The economy sucks. I have no stable income and we still need to eat. I have decided to once again try to be proactive and change our current situation. I have been applying for jobs. I signed up with a temp agency for proofreading work, The Bean and The Bear is still open for business (have your friends e-mail us soon!) and I am trying to finish up a couple of freelance pieces to send out for publication. However, none of this is going to help buy the groceries this week. Do you know who is going to help? Oprah. God love her. She is just love and hope and positive thinking all rolled up in $400 shoes and a worldwide empire.
I Tivo'd her show last week on money saving tips and finally got around to watching it over the weekend. I like Oprah because even though she has no idea how the rest of us live our lives, she recognized that we are the ones who watch her show and instead of cramming some self-help book down our throats again, perhaps she should tackle the issues most pressing to us right now.
The guests on her show were America's most frugal family and the coupon mom.
The most important thing I took away from it was that we have to live within our means. This isn't always possible when we don't account for what we spend. So I have decided to try out some of the tips from the coupon mom to see if I can cut down on our grocery bill. I have decided to start unplugging any electronics that we aren't using, throwing all receipts in a basket and figuring out where any excess spending goes (I know, I know--Dunkin Donuts is going to have to see less of me and the Lady) and selling some of our crap on eBay. All small steps that I hope will lead to big savings.
Any hints or tips out there? Let me know how you are trying to save.
Might I suggest a wonderful piece of free software that is much easier to use than Quicken, MS Money, etc. It's called Mint (www.mint.com). 100% online, it interfaces with every type of financial account I have (including the mortgage) and allows you to setup a budget and categorize all of your expenses.
ReplyDeleteMy disclaimer is that it does have some bugs, but they have rapidly been working to fix them. I am quickly becoming a power user and am happy to help if you want to try it out.
Would it surprise you to know that I actually have set up stuff at Mint? However, I haven't provided all the info needed so it is a skewed version of reality.
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