Period of Austerity

Austerity
From: The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | Date: 2007 Print Digg del.icio.us austerity / sterit/
• n. (pl. -ties) (1) sternness or severity of manner or attitude.
(2) extreme plainness and simplicity of style or appearance: the room was decorated with a restraint bordering on austerity. (3) (austerities) conditions characterized by severity, sternness, or asceticism: his austerities had undermined his health. (4) difficult economic conditions created by government measures to reduce a budget deficit, esp. by reducing public expenditure: a period of austerity.

I used to work with a guy named Scott and each day, one or the other of us would go to the commissary to pick up lunch for both of us. One day I asked him if he wanted anything and he responded, "No Jill, I'm entering a period of austerity. I have to curtail spending and get a handle on my fiscal life". I remember laughing at the time, but given the current economic conditions today, I've made a choice to enter into my own period of austerity. Here is how my personal period of austerity is going so far:

Starbucks
Goodbye to Venti drips with an add shot and lots of cream. Hello to a $10 Chefmate coffee maker (on sale at Target yesterday for $7) and pre-ground Starbucks coffee (also on sale at Target yesterday).

Monthly Savings: $80
Yearly Savings: $960

Groceries
I find that if I make the 99 Cent Store my first stop, I can find many name brand items that my family likes. They are, of course, only 99 cents each. When you start to see that 6 items from Ralph's cost about $15 and the same 6 items at the 99 Cent Store cost $6, you might become greedy for these savings as I have become.

The second store on your list should then be Target. Target has a number of food items and of course, toiletries, cleaning items, etc. The trick here is to only shop for your food, cleaning or toiletries in one trip. If you become side tracked by clothing, toys or non-essentials, you will certainly spend more than if you limit your trip to only certain items. Use Target to fill out your weekly grocery purchases.

The next stop should be Trader Joes. They have an excellent selection of items and are less expensive than a major grocery store chain. They also carry hormone-free meats and milk that cost much less than if you purchased them at a store like Whole Foods. You can almost certainly find most major food items at Trader Joes.

Last resort stop (and I MEAN LAST RESORT) would be a major grocery store chain. But go armed with coupons and be prepared to only buy items that are on sale or that you have a coupon for. Concoct menus based on in-store specials and coupons.

Monthly Savings: $120 - $160
Yearly Savings: $1440 - $1920

Cable TV

I never could have imagined life without cable tv or tv at all. By a funny fluke, I did not reconnect my cable tv service when I moved in November (waiting for my friend's Uverse program to hit my neighborhood). At first, the kids questioned me at least once daily about when we would have cable tv again. However, once I started seeing the savings in not having the service, I was less inclined to sign back up for it. Also, I notice that my kids spend more time in interactive play, artwork, educational computer games and talking to me and to each other. This, I love! They have a portable dvd player and we rent dvd's to watch at a fraction of the cost of cable tv. As for me, my only tv vices were Lost (which I can watch online for free), Sex and the City reruns (which I can rent) and the occassional movie (which I can also rent). I have a laptop and spent an enjoyable weekend watching Waitress with Keri Russell in the privacy of my bedroom without my children. Heaven!

Monthly Savings: $75
Yearly Savings: $900

Sidebar on DVD Rentals
It occurred to me this morning that I can also save on the dvd rentals by checking them out from the library. DVD's usually cost around $4/each at Blockbuster and we usually get 3 at a time (2 for the girls, 1 for me) per week.

Monthly Savings: $48
Yearly Savings: $576

Ok folks, this is what I'm saving so far:

TOTAL MONTHLY SAVINGS: $323 - $363
TOTAL YEARLY SAVINGS: $3876 - $4356

If I can keep this up, I may just be able to handle the recession without getting a second job. :))