Monday, July 19, 2010

MONEY

Because the universe hates me, I received a statement on Friday letting me know that our car insurance is increasing by $15 per month. GREAT. I have my husband to thank for this one. He got a ticket last year, which triggered the rate increase. It really pisses me off, because the ticket was for a minor traffic violation. He didn't wreck his car or kill anybody or drive around intoxicated. He got a flipping driving ticket. So, now I am in the process of getting auto insurance quotes.

It feels like every time we turn around, someone wants more money from us. It is disappointing and frustrating and discouraging. But we are forging ahead with our debt reduction plans and are trying to cut other expenses. My husband has recently started mowing the lawn again. For the past two years, we have hired a lawn service to mow our yard. It was $25 a week, so we are saving $100 per month! I tried to convince John to get rid of cable, but he is being really stubborn about this one. We really don't watch much TV. Actually, I don't watch any television (except for How I Met Your Mother, but it isn't on right now). John only watches a few news shows. So despite the fact that cable is a huge waste of our money, we are still paying the Comcast bill.

Other than trying to cut down on the amount I spend at Target every week (gulp!), I can't really think of any other ways to save money right now. So, our next step is to build up an emergency fund, and then to start aggressively paying down a home equity line of credit we currently have. Paying off debt is oddly addictive, and I am kind of excited to start this next adventure.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

A girlfriend of mine is saving $100 a month on her electric bill by just unplugging things that are not in use! (Yes, they have a big house, but still!)

Carrie said...

if he won't give up cable, take a look at Dish network, it's really cheep compared to comcast. The downside is there are not as many channels.

Clare said...

you are doing awesome!! it is july and you are still sticking to it!!

Kris said...

We cut cable at the old place but are spending a crazy amount on it now... it frustrates me because we watch too much, esp Kalila.

Some things I do (most of which you already know lol) are make my own cleaners, cloth diaper (which it looks like you're out of diapers or just about anyway.. we're down to one & I'm thrilled), line dry, use as much reusable as possible. We still have a lot we could cut back on though. We use paper towels like crazy, I'm horrid at unplugging things (yet our HOUSE is still less on the energy bill than the apartment was), and menu planning is more off than on lol. I'm about to make a bunch of frozen foods for us though, thinking that will not only help the budget but make it easier on me during the day. I'm failing us on having good foods for lunch and it needs to stop.

Oh and I LOVE How I Met Your Mother, can't wait for the new season :-D

amanda said...

i have started tracking my target bill each month. it isn't pretty. darn you target!

ps - we tried the no cable for almost a year (remember) and we were fine. i am totally tempted to do it again - if only to help my target red tag obsession!

Stefanie said...

I definetly can't go without cable unless I could consistently have a good book to read. I love How I Met Your Mother. I also I don't think I could cut down on Target trips.

Chris said...

Good for you! I'd like to get rid of the cable too, but somedays it's those few shoes that we watch that make me hold onto it!