I have already cut back on eating out.

I have cut down the number of times I go out for coffee or tea.

I am going to the used bookstore more instead of buying new books.

My husband has been biking to work more often.

I guess it just depends on how far you want to gut your expenses. I have always been frugal and make any purchase w/ a fair amount of thought.

When you get down to it, there are only a few things that you can’t live w/out. Food and shelter are at the top of that list. Anything that isn’t related directly to that would be sliding further down the scale toward “wants” and away from “needs”.

@Bri Even in the examples you list, I would consider most of them wants (cable, internet, eating out). It all comes down to how far any of us wants to go…..

Bottom line, for me….I am already there. Anyone who wasn’t, is just now catching up :)

If you have good libraries where you live, you can get most of your entertainment there rather than video stores or netflix…most libraries in my area let you check out DVDs a week at a time. Generally they have all the newest movies, you just have to wait, but there is probably an online reservation system where you can put your name on a list.

If you have cable internet, sign up for a Vonage account (if you want I’ll even give you a referral…not spam…totally up to you)...the unlimited plan is $24.99/mo, but I use the metered plan, I get 500 mins of outgoing calls for $14.99 which comes out to $20/mo w/ taxes and has EVERY FEATURE IMAGINABLE. Or drop land line altogether and go cell only. Get prepaid cell if you don’t talk much.

Satellite TV is cheaper than cable for the most part (rabbit ears are even cheaper).

Always buy books, CDs and the like used, never new.

Two words = public transportation (no gas, saves on insurance if you don’t drive or only drive for recreational purposes), etc.

Sell anything you have that you don’t use on Craig’s List.

Don’t buy snacks in vending machines, coffees here and there, etc., that 75 cents to 2 dollars adds up if you do it every day.

Turn down the heat a couple degrees, turn off the lights whenever you leave the room, take showers instead of baths to conserve water usage, etc.

And NO MORE HOOKERS.

Actually, my lifestyle is already barebones. I don’t eat out, I don’t go to movies or anything like that, I don’t indulge, I haven’t shopped for clothing in a long time [read:years]. I just work, save, and play world of warcraft, and eat rice and beans.

I am working through school, paying for it myself. So yeah – already barebones.

hey squirbel hows life,anyways i would take 35% of whatever i make and hide it right away,pillow case,couch,anywhere so i know i wouldnt take it out to spend unless its an emergency.

make your own lunch for work instead of going out for it.

@ snoopy – I was just talking to my neighbor. They have call waiting, caller id, etc. and don’t use it. Their internet connection is $15 more expensive than mine when I actually have a professional reason to use their speed and don’t need to. They subscribe to the higher version of netflixs (5 a month instead of less i think) and for 5 months they have not watched 3 of them.

I thought, how many other people do this?

No more Starbucks. I didn’t buy textbooks for two of my classes. I stopped buying books, now I use the library. I shop with coupons now. My boys have less clothes than they used to; I don’t supplement the hand-me-downs like I used to. I have taken to selling extra stuff on ebay. I changed cell phone carrier to save money, switched my cable and phone service, and I’m canceling my newspaper subscription.

Cancel your gym membership and start jogging, doing push-ups, crunches, and other free exercise.

Get a subscription to the Sunday paper only and cut coupons.

Sell blood (and maybe sperm)

Only buy it if you need it

Only use it if you need it

Keep your tires properly inflated

If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down

Send your extra money to Obama as an investment in the future (or maybe Al Franken, he needs it more) :)

@Bri I think alot of people do it! Here is another example for you….A friend is always complaining about lack of $. This same friend is not a natural blond and spends about $600/year to give the illusion that she is…..

It is a great question to get people thinking. I recently sat down and sorted out how much I spend in postage/month just to pay bills. $4—$5. Doesn’t sound like much, right? x 12 months/year =$60.

Find a few of those and you can really save some money.

Oh yeah, I pay all my bills online. Up until last month I hadn’t written a check in 2 years.

I really need to cut off things like:
Shirts
Jeans
My Coffee budget is going to hell
My martini budget is going with my coffee budget :s
I’m not going out as often as I used to…
I’m very tight right now, but it will pass…
I’m staying home watching Mtv like, when I was 12 :s
I make photocopies of some of my books this semester
Oh my….

Sorry to everyone I realized that this question was asked already. I was even a part of it. My mind was just on a different train of thought and I didn’t find it when I searched.

My apologies.

@Bri W/ respect to people who do care….Who cares?

I am sure that there are new members since that question was asked that perhaps could add something….This is a question w/ no definitive answer. Also, as people’s access to liquidity changes, so might their answers! ;)

I guess I will keep reading about and saving money for my first electric car, hopefully those plug-ins will be avail in mass soon.

We already don’t eat out, but now I have to budget on the food.

Always the cheapest meats, fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, and no fancy seafood.

Also, we’ll be changing our phone stuff because it’s all too much.

We already don’t have cable tv, but I am NOT GIVING UP THE INTERNET,

Or the Hookers.

Eating out…well, more like take-out. We do it entirely too much, and need to cut back.

rowenaz – just don’t combine the two (eating out and hookers)...that would be gross.

I guess I’ve been spending too much money, but that’s good for the economy, right?

it is scar how many of us are already living like this. Then you think of what is happening. EEEP.

Alcohol, eating out, and ice cream.

I need to make separate budgets for each of those and get them under control. With the addition of the iPhone, I’ve needed to cut back spending about $50 a week, but it’s been hard because I was already at the bare bones. So at this point I’m really cutting back on those three items to scrounge up $50 a week for my phone. (Okay, two weeks a month go to the phone, two go to my new, higher rent.)

If you are not doing it already, then it’s not the #1 thing you could do to save money, it’s just wishful self delusion.

“The biggest sins in the world are procrastination and apathy.”
yet remember
“Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid”

I could always…..eat the hookers….?

i used to buy dunkin donuts coffee every day before work which is over $2 a day, now i drink the coffee at work. for that i “pay” by buying occasional quart of milk for the coffee club.

i do eat lunch every day which runs me about $5–8. i know that is wasteful, but for me it’s a convenience – especially with a baby there’s barely enough time to get dressed in the morning, let alone get lunch together.

i buy a lot of things at costco, which require an initial outlay of more money, but per each the price is cheaper. everything from eggs to garbage bags to dinner napkins to meat rolls (to take to work to have with the coffee), toilet paper, paper towels, butter, cat food i get at costco. a lot of things. granted some things you may buy on sale at a store cheaper but i always check (or know) the costco price first.