but on me, but had gotten to the point where I was only using it for Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, both of which are available for free on ABC's website the day after they air. I'm now watching these on my iPad instead. Truthfully, we don't like Amazon Prime as much as Netflix; we'll probably go back at some point, but for now it's working okay.
Total savings $16.
Dining Out- I had surgery (a spinal fusion. Ouch!) in December and for almost 3 months we had family here nonstop to help us with various things, including baby care and meals. Recovery from a spinal fusion is long and painful and when our family headed home, I really just couldn't keep up with baby care and cooking so we turned to carryout. Thank the Lord, I am feeling amazing these days and I've gone back to cooking dinner about 5 times a week (Dan works on Saturday nights and we usually have leftovers 1 night). It's been about a month since we've cut our carryout habit.
Total savings $100.
Babysitter- This is one of those that ended up being coincidental, but really will have a huge impact on us financially. We've been having a sitter come for a few hours a week while I work; however, my work schedule changed this week and it's now possible for Dan and I to trade off on baby duty and still get our work done. As sad as we are to not have our awesome sitter here regularly, this will save us a lot each month.
Total savings $400.
Adoption Loan- Most of you know that our little Max arrived on very short notice! We had been saving for our adoption for a couple of years and had nearly all of what we needed, but did end up borrowing a few thousand dollars from very generous family members to cover the remaining expenses (including some that we didn't initially expect). We've been paying them between $250 and $500 a month since Max arrived. A few days ago, they graciously forgave the remainder of our debt.
Total savings $250.
A few things I want to cover: We do have a pretty generous budget for groceries, etc. I am gluten-free, so some things are more expensive, and we try to eat fairly healthfully. However, we have cut out most gluten free mixes, such as brownies, that we were buying once a week (total savings $5) in favor of making our my dessert (crazy Dan doesn't really do sweets). I'm working improving my couponing, but I do find it a bit challenging.
You'll also notice that we didn't cut our giving to World Vision. God has so strongly said to me that I am on this earth to care for children in need, so this was a category that while we don't need to spend money in, we feel that God has called us to. If anything, this is a category that is likely to increase as we cut spending elsewhere.
We also decided to keep our Rhapsody service. Dan and I both love music and a love for music is something we hope to pass on to Max. They do offer a less expensive service at $5 (computer based only) a month, but Max and I like the convenience of being able to take our music room with our iPad, so we decided the $10 a month is OK by us.
One last thing, we have also rolled our pharmacy category into our incidentals category, but kept the amount about the same. This includes doctors visits, medications, or anything that may not come up every month, but we need to have budgeted for. I've also set this up so that if we don't use it all, it rolls into the next month so if something big happens, like the air conditioning going out, we'll be prepared.
Alright, I know I've thrown a lot of information at you this time around so I'm going to wrap it up, but I want to hear from you:
What cost-cutting measures have you taken in your home?
This was really great to read! Thanks for sharing, Kelsey :)
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