2008- changes/goals met About This Page:

[wheatenwalker]

How'd everyone do?

I didnt set out with any goal other than not to sink since younger DS turned 21 so no more child support and he is still in college- then with the economy- my income took a nose dive- but happily- I did ok!
Some things I changed-
no more bottled water,
did my own pedicures,
no more hair highlights,
no machine at work for snacks (well, once in a while)
no coffee on the way to work, take my own
really worked on food waste ( thaanks to Sue for that thought)
only get the paper on Sundays ( delivered, I buy it occaisionally)
buy more generic brands at the grocery
no take out- if I am going to eat out, I make it special and worth it-so I cook more, eat out less but when I do its great

What changes did you make?

[FanOfMickey]

Make my own coffee at home ( only buy out occasionally )
Bring my lunch to work everyday
Get fast food only once a week.
Only get the Sunday paper ( I too get it delivered and I do cut the coupons out to use)
No bottled waters at home ( I do drink them at work, but they are free, so no money spent )
Shut off my direct tv, doing ok without it too
Shut off my landline, use mostly my cell.

[rescuesk]

Brought my meals to work every day.
Got out of the lunch kitty rotation at work.
Made a budget and tried to stick to it. (Still not 100% on this one! )
Ate in alot more.
Grocery shopped alot smarter.
Tried to use leftovers and not waste food.
Stopped the paper subscription and read it online.
Any extra income (even a few dollars) went to debt reduction.
Opened an ING savings account with automatic deductions so I have no excuse not to save.

On to 2009!

[debsta922]

I honestly just became aware of my spending. Simply realizing how much my coffee in the morning was actually costing me along with dinners out, or fast food lunches.... it was amazing how much more I was able to save and put towards debt reduction.

[Disney_Scarlett]

Cut out 90% of eating out for breakfast / lunch during the work-week (never really had that problem on the weekends).
Stopped my regular mani/pedi appointments (now just get one occassionally)
Found a less expensive hair stylist that I love!
Waste less food (still really need to work on this, though)
Less impulse shopping (things like snacks at the convienence store next to my office, take-out coffee, etc.)
Shopping with more coupons / shopping more sales
And because of all this - managed to save more money!

[klositis]

Gosh you guys did great, This is my goal for the new year also. I would love to cut my land line, but since Im on dial up cant cut the line. Going to call and see what I can get bill cut down too so I can just use it for internet connection!!

[PirateMomma412]

Originally Posted by rescuesk

Brought my meals to work every day.
Got out of the lunch kitty rotation at work.
Made a budget and tried to stick to it. (Still not 100% on this one! )
Ate in alot more.
Grocery shopped alot smarter.
Tried to use leftovers and not waste food.
Stopped the paper subscription and read it online.
Any extra income (even a few dollars) went to debt reduction.
Opened an ING savings account with automatic deductions so I have no excuse not to save.

On to 2009!

I had talked about opening a savings account just for Disney trips... does that make me crazy?? How does your ING account work?
This year I am:
Not going to Sonic every day for a diet coke...having them at home
Actually using the coupons I clip
cut down to basic cable instead of all the movie channels we never watch
And I also wrote out a budget!

Good luck to you all! More extra dollars laying around means more trips to Disney!

[rescuesk]

I had talked about opening a savings account just for Disney trips... does that make me crazy?? How does your ING account work?

Not crazy at all! :

The ING account is really easy. You go to ING.com and it will ask you if you want to set up a new account. It will walk you through the process. You then decide how much you want to contribute. We do it weekly, but you can do it when you have the money, or whatever. You set up the schedule that you want.

When you link your bank account to it, it will confirm with a small deposit and then you need to call the 800 number they provide and verify the account. That's it! And once you are all set up, it's easy to manage!!

Good luck with your goals!