The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: lifejoy on May 05, 2014, 01:17:32 PM
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Share your financial weakness, and a gameplan to overcome it!
Mine would be chocolate, jewellery, and I'm a recovering shoe-a-holic.
Chocolate - trying to savour it, eat less of it overall, hopefully overcome the addiction ;)
Jewellery - trying to focus on what I already have, instead of what I want to add to the collection
Shoes - I've halted on shoes because I don't have a lot of closet space, and I don't want to have more shoes than I have space for. So, that's nice! But there is always space for chocolate and jewellery... Haha!
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Food.
Ever since I found MMM last year, I have made lots of strides - reducing my cable bill, killing my clothing and beauty budget, halving my cell phone budget, saving more for retirement but I can't seem to make headway on the food budget, partly because my family is resistant to change. My husband still buys most work lunches and buys coffee every day, sometimes twice so that doesn't help, but there are one too many nights where I resort to take out instead of eating what is in the house.
I am trying to start fresh this month starting with groceries mostly:
I purged my freezer and refrigerator of all bad food - which made me sick frankly- but it needed to be done because I needed to take inventory of everything I had.
I made a rough meal plan for the month and bought about 2-3 weeks worth of dinners on Saturday at the cheapest grocery store in town. I spent about $200 in total but got a LOT of food. This is generally easier this time of year because we break out the grill twice a week. So now I am stocked for most of the month with meat.
I will shop once a week for fresh fruit/snacks for the kids/ perishables like fish,deli meats and dairy - attempting to keep it at around $100 a week.
I will allow one restaurant meal instead of my normal 2-3.
I hope to stay under $600-650 for groceries for the month - not great compared to mustacian standards, but good for me and my family.
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Nice clothes. It has been easy to get around that weakness lately, as my wife owns a consignment store and I've been getting some awesome pieces such as suits, shirts, shoes, etc. from Prada and Paul Smith for next to nothing. Sadly, she is selling the store as I type, so I will have to come up with a new strategy to overcome that weakness.
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Food.
Ever since I found MMM last year, I have made lots of strides - reducing my cable bill, killing my clothing and beauty budget, halving my cell phone budget, saving more for retirement but I can't seem to make headway on the food budget, partly because my family is resistant to change. My husband still buys most work lunches and buys coffee every day, sometimes twice so that doesn't help, but there are one too many nights where I resort to take out instead of eating what is in the house.
I am trying to start fresh this month starting with groceries mostly:
I purged my freezer and refrigerator of all bad food - which made me sick frankly- but it needed to be done because I needed to take inventory of everything I had.
I made a rough meal plan for the month and bought about 2-3 weeks worth of dinners on Saturday at the cheapest grocery store in town. I spent about $200 in total but got a LOT of food. This is generally easier this time of year because we break out the grill twice a week. So now I am stocked for most of the month with meat.
I will shop once a week for fresh fruit/snacks for the kids/ perishables like fish,deli meats and dairy - attempting to keep it at around $100 a week.
I will allow one restaurant meal instead of my normal 2-3.
I hope to stay under $600-650 for groceries for the month - not great compared to mustacian standards, but good for me and my family.
My fiancé buys his lunch every day, except for when I make a really delectable lunch for him and make sure he packs it. If you're willing to go through all that trouble, it might decrease the number of lunches your husband buys!
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Nice clothes. It has been easy to get around that weakness lately, as my wife owns a consignment store and I've been getting some awesome pieces such as suits, shirts, shoes, etc. from Prada and Paul Smith for next to nothing. Sadly, she is selling the store as I type, so I will have to come up with a new strategy to overcome that weakness.
Hmm that is tough because it feels good to look good! Maybe you could focus on loving what you have, and saving space by not obtaining more? Minimalism blogs can be helpful: http://www.theminimalists.com/clothes/
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Nice clothes. It has been easy to get around that weakness lately, as my wife owns a consignment store and I've been getting some awesome pieces such as suits, shirts, shoes, etc. from Prada and Paul Smith for next to nothing. Sadly, she is selling the store as I type, so I will have to come up with a new strategy to overcome that weakness.
Hey man - I noticed you mention your wife's shop a lot and the ability to get some proper threads. Any chance I could get stuff from you (your wife's store)? I like to have a proper brand name shirt or two for certain situations/events.
I'm not local to you so I can't just "stop in"
Thanks!
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Travel!
Current gameplan, obtain better paying employment or last resort go back to contracting.
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Food!
My family of three (well, 2.5... We have a toddler) regularly goes over our $400 monthly budget. We even pass $500 sometimes. Facepalm.
I don't cook. I can, but I am terrible at it and I need a good recipe and every ingredient it calls for (very expensive, usually!). So my husband does the cooking. He is good at throwing together whatever is in the house, but he doesn't really think about the cost of ingredients. We used to be vegetarian years ago, but it was before we started budgeting so I don't know if it made a big difference.
We also buy food pouches for our toddler (gasp! I know.) they are just so much healthier than what I would otherwise have on hand for her. I always try to get them on sale but even then they're expensive. We probably blow $30-$40/mo on those.
Our worst offense is Starbucks. I know that's a terrible confession on MMM, but no matter where we live there's always one nearby, and it's just a nice reason to get out of the house for a little bit. We have another baby on the way and i don't see that habit going anywhere. Especially when it's bad weather, just having that destination as a reason to get shit together and get out is really nice. It makes you feel like a person again if you haven't otherwise been able to do anything other than take care of kids and maybe feed yourself that day.
Plans to improve? Always. I'm hoping we can substitute a trip to the playground for the Starbucks runs now that the weather is better. We go though about 1 food pouch per day, which we could possibly cut down if I can get my little one to eat whole fruits and veg with less resistance. A long-term goal!
Going to costco LESS often I think will help a lot too. We get our meat there, and always spend too much no matter how restrained we are. When we haven't gone for a while and we don't have meat, we tend to have vegetarian meals which are generally cheaper. Plus our kid likes beans way more than meat!
I'm also hoping my impulse spending goes down once I'm past the morning sickness part of pregnancy, but.p it will probably just switch to cravings instead! :)
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1. Iced coffees when the weather's hot.
2. Clothes.
3. Travel.
1. Go to the effort of making cold brew and ice cubes at home so I can make my own iced coffee.
2. I haven't bought any new clothes for the past few months and have been focusing on what I already have, it's going pretty well.
3. Travel- hm, I booked a bunch of summer travel already (which involves staying with friends, camping, cheaper accommodations but it is what it is)
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Nice clothes. It has been easy to get around that weakness lately, as my wife owns a consignment store and I've been getting some awesome pieces such as suits, shirts, shoes, etc. from Prada and Paul Smith for next to nothing. Sadly, she is selling the store as I type, so I will have to come up with a new strategy to overcome that weakness.
Hey man - I noticed you mention your wife's shop a lot and the ability to get some proper threads. Any chance I could get stuff from you (your wife's store)? I like to have a proper brand name shirt or two for certain situations/events.
I'm not local to you so I can't just "stop in"
Thanks!
It is an awesome little store, and having a small business has its reward, but it takes up all of her time (sad because I have so much free time and quasi-free airfare, as I used to work for an airline until last October).
We thought about on-line shopping/eBay but in Canada, shipping costs are a killer, unlike in the USA, so shipping anything to you would probably not make much sense. Not sure if I am breaking the forum rules if I post a link to her store's Facebook page, but in any case here it is. Apologies in advance if it is not allowed:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sass-Consignment-Boutique/141202513123
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My kids. I am doing better much better -- reducing expenses, saying no expensive lessons, limiting activities, but it is damn hard when there are so many fantastic things to do with kids.
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Beer, but I make my own for about $3.50 a six pack for a big IPA.
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Travel - we spend well north of 7K/year on this. We're trying to make more of an effort to get places with mini kitchens when we're on the road, as it saved us a TON of money on a recent trip, and was a lot of fun (also, we were vacationing in Guatemala City, which is not a great place to be wandering around in the evening). We're also researching cheaper accommodations - we're using AirBnB for most of our upcoming summer Europe trip for the first time.
There are a couple other areas that I think are a bit extravagant, like my haircuts ($70 every two months), entertainment ($60/month for two of us combined), and soda ($15/month), but we have no plans to change them.
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Eating organic/local foods. We try to grow our own and buy in bulk.
Eating out. It I was a multi-millionaire I would do it more often with no guilt. Just isn't in the budget so we don't do it.
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It used to be jewelry but now I never buy any. The craving for it just left me which is good. Probably travel & eating out. WE are taking 3-3 day trips and 1- 7 day trip this year but we did not travel for 2 years at all. WE are trying to only eat out 2x/month instead of 4.
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My kids. I am doing better much better -- reducing expenses, saying no expensive lessons, limiting activities, but it is damn hard when there are so many fantastic things to do with kids.
If it makes you feel any better, my parents could be considered Mustachian and they said no to a lot of things as I was growing up. They taught me some good habits and I grew up to have a lot of respect for their choices. Add that to the fact that they are retired early, and I will never have to financially support them :)
Maybe thoughts like that will help you say no to some things? But I'm not a parent, so I can't imagine how hard it is.
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Bars. I spend a shocking amount on weekends when i'm out with friends. It's been a struggle for me.
Material things - My fishing equipment.
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Bars. I spend a shocking amount on weekends when i'm out with friends. It's been a struggle for me.
Material things - My fishing equipment.
Me at bars - every second drink is a tall glass of water. Slows me down, and keeps me hydrated :)
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wine
iris and lily plants
bulldog veterinary bills
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Ben & Jerry's. A problem on so many levels...
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Dinners/Drinks out. My wife and I go out for dinner twice a week, often after a pit stop at one of several look-we-have-a-shitload-of-beers-on-tap joints that have popped up locally. Basically, the plan is to wean ourselves from the habit by scheduling one night out a week for awhile instead of planning to go out "up to twice" when the feeling strikes. We both like our own cooking better than any restaurant's... but it is fun to get out of the house.
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- Overseas Travel - Still need to seriously work on this.
- Restaurants & Eating out - We've reduced this by 50% so far this year with fewer visits overall and fewer visits to spendy places
- Books - I probably spent $2,000 on books last year. There's really no excuse. So far, this year, I've spent $0. I'm reading through my bookcases this year
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Eating out. Usually about $10/day. I'm meeting my financial goals and have no intention of overcoming it.
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1. private faith based school for our kids
2. Organic/grass fed food
The children will eventually graduate (college is already funded). Won't get over the food, but twice a month we stock up at the farmers market for less than Whole Foods or whatever.
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Eating out, without a doubt. While I do remain under budget, I do spend a good amount on it.
Video games are a close second, but I mitigate that by swapping with my friends, so the cost remains really low.
Thrift store shopping is a third (assuming I can even find anything in my size anyway).
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Eating out. Usually about $10/day. I'm meeting my financial goals and have no intention of overcoming it.
I'm glad someone else has this as well. I'm a uni student and I get a lot done at night on campus, when most other people have gone home. It used to be hard to stay there for long periods of time but I found that by "bribing" myself with a coffee and a burger or some noodles I can stay productive for a lot longer. I stick to good-quality takeaway places so it's not a meal made just of salt and fat, and it keeps me happy. My main financial goal right now is to graduate with an intact emergency fund and I'm on track!
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Travel. Without a doubt. Most of it I do on my own, for career-related projects. They're investments but the payoff takes a long time.
We just had a nice weekend away (our 1st together in ~2 years, his trips home are usually solo) and had planned another for the end of the month with cheap tickets, because it's a rare chance for us to have 4 days off together, when there aren't 1.3 billion people traveling in China at the same time! But today I'm thinking we shouldn't go: there'd be part-time work opportunities lost as well. Your post came at a good time, LibraryJoy.
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Rent. I like my location. I like my management. I like living alone. I like the layout of my apartment. I like the southern facing windows. I like my quiet neighbors. However, I could easily cut my rent by $200 per month while still living alone and shorten my commute by moving. There's just no way I can get my savings rate above 65% without moving (or a raise). *Self facepunch of shame*
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Entertainment / social. I find it hard to say no to friends who want to eat out, do fun events, etc. Sometimes I feel obligated or don't want to leave them hanging; other times I just don't want to miss out myself.
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1) Wife
2) Child #1
3) Child #2
I wouldn't trade them for the world, and we have made drastic improvements since we had "the talk", but they are my weakness. I've found willpower I never thought possible since changing to more mustachian ways, but my efforts only keep things in check since we have differing opinions of the word "need".
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Rent. I like my location. I like my management. I like living alone. I like the layout of my apartment. I like the southern facing windows. I like my quiet neighbors. However, I could easily cut my rent by $200 per month while still living alone and shorten my commute by moving. There's just no way I can get my savings rate above 65% without moving (or a raise). *Self facepunch of shame*
Heart of Tin, I am in the SAME situation. I love, love, love my apartment. It's sunny, dog friendly, and in a great neighborhood. But I will never be able to increase my savings rate beyond 65% without moving. I literally obsess about this dilemma every day. So, to answer libraryjoy's second question, I don't have a solution yet!
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4 kids in select soccer= tons of travel , hotel expenses and food. We continue to find ways to save and will keep working on it. Try to be frugal on most everything else during the week to absorb costs as well since its family time and entertainment as well for us.
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A lot of things really by the standards of this board. For examples I eat in the canteen at work every day (ca 10$) and occasionally eat out in the city as well (rarely less than 50$). I also travel a fair bit, the usual budget is 4-5k a year and that's without counting domestic trips. What saves me is no car, modest apartment, no dependants and high salary.
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Rent. I like my location. I like my management. I like living alone. I like the layout of my apartment. I like the southern facing windows. I like my quiet neighbors. However, I could easily cut my rent by $200 per month while still living alone and shorten my commute by moving. There's just no way I can get my savings rate above 65% without moving (or a raise). *Self facepunch of shame*
Heart of Tin, I am in the SAME situation. I love, love, love my apartment. It's sunny, dog friendly, and in a great neighborhood. But I will never be able to increase my savings rate beyond 65% without moving. I literally obsess about this dilemma every day. So, to answer libraryjoy's second question, I don't have a solution yet!
Okay. This is scary. Your username is, phonetically, my real name, bekkah.
Anyway, my best advice is to accept it as a form of concious spending, and work on improving the income side of things and reducing other spending catagories.
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My entire way of life! Not really, but I do feel like we have so many places we could improve I'm not sure where to start.
Cars. We bought two of 'em - one in 2012, one in 2013. I discovered MMM in 2014, in case you wondered. :) They're Hondas. We usually drive a car a decade or more (we drove the last ones 14 and 11 years, respectively). We paid cash, so no loan, but they are definitely a luxury. OTOH, I adore my new CR-V as much as I loved my old CR-V. But it's a CR-V and not a Fit or an Insight or a Civic, so... luxury.
Travel is a big one for us - we live 400 miles from our closest family, and my only sibling and I live on opposite coasts.
Clothing my almost teenager is another big moolah suck. She grows so dang fast! We do get some hand-me-downs, and we shop at Target and Kohls instead of Hollister and Anthropologie, but still... it adds up.
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1. Coffee
2. Eating Out
3. Travel
I'm not sure that I consider #3 a weakness really. I've been making 80% of my coffee at home (up from zero), and we eat out a lot less than we used to (2-3x week instead of nearly all the time.) So I'd say there is definitely progress.
SIS
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Music lessons.
I restarted piano lessons in adulthood after a decades long break. Started with a borrowed keyboard, but needed to graduate to a really good piano.
Then a few months ago, I made use of a free guitar and signed up for lessons. It won't be long before I NEED to upgrade to a Martin.
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BIG THING: Cars. love em. love working on them. I always need a project car. I will push back our retirement date just to give myself enough bonus cash from the stache to buy any play with vintage Porsches and to have a nice big garage. its my thing.
LITTLE THING: i still like grabbing an occasional lunch out. did the math and I spend probably $300/month on it. boo. could probably finance the car habit with a reduction in lunches. *lightbulb*
EDIT: i spend comically less than $300/month now that I do the math (better) . $56/month. I just assumed it was ridiculous. still more than I should but not that ridiculous.
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Travel. Without a doubt. Most of it I do on my own, for career-related projects. They're investments but the payoff takes a long time.
We just had a nice weekend away (our 1st together in ~2 years, his trips home are usually solo) and had planned another for the end of the month with cheap tickets, because it's a rare chance for us to have 4 days off together, when there aren't 1.3 billion people traveling in China at the same time! But today I'm thinking we shouldn't go: there'd be part-time work opportunities lost as well. Your post came at a good time, LibraryJoy.
I'm glad this thread is making you think! That's what it's all about :)
What is it you like about vacations? Have you ever been on a "staycation"? They can be pretty darn rad. You explore new places, see your own city through new eyes... me and my fiance are planning a staycation. We're making a list of new restaurants to try, and we might even pay a maid to clean our apartment so that it feels like a B&B or something. Haha! The way I see it, all the money we save on the physical travel can be spent on our "staycation". Actually, much less money than we would've spent on travel... but you get the idea.
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I must acquire Arby's every month
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Mine are:
1. Convenience foods (things like pre-made pesto, brown rice pilaf from a box, so not completely unhealthy but less so than made from scratch and more expensive). Not sure how hard I'm going to try to mitigate that, since I really don't like cooking and this is a compromise to all the eating out and take-out we used to do.
2. My house. I live in a more expensive neighborhood with more square footage than is required (2400 for five people). But our neighborhood is walkable, safe, good elementary and middle school within walking distance, close to public transport, and has a lovely "small town" feel in the city. I have lived in the 'hood for 20 years (three in a tiny apartment, six in our starter home, and now ten in this house). Don't think we're going anywhere soon. I have reduced cost as much as possible by refinancing to a 15-year at 2.95%, getting rid of housecleaner and gardener, and doing as much home maintenance as possible ourselves.
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Food, and stupid convenience food/coffee, especially Starbucks. Try not to beat myself up too much about it though. We don't spend a dime on anything like cable or netflix, and our cell phone spending is no more than $40 bucks a month. And we don't own a car. But for whatever reason, nothing turns me off more than a packed lunch.
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My weaknesses are related to my two largest expenses- housing and my car.
I live alone in a 1,100 sq ft condo that I bought in 2010. The mortgage isn't much for the area I live in (cheaper than rent), but it'd still be far more mustachian to have a roommate.
I have a Subaru Outback that I bought new, not used. I love it and use it for my primary form of recreation (camping, hiking, etc), but still.. :(
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In terms of raw money, my gas bill during winter. I may get a space heater and try to even out electricity and gas usage to lower my costs this year.
As a personal weakness, probably food. I'm not too picky, but I find that without a certain level of variety I start becoming dissatisfied with my staples, which can lead to more expensive purchases. I'm trying to increase my list of cheap staples that I really enjoy.
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Coffee.
My wife and I spend $30/month on nice freshly roasted beans which we grind and brew at home.
I said in another thread (http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/the-latte-effect/) that I'd rather buy used underwear than drink folgers every morning. Not joking, not even a bit. :-)
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Socialising, as I tend to spend more on food (eating out or takeaway) when it's part of seeing friends.
I do try to encourage them to come over to my house and I'll cook for them. But as I'm the only one willing to do this, it means I'm always the one hosting, cooking a big meal and bearing the full cost. So while I LOVE doing that maybe every other time I see certain groups of friends, I won't do it every single time. Hence spending too much money :-P
I assume this will get easier as my friends settle down and become more domestic (I hope).
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My environmentally unfriendly, expensive, but oh so convenient Kuerig coffee maker.
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What is it you like about vacations? Have you ever been on a "staycation"? They can be pretty darn rad. You explore new places, see your own city through new eyes... me and my fiance are planning a staycation. We're making a list of new restaurants to try, and we might even pay a maid to clean our apartment so that it feels like a B&B or something. Haha! The way I see it, all the money we save on the physical travel can be spent on our "staycation". Actually, much less money than we would've spent on travel... but you get the idea.
Excellent ideas, LibraryJoy. We tend to see every weekend as a staycation - becoming tourists in our temporary home. Usually that means seeing a new historic site every weekend.
Thing is, because of the economic disparity within China, travel within the country can be about the same as staying in the capital - this plane ticket costs about the same as a fancy dinner in a Beijing restaurant. Basic activities in Beijing (like a concert or film) cost the same as a night in a hostel room in the destination we'd selected.
However thanks to another coordinated knife attack in a train station (the guys arrived on a train originating from our intended destination), we are definitely staying put this month. This leaves more for the next "investment house fund" at any rate :S
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What is it you like about vacations? Have you ever been on a "staycation"? They can be pretty darn rad. You explore new places, see your own city through new eyes... me and my fiance are planning a staycation. We're making a list of new restaurants to try, and we might even pay a maid to clean our apartment so that it feels like a B&B or something. Haha! The way I see it, all the money we save on the physical travel can be spent on our "staycation". Actually, much less money than we would've spent on travel... but you get the idea.
Excellent ideas, LibraryJoy. We tend to see every weekend as a staycation - becoming tourists in our temporary home. Usually that means seeing a new historic site every weekend.
Thing is, because of the economic disparity within China, travel within the country can be about the same as staying in the capital - this plane ticket costs about the same as a fancy dinner in a Beijing restaurant. Basic activities in Beijing (like a concert or film) cost the same as a night in a hostel room in the destination we'd selected.
However thanks to another coordinated knife attack in a train station (the guys arrived on a train originating from our intended destination), we are definitely staying put this month. This leaves more for the next "investment house fund" at any rate :S
As someone who has visited China since 1985, attacks like the recent ones in China are certainly tragic and worrisome. But when we put them in perspective and compare the rate of violent attacks in China with that of the USA, we might conclude that China is afterall a relatively peaceful country.
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Socialising, as I tend to spend more on food (eating out or takeaway) when it's part of seeing friends.
I do try to encourage them to come over to my house and I'll cook for them. But as I'm the only one willing to do this, it means I'm always the one hosting, cooking a big meal and bearing the full cost. So while I LOVE doing that maybe every other time I see certain groups of friends, I won't do it every single time. Hence spending too much money :-P
I assume this will get easier as my friends settle down and become more domestic (I hope).
I used to be really good about ordering soup or salad with water, when eating out. Or whatever was cheapest. I've lost that kind of willpower, but for a while it was a great way to go out but keep costs down :)
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Used to splurge on local coffee, don't currently. It's better but I can cope with cheaper brands for now.
Used to drink a lot of craft beer and expensive wine. Alcohol started making me sick, so I just enjoy the occasional brew. Sticking to DW is quite happy with the nicer box wines. Some months we don't buy it at all.
Cycling gear would be mine. I try to space it out, ask for advice here (recommendations from local shops have mostly been total busts), and it only comes out of my "mad money" account.
I wouldn't consider travel a weakness, not the way we do it. (Camping, staying with friends/family, or getting a kitchenette room.) Rather, I wish our budget was stronger to allow more of it. Outside of debt and investment savings, it is the #2 savings goal in our budget. We homeschool and I want my kids to see all of the cool national parks and museums out there!
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1) cars... I just love 'em. I bike to work (work pays $2.20/day for bike commuters!) and don't need more than one basic family car. I have 3. It's stupid. It make life worthwhile.
2) cars...
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Food. I have cut back on the cost but its difficult to stick to a budget for no apparent reason (we can afford our hobby). I like a lot of variety.
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As someone who has visited China since 1985, attacks like the recent ones in China are certainly tragic and worrisome. But when we put them in perspective and compare the rate of violent attacks in China with that of the USA, we might conclude that China is afterall a relatively peaceful country.
Agreed 100% (traveled to Xinjiang alone for a project last year, loved it). It was just a reminder that I don't generally do holidays without a specific goal, and since I'll be traveling all of July for projects, there's no romantic holiday for us in May this year.
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My number one weakness is renting. Ironically, it is part of my plan, because it will be cheaper than paying a mortgage on the long term. However, if I wanted to, I could find a cheaper place to rent, I just don't want to risk it and get horrible neighbors.
Number 2 would be time management. I am working on it, but I used to go to the store to buy one thing and not even combine trips. I did go to stores for one thing today, but I did 3 stores on one trip and it were all items I can't get in the local grocery.
This makes it harder to do things like cooking at home, watching prices, do whatever needs to be done, so it does cost money in the end.
Third would be living together with my ex and breaking up after 3 months, generally I look at it as long term savings, but it was a costly mistake.
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My horse. Board, farrier, medicines, shots, Coggins .....the list goes on.
Just the cost of doing business when you're a horse owner.
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Furnishing my house and finishing out the new-buyer upgrades (ceiling fans, shelves, painting, etc).
It's unbelievably expensive to move when you want everything to be "just right for the new house". Thank goodness I'm not one of those people who also needs all new dishes and cookware. But I'm pretty bad right now and I just ordered two ceiling fans after putting it off for 1.5 years.
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It's not a thing, it's a condition: inconsistency.
I will go along being very mustachian for a while, and then become upset or depressed or frustrated about something and decide I just really don't care...and my wallet is not safe (nor is my waistline, as it often involves gluttony).
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Crafts
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Beer. Terrible, I know.
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My biggest weakness: The combination pizza hut and taco bell:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIt2CdbBo_w
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Food!!!
My husband and I are very fussy eaters and spend way too much money on food. Some months we probably spend close to $600 or $800 (Canada) for the two of us (includes eating out). I'm sure we've had some months where we've spent over $100 on starbucks :( We use to spend almost $400 a month on top of that to feed our dogs too but I've since sourced meat for them from a local farm and now it costs me almost nothing to feed them. It's embarrassing to admit but we are working on it! We don't overspend on anything else.
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I love eating out. Partly it's due to a job with a hectic schedule, partly due to liking restaurant food - preferably high end, partly due to mediocre cooking skills, and mostly due to sheer laziness. The end result have been anti-mustachian expenditures and a wider waist line. In a few months I will not have such a hectic schedule and will have more time to devote to cooking. I'll also have less money at my immediate disposal, so that should help. I'm hoping the weight loss will be encouraging as well.
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Lots of food related posts here! I can totally agree as well, as I'm prety sure the easiest hole to plug in my mustachian dam would be food expenditure. as a 10 year food service vet (the finally let me out on good behavior) I can tell you a few secrets about eating habits I've learned, and how to leverage them (which i try my best to do as well)
1. Eat the same meals over and over again: if there's something you like for lunch, just make a bunch of it and freeze it. Ido this with Chili all the time. For my wife its corned beef and cabbage. whatever it may be, you'll be surprised how many days in a row you can go eating this food before you're "sick of it" for me I usually eat chili all week at work, change it up when I'm at home to cook from scratch again, and then go back to Chili happily again.
2. Cook on your days off, and portion off your food for the meals you'll be eating "outside of home"
If you're already FIRE'd, then it just depends on whether or not you're planning on being home. if not, its more for you to make a lunch for yourself for all of the work days of the week. will you also be out with the kids for soccer practice? nip the McDonald's run in the bud with some finger sandwiches with hummus and avocado. there are plenty of easy to carry and easy to make snacks you can find online for stuff like this.
3. Don't be afraid to SPEND LIKE CRAZY on whole foods at the supermarket. (THIS DOES NOT MEAN BUY READY MADE MEALS!!!!)
I'm oddly frugal at the supermarket, but then I'll turn around and get an $8 lunch out because there's "nothing to eat" in the house. If you want to make something specific to eat to supplement lunch, buy good quality stuff, make it a good quality meal, and I'll guarantee it'll still cost less than getting the worst version of that at a takeout place. As you get better at understanding what foods you cook yourself you like, and where you can skimp, you can obviously lower your costs as you go.
4. Don't be afraid to try new recipes.
Cooking is actually really simple, its not rocket surgery, and many recipe sites give great tips. If you see a term you don't understand like "braise" or "reduce" just look up a youtube video. Much Like the badassity it takes to insulate your own house or install your own roof, cooking can be taken on with the same level of badass. so try it even if you've never done it before, and you'll be surprised.
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Beer. I always buy the cheapest beer, but its the quantity that I buy.... Also I drive a car that doesn't do too well on gas.
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I hire someone to mow my lawn and plow my driveway. I am a single mom with 2 girls and a full time job. I mowed/shoveled myself for years, but I was so angry and stressed out with trying to do everything by myself. I hate spending the money, but the sanity savings has been tremendous. I plan to move when the youngest graduates HS (6 years), and driveway and lawn size/maintenance will be a huge consideration.
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Things that smell good. I am an absolute slave to Lush's Rose Jam. Fortunately, they way over-scent so I add a small amount of their way over-priced soap to my bought-by-the half gallon-at-a-salvage store soap and it still smells wonderful.
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Food. Almost never eat out and do cook from scratch but still. Semi-local, semi-organic and grain-free is expensive. Also, 3 kids that eat like they've never seen food before.
Craft beer. Bad. So bad. Although I am a whore for beer specials. $2.50 pint night is our friend.
Coffee. Although almost entirely at home.
We've long had the philosophy that life is too short for cheap coffee or beer.
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Books, and to some extent, DVDs. I always try to find what I want at the library, but often they cannot even be ordered through inter-library loan, so I "buy with 1-click" on my Amazon Prime…and there it is on my Kindle or in hardcopy two days later. I've been reading a lot of non-fiction about Robert Rogers and the French and Indian War, and a lot of Star Trek fiction. I have been watching all the DVDs I could find that were set during the French and Indian War, and they're not all available on free Amazon Prime video. (All the Star Trek series and movies do seem to be on there--I finished watching all of Enterprise, and now am slogging through Voyager.) In terms of DVDs, something like "Marguerite Volant" is just not available in any way other than spending the money and buying it. (Never mind trying to understand it--no English subtitles--sigh. But great stuff. "Je me souviens!")
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Would have to be ferry travel. 3k annually. Ouch.
This is primarily because I take my truck when we go to our Gulf Island property, which is $150 round trip. Once FIRE'd (3 weeks to go!) I hope to cut this in half by walking on the ferry more often in the future. Walking on the ferry will costs a mere $15 per person.
Might also treat myself to a seaplane trip once and a while....
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4. Don't be afraid to try new recipes.
Cooking is actually really simple, its not rocket surgery.....
Hah! Mixed metaphor police, please pull over and come out with your hands up... This just struck me as funny!
I'll add -
5. Do quick partitioning or prepping when you get home from the store. Separate meat into serving/recipe size chunks if you bought lots. You can even season/ dry rub/ marinade and toss into the freezer. Also do quick prep with veggies. This quick prep helps save time later, and reduce spoilage.
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1. Food - mostly bother by waste (as in I don't always take my own advice and I have to dispose of squishy brown things that used to be produce).
Improvement: reduced eating out, especially breakfast/lunch at work, been packing my food for work for about a month. I've always shopped for items on sale, unprocessed ingredients, store perimeter. But there are some convenience items we buy, like deli lunch meat, artisan/good bread, coffee, baking supplies
2. Pets - expensive dog food (after melamine scare several years ago), dog toys, dog treats, damage to house
Improvement: likely none, I consider the fur kids family, and part of my 'medical' expenses for reduced stressed unconditional love. And they are funny little bastards, so entertainment too.
3. Not yet automating more personal saving/investing
Improvement: opened personal Vanguard accounts and did some manual investments. Trying to learn more about my work benefits and options (e.g. HSA, 401k allocations, 401k is maxed the f*out and has been for many years, but I used to just select a 'mix' product, now I have selected specific indexes to make my own 'mix'). My saving/ investing is automatic at work, but it should set up an automated investment for personal account(s) too. I am currently tracking all my spending to get a better sense of cash flow, and I can leverage that info for auto-investing ( $/month)
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Food and fitness.
Food - we do pretty well with avoiding eating out, buying coffee, etc. And I do the shopping and the cooking. But I try to buy good quality food and I'm willing to pay more for local food in some cases.
Fitness - I'm trying unsuccessfully to lose the last 20 lbs of baby weight. We belong to 2 gyms (totaling $1400/year for the family), plus I have some fitness videos. And I also occasionally like to do things like join a triathlon training group for $275, plus the $120 triathlon fee. Actually the last 20 lbs of baby weight is saving me some money because my wetsuit doesn't fit, so I haven't done the tri thing in a few years.
At least I can't run anymore so I'm not paying for races.
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Food.
But I think for weakness is the wrong word. For me spending money on good food brings me more happiness than the equivalent financial freedom I could buy with the savings. (If that makes sense.)
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Eating out is the main one. Travel is a distant second.
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Underarmour gym clothes, and beverages
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Clothing/online shopping - I have some baby weight I'm trying to lose and need to buy a few things that fit, but end up getting carried away and ordering things that I don't need and then paying shipping costs to return them. :(
Plan is to start Project 333 - identify the few items that I actually need (jeans, a couple of t-shirts), and then not shop anymore for the next 3 months.
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Clothing/online shopping - I have some baby weight I'm trying to lose and need to buy a few things that fit, but end up getting carried away and ordering things that I don't need and then paying shipping costs to return them. :(
Plan is to start Project 333 - identify the few items that I actually need (jeans, a couple of t-shirts), and then not shop anymore for the next 3 months.
I have started only ordering things from places where I can do a local return: Lands End (return to Sears), Gap, J.Jill, Old Navy. That way at least I know I won't have to pay return shipping, and usually I can get free shipping on the order. Lands End is especially good about offering free shipping often.
My weakness is clothes for my daughter, and I can only see it getting worse through the teen years.
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- Travel (although we travel less since the arrival if our first child)
- Our first child (we seem to spend a lot more on him compared to when he wasn't there yet)
- I could drive a cheaper car, but I drive around 40k kilometres a year and like a bit of comfort
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Mexican food.
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Mine would have to be wine, chocolate, and travel. We also spend WAY too much on eating out and cable, but those vices are primarily my husbands (although I would still want to eat out once every week or two, and I'll admit to enjoying the cable since we have it).
I spend more than I need to on food, but I consider that to be a priority rather than weakness since the cost drivers are things like buying wild caught seafood over farm raised tilapia, not buying convenience foods. Cooking is actually one of my strengths, buying produce on sale then prepping and freezing it, cooking from scratch, etc.
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My kids.
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Cars: I just love them. I love working on them, looking at them, cleaning them and of course driving them. Its more then a status thing its a hobby. Trying to come to terms with cars = depreciating assets is hard but I'm getting their slowly (i now have 2 older cars that I still enjoy lots).
Fitness equipment: Related to Triathlons, skiing, weight lifting, camping, kayaking etc etc. I now try to by off Craigslist when I can. I still wrestle with this category as most of the stuff makes me healthier so thats worth something.
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All the stuff I don't need to spend money on but still do:
concert tickets
travel
museums
coffee shop fancy coffee
restaurants
board games
art
home decor
clothing/makeup
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Golf: Although I send about $2000 or less per year so for golf that is not bad
Wine: We do not buy a lot but have not gotten into the make your own to reduce the costs. Like to try different wines
Travel: We do not do a bit trip every year but two years ago we spent about $9000 for 2 to spend 18 days in Italy. Was that too much? We need to do better on the airfare and accommodations.
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It's not a thing, it's a condition: inconsistency.
I will go along being very mustachian for a while, and then become upset or depressed or frustrated about something and decide I just really don't care...and my wallet is not safe (nor is my waistline, as it often involves gluttony).
This. And eating out or ordering in when I'm tired. Working on crock pot and freezer strategies...
Doggies, but they are my strength as well, make me super happy.
Travel, but I don't care, I love me a one time per year New York City long weekend or a trip to Maine to meet up with family.
my people! i definitely have on stages and off stages. right now i'm doing pretty well -- but it's been a stressful couple of days and i can already feel myself wanting to buy eyeshadow and eat cake. BUT I'M NOT DOING IT.
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Eating out, and not at nice places either. I have three young kids, and on some days when I finally get the kitchen clean in the afternoon, I cannot fathom getting it dirty again for dinner. So off we go to whatever fast food place is nearby. It's not even the experience of being out that matters (since eating with three kids is oftentimes stressful) but just the sheer fact that we don't have to clean up the kitchen at the end of the day when we're both exhausted.
Also, my husband and I tend to fall prey to availing ourselves of free parental babysitting and often end up eating out. There's something so luxurious about sitting there and actually being able to have a conversation without little voices interrupting you. I figure you can't put a price tag on your sanity, right?
The other weakness we have is television. We dropped cable years ago, but we subscribe to Hulu/Netflix/Amazon Prime and also have a TIVO. All total it adds up to around $30 month (not including Prime, since we would get that for the free shipping anyway). We could drop at least one probably, but we watch something on all of them, so we consider it a splurge.
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Travel to visit the in-laws. I could take it or leave it, but it's very hard to deny grandparents the chance to see their grandchildren once a year. (Currently they can't come to us due to caretaking duties.)
We offset the cost by staying a ridiculously long time soaking up the free meals and babysitting. But it still stings me to see the flight costs rotating into our budget every spring.
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1) Eating out. I try to control this by only eating out with friends, then it's a social occasion and I feel better about it than having a moment of weakness and getting fast food.
2) Travel. travel travel travel. I have no solution for this, because it's almost the only thing that I seem to be completely unable to say "no" to. Perhaps it's a good thing that I have a finite amount of vacation days?
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Pop (soda). I feel dumb going out to get sugar + water + caffeine for 1.80 a piece at work when we have free water, tea, and keurig coffee though I'm not a coffee drinker. I've tried quitting with varying degrees of success for about a year and now drink 1-2 a week with high variance in how many i take in. I've considered buying larger packs on sale in order to make them cheaper, around 35 cents a piece, but I don't trust my willpower and feel like I'd end up drinking one every day if I had them on hand =). I've found caffeine messes with my head and disrupts my sleep.
Caffeine is my big weakness though - it reminds me of the attitude my friend and I have about chips, which is that the serving size for a bag of chips is 1 per bag regardless of the size of the bag. Along those lines, any pizza can be a personal pizza if you try hard enough :)
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D batteries, porcelain dolls, human milk, armor piercing bullets, throw pillows.
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D batteries, porcelain dolls, human milk, armor piercing bullets, throw pillows.
LOL
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Board games.
Granted, I play a lot, but sometimes there is this great looking game worth 50+$ played only once....that is sitting there and can't bring myself to sell it again. I love my huge library full of half played board game, but I feel guilty sometimes. I'm a board game hoarder....in the last 6 months I've spent 300$+. Sigh.
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Basically these items.
1. Tennis gear and accessories (just bought 2x prostaff95 for $170, and thinking of getting the RF97 when it's released, lol). I'm kinda a racquet collector, lol. Think I'm at like 14 or something sick now. At least my kids can use them, haha. Also winter tennis a ripoff in Toronto. I'll cut that down to 1once every 2 weeks this year... it's like $20-25/hr.
2. Video Games. Soft spot for HumbleBundle, PSN sales, steam sales... not a huge expense but really I hardly have time nowadays to play at all. Maybe 2-3hrs per week. When AAA titles are $5 or less i generally don't think twice about picking it up.
Stuff I've cut out and haven't really missed.
1. Blu-Ray collecting, sadly still got a HUGE collection
2. Movie outing, haven't gone in like 3yrs
3. Car upgrades/tweaking... don't care anymore.
4. Home Theatre stuff.
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Shoes
Gifts
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Beer-switched from micro to cheap on only drinking on the weekends.
Guns/ammo/accessories-Reloading all my own ammo these days and just pacing myself on new purchases.
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Board games.
Granted, I play a lot, but sometimes there is this great looking game worth 50+$ played only once....that is sitting there and can't bring myself to sell it again. I love my huge library full of half played board game, but I feel guilty sometimes. I'm a board game hoarder....in the last 6 months I've spent 300$+. Sigh.
A lot of my friends have big board game collections, and they're SO much fun to play. If I was less Mustachian, you can bet I'd be throwing my money away on that. Betrayal at the House on the Hill, Small World, Pandemic, all great fun. People who have only played games from their childhoods are missing out!
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I am with you on the chocolate. I have switched to cheaper bars for daily eating however, and only buy the best for special occasions. That helps keep it special too.
Games are another weakness of mine. All those Steam deals. I've now stopped buying anything that isn't 75% off and lowered my monthly budget from 50 euro to 25 which I usually stay below now too. I have quite the backlog which I am challenging myself to cut down on as well. I've added accountability by telling friends about this who keep an eye on my purchases and cheer on me when I do finish a game.
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For me it's anything bike or shooting related.
I try and make shooting pay it's way a little by being an educated collector but burning ammo adds up.
I got used to having the very best bikes working in the industry and it's hard to get out of that habit now that I'm not
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For quite a while, it was eating out was my only big issue. However in the last month, I have completely destroyed it. I have been playing a lot of footbag and wanted to get in better shape for it has restricted my diet by quite a lot. I do all of our grocery shopping all by bike and I always buy the cheapest option. However the food never taste any less amazing.
Car/gas, once again killed it by biking and commuting with co-workers.
Now, my only problem is rent/utilities. However I have already chopped off a clean 400 off of it. Actually, maybe more. My internet was cut in half as well.
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I have switched to cheaper bars for daily eating however, and only buy the best for special occasions. That helps keep it special too.
I actually did the opposite. I switched to better quality dark chocolate (min 70% cacao). I'm satisfied with much less...and every day is special. It's my afternoon slump buster!
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I just found MMM recently and thought I was doing pretty good (I get called cheap a lot), but I realize I still have a long way to go. My two big things are. --
1. House, over 2800 square feet for two people and a dog. We moved to a new community recently and automatically moved up thinking I wanted a big yard with privacy out of town, and needed a big house for all the crap I accumulated and surely would continue to keep. Now I am getting rid of stuff and realize this is way too much house.
2. Commuting/cars. We bought a brand new Subaru Outback for my wife to ensure we could get in and out of our steep drive in the winter. While raising four kids we always erred on the side of living in a suburb with good schools while the nature of my job means I travel to downtown. So I thought in my recent relocation that cutting this to 15 miles and only 20 minutes was smart. This site has helped me realize just how expensive the commute really is. Even biking out of my neighborhood would be difficult because of the mountains and the need to cross a highway just to get to the nearest store.
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Like many have listed, my biggest weakness is dining out. Since 2012 I went on a meditation retreat, and since leaving I've made major strides in reducing my attachment to material, which happens to be a core philosophy here on MMM. I easily spend anywhere from $500 to $800 just on dining out. It's accumulated from taking my family out, occasional work lunch, dining with friends, and mostly dining with my significant other. I also happen to like eating out, it's a joy to check out different restaurants and see what the chef has cooked up.