O-Trap;669467 wrote:I actually try to avoid shopping at GoodWill or the Salvation Army, not because I'm ashamed (some stuff is actually nice), but because I'd hate to think that I'm buying something someone else who can't afford to shop elsewhere could use.
If I can afford not to shop there, I try not to. I hate the thought that something I bought there would have made someone else very happy when I could afford to shop elsewhere and they might not.
A lot of the same feelings here Otrap. I'm a 23 year old guy with a low paying job(s) and a lot of college debt and monthly bills, but I'm not a picky guy. If I find something I like at Walmart (I know, I know, evil empire), Kmart, Target etc. and I can afford it, I definately buy it there. It really sickens me to see some of my friends, both male and female around my age who claim to "never" have any money, with maxed out credit cards etc but yet EVERYTHING they wear has to be from American Eagle, Hollister, Abercrombie, Pac-Sun etc. I'm a redneck lol, I don't need a $50+ dollar pair of jeans, or a 25-30 dollar tshirt to work on my vehicles, or to wear around the house. But I avoid going to Goodwill and the like for the same reason. I'm pretty tight on disposable income, but I have a job that allows me to make decent money if I'm motivated, but picking up shifts, so if I want/need something I'll save up what I need to buy it. I don't want to go to Goodwill because there are a lot of people who aren't as fortunate as I am to have a job like that, or heck, to have a job at all right now, and I feel like I'm taking something away from them by buying it if I can afford something from one of the above mentioned places.
I love being able to buy nice clothes...when I can afford it. As a matter of fact, I was able to set aside about 200 from my tax return this year in order to let myself go buy some new clothes that normally I don't spring for. That's perfectly ok, and I keep those clothes aside for when my old beat up pair of wrangler from walmart, or a generic tshirt won't do i.e. going out with my girlfriend, family functions etc. But for everday clothes, there's no reason that decent looking outfit that costs 20-25 bucks from walmart won't do, instead of wearing 150 dollars worth of stuff from PacSun.
And as to the OP, I respect you for wanting to cut back for the right reasons. Your child may not understand it now, but keep your priorities in order and one day you will be rewarded for your sacrifices. As to what others have offered as advice for you, cancelling any unnecessary services is a great start. A few years ago I was in a similar situation (minus having children to care for) where I really needed to cut back for important reasons. I started by cancelling my verizon account. I went out and bought a prepaid virgin mobile phone and saved 40 dollars a month just for my cell phone bill, all the while using the same network (Virgin is verizon's prepaid cell plan). I now have sprint, but when I could not afford it, I did what I could to save money while still having a working phone people could contact me at. Also, vending machines and drinks at convenience stores are a huge one. I had a horrible habit of always buying something to drink when I would stop and get gas. I would always want "something for the ride". I saved about $20 a month by doing that, which with my car (or a prius like yours) gets you quite a bit of gas! Lastly, cancel ALL subscriptions to stuff you don't absolutely need. My big one was field and stream magazine. My subscription costed me like 12 bucks a month, and I found myself never reading any of them and basically just throwing that money in the trash every month. I signed up for it when I was like 18, because I had a decent job and no bills, and I had time to read it. Now when I have the urge to read one, I'll just borrow one from someone, or I'll pick one up (maybe once or twice a year) from the store. The store copies are more expensive, but $15 bucks a year beats $144. And lastly, as has been mentioned before, if you smoke or drink, give it up. It was INSANELY hard for me to quit smoking, but I did, and the reason I did was because that extra $60 per month pays one of my student loan bills every month. It's like killing 3 birds with 1 stone. No spending $ I could use on something extra, using that money to pay a bill, and not killing myself slowly lol.
If you can change your mindset a little, it's actually quite simple to do. You just have to figure out where you have the biggest opportunity to cut some costs, and stick to it. I'm actually just as happy as I was before, and found a way to save myself over $150 a month when I sat down and figured it all out.
