My husband and I knew a transition was coming. After 8 years, he was getting out of the Army. We knew there might be a period of unemployment. We began planning at least 2 years in advance. We weren’t debt free yet. But we were well on our way. When the day came and he still hadn’t found a new job we tightened an already tight belt on our finances. We squinted our critical eye even harder at our budget to find anywhere at all we could further cut our household expenses. We found it in two items: Our cell phones and the cable bill. Now granted, we were already using what most people consider VERY basic levels of cable and cell phones. But we jumped from basic cable to a set of retro-old school rabbit ears on top of our old CRT television. And we made the jump to pre-paid cell phones. At first it was hard and it felt a little like we’d jumped off the edge of the world of technology. But over time, we realized that we really don’t feel the need to go back to having over a hundred channels to surf, often not finding anything we really want to watch anyway. And we now watch our minutes and spend on our cell phones only what we can afford and only use what we need. These two cuts helped us find slightly over $100 a month in our budget which translates to $1200 a year. When you look at it that way-it’s awfully hard to consider going back. So how about you? Do you have a budget? Can you find something you can live without? Take a look you might be surprised! I’d love to hear what you find.
These are basic-but even the upgraded models can be cost effective!
Ms. Practicality
rice & beans life 