Talk me down off the ledge!!

[Just Me]

I'm gonna jump! I am realizing this week, for some reason, that because of the "stuff" in our life, there are a lot of things we can't do. Like take nice family vacations, without having to figure out which relative we could stay with near the area we want to visit! So, I am considering getting rid of cable, internet access at home, and whatever other "unnecessary" things we have. Just cutting those two things would save me about $120 per month. That's $1440 a year! I could also cut back on our eat out budget. But then there is the chicken side of me that runs screaming, "Nooooooo - don't get rid of my fun stuff!!!" We have the pool to go to for the summer - paid for my someone else - so that could be our diversion until September.

I've gotta run, but would love to get you guys input on this. Am I crazy? Tell me I can do it! I'm all ears! :bigear:

[Cheryl in NM]

I'm gonna jump! I am realizing this week, for some reason, that because of the "stuff" in our life, there are a lot of things we can't do. Like take nice family vacations, without having to figure out which relative we could stay with near the area we want to visit! So, I am considering getting rid of cable, internet access at home, and whatever other "unnecessary" things we have. Just cutting those two things would save me about $120 per month. That's $1440 a year! I could also cut back on our eat out budget. But then there is the chicken side of me that runs screaming, "Nooooooo - don't get rid of my fun stuff!!!" We have the pool to go to for the summer - paid for my someone else - so that could be our diversion until September.

I've gotta run, but would love to get you guys input on this. Am I crazy? Tell me I can do it! I'm all ears! :bigear:

Okay, first of all, you don't need a big bells and wistles family vacation every year or every other year or on any regular basis. Enjoy what you can, when you can. Take weekend trips to places nearby where you can camp, afford 1 night in a hotel or drive back home.

Second, I really would NOT cut the internet. It is such a valuble resource to homeschooling. I know, you probably spend WAY too much time on it doing fun, useless stuff (personal experience injected here!LOL), but it's a valuable resource. You'd just have to drive to the library to use their computers. Is that a reality you can live with? Can you change internet providers to save money? People actually still use dial-up, it's hard when you really use your internet in your homeschooling though.

Here's one of the things we just did to save money. We turned off the satellite dish (no cable in our area). We signed up for Netflix. It is saving us $80 a month!

Just don't get pulled into that family vacation trap. Alot of the time it's just a status symbol. If you want to take a family vacation, spend the year saving for it. Make it a big production in your family. It will be a source of pride as well as fun when you have saved the money and can enjoy yoursedlves.

[JudoMom]

I'm all for cutting cable and eating out. And any other unnecessary expenses.

But cutting internet?

No way.

Uh-uh.

:svengo:

[WTMindy]

I'm gonna jump! I am realizing this week, for some reason, that because of the "stuff" in our life, there are a lot of things we can't do. Like take nice family vacations, without having to figure out which relative we could stay with near the area we want to visit! So, I am considering getting rid of cable, internet access at home, and whatever other "unnecessary" things we have. Just cutting those two things would save me about $120 per month. That's $1440 a year! I could also cut back on our eat out budget. But then there is the chicken side of me that runs screaming, "Nooooooo - don't get rid of my fun stuff!!!" We have the pool to go to for the summer - paid for my someone else - so that could be our diversion until September.

I've gotta run, but would love to get you guys input on this. Am I crazy? Tell me I can do it! I'm all ears! :bigear:

That is what we do. We don't have cable, expensive cell phone service, we have a very low eating out budget and we don't spend money on lots of extras that others feel are necessary. (I draw the line at high-speed internet, though! But, I do shop around for the cheapest and switch when something else is cheaper!) But, we take good vacations. If you click on my blog, you can read about our latest driving vacation. It was so much fun and I wouldn't trade it for all the cable in the world.

However, you should make sure that you could be disciplined enough to save that money so that it doesn't just get sucked into other spending. If you open a separate account and agree to put that money in there and not touch it, then I think you should go for it!! I don't think you are crazy at all. Well, maybe you are, but I'm right there with you!!

[elegantlion]

Agree about the internet. We consider it part of our entertainment budget. We still have cable, but that is our entertainment as well.

What about doing smaller shorter vacations? We started doing day trips about once a month. No kennel fees, no hotel stays and there is plenty within a drive from our house to see.

We try to do something fun over the weekend. My dh's business doesn't allow us the time to take big expensive vacations anymore. When he has the time we don't have the money, ugh.

We don't go to eat out. We get take out instead. We get take out about 5 to 6 x's per month. We save tip and drink money. That's around 8.00 per meal saved only for 3 people.

We save our change. I did and used mine to get an amazon gift cert from coinstar. I purchased a great deal of next years books in that manner.

[Melinda in VT]

Okay, first of all, you don't need a big bells and wistles family vacation every year or every other year or on any regular basis. Enjoy what you can, when you can. Take weekend trips to places nearby where you can camp, afford 1 night in a hotel or drive back home.

[snipped for length]

Just don't get pulled into that family vacation trap. Alot of the time it's just a status symbol. If you want to take a family vacation, spend the year saving for it. Make it a big production in your family. It will be a source of pride as well as fun when you have saved the money and can enjoy yoursedlves.

I'd like to offer a different perspective for the OP to consider.

For our family, family vacations and travel are an important part of our family life. We've been blessed to be able to afford to travel (although destinations may need to be revised in coming years due to the economy and cost of airfare). But we have also made choices that make that travel possible. For example, for years we drove junker cars because we preferred to spend money on vacations. Money others might spend on nicer clothes or furniture, we spend on trips.

Status has nothing to do with it.

Our trips are fun, educational, and bonding. Definitely worth the money we've spent.

[Maria from IN]

I guess it all depends on what you deem "necessary."

I haven't been on a vacation in almost 20 years. We don't eat out because we don't have the money and I have a million food allergies anyway. We have cable because my mother is paying for it, but I'm considering taking it away again because most of the shows I like I can watch on the internet and I hardly think graduate school will allow a lot of time for channel surfing.

There are other things I enjoy doing with my son. For example, we take bike rides together and check out movies from the library instead of rent them, and I've figured out how I can go to the grocery store once and buy the food I need for the month (except for produce and milk). Like Melinda, I drive older cars, and I also cut down on errands whenever possible. I and lots of other people here hang their clothes instead of using the dryer and turn up the thermostat a couple of degrees to save on the electric bill. I really believe it's the little things that add up, not just the drastic things like turning off internet and cable.

Vacations would be wonderful, even if I have to stay with family, but knowing that I'm living within my means and still enjoying my life is okay too. Perhaps I'm just a homebody.

[shalom22]

Do you use a software like Quicken to help you keep tabs of your monthly expenses? We finally got it and it has really helped me focus more on our budget. I need to see the figures to be able to stay on track. It will also help you budget a vacation by setting aside funds.

Before we had the Quicken software, I had no idea how much money I was spending on groceries each month. One day I happened to add up all the receipts for several months and it shocked me to no end. We were spending $1200 to $1500 per month on groceries and household consumables. And we don't eat out but maybe 1 or 2 times a month. The Quicken has helped me to be aware of where our money is going. We are saving up for a family vacation in Sept., so I have to keep on track with our budget so that we will have the money for it.

[Just Me]

Thanks everyone, for your input. I was able to talk with dh today. He is a middle school minister, and is away at camp with the kids this week. We discussed the options, and here is what we came up with:


we are going to cut cable to basic service - Was $65, now $25 - $40 savings
We are going to add Roadrunner Lite to our cable service (I really can't do without internet service!) - was $42, now $30 - $12 savings
I am cutting the "eat out" category by $40 per month - was $70, now $30 - $40 savings


That should save me approx. $92 per month, minus the increase in grocery budget for eating at home. I do a written budget every month using Dave Ramsey's software, and I will be slashing away! While vacations aren't my only goal in making these changes, for me, travel is very important. I want to do these things while my kids are still home with me, and we can do them together. This is the first time in our entire married life (15 years) that dh has a job where he gets real vacations, and I am ready to enjoy traveling.

[Jen3boys]

Sounds like a good plan! Travel is something our family values too. We have hi-speed internet, but no cable, and a basic pay-as-you go cell phone service (which I barely use). We rarely eat out.
We don't take expensive vacations though. We do stay with family, camp, bring our own food, rent houses with kitchens so we can eat in. I also have a huge jar I dump change into regularly. I use it for spending money on vacation-usually a few hundred $$.

[HollyDay]

We chose not to cut cable and internet but to downsize the trips. Trips are great and wonderful memory builders, but it is a one time thing. The fun of watching a travel show or some other family show together with a big bowl of chips is something we do often.

We did cut our cell phone back to the basics.

We limit eating out.

We cut our grocery budget as much as possible.

We use the library more than purchase books.

We play lots of board and card games and just enjoy family time

[Cheryl in NM]

Thanks everyone, for your input. I was able to talk with dh today. He is a middle school minister, and is away at camp with the kids this week. We discussed the options, and here is what we came up with:

we are going to cut cable to basic service - Was $65, now $25 - $40 savings
We are going to add Roadrunner Lite to our cable service (I really can't do without internet service!) - was $42, now $30 - $12 savings
I am cutting the "eat out" category by $40 per month - was $70, now $30 - $40 savings
That should save me approx. $92 per month, minus the increase in grocery budget for eating at home. I do a written budget every month using Dave Ramsey's software, and I will be slashing away! While vacations aren't my only goal in making these changes, for me, travel is very important. I want to do these things while my kids are still home with me, and we can do them together. This is the first time in our entire married life (15 years) that dh has a job where he gets real vacations, and I am ready to enjoy traveling.

That sounds great! If travel is important to you and you're not just doing it to keep up with "whoever" because you think it will make you happy that's great! We've only taken "vacations" with 2 exceptions. Dh's job allowed us to spend 2 months in Washington DC, excellent! We took an actual vacation, just for us with no family obligations and went to Yellowstone and camped and drove around and hiked for 4 days. Ds hasn't quit talking about it yet. In fact, he wants to move there.

IMO, vacations are personal choices, but I see so many people that use being able to take a vacation as a status symbol, that's the reason for my earlier post. No offense to anyone intended.:001_unsure:

[Shenan]

Um....please excuse my ignorance...but...What is a vacation??


I vote for keeping the internet.

Get rid of the TV (nothing but junk on it anyway), you will be amazed at what your kids opt to do instead of watching the TV. I know I was when we got rid of ours for financial reasons a yr ago.

If you have a cell phone and a reg. phone, maybe get rid of one of those.

AND

Eat out once a month or every other month (we do the latter). Its healthier for ya anyway...

Cut down your errands. As the gas prices went up. I went from twice a week running around. To once a week. To once a month plus Sundays for church. (We have a 12mpg family vehicle) Dh now picks up the milk and bread when we run out on the way home from work and any other pop-up trips that arise. I'm loving it because I am spending more meaningful time with the kids instead of piling them into the car to go pick up more milk and bread or drop off paperwork or picking up book packages from the P.O. Plus were accomplishing more things around the house. i.e. school work, small paint projects, adn major decluttering.:D

If you do decide to jump though, let me know ahead of time so I can come catch ya.;)

Just my 2 cents...
Shenan