Financial Reflections

Have you ever had the feeling that someone’s cut a hole in your pocket and your money is slowly falling out? I’ve experienced that over the past couple of weeks, and here’s how I plan on sewing the hole shut. I’ve come up with four ways I can save money, starting right now and I plan on doing it all week. Here’s the list:

Four things I’m doing to save money this week:

1. Van pooling. I have the option to ride a van in to work. The upside: It’s $50 a month and I normally spend $15 each day on gasoline alone. In 3 days it has easily paid for itself if I include wear and tear on my aging car. The downside: I have to get up at 5:00 AM to catch the bus.
2. No vending. This is a hard one, because I’m a sucker for that impulse Snickers bar purchase. Gas prices have forced our vendors to raise the prices to an average of a dollar per item. It might not seem like much, but that’s potentially hundreds a year.
3. Brown bagging it. I’ve heard that eating out regularly can cost us more in a month than a car payment. It’s pretty easy math, at $5 to $10 a day, that can come to $150 to $300, and that’s if one avoids the more expensive places. Last night’s leftovers or a home-made sandwich cost a lot less per meal (and are probably better for me).
4. No impulse buys. I need to keep living my own advice about frugal shopping. I noticed small items just seem to land in my basket at the store — items I’m better off without.

Ok, so that’s not a big list, but I’d like to think I try to save money day by day. If you add up all the things I’m doing to save money, if I did them every week for a year… I’d save at least $5,000!

What are you doing to save money this week? Comment and let me know.