Saving and spending money is a deeply personal thing because everyone has items they don’t think twice about buying and items they dismiss as a waste of money. Here are my trade offs. What are yours?
What I do without
1. Sponges – instead I use two quick drying towels (saves $2/year)
2. Garbage bags – we use plastic grocery bags instead (saves $8/year)
3. The newspaper – I read everything online (except for my one weakness, the Sunday NY Times) (saves $1.30/week)
4. Cable TV – I watch TV online at Hulu.com (saves $50/month)
5. Lidded plastic containers – I bought six glass containers with lids for Christmas that will long outlast our plastic ones (saves $4/year)
6. Specialized cleaning products – diluted bleach, baking soda, vinegar and/or lemon do wonders (saves $3.50/year)
7. (Sparingly) Plastic wrap – I wash and re-use plastic packaging from bread, and other products (saves $3/year)
8. Landline – we use Skype (saves $270/year)
9. Take out – we make sure to keep a few frozen dinners at hand to avoid calling in Thai food ($30/month)
What I shell out for
1. High speed Internet service (costs $45/month)
2. Magazine subscription to Newsweek ($20/year)
3. Leather shoes (an expensive, but comfortable habit I learned from my Mom)
4. Massages ($59 approx. every three months)
5. Organic milk ($12/week)
6. iPhones ($50/month)
I’m hesitant to do the math but saving money is about facing the facts. You can’t save unless you know the full impact of your spending.
My cutbacks added up to $1,318.10 a year. My splurges add up to $1,961 a year. Hmmm…not good. I could cut myself some slack; this accounting method leaves out many ways that I save money, but I think it is time to make some changes. I may be able to negotiate a lower Internet bill with Time Warner, I’ll get fewer massages, and start buying regular milk half the time.
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
I’m with you on getting rid of 3,4,8, & 9. However, right now the only splurge we share is #1.
Of course, right after all my absolute essentials is high-speed internet. Times would have to be really bad for me to sacrifice that!
If you live in CA you can save on internet. DSL Extreme is only 17.78/month. FAST and cheap!
Shelleyfofelly
Wow, sounds like a great deal! I’m going to gather a bunch of rates from rivals and call Time Warner. Thanks for the info!
First, a little perspective. Is it worth even thinking about something that involves $2/year? Before I start spending time thinking about an expense, it should be a significant amount of money relative to my total budget. There’s not much convenience that I’d sacrifice to save $2 in a whole year.
I’ve never had cable TV, and we’re about ready to give up our land line. Those are sums worth considering.
If you think buying organic food is truly good for your health, is is reasonable to sacrifice that health benefit for a few dollars per week? Think of maintaing your health as you age as a long term investment. The right expenditures now (gym membership?) have the potential to be recouped many times over in reduced health care costs later in life.
Please let us know what you manage
to get out of Time Warner!
And, is DSL, or RoadRunner, or Cable
the fastest?
An old confused lady am I!
I personally have been cutting my own hair since I was 16 years old, so compared to most others I am saving hundreds of dollars a year. Since I have beginning to grey, I color my own hair at home at $10 every few months, although I haven’t colored my hair in almost two years (had a baby 11 mos. ago).
I can’t do without the high speed internet as that’s how I work. I have a great phone deal with Vonage and I highly recommend it. I have a tracfone instead of a fancy cell phone and only use it when I am in my vehicle.
I’ve never had a massage, a pedi, a mani or a facial.
I’m never sure if that is good or bad. I am afraid if I indulged in a massage once, I would never be able to NOT do it again. LOL
Massages are NOT a luxury, they are a necessity as they help to reduce stress! Stress is one of the leading causes of disease. And since we’re stressed due these crazy times, here are some ways to get a bargain massage:
Massage schools in your area
Spa Finders certificates available from Costco
Chinese foot massage places that are popping up on every corner here in Los Angeles – $25 or less buys one hour of foot massage (AND what they don’t tell you is about 30 minutes is spent on your back and head) – it’s basically heaven and the best $25 I ever spent. Okay I tipped $10, but still.
You cannot get DSL without a landline phone. You have Skype via your cable internet connection. So, unless you are in some free Wi-Fi area, you are stuck with cable internet. Also, some areas do not have DSL at all, including large areas of Encino.
Well I have been happy that I found a bit of a bargain
with ATT because they had a bundle deal that includes
landline and high speed internet at $60/mo. That is
also anywhere U.S. anytime local and long distance.
I have family long distance and talk for hours sometimes with them. I only use my cell which
is Virgin Mobile for emergency or quick calls. It has
versatility for just buying top-up or can do minute
plans if I want with no contract. I bought the Virgin Mobile Phone for $40 in 2004. I feel that with
the fact that I hate having contracts and am not
ready to give up that old landline, I have reached
a good compromise. I can’t spend anymore of my
time searching around for anymore deals. I have
always found ATT dependable in the landline area.
Never had a cell phone service with them . You have
to have a contract and they are expensive in that
area even with bundling.
Also I can live without cable. If I want I just watch
rented or owned movies on my VCR or DVD players.
I have a TV and those two devices. I’m a busy person (who isn’t) and I don’t spend much time
with the Tube.
That is a simpler solution for me and Simple is
Good . I’m older and not computer/internet savvy and I can’t go chasing to cut every single
cent in this area since it is my communication line and needs to be dependable without too much worry.
In my case massages , hair cuts, manicure and other
spa stuff is luxury since it is totally out of my budget. But I’m OK with that. As you say Julia,
What to spend on and what not is very personal.
So far I’m choices.
Well I have been happy that I found a bit of a bargain
with ATT because they had a bundle deal that includes
landline and high speed internet at $60/mo. That is
also anywhere U.S. anytime local and long distance.
I have family long distance and talk for hours sometimes with them. I only use my cell which
is Virgin Mobile for emergency or quick calls. It has
versatility for just buying top-up or can do minute
plans if I want with no contract. I bought the Virgin Mobile Phone for $40 in 2004. I feel that with
the fact that I hate having contracts and am not
ready to give up that old landline, I have reached
a good compromise. I can’t spend anymore of my
time searching around for anymore deals. I have
always found ATT dependable in the landline area.
Never had a cell phone service with them . You have
to have a contract and they are expensive in that
area even with bundling.
Also I can live without cable. If I want I just watch
rented or owned movies on my VCR or DVD players.
I have a TV and those two devices. I’m a busy person (who isn’t) and I don’t spend much time
with the Tube.
That is a simpler solution for me and Simple is
Good . I’m older and not computer/internet savvy and I can’t go chasing to cut every single
cent in this area since it is my communication line and needs to be dependable without too much worry.
In my case massages , hair cuts, manicure and other
spa stuff is luxury since it is totally out of my budget. But I’m OK with that. As you say Julia,
What to spend on and what not is very personal.
So far I’m okay with my choices.
heres a tip- go to a massage school for a massage! the one here charges 25 for a 90 min massage. they get to learn and i get to save!!!
Great tip, and one I’ve used before. I like to go to the Massage Place in LA. They charge $44 for an hour or less if you buy in bulk!
Julia, would you check out the AT&T bundle for $60 a month. I have huge AT&T phone bills, only $25/mo for DSL with them.
Also, where are the Chinese foot massage places in the SF Valley? I read about them in the San Gabriel Valley, didn’t know there were many of them here.
The Chinese Foot massage places are on Ventura Blvd. Happy Feet is one – I think near White Oak and Ventura.
Also there is one in Woodland Hills that is near Canoga and Ventura Blvd – south side of the Blvd.
Not sure about the east valley as I live in the West Valley.
Ordinarily I’d ding you for the iPhones, but since you don’t have a landline, I’m OK with it, even though a landline doesn’t cost more than $20/month.
We have a landline, but I have an ultra-cheap long-distance company and don’t use much long-distance anyway, so AT&T doesn’t get much out of me.
I’m a DSL Extreme customer and am fairly happy with them, but if you currently have Time Warner CABLE internet, you will not be as happy with DSL, which is much slower than the average cable-broadband connection. That’s the thing: Cable is generally MUCH MUCH faster, and it’s probably worth it to pay extra for that speed.
And … DSL Extreme doesn’t own the lines. They contract through your local telephone company, be it AT&T, Verizon or what have you. The lines belong to the local phone company, but the routers/switches are at DSL Extreme’s office.
DSL Extreme’s customer service is generally good (and local), but they’ll make you jump through MANY MANY hoops before they’ll “open a ticket” with AT&T, even though it’s generally painfully obvious that the problem is with the line and not your home wiring/filters/modem/computer/composting toilet.
I’ve been with DSL Extreme for probably five years now, and the two times I’ve had trouble, they put me through a lot before they were willing to call the AT&T guy to come out. Once AT&T is on the scene, the guy generally fixes the problem in under 5 minutes, but only after I’ve been through a couple weeks of “unplug this, plug in this” hell from DSL Extreme support.
Once it’s working, DSL Extreme is great, and if you feel like changing from another DSL provider, and you have working DSL in your home, you’ll be fine. But if you don’t currently have DSL service and have an older home with older wiring, be prepared for pain.
That’s why if you currently have cable broadband and like it, I’d stay with it.
I know somebody who was far enough from the phone company substation that their DSL speed was horrible. They changed to cable broadband and are extremely happy with the results. That’s the other thing: you don’t know how good a DSL connection you’re going to get. The farther you are from the phone company, the worse it is, and they don’t charge you less if you have a marginal connection, they just say, “oh well” and you pay full price for a crappy connection.
Hi, interesting post. I have been pondering this issue,so thanks for posting. I will certainly be subscribing to your posts.
Miscellaneous comments to preceding comments
organic milk: Read legitimate and respected health publications (“Berkeley Wellness Letter” or those from Johns Hopkins, for example) about the “value” of organic products.
stress management: Exercise can be free.
TracFone: My husband bought one with a bunch of minutes for about $100 for a year. Unused time rolls over. Unlike most people, he bought it for emergencies or calling home while he’s out to see if we need something at the store, etc. He doesn’t use it for idle chatter. It’s bare bones–no text messaging, camera, etc., and fits his needs perfectly.