Recently, Miller and I have have made the big decision to start cutting out things that we have regarding as "necessities". We are short money every month and our credit cards are maxed out. Something has to give. Well, we're doing it. It really sounds crazy to myself, but I'm really starting to understand what "cutting back" truly means.
Cutting back doesn't only mean - no more going out to eat at the fancy restaurant, or no more shopping every month (just every other month), or no more going to the movies. Cutting back literally means cutting back what we have long taken for granted as necessities.
First off - carpooling! Miller and I only work about 5 miles from our home and we literally work 2 minutes away from one another. But, he gets off from work 1/2 hour after me and we found it just "not convenient" to car pool. So, instead, he drives his big ass pick-up truck to work everyday and I drive my little car to work everyday. Well recently, we were broke (surprise!) and I told Miller "uh you're NOT going to put $80 worth of gas in your truck until we get paid or something!" We started carpooling that week...and realize...WHY have we not been doing this?! We figured in his big ass pick-up truck, just to drive 5 miles to and from work (10 miles each day) will probably cost AT LEAST a tank of gas each month, if not more! A tank of gas in his truck cost anywhere from $70 to $80 depending on price of gas. So, #1 luxury gone - I stay 1/2 hour behind at work and we use our little car to drive to/from work. It's amazing how we took this luxury for granted. It's like "HELL NO! I'm driving my own car =P"...little did we realize how frivolous that was given how close our work is!
Second, perhaps most painful for me - TV (cable)! I know, this is a no-brainer "luxury" item. However, I watch A LOT of TV. We were paying about $150 a month for TV and internet together and for the longest time, I protested getting rid of cable. I mean WHAT kind of people live without cable?!! That's when I realize how it was another "luxury" that I mistakenly considered as a "necessity". Now that we got rid of TV, our bill is down to about $40 per month just of the internet. Internet will give us plenty of entertainment to keep us home and not going out and spending money. Not to mention, I go to school online...so I actually do need it =)
So far, that's at least $200 per month, if not more that we have saved. I know it doesn't seem like much, but it's a start. I can't cut out the credit card payments or car payments (we are upside down on our cars). We want to keep out good credit and not ruin it...so we are working on cutting on what we can. I'm really proud of us to be honest because just a year ago, I would have never thought we'd be able to live with just one car and no cable!
Till next time!
-Emma
