Today’s Challenge and Thursday’s Theme

Posted on 02.12.08 in Faith Blogging and there are 13 comments.

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that this week’s Parent’s University topic is:

“Teaching compassion to our kids. How are we teaching them about the poor and living justly?”

Start writing your posts - Parent’s University is Thursday. I really look forward to reading all your responses to this one.

Today’s Challenge

If you’ve been following the Uganda Blogs, you’ve seen what difference $32 dollars makes each month in the lives of children around the world.

I’m sure that all of us have been stirred to sponsor our first or 50th child, but we’re just not sure we can find room in the budget.

So....I thought it would be cool if we tried to come up with 30 ways to save $32 dollars a month.

Put on your thinking caps.

Ready. Set. Go.

The Comments:

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- downsize from premium to basic cable
- cancel cable all together.
- cancel your home phone and just use your cell phones.

--use the library instead of buying books (obviously this will only be applicable to some of us)
--carpool to work
--use refillable water bottles instead of buying bottled water

Weeellll...for my circle of friends/college students, it would definitely be cutting out coffee expenses. At 4-5 dollars each 2-3 times a week, that’s $32 on the low end and as much as $60 on the high end. It’s so much easier to bring coffee from home (what I’ve started doing most of the time) and a heck of a lot cheaper.

For me, I’ve been trying to:
1. stop buying starbucks (for lots of reasons, not just the money)
2. bring my lunch instead of buying food on campus
3. stop carrying cash. i’ve learned i’m less likely to spend with just my debit card
4. take advantage of free stuff more often! we have free movies on campus, for example, and just downloading music from ruckus instead of buying it really is not much of a sacrifice, all things considered.
5. i’m all about publix brand groceries.

Choose cheaper options when hanging out with friends.  Like play board games at home instead of going to the movies.  Or do dinner at someone’s house instead of a restaurant.

I do think that we should more time at home- but since we will go out, these are some things that husband and I have done.  (they are not original).  :0)

1. split meals at restaurants- I learned that they give us more per plate so that we can take it to work the next in a goody bag- free advertisement!

2. drink water - bring those little packs of flavor if you need to or make lemonade with the pink packet and lemons. The average cost of a drink at a restaurant around $2-3!

3. Go see movies during the day.- also way less crowded on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

4. I clip coupons and use the grocery game.  i think it would work great if one had kids.

5.

Things we do to save money

1. Go out to eat only once or twice a month.

2. Freeze leftovers or eat them, but don’t throw out good food. 

3. Make more food items from scratch.  Don’t buy pre-packaged items. They cost more and aren’t as healthy.  (high fructose corn syrup etc.)

4. Check out movies and DVD TV series from the library instead of renting movies every weekend.  At 1 movie a weekend, that would be about $16 a month.

5.  Have the person who drives the most or farthest use the more gas efficient vehicle.  This may sound like a no brainer, but my very tall husband squeezes into a little car…

6.  Use the good old Excel spreadsheet and make a basic budget and see where you can trim down expenses.  Also, see what you really spend on different categories on a monthly basis.  You might be surprised.  Split up all your receipts or credit card statements into different categories like groceries, gas, entertainment, eating out etc and then see where your money goes!

One other way we save money…

I give my husband his haircut.

I only get my hair cut 2-3 times a year.

1.  Stop drinking caffiene. 
2.  Stop buying kids toys they don’t need.
3.  Stop upgrading your phone every two years and buying other toys you don’t need.
4.  Turn off your heat or a/c when you’re gone all day.

we gave up t.v. altogether, 6mths. ago. it was hard at first, but like any “addiction”, the “missing it” went away with time. Now we can’t imagine life with it back in our home. This saves us around $50-$60 p/mth. Another side-benefit, is that we’ve noticed we spend much more time together as a “family” and our kids seem to be more creative in what they are doing, instead of just sitting in front of whatever show is on.

We gave up the “home phone” several years ago, and have been cell-phone only since.

I think the hard part is making sure you don’t find a replacement for that money elsewhere in your budget (i.e., movies, clothes, eating out), and actually put it towards whatever your ‘giving goals’ are.

Dear Kat,
I have a post up for tomorrow’s Parenting U.

I have VERY grudgingly given up my addiction:

No more daily Big Gulp diet cokes.  Don’t come near me right now.  I mean it.

What an inspiring idea. I actually just wrote a post about how I’d like to put my Lenten fasting to some practical good...hmm, maybe I could continue to fast from certain foods one day a week for the long term, and use the money I would have spent to sponsor a child.

Thank you so much for getting this info out there!

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