'Twas another week of lousy sales (including the great cracker ripoff of 2012), I'm sad to report, which was good for the wallet but only so-so for the pantry. By the end of the week, as our supply of leftovers dwindled (it'll be replenished this weekend with hearty batches of soup and rice), the refrigerator was looking pretty sad.
Grocery and Household Supplies
We visited two grocery stores and spent a total of $6.28 on produce and pepperoni (the latter of which was something of a splurge, as we rarely shop in the meat department, but a sale/coupon combo made the price unbeatable so we'll freeze the pepperoni for use on homemade pizzas), which was entirely covered by gift cards I received for my birthday last week.
The real action happened at Target, in a trip that can only be described as a debacle. Not only did they not have half the things we were looking for, which complicated our coupon use, but the cashier was new to the job and regarded the register with what can only be described as unabashed trepidation. While I stepped in to correct two computer errors she made that would have cost us an additional $1.98, I didn't bother to intervene when she neglected to deduct ten cents for our reusable bags (you get a five-cent credit at Target for each reusable bag you provide). In retrospect I wish I had, less to save a dime than to keep her from making preventable mistakes, but by the end of the transaction I was anxious and wanted to get the heck out of there before I was late for work. Our total at Target, after sales and coupons, was $1.18, for which we got sixteen cups of yogurt, three rolls of paper towels and a roll of dental floss.
Total spent this week: $1.18
Total spent this year: $81
* Soon I'll begin calculating how much we've saved using gift cards and coupons as well, to give a more comprehensive portrait of our spending and saving strategies.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
When a "Sale" Isn't Really a Sale
This morning I saw something at the grocery store that almost made me crash the cart into a mammoth display of Jack Daniels (imagine the mess that would have caused): 12 oz. boxes of Nabisco crackers were "on sale" for $3.48 apiece. Just over a month ago, right before Christmas, 10 oz. boxes of the same crackers were on sale at the same store for $1.78. We had, at the time, several coupons for a dollar off two boxes of crackers, and the sell-by date wasn't until April, so we bought six boxes. The total, after coupons: $7.68, or $1.28 per box (making it cheaper than the store brand crackers we normally buy), but we got it down further, to $0.78 per box, by pairing it with one of those "Save $5 at the Register When You Purchase 10 Participating Products" deals and getting four bricks of cream cheese (also on sale, also purchased with coupons) that we needed anyway to make cheesecake.
If you pay attention to prices, you see this kind of thing all the time. Our favorite brand of potato chips is normally priced at $3.00 a bag. Frequently it goes on sale for $2.50 a bag. Less frequently, $1.88. Only when it reaches $1.88 will we bite, and only then if we have a coupon. And then, inevitably, a couple weeks later, it will be "on sale" for $3.00 or even $3.50, and I will burst out laughing when I see the signs, with their cheerful red flames (because the sale is scorching hot, you see) and multiple exclamation marks that suggest overpaying for these chips is the greatest bargain of the century.
Making a price book is, I suspect, impractical for a majority of grocery shoppers, because so many people have somehow convinced themselves that their time is so incredibly valuable that they can't "waste" a few hours of it setting up a pricing system that could help them save hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars a year. (If these people clear a kajillion dollars a year, I might buy that. If they work hard for a modest wage and blow the time they'd spend making a price book playing Angry Birds, I'm not quite as convinced.) But even if you aren't interested in studying unit prices and grocery costs like they're the Talmud, at least keep an eye on the ads each week to get a general idea of how low the prices on your favorite foods can go – don't be the poor schmo who pays full price for crackers!
If you pay attention to prices, you see this kind of thing all the time. Our favorite brand of potato chips is normally priced at $3.00 a bag. Frequently it goes on sale for $2.50 a bag. Less frequently, $1.88. Only when it reaches $1.88 will we bite, and only then if we have a coupon. And then, inevitably, a couple weeks later, it will be "on sale" for $3.00 or even $3.50, and I will burst out laughing when I see the signs, with their cheerful red flames (because the sale is scorching hot, you see) and multiple exclamation marks that suggest overpaying for these chips is the greatest bargain of the century.
Making a price book is, I suspect, impractical for a majority of grocery shoppers, because so many people have somehow convinced themselves that their time is so incredibly valuable that they can't "waste" a few hours of it setting up a pricing system that could help them save hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars a year. (If these people clear a kajillion dollars a year, I might buy that. If they work hard for a modest wage and blow the time they'd spend making a price book playing Angry Birds, I'm not quite as convinced.) But even if you aren't interested in studying unit prices and grocery costs like they're the Talmud, at least keep an eye on the ads each week to get a general idea of how low the prices on your favorite foods can go – don't be the poor schmo who pays full price for crackers!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
How We Earned $150 in Grocery Money by Answering Questions Online
Last year, looking for a way to make a little extra money online (emphasis on "little": I would have been content with $20 or $30 per month), I took various survey websites for test drives. The process – signing up with a panel, trying to gauge whether they're reputable, learning their rules, and answering endless questions about my educational background, the foods we purchase, how we shop for car insurance, whether I like scented shampoo, whether I've ever been a competitive yodeler – was tedious and sometimes for naught. Now and then a panel would have no use for my demographic, or they'd send me links to surveys that were marred by technical errors and I'd waste 10 minutes answering questions only to get an "Oops! Something's broken!" message and no remuneration for my time. Other times, success: I received $150 for participating in a two-week study about pancakes at one site and, months later, was invited to join a year-long study about breakfast cereal at another.
You won't get rich with any of these sites (and some will drive you so crazy you'll start ignoring their e-mails altogether), but the good ones will help you earn a bit of spending money or even ease your budget by sending you free products to try. So far this year I've had great success in using survey sites to earn gift cards that will come in handy at birthdays and holidays, but a lot of patience is involved since it can take weeks – sometimes months – to reach the earnings thresholds at various sites, and even longer to get paid. And that brings us to the subject of this post: How we earned $150 in grocery money by answering (seemingly) silly questions.
For several months now I've belonged to a site called MyView that is, in many ways, superior to other survey sites. In my experience they have a user-friendly interface with fewer technical problems than most of their rivals, which is always nice, and the surveys are generally more cohesive. Their rewards catalog is limited to a handful of stores (including the Gap, Old Navy, Marshalls, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Kohl's and Auto Zone) and restaurants (like Applebee's) and what's in stock can vary. The two most versatile rewards, Amazon gift cards and Visa gift cards, are frequently unavailable. I'd been waiting since September for the return of the Visa gift card, optimistically continuing to amass points and check the prize page daily, and finally, last night, my patience was rewarded.
The Visa card, which has since sold out, had reappeared, and we had enough points to request six $25 gift cards that we'll use to buy six $25 grocery store gift cards. All those questions about shampoo scents and TV ads about popcorn or what cover photo would most motivate me to buy the next issue of People don't seem so trivial when they pay for a couple months' worth of groceries, do they?
* MyView is a closed-registration website. If you're interested in joining and would like me to send you an invitation, leave a comment below with your e-mail address. The comment won't be published, it's just an easy way for me to see your address.
You won't get rich with any of these sites (and some will drive you so crazy you'll start ignoring their e-mails altogether), but the good ones will help you earn a bit of spending money or even ease your budget by sending you free products to try. So far this year I've had great success in using survey sites to earn gift cards that will come in handy at birthdays and holidays, but a lot of patience is involved since it can take weeks – sometimes months – to reach the earnings thresholds at various sites, and even longer to get paid. And that brings us to the subject of this post: How we earned $150 in grocery money by answering (seemingly) silly questions.
For several months now I've belonged to a site called MyView that is, in many ways, superior to other survey sites. In my experience they have a user-friendly interface with fewer technical problems than most of their rivals, which is always nice, and the surveys are generally more cohesive. Their rewards catalog is limited to a handful of stores (including the Gap, Old Navy, Marshalls, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Kohl's and Auto Zone) and restaurants (like Applebee's) and what's in stock can vary. The two most versatile rewards, Amazon gift cards and Visa gift cards, are frequently unavailable. I'd been waiting since September for the return of the Visa gift card, optimistically continuing to amass points and check the prize page daily, and finally, last night, my patience was rewarded.
The Visa card, which has since sold out, had reappeared, and we had enough points to request six $25 gift cards that we'll use to buy six $25 grocery store gift cards. All those questions about shampoo scents and TV ads about popcorn or what cover photo would most motivate me to buy the next issue of People don't seem so trivial when they pay for a couple months' worth of groceries, do they?
* MyView is a closed-registration website. If you're interested in joining and would like me to send you an invitation, leave a comment below with your e-mail address. The comment won't be published, it's just an easy way for me to see your address.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Spending Tracker: Week of 1/15/2012
Ah, the rewards of stockpiling: This week's sales were once again underwhelming, the weather was once again gross, and because we amassed a kick-ass stockpile of grocery and household supplies in the second half of 2011 and added to it last week with a spot of heavier-than-usual shopping, Nelly and I were mostly able to avoid shopping this week. (This was a sweet relief, as venturing out in freezing rain makes us both cranky.) The boring-as-ever details, because your day wouldn't be complete without them:
Grocery and Household Supplies
We went really wild this week and bought a quart of milk and two pouches of tuna. Total, after coupons and sales: $2.46.
Fancy Transportation Machine (Also Known as 'Automobile') Expenses
It was finally time for our first gas station jaunt of 2012. Not because the tank demanded it, mind you – we could've gone another week-and-a-half, maybe two, without filling up – but out of an abundance of wanting-to-be-fully-prepared-in-dodgy-weather caution. The total at the pump was $20.69, which was covered by a $25 gas station gift card my sister had given me for my birthday days earlier. Thank you, sis, for picking such a practical gift!
Total spent this week: $2.46
Total spent this year: $79.82
Grocery and Household Supplies
We went really wild this week and bought a quart of milk and two pouches of tuna. Total, after coupons and sales: $2.46.
Fancy Transportation Machine (Also Known as 'Automobile') Expenses
It was finally time for our first gas station jaunt of 2012. Not because the tank demanded it, mind you – we could've gone another week-and-a-half, maybe two, without filling up – but out of an abundance of wanting-to-be-fully-prepared-in-dodgy-weather caution. The total at the pump was $20.69, which was covered by a $25 gas station gift card my sister had given me for my birthday days earlier. Thank you, sis, for picking such a practical gift!
Total spent this week: $2.46
Total spent this year: $79.82
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
An Electric Bill Surprise
As you might recall from a previous post, our monthly energy budget is $85 during the colder months of the year. This figure might seem a bit ambitious (or downright kooky) for an all-electric, somewhat drafty apartment in the often miserably cold Midwest, but since we enjoy conserving energy it's exactly the kind of challenge we like. So you can imagine our consternation when our latest electric bill arrived yesterday and – shield your eyes! – we discovered we're $18.28 over budget. (Insert wailing, teeth-gnashing and despairing cries of "Oh, the humanity!" here.)
This unsettling development, I'd like to think, is directly attributable to my week off work in December, which we mostly spent at home, reading and playing Scrabble and baking and watching movies. But realistically, the majority of those activities probably didn't add much to the bottom line of our energy consumption: the Scrabble-playing (or Scrabble-losing, in my case, since Nelly's a triple word score fiend who usually hands me crushing defeats) and reading were mostly done by natural light; when we bake we mega-bake, making several dishes either at once or in quick succession to minimize oven use; and our movie-watching would have been balanced out by all the movies we didn't watch while attending various holiday-related family functions. The culprits were probably two things: an annual spike in our electric rate, and two or so weeks of very cold temperatures that made our furnace work overtime.
The good news is that November was unseasonably mild, allowing us to come in under budget and save a total of $47.07, so a higher-than-expected bill will hardly break the bank this time. The bad news is that December, while cold, wasn't that cold by our usual standards, which has us slightly worried about what the electric bill might look like once it's 10 degrees outside every night and not just sporadically. We already do quite a bit to lower our energy consumption, like air-dry our laundry and unplug appliances and electronics when they aren't in use; and we already use surge protectors and draft stoppers and keep the thermostat set to 65. We even do seemingly minor things like plug drafty electrical outlets with child-proof outlet protectors. Now it's time to bring out the weather sealing tape (which shouldn't have slipped my mind during vacation) and maybe set the thermostat a little lower – and thank my parents once again for the fleece pajamas they gave us for the holidays!
This unsettling development, I'd like to think, is directly attributable to my week off work in December, which we mostly spent at home, reading and playing Scrabble and baking and watching movies. But realistically, the majority of those activities probably didn't add much to the bottom line of our energy consumption: the Scrabble-playing (or Scrabble-losing, in my case, since Nelly's a triple word score fiend who usually hands me crushing defeats) and reading were mostly done by natural light; when we bake we mega-bake, making several dishes either at once or in quick succession to minimize oven use; and our movie-watching would have been balanced out by all the movies we didn't watch while attending various holiday-related family functions. The culprits were probably two things: an annual spike in our electric rate, and two or so weeks of very cold temperatures that made our furnace work overtime.
The good news is that November was unseasonably mild, allowing us to come in under budget and save a total of $47.07, so a higher-than-expected bill will hardly break the bank this time. The bad news is that December, while cold, wasn't that cold by our usual standards, which has us slightly worried about what the electric bill might look like once it's 10 degrees outside every night and not just sporadically. We already do quite a bit to lower our energy consumption, like air-dry our laundry and unplug appliances and electronics when they aren't in use; and we already use surge protectors and draft stoppers and keep the thermostat set to 65. We even do seemingly minor things like plug drafty electrical outlets with child-proof outlet protectors. Now it's time to bring out the weather sealing tape (which shouldn't have slipped my mind during vacation) and maybe set the thermostat a little lower – and thank my parents once again for the fleece pajamas they gave us for the holidays!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Spending Tracker: Week of 1/8/2012
This week's shopping included a relatively big grocery store trip, but overall our spending once again fell within the "acceptable" range. Here are the boring details:
Grocery and Household Supplies
We shopped the sales, visiting a total of three stores. At one we spent a total of $30.40 on $65.49 worth of groceries; this was achieved by combining sales and coupons with a really great in-store promotion for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more. Our cart was humdrum as usual, with lots of produce and eggs, basmati rice, applesauce and various lasagna ingredients. As an added bonus, we found a rebate form for $9 off a grocery purchase of $50. (Now the trick will be to actually spend more than $50 on groceries in a single trip!)
At Store #2 we attacked the loss leaders, stocking up on deeply discounted tomato sauce and our favorite ravioli. After depleting our $10.79 gift card balance, our out-of-pocket cost came to $1.78.
The third trip took us to Target, where we used coupons to nab free soap, pens and dental floss. Also on the list, all purchased with coupons: 99¢ cough syrup (that we hopefully won't need to use), a 99¢ bag of Purina dog food (to donate to a local pet food pantry), and eight cups of yogurt for a combined total of 38¢. Our total of $5.54 would have been three dollars cheaper if not for the completely unnecessary purchase of a pint of Half Baked, my favorite ice cream, but perhaps this junk food splurge happened for a reason: moments ago, as I looked, unsuccessfully, for a link explaining the wonders of this particular Ben & Jerry's flavor, I came across a recipe for making your own that just might revolutionize my ice cream eating life.
Entertainment
For the first time in over a year, Nelly and I went to the movie theater! We'd received a $15 gift card for the holidays and our (discounted) tickets cost $7 each. While we almost choked upon seeing the price of a small bag of popcorn, we decided to live it up and go for the full theater-going experience. Our out-of-pocket cost of $4.79 for this evening of entertainment was lowered by three cents when we retrieved abandoned pennies from the floor of the concession stand. Final cost: $4.76.
Earlier this week I also used a $1 MP3 store credit and $4 of my gift card balance to download Wild Flag from Amazon. It was worth it!
Total spent this week: $42.48
Total spent this year: $77.36
Grocery and Household Supplies
We shopped the sales, visiting a total of three stores. At one we spent a total of $30.40 on $65.49 worth of groceries; this was achieved by combining sales and coupons with a really great in-store promotion for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more. Our cart was humdrum as usual, with lots of produce and eggs, basmati rice, applesauce and various lasagna ingredients. As an added bonus, we found a rebate form for $9 off a grocery purchase of $50. (Now the trick will be to actually spend more than $50 on groceries in a single trip!)
At Store #2 we attacked the loss leaders, stocking up on deeply discounted tomato sauce and our favorite ravioli. After depleting our $10.79 gift card balance, our out-of-pocket cost came to $1.78.
The third trip took us to Target, where we used coupons to nab free soap, pens and dental floss. Also on the list, all purchased with coupons: 99¢ cough syrup (that we hopefully won't need to use), a 99¢ bag of Purina dog food (to donate to a local pet food pantry), and eight cups of yogurt for a combined total of 38¢. Our total of $5.54 would have been three dollars cheaper if not for the completely unnecessary purchase of a pint of Half Baked, my favorite ice cream, but perhaps this junk food splurge happened for a reason: moments ago, as I looked, unsuccessfully, for a link explaining the wonders of this particular Ben & Jerry's flavor, I came across a recipe for making your own that just might revolutionize my ice cream eating life.
Entertainment
For the first time in over a year, Nelly and I went to the movie theater! We'd received a $15 gift card for the holidays and our (discounted) tickets cost $7 each. While we almost choked upon seeing the price of a small bag of popcorn, we decided to live it up and go for the full theater-going experience. Our out-of-pocket cost of $4.79 for this evening of entertainment was lowered by three cents when we retrieved abandoned pennies from the floor of the concession stand. Final cost: $4.76.
Earlier this week I also used a $1 MP3 store credit and $4 of my gift card balance to download Wild Flag from Amazon. It was worth it!
Total spent this week: $42.48
Total spent this year: $77.36
Friday, January 13, 2012
A Good Week for Gift Cards
Keeping up with rewards sites and survey sites can be a total pain in the neck, but weeks like this remind me why I bother with them:
And in the spending department, the iTunes gift cards we've earned at survey sites came in handy this week with the premiere of our favorite guilty pleasure TV show, Tabatha Takes Over. It's on Bravo, a channel we lost when we downgraded to basic cable, so we bought a season-long subscription on iTunes that lets us download each episode the day after it premieres. Using the aforementioned adapter and HDMI cord, we can enjoy the show on our TV like we did before giving cable the heave-ho, with the added satisfaction of knowing we did it all without a single hit to our bank account balance.
* If you'd like me to send you a MyPoints or RewardTV referral, leave a comment below with your e-mail address. The comment won't be published, it's just an easy way for me to see your address.
- Nelly and I each received $25 in Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks. For the most part they'll be saved and used on holiday and birthday shopping, but occasionally we apply them towards household odds and ends. Last month we spent $2 on an HDMI cable and $29 on an Apple Digital AV adapter that lets us stream Netflix, YouTube and iTunes content directly from my iPod onto our TV, a purchase we've thoroughly enjoyed so far. This month we diverted $39.98 from the gift card fund to cover a Tracfone that comes with triple minutes for life. Not having to pay out-of-pocket for the phone made a great deal even better.
- Yesterday I requested a $50 Walgreens gift card through MyPoints. It seemed to take forever to earn enough points to get it (probably because I don't shop through MyPoints, I do free things like watch videos and take surveys instead), but I also know it'll take forever to spend it, as we still have a $24 balance on the card I requested last year.
- We requested a $10 Walmart gift card through our cable company's loyalty program. We don't shop at Walmart but we know lots of people who do. If it isn't gifted to someone, we'll trade it for a card we can use.
- I received a $25 American Eagle gift card earned through E-Rewards. We're both allergic to malls (and spending too much on clothing), but we have relatives who'd probably live at them if they could and the card will be a birthday gift for one of them.
- Today I'll cross the 750,000-point threshold at RewardTV, a Nielsen site that asks questions about your TV viewing and movie-going habits. They offer a variety of gift cards (the lineup changes weekly but fast food joints, gas stations and department stores are usually featured) ranging in denomination from $5 (which costs 150,000 points) to $25 (which costs 750,000). I'm hoping to land a $25 Target gift card, but even a $10 gas station gift card would be nice.
And in the spending department, the iTunes gift cards we've earned at survey sites came in handy this week with the premiere of our favorite guilty pleasure TV show, Tabatha Takes Over. It's on Bravo, a channel we lost when we downgraded to basic cable, so we bought a season-long subscription on iTunes that lets us download each episode the day after it premieres. Using the aforementioned adapter and HDMI cord, we can enjoy the show on our TV like we did before giving cable the heave-ho, with the added satisfaction of knowing we did it all without a single hit to our bank account balance.
* If you'd like me to send you a MyPoints or RewardTV referral, leave a comment below with your e-mail address. The comment won't be published, it's just an easy way for me to see your address.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Spending Tracker: Week of 1/1/2012
Now
that we've established the goal of this blog – to track our saving and spending
over the course of a year – and introduced our monthly budget, it's
time for our inaugural weekly spending recap.
I can't promise that it will be interesting – in fact, I feel pretty
comfortable guaranteeing that it will bore you to tears – but it's a chore that
must be done.
Seeing
as we're less than a week into the new year, and we spent the second half
of 2011 building a healthy stockpile of groceries and household supplies, it
will come as a shock to no one that our budget is not yet in mortal
danger. Here's the breakdown:
Groceries
and Household Supplies
We
spent a mere $24.05 on groceries this week (the sales were unimpressive, so
little was purchased besides fresh produce, milk and eggs) and $14.21 of that
was covered by a holiday gift card, bringing our out-of-pocket total to $9.84.
Gifts
Shh, don't tell anyone – I spent $25.04 on a Valentine's Day present for Nelly. (Obviously this went towards a number of diamonds from the recent Elizabeth Taylor auction.)
Miscellaneous
In less than three months I'll be switching from a postpaid cellphone plan I had through work to a prepaid phone. This week, after much deliberation, I settled on a Tracfone model that comes with triple minutes for life. It runs about $60 on Tracfone's website but I found a highly-rated store through Amazon that was selling it for $39.98 shipped and went ahead and bought one using Amazon gift cards I've earned doing various things online. Total out-of-pocket cost so far: there is none. But that will change once it's time to buy minutes.
Total spending: $34.88
Gifts
Shh, don't tell anyone – I spent $25.04 on a Valentine's Day present for Nelly. (Obviously this went towards a number of diamonds from the recent Elizabeth Taylor auction.)
Miscellaneous
In less than three months I'll be switching from a postpaid cellphone plan I had through work to a prepaid phone. This week, after much deliberation, I settled on a Tracfone model that comes with triple minutes for life. It runs about $60 on Tracfone's website but I found a highly-rated store through Amazon that was selling it for $39.98 shipped and went ahead and bought one using Amazon gift cards I've earned doing various things online. Total out-of-pocket cost so far: there is none. But that will change once it's time to buy minutes.
Total spending: $34.88
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Where We're Starting From
While, regrettably, neither myself nor Nelly is an heiress, we currently have a robust savings account that could, with any luck, sustain us for a period of several very lean years if we were simultaneously unemployed. (That's where "luck" comes into play: an unforeseen illness or serious accident could easily jeopardize, if not obliterate, those plans.) The vast majority of this fund was built when I was single and my income was higher; I made several unconventional choices (like forgoing car ownership for many years) in order to save this money and did so with the goal of eventually using it for the down-payment on a house. That house was never bought – I was fortunate enough to ignore everyone who encouraged me to buy at the height of the market – and so the fund remains largely intact. I've had to dip into it several times in the last three years, during stretches when I couldn't regularly deposit my paychecks, and while I wasn't exactly pleased with that, it's why the money was there to begin with: to provide a cushion.
This year, I don't want to touch our savings at all. I want to add to it. Even if it's just $100 a month – even if it's just $50 a month – I want to see our numbers go up rather than dip or remain static. Two tiny steps forward is better than no steps at all. Here, as promised in yesterday's post, are our fixed monthly expenses, the primary impediments to padding our savings.
Housing
We currently rent an apartment to the tune of $900 per month, water and trash included. This is high, both in general – our rent is by far our greatest expense – and relative to the amount we'd pay if we bought a house and had a mortgage, but I find it easy to justify in the short-term because it's a nice unit in a safe and quiet area (the safe part is important for obvious reasons, the quiet part is important because I'm a pain-in-the-neck light sleeper who can't stand the din of highway noise and the neighbor's late-night TV-viewing) and the location is so central to my job and all of our regular shopping that we can get by on one tank of gas per month if necessary. Our lease will be up in the second half of the year, so we have several months to evaluate whether we want to stay here, rent elsewhere, or even investigate buying a house.
Electricity
During the more temperate months of the year, our electric bill hovers around the $30 mark, a number that would probably be closer to $20 if we weren't such homebodies. In the winter, when we have to use electric heat to keep our alarmingly energy-inefficient apartment warm, that number shoots up to around $75 or $80. (We budget $85 to be safe.) Neither of us likes to waste electricity, so we use natural light as much as possible, unplug electronics and appliances when they aren't in use, and rarely turn on the air conditioner. The heat is only turned on in the winter once freezing temperatures threaten the pipes; then the thermostat is set at 65 and out come the layered clothing, flannel sheets and heavy blankets.
Grocery and Household Supplies
The grocery and household supplies budget is currently set at $120 per month. Sometimes this is a shade too high, once or twice it's been too low, but more often than not it's just right. Our diet is mostly vegetarian, which is an instant money-saver, and we stockpile non-perishables and buy in bulk when possible to keep costs even lower. (This number might need to be tweaked as food costs rise, and it will certainly be adjusted in the future, when we adopt a pet.)
Health Insurance
Nelly's privately-purchased health and dental insurance costs $150.53 per month, and that's with her being in the "super-preferred" class of young and healthy individuals with no preexisting conditions. I'm covered through my employer, who would like to cover Nelly as well, but we're penalized here for being a gay couple and living in a state where we cannot legally wed. Domestic partnership coverage is currently unavailable to us because my organization employs fewer than 50 people, or something similarly stupid, so we're on the hook for this expense for the foreseeable future.
Internet, Cable and Cellphone
Fingers crossed, these expenses will go down later this year, but for now we pay $65.34 per month for a broadband Internet/bare-bones cable bundle and $66.21 per month for Nelly's cellphone. Our plan is to downgrade to an Internet-only package when our cable contract expires (a future post will explain how one can go without TV service and still get their Downton Abbey and Drag Race fixes), and Nelly would like to switch to a prepaid phone that would save an estimated $40 per month when her wireless contract expires. My cellphone service, which was previously subsidized by my employer, will also be changing later this year, most likely to a basic prepaid plan that will cost $20 per month or less.
Entertainment and Newspaper Subscription
Our sole entertainment expense is $7.99 for Netflix. The newspaper subscription costs $8.78 per month and more than pays for itself with what we're able to save by clipping coupons from the Sunday inserts.
Transportation
This year, I don't want to touch our savings at all. I want to add to it. Even if it's just $100 a month – even if it's just $50 a month – I want to see our numbers go up rather than dip or remain static. Two tiny steps forward is better than no steps at all. Here, as promised in yesterday's post, are our fixed monthly expenses, the primary impediments to padding our savings.
Housing
We currently rent an apartment to the tune of $900 per month, water and trash included. This is high, both in general – our rent is by far our greatest expense – and relative to the amount we'd pay if we bought a house and had a mortgage, but I find it easy to justify in the short-term because it's a nice unit in a safe and quiet area (the safe part is important for obvious reasons, the quiet part is important because I'm a pain-in-the-neck light sleeper who can't stand the din of highway noise and the neighbor's late-night TV-viewing) and the location is so central to my job and all of our regular shopping that we can get by on one tank of gas per month if necessary. Our lease will be up in the second half of the year, so we have several months to evaluate whether we want to stay here, rent elsewhere, or even investigate buying a house.
Electricity
During the more temperate months of the year, our electric bill hovers around the $30 mark, a number that would probably be closer to $20 if we weren't such homebodies. In the winter, when we have to use electric heat to keep our alarmingly energy-inefficient apartment warm, that number shoots up to around $75 or $80. (We budget $85 to be safe.) Neither of us likes to waste electricity, so we use natural light as much as possible, unplug electronics and appliances when they aren't in use, and rarely turn on the air conditioner. The heat is only turned on in the winter once freezing temperatures threaten the pipes; then the thermostat is set at 65 and out come the layered clothing, flannel sheets and heavy blankets.
Grocery and Household Supplies
The grocery and household supplies budget is currently set at $120 per month. Sometimes this is a shade too high, once or twice it's been too low, but more often than not it's just right. Our diet is mostly vegetarian, which is an instant money-saver, and we stockpile non-perishables and buy in bulk when possible to keep costs even lower. (This number might need to be tweaked as food costs rise, and it will certainly be adjusted in the future, when we adopt a pet.)
Health Insurance
Nelly's privately-purchased health and dental insurance costs $150.53 per month, and that's with her being in the "super-preferred" class of young and healthy individuals with no preexisting conditions. I'm covered through my employer, who would like to cover Nelly as well, but we're penalized here for being a gay couple and living in a state where we cannot legally wed. Domestic partnership coverage is currently unavailable to us because my organization employs fewer than 50 people, or something similarly stupid, so we're on the hook for this expense for the foreseeable future.
Internet, Cable and Cellphone
Fingers crossed, these expenses will go down later this year, but for now we pay $65.34 per month for a broadband Internet/bare-bones cable bundle and $66.21 per month for Nelly's cellphone. Our plan is to downgrade to an Internet-only package when our cable contract expires (a future post will explain how one can go without TV service and still get their Downton Abbey and Drag Race fixes), and Nelly would like to switch to a prepaid phone that would save an estimated $40 per month when her wireless contract expires. My cellphone service, which was previously subsidized by my employer, will also be changing later this year, most likely to a basic prepaid plan that will cost $20 per month or less.
Entertainment and Newspaper Subscription
Our sole entertainment expense is $7.99 for Netflix. The newspaper subscription costs $8.78 per month and more than pays for itself with what we're able to save by clipping coupons from the Sunday inserts.
Transportation
Two drivers, one paid-off, newer model car. Sharing it results in the occasional inconvenience, but overall we're pleased with the arrangement and would like to remain a one-car household for as long as possible. Insurance, which is paid biannually – doing so saves us $8 per year, or the cost of one month of Netflix – and not included in our monthly budget, is currently our greatest auto-related expense, since we carry both comprehensive and collision coverage and Nelly is under 25, but we'll scale back coverage as the car ages. We budget $40 per month for gas but usually come in well under that (it's a fuel-efficient vehicle and we don't rack up significant mileage); the surplus goes into savings, where it's applied toward personal property taxes at the end of the year. Between the car's age and its generous dealer service package and manufacturer's warranty, maintenance fees are currently minimal to non-existent. In the future, maintenance and repair costs will be covered by our car replacement fund, which we're slowly building in the hope that when our current car bites the dust we'll pay for the next one in cash.
Why Are Retirement Contributions Budgeted as an Expense?
Because I'd like to eventually retire, and because presumably in retirement I'm going to require the use of money, I consider retirement savings – especially as I inch ever closer to thirty – a non-negotiable "expense." I'm fortunate enough to have a retirement plan through my employer, but they have not been able to add funds to it since the economy tanked. Since I don't know when, or to what extent, they'll be able to fund it again, it is up to me to sock away as much for my retirement now as I possibly can – preferably by maxing out my Roth IRA each year. To that end, we've budgeted $416 per month for my contributions. Nelly's retirement is equally important, which is why her income isn't included in our budget. She currently works only sporadically and anything she makes is earmarked for her Roth.
And there you have it: $1,859.85 in fixed monthly expenses, out of an estimated$1,958.70 in monthly income. One could argue that our budget isn't really that tight, that much of it is gobbled up by discretionary Roth-funding and Nelly's health insurance, but we value the sense of security these investments give us more than we'd value a second car or a vacation, or going out for dinner several times a week, or anything else on which that money might otherwise be spent. Being prepared for the unknown makes us happy, which is why we hope to trim our expenses wherever possible this year in order to bolster our savings.
Monday, January 2, 2012
The Numbers Game
If yesterday's post was about personal introductions, today's is about cold hard numbers. The most maddening thing about them is they never lie and they're unyielding. They won't take pity on you and sympathetically contort themselves to fit your needs. You have to be the one in charge of the contorting, which depending on your circumstances might involve practicing more restraint than you'd prefer and abstaining from a purchase, whether it's an $8 stop at a fast-food joint or an $800 iPad. If you don't have a comprehensive overview of your financial situation, it's easy to overspend.
Some people are maniacal about tracking their income and expenses. Generally, I am not. Rather than fiendishly updating spreadsheets and outputting graphs and charts, a running total is kept in my head and when the balance of the numbers is upset – when, for example, an insurance premium rises (as they do with the frequency of the sun in the east), I can, if necessary, find another expense to cut to make up the shortfall. (The problem with this is that eventually, if your expenses continue to rise while your income stays the same, you will run out of cuts to make, but that is a topic for another post.) Now that I've decided to try and keep this blog active for a one-year period in which I will track our spending and saving and see what happens, the numbers must exist on paper.
Our monthly income currently varies, but we can rely on at least $1,958.70, which includes $1,768.70 in net pay and $190 in miscellaneous income and interest. Our monthly expenses, which will decrease by a smidgen halfway through the year, are currently $1,859.85. (A breakdown of these expenses will appear in a subsequent post.) This leaves us with a $98.85 surplus, which goes into savings until it can be claimed by an irregular expense or applied toward the car insurance bill (paid biannually) or the (annual) bill for our renters insurance. My primary financial goal for 2012, which will seem modest to some and ambitious to others, is to cover our basic living expenses, max out my Roth IRA, and save anything that's left over.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Who the Heck Am I and What the Heck Is This?
For the purpose of this blog, my name is Hops. I'm in my late twenties, I live in the Midwest, and many years ago, straight out of high school, I did something that was, in retrospect, indescribably stupid – I took a job with the family business. There were times (to be precise, there were a few thousand times, and these times continue to multiply as fruitfully as if their last name were Federline or Duggar) when I considered rectifying this mistake. But the pay was good and the benefits better, there was lots of growth potential, and most appealingly, I was afforded a fair amount of flexibility to pursue other interests when time allowed. These interests included, among other things, writing, and my pursuits, however trivial, did yield a number of job offers, none of which offered greater job security or a clearer path to happiness than staying where I was. Little did I realize that where I was, was about to change.
Three years ago, I met my partner. We'll call her No-Name Nelly, a nod to her zeal for privacy. Nelly is also in her twenties but younger than me, and she, too, chose to forgo college and work for her family's business. We lived states apart when we met, which resulted in endless hours of Skyping (and cursing our broadband connections) and Gchatting (and cursing our broadband connections). Having a long-distance relationship was like having second and third jobs that demanded all our spare time, all our mental and physical energy. Finally, mercifully, we moved in together near the end of 2010. Between us we had one job – mine – and the shattered economy had robbed it of its admittedly modest former glory.
No longer was I earning $40,000 per year with the next yearly raise looming just over the horizon; no longer was my retirement account growing. As our competitors' businesses began dropping like flies – the death rattles can still be heard as we enter 2012 – it became abundantly clear that I was lucky to have a job at all. That's where we are now, still trapped in a state of suspended animation as the economy thrashes about, sometimes violently, sometimes subdued, never giving much hint of what's next. My pay, now hovering around $30,000 per year, is stagnant. Our living expenses are rising. This blog, which I conceived as a year-long experiment, will chart our progress as we attempt the Clintonian task of balancing our budget. Try not to bust a rib laughing at the futility of it all – I'm quite sure it can be done. In theory, all it should take is patience, determination, restraint, a sense of humor, regular consultations with calculators (and – egad! – reality) and a fair amount of luck.
On second thought, feel free to laugh!
Three years ago, I met my partner. We'll call her No-Name Nelly, a nod to her zeal for privacy. Nelly is also in her twenties but younger than me, and she, too, chose to forgo college and work for her family's business. We lived states apart when we met, which resulted in endless hours of Skyping (and cursing our broadband connections) and Gchatting (and cursing our broadband connections). Having a long-distance relationship was like having second and third jobs that demanded all our spare time, all our mental and physical energy. Finally, mercifully, we moved in together near the end of 2010. Between us we had one job – mine – and the shattered economy had robbed it of its admittedly modest former glory.
No longer was I earning $40,000 per year with the next yearly raise looming just over the horizon; no longer was my retirement account growing. As our competitors' businesses began dropping like flies – the death rattles can still be heard as we enter 2012 – it became abundantly clear that I was lucky to have a job at all. That's where we are now, still trapped in a state of suspended animation as the economy thrashes about, sometimes violently, sometimes subdued, never giving much hint of what's next. My pay, now hovering around $30,000 per year, is stagnant. Our living expenses are rising. This blog, which I conceived as a year-long experiment, will chart our progress as we attempt the Clintonian task of balancing our budget. Try not to bust a rib laughing at the futility of it all – I'm quite sure it can be done. In theory, all it should take is patience, determination, restraint, a sense of humor, regular consultations with calculators (and – egad! – reality) and a fair amount of luck.
On second thought, feel free to laugh!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)