Frugal Thursday

Sometime this weekend I'll try and update my blogroll to show it, but in the meantime I wanted to mention my latest project - learning about personal finance and frugal living.

Learning from those who have been where I am and are living well is such an inspiration. My goal is to be free of consumer debt in 24 months - an impossible goal as recently as 6 months ago. I'm not doing anything too radical yet - I did move to a shared house in November, and I do use reusable products when I can, but I still use kleenex and drive my car. But already, I'm making progress, and the goal as ridiculous as it used to.

In the spirit of encouraging, here are 5 things that I do which save me a lot of money:

1. Take coffee from home. I used to get a latte a day, about 4 days a week. At about $4.00 a day, that's $16 a week, or $64.00 a month. Now I brew coffee at home, put it in my commuter mug, and drink that. Even if I get one latte a week, I'm saving $48.00 a month. (1/2 of a great massage).
2. Take the bus to work when I can. I get my bus pass for free through work. If I drive every day, I go through $40 a week in fuel. Then I spend up to $10 a day in parking. Assuming I pay to park half the time, that's $260 a month. Even if I drive 2 days a week, I'm still saving $156 a month - that's one fabulous pair of shoes, or an amazing day at the spa.
3. Eat food at home. This is where the shared housing comes in - I get my food included in the price of my rent. I used to eat out for dinner (or a weekend lunch/breakfast) about 6 times a week - about $480 a month. Now I'm averaging about 2 equivalent meals a week - a savings of $320. That's at least a night in a really amazing hotel.
4. Use the library. I used to buy about 3 books a month, give or take, and since the library is free, that's $30 a month that's in my pocket. And $30 a month from not using Netflix anymore.
5. Wait before you shop. We'll see how this one actually turns out - but I used to be a total impulse shopper. This month, I waited a few weeks to go clothes shopping, and now I'm planning to go shop 2nd hand.

Not bad at all - $584 back in my pocket. Hopeful, indeed.