Sunday, January 17, 2010

To do: financial fitness

Like many, I vowed to become more financially fit this year ... again ... but this time I mean it, I have to! Intro: mint.com. A friend introduced me to this site and it is terrific - you can manage your money all from one place; you put your bank info, credit card info, retirement funds, etc. in and it gives a graphical monthly budget and tracks spend. Don't worry mom, it's also secure.

Going over our finances this weekend we've had a "holy carp!!!" moment. Twins are expensive. San Francisco is expensive. We're going through everything to try to tighten our budget - here are some of the highlights:

Swapping:
  • Whole Foods > Trader Joes
  • Eating out > cooking or inexpensive takeout
  • Wine bar with friends > come over!
  • Bi-monthly races > more club runs + the occasional "needed" race
  • New clothes > digging up old duds

2 comments:

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

You're up early! I agree, twins are expensive. We have significantly cut back on food/diaper spending by doing the majority of our shopping at Sam's. It helps if you have a deep freezer though. :-) I'll buy bulk garlic for example, chop it all at once (this takes a little prep) and then freeze it in little 1/2 cup baggies. This actually saves in the long run because when cooking I just break off a chunk and don't have to peel/chop. We also buy chicken and fish to prep similarly and other veggies. It really pays off.

Amber said...

Yes, it was much too early a morning! I got up at 4 to shush the boys and then got caught up creating a(nother) budget. Thanks for the ideas! I love the garlic idea - I'm going to do that this week.