I haven’t always been a very wasteful person or a very frugal person. I was willing to pay more for certain things and being very cheap on things of little value to me. Because I left my job last year in August to prepare for first time parenthood and become a full-time homemaker temporarily, I have been watching what our money spend on. Besides clipping coupons, here is a list of what I have done so far.
1) We have redeemed our American Express credit card points for American Express gift cards and we use them when we buy diapers, formulas etc…
2) I normally buy fresh herbs just to make one dish and then I leave the rest in the refrigerator and forget about them or till they rot. It was a waste of money. All I need to cook is just a pinch of herb not a whole bunch. We (well I) decided to buy a T5 fluorescent plant light (I believe it costs roughly $80+shipping & handling=$93.07) to plant herbs at home. I spent about $30 on seeds from Home Depot and $8 on gardening pots from a local vendor. It’s been a few weeks, and I see sprouts. I can’t wait till I can cut them. It’s a total investment of a little over $100. I believe in the long run, it’s worth the investment and the convenience, especially during the snow storms when you need just that one herb for your recipe.
1) We have redeemed our American Express credit card points for American Express gift cards and we use them when we buy diapers, formulas etc…
2) I normally buy fresh herbs just to make one dish and then I leave the rest in the refrigerator and forget about them or till they rot. It was a waste of money. All I need to cook is just a pinch of herb not a whole bunch. We (well I) decided to buy a T5 fluorescent plant light (I believe it costs roughly $80+shipping & handling=$93.07) to plant herbs at home. I spent about $30 on seeds from Home Depot and $8 on gardening pots from a local vendor. It’s been a few weeks, and I see sprouts. I can’t wait till I can cut them. It’s a total investment of a little over $100. I believe in the long run, it’s worth the investment and the convenience, especially during the snow storms when you need just that one herb for your recipe.
3) We used to go out to eat once a week. Now, we do take out once a week, cook at home and my husband pack food from home for his lunch which he normally spends $6-$10.
4) I had a 5/1 ARMS 30 years mortgage for my investment property from 2005 and it will reset in 2010. I thought I would’ve sold the house within the next 5 years but because the economy, selling isn’t a good choice. We decided to refinance to a fixed rate 30 years mortgage. When the market picks up later, we will have a choice of selling for a profit (or at least break even) or keep it as our retirement investment. Right now, it’s still in process, it should close within the next few weeks. We will finally have a very small (9.38%) positive cash flow after paying principal, interest, insurance, taxes and property management fee. Total savings from the old mortgage is 9.78%.
5) I finally decided it was time to change the investment house insurance after calling for quotes from 4-6 different companies from a few months ago. The renewal date was on tax date and I was able to save $168.78 per year (631-462.22). That is 26.74% saving over the old insurance company. Why didn’t I do this earlier? It had a lot to do with being laziness the past few years. With the recessing, it didn’t take long to start thinking of saving money.
6) In March, I’ve opened a STAR mutual fund in Vanguard. This account requires only $1000 rather than $3000 to start investing. I wanted to eventually invest in other mutual fund when it accumulates up to $3000. The money from this fund will help me get my short to mid-term goals accomplished.
What have you done differently since the recession begins. Perhaps you have something that you like to share which I can learn from?
4) I had a 5/1 ARMS 30 years mortgage for my investment property from 2005 and it will reset in 2010. I thought I would’ve sold the house within the next 5 years but because the economy, selling isn’t a good choice. We decided to refinance to a fixed rate 30 years mortgage. When the market picks up later, we will have a choice of selling for a profit (or at least break even) or keep it as our retirement investment. Right now, it’s still in process, it should close within the next few weeks. We will finally have a very small (9.38%) positive cash flow after paying principal, interest, insurance, taxes and property management fee. Total savings from the old mortgage is 9.78%.
5) I finally decided it was time to change the investment house insurance after calling for quotes from 4-6 different companies from a few months ago. The renewal date was on tax date and I was able to save $168.78 per year (631-462.22). That is 26.74% saving over the old insurance company. Why didn’t I do this earlier? It had a lot to do with being laziness the past few years. With the recessing, it didn’t take long to start thinking of saving money.
6) In March, I’ve opened a STAR mutual fund in Vanguard. This account requires only $1000 rather than $3000 to start investing. I wanted to eventually invest in other mutual fund when it accumulates up to $3000. The money from this fund will help me get my short to mid-term goals accomplished.
What have you done differently since the recession begins. Perhaps you have something that you like to share which I can learn from?
No comments:
Post a Comment