The Year of Living Frugally – After One Week

Year of Living Frugally – Week-One Adjustments

I’m actually surprised at the amount of work it took to get a budget together and figure out monthly costs over 2007. I also appreciate all of the suggestions, the critical eyes and the encouragement at the Frugal Village and the About: Frugal Living forums. There were some definite common themes running through your feedback – some of it was expected, others were a poke in the brain about something I haven’t thought of. Since it is always easiest to start with the low-hanging fruit (to work towards the frugal goals), I’ll start with:

Food

By and far my biggest expense beyond what a “normal” budget should be. California does have expensive groceries, but some of you we’re truly shocked (I think the word obscene came up a few). The next few months I’ll keep very tight control over my food expense (there’s no good reason why I should spend over $400 a month for food). I’m not sure what a reasonable level is, but I’m not sure if I can budget this with the most frugal ($100 per month).

The largest problem with food is the fact that healthy food costs more. Organic produce costs more than conventional. Non-hormone-injected dairy costs more than the milk from cows with Schwarzeneggar-sized udders (and I can’t budge on that one – I’d really like to avoid the extra growth of breast-tissue). I do spend too much money on convenience foods – so more cooking is forthcoming.

Gym Membership

I was using the membership… I had a slump the last couple months… (Here’s where the voice in my head is saying, “but I don’t want to give that up!”). I like the gym because of the swimming pool, sauna/steam room, and the high-quality yoga classes (otherwise, I could exercise on my own without a membership). If, by the end of March, I’m not using the gym four times a week I’ll drop the membership.

Hobbies and Entertainment

Lots of expenses causing money-leaks. The Netflix has been downgraded to the cheapest plan. My Surfer magazine subscription ends next month and I won’t renew. This is difficult to budget since many items were yearly expenses or one-time purchases. I’ll see if I can keep this below $50 a month to start.

To Motorcycle or Not To Motorcycle

Is this costing me? It’s time to start riding as much as possible to see if the gas savings make ownership cheaper than just owning a truck. A cost-benefit analysis coming soon.

Pet Expenses

These expenses really polarized people’s opinions. The food and vet expenses are cheap (Costco and yearly wellness exam (for a healthy 3-year-old dog)). Quite a few people seemed a bit horrified about the pet-sitting expense. Others felt that it wasn’t a big deal.

The pet-sitting is a justifiable expense as far as I’m concerned. My friend watches my dog during the week (for free). I take my friend out to dinner once a week (so I also gain entertainment and two meals (leftovers) from this expense). My dog is very happy and well-adjusted. I believe that a big part of this is her constant “belonging to the pack”. Dogs that spend 9 hours alone each day can get a little neurotic (not all dogs, but I’m sure that any dog – if given a choice – would rather have company during the day than be alone). I’ll cut budget in other areas first…

Vacation

My vacation expense was a monthly average of what I spent in 2007. I am not budgeting any money this year so far. I have some frequent-flyer miles, and plenty of banked vacation time – so a two-week surf trip is in the works. I will attempt to only use my tax-rebate check and any money from selling unnecessary stuff to cover expenses.

I know I sound resistant… maybe even a little defensive…

I think it may be harder to visualize all of these changes for an entire year, than it is to just stop paying for these things on a day-by-day basis.

I will be moving into a cheaper place the first of March, and the cell phone is going away, and I’m eating through quite a bit of food that’s been forgotten in my pantry. It looks like the first few cuts will be easiest; but I imagine that the long-term habits will be the hardest to maintain.

(continue on to Week Two)