Save that money, honey

I feel kind of blog schizo lately.  Last week I had a million things to talk about, and they were funny things.  I was on a roll.  And this week, I want to talk about the deeper stuff, the more important stuff.  I really hope you don't mind... It's going to happen whether you care or not, but I like having a friend or two.  If I start turning into an emo or a sad country song tell me, okay?

So I left off a couple of weeks ago telling you how I gave away the Mary Kay, how I was letting go of some things that really hurt me.  I left it at still feeling terrified, and uncertain.  Those feelings really lingered with me.  Half of the time I was pondering going and asking for it all back.  Despite knowing it was the good and right thing to do, I was in that 7 stages of grief thing.  I'm finally coming towards acceptance, but I would say I'm still pretty angry.  I'm angry that I put myself in that position, and that I was so reticent to move on from it.  It isn't the all consuming rage, it's just the quiet anger.  It's okay.  I know that I am getting there, once and for all.

Source: daveramsey.com via Misty on Pinterest

There is financial backlash from the decisions I made during that time, and I shared that before.  We are trying really hard to start cutting the bills that we can so that we have more funds available for making payments on debt.  We don't want to be so far in debt 5 years from now that we can't dig out!  We are lucky in that we both have good credit, and the ability to make some wise money choices so that we can craft a better life for ourselves.  Some of the things we are doing to save money:

1) We re-financed our car from 12.99% interest to 4.74% interest.  This is saving $130 per month in car payments.

2)  Stop eating out.  I don't know how much this is saving in the long run since we buy more food at the store, but we are saving money here.  It also really helps me stay on my diet.

3)  Stay home.  It's much easier to save money when you don't go anywhere.

4)  Drop the bundled package that's off promotion, get internet on promotion with different service provider, and order hulu+ for out Apple TV.  Total savings, $120 per month.

5) Shop for new insurance for our cars, renters policy, and the scooter.  We haven't finished this yet, but we are hoping to save at least $30 a month when we combine all of our policies together.  If we save more I will be over the moon delighted.

6)  Having our own gym equipment.  We have a treadmill, adjustable weights, and workout dvds.  With all of this stuff, we aren't paying $30 plus per month each for a gym membership.

7)  Bulk food shopping.  We buy as much of our food in bulk as we can, then re-package into smaller portions.  We tend to eat the same veggies several times a week after we buy in bulk, so that we minimize waste.

Compared with all of the obstacles we have to overcome, this does not seem like a whole lot.  However, it all moves us in the direction of being more financially free, more financially well.  Step by step, we are going to make it.

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Do any of you guys have any interesting ways that you save money?  I would love to talk more openly and more often about money and money management.  Let's stop this cycle about making the money talk taboo!