Recessionista

As we all know, the economy is currently in a horrible state. Daily, there are announcements coming out that thousands of jobs are being cut - Target, Starbucks, Boeing, Home Depot and more. Those that are not cutting jobs are taking other drastic measures - salary freezes, cutting back hours, asking people to take non-paid vacation days, and the list goes on. I feel absolutely blessed that not only do I have a job, but it's a job that I enjoy and I love. Here is a picture of me loving my job...ha! Too fun.

Anyway, so as far as I know my company has no intentions of cutting jobs or taking any other drastic measures and neither does my husbands. But, just in case and in an effort to safe guard against what could be the inevitable, I am trying to think of new and innovative ways to cut costs. Here are just a few of the things I have started to implement as I become a Recessionista:

• Starbucks - I know we all love it, but seriously people - nearly $4.00 for a caffeine high.


• Manicures & Pedicures - I stopped going to the salon and started doing them at home, my toes don't look nearly as cute as they used to, but honestly it's OK, it's going to be OK.


• Car Insurance - Suze Orman, in her book The Young, Fabulous & Broke, pointed out that no one young, fabulous and broke - such as myself - should have a $250 deductible. All that low deductible does is make you more likely to turn something small into insurance and then in turn highly increase your monthly payment. I am set at a $1,000 deductible and my insurance went down $250 for 6 months!


• Eating Out - We are trying to cut back to no more than one night a week, and we stopped doing the big extravagant dinners. When we were dating, we used to throw down $100 plus on a dinner, that's insane! I am just as happy with a bowl of cereal - no more expensive dining out.


• Gas - Not everyone has this as an option, but my employer was nice enough to let me work from home two days a week. That saves me nearly 200 miles of driving a week.


• Buy the Cheapest - I am trying to purchase not necessarily the brand that is my favorite, but the one that is one sale. Or, I try to look for the brands that I love to be on sale and even if I have two boxes of whatever it is already at home, I buy it when its on sale.


• Re-furbishing Shoes - I recently took 8 pairs to the shoe repairman. These were shoes that had lost part of their sole, had a loose heel, etc. Normally I probably would have thrown these out and then went shopping to replace them with new ones. Instead I now have 8 pairs of shoes that I love and that are pretty much like new.


• Re-furbishing Clothes - Much like the shoe situation, I had a couple pairs of jeans that were obviously too long for me when I wore them and the bottoms were all torn up with holes, etc. Instead of throwing them out like I normally would have done, I took them to the tailor and had them shortened. Now I wear them with flats. Two less pairs of jeans I would have had to buy to replace them.


• Car Washing - I haven't actually put this into place yet but I should...I used to wash my own car. After college I started living in apartments and it was difficult to find a place to wash my car on my own. As a result, I went to the full service car washer (vacuum, wash, smelly stuff - the works). No more of that for me, I can do it on my own!

I think this is a good start. They are all small changes, nothing drastic like eating Top Ramen for every meal or anything, but a good place to start. I think this entire economic situation is just a big wake up call for our nation - a nation that was overspending, overindulging and overextending themselves in nearly every capacity. I look forward to my new frugal attempts during my Life As A Wife.