Cutting Costs

[Erudite]

We haven't had a good budget conversation in quite awhile! With the changes in the economy since we last had a conversation, I hope this thread might spark some lively discussion.

I've been reading articles lately on how to reduce budget and save more. My parents have been called to Hawaii on their second mission (yes, they went there on their first mission and are going again--same job, same apartment even) and we are thinking to take our kids to visit them. We'll need to figure out how to save enough money for the airfare and food etc. The articles make some good suggestions, but very few are applicable to us as we're not big spenders in the first place so there aren't extravangances to cut out beyond not going out to dinner, which we only do with all of the kids about once a month.

But to save as much as we'll need in the next year, we're going to have to cut out some cost somewhere. Is there something out of the ordinary you've done to tighten the budget belt that you can share with me?

---------- Post added at 12:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 AM ----------

Oh, we did put "souvenirs" for the trip in our kids' hands. We often do overnighters here in Utah and always buy the kids a souvenir of the trip. (Cost cutting will mean that we won't do this for the next year.) So we told them that for this trip THEY would need to save the money they want for souvenirs and plan to buy them for themselves. We suggested they'd each want at least $100 and $200 would be really nice. (They have good swap meets in Hawaii...). Anyway, we aren't budgeting for that in our trip plans and we do pay our kids a reasonable allowance for their completion of their "zones" (areas of the house that they keep clean).

[Dia Minha]

I'm so excited for you! What a fun and amazing vacation opportunity for your family!

The first thought that came to my mind was gas. I have been thinking for a while that we needed to cut back on how much gas we use, especially with prices rising so quickly again. I go into Salt Lake three times a week and my DH 2-3 times a week. There is not much we can do to cut back on gas there, except take the van instead of the Tahoe, when possible. I'm talking about not driving as much in town. The kids are not going to die if they have to walk to school in the rain or snow, in fact my kids love it. I have also been thinking for a while that I need a big wagon, so I can walk to the store for milk and produce trips instead of driving. I need to be better about getting ready to go to places on time, like meetings, visiting teaching, play dates etc. that are in walking distance so that we are also walking and not driving. I figured out that last time gas prices were in the $4 range it cost me about $1 to drive over to the school and back. If you do that even just 2 times a day that is a lot of cash. Add a kindergarten drop off or pickup and we are talking approximately $60 a month.

One area I think we have been very succesful in cutting back on is entertainment. We save $50 by staying home and having a WII bowling tournament, rather than going to the bowling alley. We save around $50 each time we wait for a movie to come out on DVD instead of taking all the kids to the movie. The drive in, in the summer, is a splurge, but still less than the movie theater. We do a lot as a family, but try really hard to keep it affordable and choose to "recreate" an event rather than pay full price to go to the real thing.

I think the thing that has helped us the most to save money for things like vacations, furniture, remodeling etc. is to decide how much it would cost and how long we have to save. Than we figure out how much we would need to save each month and pull that out first thing. For example: Oregon trip $1500, with one year to save, means we would need to put away $125 a month. If we pull that out right away and put it somewhere else, we just figure out how to get by on what we have. It is like putting the big marbles in the jar first.

Another way we trick ourselves into saving is using an awards credit card. I know this doesn't work for everyone, but it does wonders for us. We pay for everything we can with our cash back awards card. We pay off the credit card each month and save the cash back awards to pay for Christmas. The reason it works for us is we keep track of our expenditures, just like if we were using cash or writing checks. When the money is gone, we quit spending. I have heard that you can earn more value by getting travel points instead of cash, that can be traded in for airline tickets or hotel rooms. Maybe there is a card you can use that will build points toward your Hawaii vacation.

Good luck Erudite! I'm sure you and your family will be willing too find ways to cut back on a bunch of little things with such an awesome goal in mind. Which reminds me. Maybe you could make a big poster or allot a wall for pictures and stuff that would remind everyone of the goal, which is a family vacation. When anyone is struggling to cut back or save, they can find something to add to the wall to help them remember the bigger picture.

[Erudite]

Great thoughts, Dia! I've also been thinking about the gas because the trip I make the most is the mile and a half to the school and back generally 2 times a day, but sometimes 3. If my older kids were riding their bikes to school, I wouldn't have to go back and pick them up after play practice. Unfortunately, the weather hasn't yet cooperated with that plan.

The awards card works very well for us too! Our Christmas is also paid for out of that money, but I didn't think in terms of travel points! I'll have to research that!

And I love the idea of a wall. We have a deal with the kids that they have to do at least 50% of the daily zone cleaning to get paid at all and for the last month they haven't done that, despite the fact that they're all saving toward souvenir money (and the older ones for other good stuff). And we also have "big jobs" that are available for anyone who'd like to do them and get paid more money and NO one does them. I wonder if putting up pictures of the planned trip could help make it all a bit more immediate even if it is still at least a year away.

Thanks! Any other good ideas out there?

[5ft Diva]

Dia, I like your way of thinking. Setting aside so much $$ every month to save up for a trip in a year! Great idea. I have found that we've always found a way to spend money so we might as well make a plan to save it. Besides, saving money is just a nice way of saying that you've delayed spending - it all gets used no matter how you look at it.

We actually just talked to our kids last night about the option of making money doing out of the ordinary chores around the house using a job chart on the wall so I'd be interested in hearing what works for you with that approach, E.

I don't know if this would work for you, but recently we just did the COSTCO card thing. You can imagine that with a family of eight I much prefer to buy in bulk, but I have noticed that I make a lot less trips to the store and less trips to the store means less money being spent. It doesn't always work for everybody, but I'm already seeing a difference.

If I think of anything else I'll post it here. Good luck!!

[Erudite]

We do buy in bulk when it makes sense for us. Did you apply for the American Express card for that? It's not GREAT rewards, but we can't use our regular rewards VISA there, and we may as well get something back when they're offering it. We've had it 5 months or so and got a Costco Coupon for $39. It'll pay for part of a trip that store at least. And it's $39 I don't have to spend in my monthly budget.