April Fool's is Behind Us Now

It's Spring! Finally! One thing bothers me, though: We had no snow (or so little as to be nearly none) all winter, but now that it's Spring, we've had a BLIZZARD! Go figure!

I was reading an article about saving on Yahoo news this morning, (Here's the link: Yahoo Finance News) and I had to chuckle because most of the saving activities mentioned in the article are really sort of... trivial (at least for me). For example:

• dining out every day – we don't do this... not even once weekly or monthly. We may dine out occasionally, maybe 3 or 4 times in six months... maybe.
• dropped her $28-a-month land line – we dropped our land line years ago. Way back in 2001. It didn't make sense to have both, and cell phones are much more convenient.
• and her $65-a-month cell phone, and she now uses her work cell phone exclusively – Ok, first only a limited number of people have "work cell phones", mostly sales folks, technicians, and executives. Secondly, I'm willing to bet that those "work cell phones" are for work, not for personal use. This person could just be asking for trouble.
• And she scaled back satellite-TV service – we've never had satellite TV service, have never felt a need for it, heck we don't even have cable. Why have these pay services when we have Internet service that includes websites with free video services should we want them?
• save on formula, diapers and wipes by buying in bulk on Diapers.com – thank goodness we don't have a need for diapers anymore! I question the savings on this one because of freight costs. Buying store brand diapers is most certainly much cheaper than buying name brand in bulk when it has to be shipped.
• saved $460 per year by dropping her land line and using only her cell phone. She and her extended family saved $700 by consolidating their cell-phone bills with a family plan – again, we've done this. We have a cell phone plan, with 5 phones, that costs us less than $150 per month. (It's about $125.) Since we're all in different places all the time, it's important for us to be able to reach each other when we need to. Plus, my Mom only pays $25 or so per month for her phone on our plan. If she had her own plan, she would be paying at least twice that.
• Coupons from grocery circulars and Web sites, takes advantage of double- and triple-coupon offers, and tracks down coupon codes for online retailers – this only works if you buy crappy processed and boxed non-food food. Most coupons I find are for items I never buy. I want my family to eat and be healthy, so we buy fresh food: Produce, meat, grains. (BTW: this is also cheaper than using coupons for crap.) I stay away from buying boxed or canned food products for the most part. The items I do buy are store brand or generic brand items, and usually, you won't find coupons for these items.

There were some good points in the article, though:

• Costco membership got her a cheaper auto-insurance policy – great if you have a Costco nearby and can get a membership, but ask yourself: Do we have access to a Costco, how much is a membership and will I shop at Costco? We don't have a Costco anywhere within a reasonable driving distance, so for us it would be a waste of money. There's always online price comparisons, though. Something to look into if you think your car insurance is too high.
  
• using a flexible spending account for child care expenses – we used this when I was working, and it was great. I do recommend this one if you have a child in daycare. You see the savings immediately, not at tax time. But, remember, any money you don't use is gone at the end of the year, so only pay in what you're going to use.
• Slashing your mortgage interest rate – this one is worth looking into, and if you're able to do it, can save you significantly on your mortgage bill.
• invested in a programmable thermostat – we have one of these, and it has saved us quite a bit in utilities. I can't tell you exactly how much, but our gas bill has never been lower, even with the increased rates. I recommend you get one of these if you don't have one.

Ultimately, I think if you're trying to significantly reduce your monthly or yearly spending, you're going to have to cut much deeper than this article implies. Buy non processed foods that you prepare yourself, cut out non-essential items and services completely, find free alternatives for entertainment, find ways to make your essential services more cost effective (i.e. programmable thermostat, flex spending), and get rid of (pay off) high interest rate revolving credit accounts. Live in the now, not on credit.

One more piece of advice: Pay yourself first. It always helps to take a set amount of money out of available funds before you start spending it. Pretend it doesn't exist. After all, you can't spend what isn't there.

Ok, let me know what you think about my critique. Those of you who are able: Enjoy the Sunshine! Those of us who are still trapped in winter will be envious.