Saturday, January 10, 2009

How to Tighten a Tight Budget

Oh, that we all had a family budget as tight as a dish (as watertight as a ship). Throughout this experiment in living well below the poverty line, we've had a chance to reassess our budget, check for leaks and make improvements.

After grocery shopping this week, I looked over my receipt and noticed--I'd been robbed!! Smith's Food and Drug had overcharged me on four separate items. I returned to the store and took full advantage of their company policy: "Free if the item is under $3, and $3 off regular price if it's over $3." Patched a hole! At Albertson's today, I bought a package of beef. When I returned home I opened the package to find the beef was blue on the bottom (goodbye beef!). Patched another hole!

A tight budget, like a tight ship, means that the money goes where you want it to go. There are no leaks or gaping holes. Are there places where your budget is leaking? Are there holes you can patch up? Is your budget tight? Could it be tighter?

Dining Out
Prepared Foods
Overcharges
Poor Quality Merchandise
Walmart
Dollar Store
Fines
Fees
Infant Formula (versus nursing)
Magazine Subscriptions
Nutritional Supplements
Cable TV
Credit Card Interest
New Car
Car Payments
First Run Movies
Plastic Junk Toys
Memberships
Auto-renewall
Fads
Impulse Purchases
Forgotten Expenses

1 comment:

  1. Heather, I've been looking over your blog and am so very impressed. Thanks for telling me about it. I plan to use a good number of your recipes in the near future as we too try to tighten up our financial ship.

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