10k in 8 months??

Remember how I told you here that we had a gameplan? Yeah, well, just when I jumped on board Z's idea, we hit a roadblock, and it's back to the drawing board. The latest idea is Real Estate. Z's already read books, and had me attend a seminar with him on the subject. Now, we can't drive ANYWHERE without noticing simple things about people home's that could be improved and greatly increase the curb appeal and value. I personally like the idea because it means flexibility! Meaning, even if we did start out here in the midwest, there's always the option of moving back home and doing the same thing. So anway, this shift of plans has made us define our "save-like-crazy" philosophy a bit more..

To the tune of $10,000 in the next 8 months.

Eek! Sounds like a lot, but we've outlined a budget that will take care of it. The toughest part for me is going to be cutting out my "flex" budget. In our previous budget we each had $100/month to spend on "whatever". For me, it had been cute things for the house, clothing, girly stuff, etc. In an effort to save, we eliminated that.

I thought it would be horrible, but when I think ahead to what we're saving for- our own home, and financial stability- it makes me feel so much better. I am SO looking forward to what our future holds, and walking by that undeniably gorgeous new handbag isn't so hard when I think about what I'm trading it for. Besides, I think my current plethora of handbags that are taking up two of those back-of-the-door bag-hanging stips, will do just fine. :)

So why am I rambling on about this on my blog? Just to give you a heads up on what's to come- Lots of Budget-friendly ideas that replace the overlooked dollar-eating items, activities, etc. I'm no expert on the subject, but hopefully my attempts to tighten the budget reins will help someone else in doing the same! Feel free to share your own ideas or $-saving finds!

Budget-friendly Idea #1- Say goodbye to Blockbuster.

• To rent a movie there you pay ~$5 for a 5-night rental. Redbox & some grocery stores offer movies for $1/day
• If you're like me, you watch a movie once and return it. I can't watch a movie more than once unless there's a large enough time gap in between that I've forgotten most of it (which happens more than I care to admit). Do you really need a movie for 5 nights? As long as you can be responsible about returning it on time, You can save ~$4 per movie.
• Say you rent 2 movies/week (average for us- sometimes it's just 1). That's a savings of $32 per month, $384 per year. Not a lot, but it's a start.
  
• Redbox sends Z a text message every Monday with a code for a free rental. So that means we'd save $480/year if we only rented movies on Mondays! Not bad! Of course, weekends are a more popular time to rent movies, but I don't mind cuddling up for a movie on a Monday night! You can sign up for the text messages on their website.
  
• If Redbox or the local grocery store doesn't have the selection you want, it's much easier to swallow $5 once in a while than the $480/year.