I, like most Moms, am always looking for ways to save money. I have started looking for coupons to see if I too can save a little cash with coupons. I have never been very good at using coupons. I love the idea of them and of saving lots of money but I always have trouble remembering what coupons I have and I often forget to take them with me to the store. This year I am going to see if I can make coupons my friend.
Part of working smarter, not harder is also being smarter with the money that we do make. I am trying to spend less on the little things like coffee, snacks and take out food. So, this week I managed to take my lunch 3 days this week, one night I did treat myself to dinner out at work. It was planned with a co-worker who is going on maternity leave and we wanted to celebrate. The last night of the week we have a staff baby shower so dinner was on work. I also managed to save a little on coffee this week, I took coffee from home at least once this week and several other days I used a gift card for coffee. I managed to purchase coffee only twice on the way to work this week. A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT! considering I am a several-coffees-a-day kind of person. I calculated what I spend on coffee and the obligatory treat with that said coffee and it is a disgusting amount of money in my mind. It is almost $700 a year at coffee shops ( and that is being conservative). Imagine what I could to with an extra $700 dollars a year!!!
Hmmmm... what could I do with $700?
*buy some great clothes
*have a seriously great day at the spa
*take a trip
..........the list is endless
One of the things I would like to try is the No Spend Challenge - the idea is to not spend any more for a certain period of time. I think I would like to see if I can do it for 1 day and then go from there. It sounds simple but I think it is going to be harder than it seems. This is all part of my 2011 plan to work smarter, not harder. The more I can trim my daily, weekly and monthly budget the better my money will work for me, the smarter I will be working for myself and my family.
What are you money smart tips? Do you think you could manage to go an entire day without spending money? Could you go a week or longer?
Aim high girl! You can do it!
ReplyDeleteI've been taking my lunch (and sometimes dinner) with me to work for years. I used to be a Second Cup latte on the way to work gal, then the occassional Tims, now I make a pot at home and bring a thermos. I think the longest I've gone without spending is 4 days, but I don't really need to stop daily spending, just keep within the budget. :)
Good luck! You can do it. ... many more ideas on saving too!
Deb
That is awesome Deb. Amazing that you can go 4 days without spending money.
ReplyDeleteHaving a budget is key - something I need to work on.