The Plan: Making Every Dollar Count

Its very much necessary  to keep an eye on every single penny that we spend if you are single parent. Single parent need to be more careful while spending as they already suffering from bad financial position.

On the couponing, I visited the Coupon Mom (www.couponmom.com) website and re-discovered the world of printable online coupons. What motivated this was, as I've previously mentioned, that fact that the local Sunday paper is now $3 and I'm reluctant to pay that since I know I can print them online.

Here are the sites for the coupon companies - the same ones that you get in the Sunday paper. Very cool that you can just print the ones you actually use: smartsource.com and redplum.com

We don't miss the cable either. Occasionally, I think it would be nice, such as for watching American Idol (the only show we've ever gotten into as a family) and the Olympics. Someone suggested that I buy a converter box and I'll be able to get the local channels. I'm going to check into that.

But honestly, it's just not a priority to us. Since we ditched it, my 9 year old is reading a book every 2 days, and in some cases, every day. And my teenager and I don't miss it at all. We never watched it. I guess everyone has their thing they can't live without. We would NOT try to ditch internet, for example!

We've committed to the "eating what we have" thing too. I've almost completely eliminated going out for lunch. But twice this week, I've felt that I was too exhausted to cook. I just have to remind myself that the hardest part about cooking is the planning. The actual food prep and cook time usually doesn't take any longer than it takes to run through fast food places.

We have ditched the cable (once again). I only felt sad about it for a moment, until I realized that we really never watch tv.

We also have sold a ton of things on craigslist, ebay , and amazon. From hair straighteners to textbooks - we've made some mulah and, like you said, de-cluttered (maybe my favorite part of the deal)!

Lastly, we have made a serious effort to eat the food we already have rather than going out to eat once a day or every couple of days. We like to eat. I mean really like to eat. So this was kind of our entertainment area. It also helps having a somewhat picky (almost) toddler to deter one from restaurant time!

BTW- good tip on the coupons at restaurants, AJ!
And Tiffany, I'm re-inspired to call our cell company and see just what they can do for me these days!

AJ, thanks for the heads up on coupons. The double-pack of the Sunday paper is now $5 here! And one Sunday paper is $3. It's probably still worth it, but it certainly gave me pause.

I have a McDonalds across the street from my office. I'm going to ask them what they do with their Sunday inserts, and I live in a rural area, so am on a first name basis with some of the shopkeepers. Wonderful idea to ask them! I'll bet they can even put me in touch with whoever delivers their papers, too.

Thanks!

Thanks for your feedback, Abigail. I totally agree with you that many people can probably get by without a cell phone. I have a friend who recently downgraded from an iPhone to a Metro PCS phone and is seriously considering doing away with it altogether.

As for me....I make a one hour commute (or more depending on how awesome LBJ Freeway is on that day!), so I am easily in my car 2+ hours on most days. I'm just not comfortable with not having a cell phone, since it's not a huge part of my budget.

Having the kids on my plan is probably much cheaper than pre-paid cell phones, since I have a family plan (an extra line is $10 each per month). We do have a few bells and whistles that we can certainly trim down, though.

And yes, I'm so glad we're not TV addicts here!

Just a quick heads-up concerning coupons...You can usually find multiple sets of coupons for free at local restaurants (like McD's) that have newspapers for their customers to read. You may have to ask at the counter because they usually pull them out so the circulars/extra stuff doesn't get spread all over the lobby. A local small gas station also has free copies of the Sunday papers that were damaged when delivered...you may just want to check around. Also the library has a coupon exchange box where you can find coupons. And if you find a really good coupon for something your family uses alot you can find online sites that you can obtain multiples from (even eBay) where you may pay a little bit for them but you save a lot of $$$.

We are doing most if not all of the tactics you have mentioned...hang it there as it will get easier! We got cheap tracfones for cell service and signed up with Vonage which was much cheaper than our landline, esp if you want to have call waiting etc. Then it became a fixed cost instead of a variable one...much easier to plug into the budget.

Wow, you really lucked out that your kids aren't addicted to the TV like so many others their age(s). That will help.

My first thought would be: Do you really need cell phones at all? Getting rid of a land line will save you, at absolute most, $30-40 a month and that's with an awful lot of bells and whistles. Yet you have a cell phone plan that can be cut DOWN by $75. That should tell you something!

I think we all tend to rationalize our need for cell phones. They're handy but if you're really looking to save money, that's what should go. Depending on how much longer you have on your contract, you should cancel. The initial fee will hurt, but it's cheaper over the long-term. (If you have less than 6 months on your contract, it may not work out. I don't know how much you pay per month.)

I know parents want to stay in touch with their kids. In that case, get them prepaid cells and tell them to only use it in an emergency. If they're near a phone, to call you from there -- or to switch to it if you call them. Unless you actively need a phone for work (as in, it's a requirement, not just convenient) you should just invest in an answering machine for your land line. Then cut it down to just a line and, since you have kids, call waiting. Most answering machines can be checked remotely. It will cost a little more but not anything compared to a monthly cell phone bill!

Just remember that it's really easy to justify the stuff we already pay. We're used to it, and so we can think of all the ways we've come to rely on it. But that doesn't mean it's necessary. Ask yourself: If you didn't already have a cell phone, could you justify the expense with your current budget?