Going for Not Broke

A few notes on what's worked and what hasn't. Groceries . Aldi has its drawbacks. I can't get everything I need there, it can be really crowded at times, and a few of its foods (eg., canned ravioli) just aren't as tasty as other brands, but without fail, I spend less when I shop there. For someone like me who has trouble mastering the art of extreme couponing, Aldi does a good job of trimming the grocery expenses. I'd still like to trim it more, but I think that will require some more creative meal planning.  Status: Some Money Saved. Meal Planning . I began establishing a menu and then shopping to the menu a few years before my daughter was born, so this is nothing new. However, lately I've been trying to change up what I fix so that I make more foods that can be done in bulk. This way, I'll have leftovers for another day and leftovers for frozen dinners for when my husband and I are at work. I'm still experimenting with this, but so far, I think it...

An update on what's working and what's not: Phone.  After telling my husband I want to get rid of the landline for more than a year but being too chicken to tell AT&T, I finally made the call in June. We received a prorated bill that was about half of what we normally pay, but starting next month, we should be saving $70.   Status: Money Saved .   Electricity.  Because we no longer have a landline phone, we no longer need our cordless phone charging base and answering machine. Unplugged. Bedroom TV that didn't work well? Unplugged. Second alarm clock in bedroom? Unplugged. I am under no delusions that those items together will net hundreds in savings over the year, but I hope to see a noticeable difference. On a month to month basis, I don't see much. Perhaps an even bigger draw on our electricity is the home computer. My plan was to turn off its power strip when it's not in use. I remember about once a week. My husband, though, remembers quite often. I nee...

I thought I'd do something a little different for the next few posts and give an update on what's worked and what hasn't (either for external reasons or just because I didn't stick with it) in the things I've been trying to get rid of my debt. I started to put it all in one post, but it was too long. I didn't even want to read that much. Therefore, I've broken it down into chunks. So, here is the first entry: Cable.   In May, I bought a Roku, which streams programming to our TV via the Internet. There is plenty of free stuff to watch, including news programming, hundreds of movies, fitness programs, etc., but it isn't the same as having cable. Therefore, I also got subscriptions to Netflix and HuluPlus, both $7.99 a month, so that we can watch current shows we like that air on ABC, NBC, Fox and Comedy Central. The subscriptions still don't get us access to shows on CBS, TNT, AMC or other extended cable channels via the Roku without paying extra....