Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Frickin Money

That's the nice way of saying it.

With the writer's strike still going strong and the cost of living skyrocketing, Matt and I are having to get creative on how to save money every month. Now we've had these conversations before and while we can be good for a few weeks or even a few months, something always happens where we fall off the wagon and then scramble to get back on.

Writers Strike = hiring freeze. Golden Globes = loss of $10 million for our city, and that's just one day. Everyone is affected, whether you're in the industry or not. It's not happy. And not. getting. better.

With that, we've decided to cut out some things:

1. (Sorry Jenny) Bikram Yoga. I. love. it. But it's costly and frankly I don't go enough to offset the cost. I will use up the sessions that I have left (and no, I didn't go on Sunday, but plan to go on Friday), and then find free things to do until we have the budget for yoga.

2. Cable. GASP! I know. I'm so excited! But there's hardly any new shows coming up in the next few months, and honestly, all of them are streamed on the web (which we'll do only if the show is a must see) or we can get them from Netflix on DVD. I am thrilled because I am a re-run junkie and this will free up my time to live life and get things done around the home. I have no self-control when it comes to TV, but when it comes to movies, I must make the time to sit for 2 hours. It's weird.

3. Eating out. Once a week, perhaps twice at the most. Though I did hear a report on NPR that the cost of eating in is getting so expensive it's almost the same as eating out. However, there is a certain feeling of satisfaction when cooking a meal for our little family. Of course, my weakness will always be eating out at lunchtime because I absolutely must leave the office. The phones drive me nuts.

With constant communication and support from one another, I know Matt and I can do this! :)

2 comments:

Jenny said...

Honey, I haven't done BY in ages. Too expensive :) So do what I do, long walks with my MP3 players and lots of downloaded programs from NPR. Even better, borrow a dog to go with you. A real dog, one that weighs more than a purse.

And we don't miss cable at ALL. Plus, we just get DVD's from the library. For FREE. But you might have some trouble convincing sweet husband to do that.

And while some eating out is the same as eating in, it's not going to be your best quality food. And even at the office, you can find somewhere great to hang with a brown bag lunch. Seriously, that's like 20 bucks a week!

Good luck with it all. Always such a challenge, and you aren't alone.

Mary said...

Yeah, we have the same problem w/expenses. It might be easier now that ben found a job but you know how it is, make more=spend more. At least gas price seems to be going down a little. I feel kinda squeezed making it from paycheck to paycheck. As for cable TV-we can't afford it.