Monday, April 6, 2009

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.

10 comments:

Jen said...

Congrats - what an exciting decision! We have spent the last year or so cutting back and saving for a kitchen remodel (that isn't happening now because we're moving). While it's tough at times, it was really nice to see our bank account grow! Since we're not doing the kitchen, we did spend a bit of the cash on new computers (ours were both over 5 years old) and our new bed frame. It was fun to splurge without going into debt or feeling guilty about it because we had planned to spend some of the money!

Anyways, I can't wait to hear more of your budgeting tips... I *heart* the redbox and might have to sign up for the Monday night movie texts!

d.a.r. said...

CONGRATS!!! I can't wait to read your budget friendly posts. We are currently on only one income (military pay...so basically nothing) and we are planning on saving 20K this year. It has been so, so, so tight but will be totally worth it when we buy our house this fall!

Cristina said...

You can do it! It's easy to save money when you have a goal in mind!

Since the summer is coming, instead of renting movies at night you and hubs can take an evening walk or do other (free) outdoor things that will distract you from the TV altogether :)

Lindsey said...

YAYA Congrats!!! I can't wait to hear your budget friendly posts!

Courtney said...

Thanks for the encouragement girls!

Christina- You're absolutely right- the movie thing was definitely a winter alternative!

leah @maritalbless said...

Hah! I wanted to encourage you to run a 10K in 8 months lol! :)

Nice work on choosing a game plan. I look forward to your suggestions!

The Ratpack said...

We are really really bad about movies. We have BB online, but get impatient, rent one from the store and then return it waaaay late, as in over 10 bucks of late fees for almost every movie. eeek.

SnoWhite said...

found your blog through Lucy's....

we get our movies for FREE from our local library. they have new ones too that we can place a hold on, and pick up when they come in. It's almost like those fancy $ services, but it's free!! :)

Courtney said...

Leah- Haha! I thought of that after I posted it! I only WISH I could run a 10K!! :)

Thanks for the tips ladies!

Lucy Marie said...

What a great goal. All the best! Before we got married we made this same goal for ourselves. My FIL wasn't too keen on us getting married so young so he told my hubby that we shouldn't get married until we had 10k saved. So, we did it in 6 months and then got engaged. :D It was easy at that time though, because we were both paying really cheap rent and had very few expenses.

I can't wait to hear more of your $$ saving tips - I am always looking for new ways to save. Another idea about the movies is that you can do movie swaps with friends who own lots of DVDs. I borrow a lot of DVDs from my friends and family members who own a lot of movies. It saves $ from renting and also gives your more options than watching the ones you own over and over again.