In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

during this tough economy are you cutting back on everything including spurlging on yourself here & there? i work in the financial industry & everyday i go to work wondering if i am going to lose my job

Me & DH are pretty good with money. we have an "emergency account". plus money we are saving towards a house & i just paid off my credit card debt

in this economy, i know people aren't spending money like they used. i know we are trying to cut back by not going out to eat as much & staying home more often. but i am dying for a facial. i have been in a little bit of rut lately with everything going on at work & in need of a little makeover. but i feel a little spurliging on myself to get back into the swing of things. i feel that the stress is written all over my face.

are you still spending money like you used to? how are you cutting back? do you think its bad to indulge once in awhile

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

Honestly...I am not really cutting back on anything. I am still putting money away every check for the " house fund" but thats about it

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

Honestly we are not cutting back. We never do anything crazy in the first place. I have a monthly budget of $2000, for gas, ciggarettes, food and any misc (ex clothes). So I always stay in that frame.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

yup but not as much as when we were planning the wedding. i am putting alot more towards my credit card debt. i want to lower it fast because who knows where this economy is going to take us.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

we're definitely being more frugal. we havent gone out to eat in ages. as far as splurging i was desperate for a massage and got one cheap for an hour that was great; but I didnt go often for massages before.

also i used to get my hair dyed at the salon; now i do a $4 bottle at home. saves like $50!!

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

Thankfully we are not feeling the pinch, DH is doing well, better than last year.
If anything we are spending more on finishing our house and everything else.

We eat out every night, and i am getting a new car soon, hopefully a luxury suv

I hope the economy turns around because everyone i know is having a hard time with money and their income is suffering, and their business has been on the decline

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

yup. i think its the smart thing to do. if the economy tanks and one of us loses our job, we want six months expenses in the bank.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

DH and I graduated from school in May, and the hard thing about this entire situation is that because we finally have our careers, what we worked so hard for all through school... we're making more money than we ever had. So we're doing our best to save it, but at the same time, we're not used to having this much. We know we have student loans, and that we want to save for a family, house, etc, so we are being smart about it. Especially since we don't know what the availability of mortgages will be in the near future. It makes it difficult to put into perspective though if asked if we are spending less, when we are definately not, we are now living on much larger salaries than when we were in college which was just a few months ago.

It is definately difficult to know what our nation is going through, especially when we are not only lucky enough to have financial stability as well as job stability... we are both pharmacists and since there is a shortage of pharmacists we know we will always find work.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

I am trying to save money wherever I can. Whenever I want to buy something (clothes, shoes, etc.) I think if I really need it. The answer is always no- and I talk myself out of buying it. There is so much crap in my closet that I don't know what I have. I am trying to make smart purchases and save for the house.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

---

Posted by ant090608

I am trying to save money wherever I can. Whenever I want to buy something (clothes, shoes, etc.) I think if I really need it. The answer is always no- and I talk myself out of buying it. There is so much crap in my closet that I don't know what I have. I am trying to make smart purchases and save for the house.

---

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

Honestly, not really. We are always very frugal. We don't go out much. We bring breakfast and lunch to work. We shop at Old Navy, Marshalls, Target and places like that and only when necessary.

I wish DH would quit smoking but that is his only "luxury" and bc of that I still get my eyebrows/manis/pedis. If he quits, I will quit!

DH mentioned NOT going on vacation the other day, but since it is our FIRST anniversary we are still going to go.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

we were never really big spenders anyway.. but before we got married, we would go out for dinners and movies.. b/c that was what we did to meet up and just hang out.. we lived a bit far from each other.. and now that we're married, we hardly eat out.. i cook and bring lunch and stuff.. weekends we go to his parents house and mine.. and we hang out there..

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

yes and no. I work in finance, but my company is the one helping the other ones get out of trouble, so Im okay in my job and don't have to worry about it now/yet. But DH and I def dont take drives like we used to cus of gas. And we really have like no savings. We have cut out going out to eat by a lot. And we don't really buy clothes or shop too much anymore.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

DH and I are not big spenders but before our wedding we went a little overboard...well at least I did on clothes for the honeymoon and before that stuff for the house....Our life hasn't changed TOO TOO much but we are trying to be more responsible since we'd like to start a family soon and move to a bigger place soon....I don't buy as many clothes and we try to eat lunch at home every day or as much as possible. I guess we are just a little more concious...

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

Yes and no. We are no longer searching for a home. We feel a little scared about giving away all that money for a down payment we are just keeping the money in the bank at the best interest rate safe! We are perfectly happy living in our apartment and we feel its the best decision. Nothing has changed as far as our incomes go. So we are still putting the same amount in the savings every week and we are still going out to dinner and buying what we want.

One thing I stopped doing awhile ago was food shopping. DH and I used to go to church on Sunday then food shop at 85$ a week!!! Instead we just pick stuff up on the way home when we need something...we end up spending less and wasting less food!

We paid off any debt we had awhile ago so we are in good shape with that. We dont put ANYTHING on Credit cards anymore. Its all cash.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

We really haven't cut back either. We go out to a nice dinner once a week usually, and we buy ourselves clothes whenever we want. Neither of us is in danger of losing our jobs so we don't feel like we really need to change anything... at least not yet!

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

Nope, we are doing what we've always done. We are saving for a family, but that goes without saying. We are actually spending more these days on decor for the house, furniture, electronics and are both looking for a brand-new car to buy, not lease. So, the economy can go screw itself! lol

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

well you do have to live a bit. there are just alot of things i see that i would luv to buy but feel a twinge of guilt since we are trying to save. when i wasn't worried about my job i wouldn't even think about it & just buy it.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

I used to be a real spendthrift, but lately I've been better. Our goal is to buy a house in the next 2 years, so we are trying to save every penny.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

not so much cutting back on spending so much as we're trying to conserve. Like driving less so we don't have to spend so much on gas, trying to cut our energy use so the utility bills aren't so high, stuff like that.

I have started to buy generic brands in the supermarket now, or whatever brand is on sale.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

DH and I are trying to cut back on eating out and are focused on paying our bills off. We also run our dishwasher and washing machine/dryer only after 11 PM and combined our cell phones into one plan., etc. The economy is definitely a concern for us. We're also worried that we're going to be hit with higher taxes (the marriage tax thing) next year

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

---

Posted by sophisticat13

DH and I are trying to cut back on eating out and are focused on paying our bills off. We also run our dishwasher and washing machine/dryer only after 11 PM and combined our cell phones into one plan., etc. The economy is definitely a concern for us. We're also worried that we're going to be hit with higher taxes (the marriage tax thing) next year

---

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

i'm trying to spend on "extras" only when necessary... not so much because of the economy, but bc DH and I are living on one income for the next 8 months. The economy has made us more careful too.

However, we're still enjoying ourselves. Just not frivilously

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

vin and i are saving for a house. so, we are cutting back on little things - we don't go out to eat like we used to, i'm cooking 99% of the time, i have been using coupons for food shopping and going where the sales are. also, i recently took my nails off - it is just one less expense. and i've been going out of my way to avoid shopping for "fun" -- anything i don't absolutely need does not get bought. so, we are trying. i mean, it doesn't have as much to do with the economy as it does the fact that we are saving for a house.

Re: In this economy, are u cutting back on everything??

my dilemna is i really feel like i am in a rut becuase of my job situation. i'm really depressed during the week & when the weekends roll around i'm fine. so i feel like i need to do something to get me out of it. unfortunately, that means spending money. Also, i really want to take some nite classes to update my skills just in case i have to start job hunting.

hopefully i'll snap out of soon