I recently went from a $200K/year job to unemployed and making about $1200/month take home on unemployment. We can keep the house, so that's a silver lining. (We bought at the bottom of the market and also bought the junkiest house on the street, so it's worth WAY more than we paid and the payments are fairly low at about $2200/month).
I am a spender and I am a fool with money. I admit it. I spent pretty much every penny of my income when I was making a lot of money because (I think) I was in awe of my rate and I had never really been able to have fun with money before. I bought a new 4Runner, a $14,000 mountain bike (that I ride ALL THE TIME), video game cabinets, audio/video equipment, a complete beer brewing setup, add-ons for the house, and lots of lavish birthday presents, gifts, and trips for the family.
Well, I need to pull back BIG TIME. I have curtailed my spending severely already, but I need to do more.
I enjoy lots of things, so I am concentrating on those that require little or no money. I ride the bike a lot, I backpack, and I take the kids out to the beach. No big trips planned, and no major purchases in the future. My only debt is the house, my car payment, my Wife's payment, and monthly bills. I have no credit card debt or other debt of any kind.
What tips can you suggest for someone who would like to take a trip down a more frugal road? How do folks start out living frugally? I may not be the kind of person that saves lemon peels from the backyard tree so I won't have to buy tea bags later on, but I know there are probably major changes I could make to be more efficient and save more.
Thanks, all!
August 29, 2018 at 11:53AM
