Yesterday, I was so disappointed in my recent spending habit that I looked through all my receipts and purchases and gathered everything I could possibly return (that I never needed in the first place) to the store. Shoes. Clothes. Pretty decorative stuff. A goose down coformter I can definitely live without. I packed it all into the car already. I will be returning all of it. That's nearly $400 I will be getting back. Ouch. Gives me a headache just thinking about having spent that much on stuff I just don't need. Grr!

When you sit down and realize how little one actually 'needs', it's astonishing. My boy and I have had people asking us on a monthly basis if we have a dvd player yet and I keep saying no because I don't care how cheap they are now: I DON'T NEED ONE! We're such a consumer society! It actually bothers those around me that I haven't purchased a dvd player. Geez!

I've got my creature comforts at home and I splurge on clothes at TJMaxx when I feel the urge but I try to keep it simple where I can.

-Stock up on things like ziplock bags, garbage bags, cleaning supplies, shower curtain liners and stuff at the dollar store. I also buy scented candles there if I have an extra dollar. They ae just as good as the expensive ones.

-I make my own tea at work. I keep a bunch of bags and styrofoam cups in my closet and just use the hot water tap on the cooler to make tea...saves me at least a buck a day.

-I just started using the public library to get new books and stuff..saves me some money at Barnes and Noble, and forces me to read the book as soon as I get it.

-I buy white undershirts and tanks in the kids department. A boys medium/large fits just like a womens small so it is just as comfortable and a hell of a lot cheaper.

-Instead of using fancy lotions I use plain old Johnson and Johnson for babies in the pink container..keeps my skin smooth and makes me smell so good. If it's good enough for a babies ass..it's good enough for mine!

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Originally posted by Sophie:
not going to weddings because buying a gift is expensive is pretty stupid advice. Man, there's making sensible economies and then there's being a tightfisted wanker with no friends. I would be so hurt if someone I cared about enough to invite to my wedding responded oh, sorry, I'm too stingy to come.

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Yeah, that would be pretty sorry.

I've actually had pretty good luck with wedding gifts so far, the popular department store in town with a bridal registry is always having a sale that includes a lot of basic sets and add ons, especially the serving pieces and pots and pans.

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Originally posted by Sophie:
not going to weddings because buying a gift is expensive is pretty stupid advice. Man, there's making sensible economies and then there's being a tightfisted wanker with no friends. I would be so hurt if someone I cared about enough to invite to my wedding responded oh, sorry, I'm too stingy to come.

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I was under the impression that proper wedding procedure is that if you are invited you buy a gift regardless of whether or not you attend the wedding. The whole idea being exactly what Sophie said - if the bride/groom think you're important enough to invite, you should view the bride/groom as important enought to spend money on.

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Originally posted by Beach:
I was under the impression that proper wedding procedure is that if you are invited you buy a gift regardless of whether or not you attend the wedding. The whole idea being exactly what Sophie said - if the bride/groom think you're important enough to invite, you should view the bride/groom as important enought to spend money on.

Can anyone confirm?
Beach

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Originally posted by bekkaboo:
I don't know, this might have been mentioned already, but I'm thinking I might start taking cash to the grocery store and leaving ATM at home. When I had an ATM card that wasn't a check card I couldn't pay with it, so I had a certain amount of cash with me that I couldn't go over. I think I spend way more at the store when I have my card and I know I can cover it if I go a little (or a LOT) over what I went in there intending to spend. Also, I am all about CoinStar - the thing that counts all your change for you, you just pour it in and it prints out a voucher. It takes like 7 cents on the dollar, I think, but I'm too lazy to ever roll my own change so it's worth it. Last time I had like 40 bucks in my change jar! Woohoo!

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Also, Canadians are the number one user of debit cards in the world, apparently. Our bank cards can be used to pay for anything. That's great, and convenient, but the one time I had any success with budgeting, I took out all the cash that wasn't being used for automatic withdrawals, split it in categories (groceries, etc) and only took that cash with me. Having access to every penny you own when you're shopping can get you in trouble.

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Originally posted by Nieci:
There are now some banks who offer this service at no charge whatsoever. You just dump your change in the machine, it spits out your voucher, and take it to the teller who will hand over your cash.

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It's really cool when you have a little bit automatically deducted from each paycheck and finally the stock market goes back up a little and you get the statement.

anybody else have more tips?

One area where I neither spend nor skimp is entertainment. I go out pretty often, but most of my friends are on the same kind of budget I am, whether by income or frugality, and we tend to like:

Game night at someone's house with people bringing food and drinks
Weekend hiking in the many city/county/state parks of LA
Going to the beach
Free Shakespeare in the park
Free outdoor concerts
Free Thursdays at the Museum of Contemporary Art
Art galleries or gallery crawls
Dive bars
Pub Quiz -- free drinks if you win
Happy hour at McCormick's and Schmick's with the $2 appetizers
Literary readings or speeches
Intellectual film festivals with free screenings at places like museums or cultural institutes
At work, we sometimes get invitations to open houses at hotels and clubs that want us to book out-of-town work visitors there or hold banquets there. They give you tons of free food and drinks and prizes -- my work friends and I have decided it is key to attend as many of these as possible
The downtown public library has an extensive selection of videos that can be checked out with a library card. I almost never pay for video rentals.
I asked for a record player for Christmas 2002, and now I can buy old records for a dollar or less, rather than buying everything on CD.

I can use the little bottles as shades for christmas-lights too.

Another money saving thing that is saving my arse at the moment is not going grocery shopping.

I have a butchers and veggie-shop next to me at work and I'll buy 5 dinners worth of meat and just enough veggies for 2 meals, no waste and I'm not tempted to buy stuff like biscuits, poppadums or crackers that I'd usually get from the supermarket.

I make my own puddings and biscuits and such so I never have to buy them (which saves me a fair amount because I get through a lot of them )

I'm gonna try making my own moisturisers and cosmetics as well - the ingredients are really cheap and after looking at some books, it doesn't seem particularly difficult to do.

And since it's now summer, I go to the park during my lunches to read, instead of shopping in the underground like I do in the winter.