Categories: budget, life, saving, spending
Summary
Jacq at Single Mom Rich Mom had the audacity to challenge me to a spending challenge:
Who can cut spending by the greatest percentage in “variable” spending categories?
Next Laura at Move to Portugal joined in as well as Christine from Money Funk. Finally, Jacob from Early Retirement Extreme decided to “keep the fight clean.” So, the month has passed and now it’s time to determine the WINNER!
We each had our own strategies, all very “hush hush” to nail the competition. Jacq was determined to win the grocery category by only bringing a $20 to the store. I was less systematic, although equally determined. My house was in chaos with the return from college of our daughter and I thought for sure I would be doomed. But not one to give up on a challenge, I decided to persevere and give the competition my best effort!
The variable expense categories for the challenge include:
- Auto
- Clothing
- Dining out
- Recreation/Entertainment
- Groceries/personal care/household items
The Methodology
I took the total spending in each of those categories for the past 12 months. Next, I divided by 12 for an average monthly spending. That was my baseline. Next, for the grand summation; I compared overall spending as well as individual category spending with the monthly average and calculated the difference.
AVERAGE MONTHLY VARIABLE SPENDING
7/1/2009- 6/30/2010 compared with June, 2010
| VARIABLE SPENDING CATEGORY | Monthly average7/1/2009 –
6/30/2010 |
June, 2010 | Dollar Savings | Percentage Change |
| AUTO | $302 | $72 | $230 | -76.16% |
| CLOTHING | $172 | $66 | $106 | -61.63% |
| DINING OUT | $190 | $195 | -$5 | +2.63% |
| RECREATION/ENTERTAINMENT | $186 | $56 | $130 | -70.00% |
| GROCERIES/PERSONAL/HOUSEHOLD | $515 | $477 | $38 | -07.38% |
| TOTAL | $1,365 | $866 | $499 | -36.56% |
Analysis
Auto-Down 76%, hooray! Got a $50 reward card from credit card company, walked more, and bunched errands.
Clothing-No one in the family bought any!! The $66 was for my hair, which I categorize in the clothing column. So now you know, I kind of splurge on my hair! You may wonder why I put it in the clothes column- but, it doesn’t really matter. What matters, is that I’m consistent, and every 8 weeks the hair salon cost goes in the SAME category.
As a side note, although I spend quite a bit at the hair salon, my husband, on the other hand, does not! In fact, he prefers that I cut his hair! Thus, we are saving 20 bucks a month on his hair care!
Dining out-Oops, up a bit over 2 ½%; included daughter home from college & FATHERS Day buffet! But it was really worth it. The buffet was delicious, and I love to eat out!
Recreation & Entertainment-AMAAAAZING! In spite of my husband’s hobby, we are down 70%. As you may remember, we get the maximum enjoyment from our TV & cable.
And, incredible scenery, beautiful walking paths, and summer time gave us the opportunity to enjoy the FREE outdoors!
I TOOK A PAGE OUT OF Jacob’s Early Retirement Extreme strategy and put a 7 piece drum set and electric piano on Craig’s list to really slam the recreation/entertainment category….. Unfortunately, the only responses I got were from spammers. NO SALE!
Grocery etc.-Only fell 7.38 %, about 38 bucks. I confess, I am a fanatic about fresh fruits and vegetables and really healthy eating. Produce this year is very expensive. I think that’s what killed us here! But, all in all even with the food inflation over the year, we did spend $38 less than average. Hey, that’s more than enough for a nice dinner out!
Overall, we spent $866 in variable categories versus an average of $1,365 for an overall savings of $499, a decline of 37%. I AM THRILLED!!
Summary and Conclusion
The competition pushed me to find low cost ways of living. I visited lower cost grocery stores, looked for inexpensive entertainment, still splurged on my hair-but didn’t buy any clothes in June and overall had a good month.
Did I feel deprived? Maybe a little…. but I made sure not to cut back too much, because then I would just go out and binge shop when the challenge was over, and that would totally defeat the purpose.
Was it fun? YES, it was great fun. I loved the camaraderie of the competition and the savings. Now our June spending was a bit slimmer than usual, which gives us a bit of a cushion. After all, with the recent drop in the stock market, our net worth took a bit of a hit in June. But after cutting spending back last month, the market decline is a bit less painful.
Try competing for your own goals with a partner or two and see if you find it as motivating as we did!
Image credit: Andriz
Write in about your tricks to live large on a slim budget.
So, are you going to continue the trend/new baseline for the next month?
Jacob, Is that a challenge
? Now you are giving me something to think about. Can I get back to you with a response? Thanks for being involved, Barb
Oh sure, blame your loving devoted hubby for not performing even better than you did in the recreation department. It was just a bag of Boston baked beans and a few baseball cards!
I know… It’s *always* the hubby’s fault. (Well, at least it is at my – I mean, the Honeybee’s – house.) LOL
Congratulations, Barb, on a nice ending to a fun challenge.
Best,
Len
Len Penzo dot Com
I was going to ask you the same thing – are you going to continue? I like that you have decided that you still have to live a little. I am all for saving, but I think that depriving yourself too much will eventually backfire, much like starving yourself with a radical diet.
Great job!
Good job Barb! Thanks for doing this with us – personally I don’t find stuff like this depriving as it forces me to be more creative to find ways to fill the same needs without spending a lot. Thanks to the blip in the market, like you, I too am glad I reduced expenses to alleviate a bit of pain from that hit.
Hello Barb!
Great findings–thank you for posting all of your info. Have you ever tried the Drugstore game? I get around $750 worth of free toiletries (and the only ones I buy are free ones:)) from places like CVS and Walgreens by playing this game. In fact, I spend maybe $100 per year on our toiletries, which includes toilet paper, paper towels, feminine, cleaners, OTC medications…really anything that can be found in a drugstore. You might want to check it out!
@Len-of course it is always the hubby’s fault, after all, why be married if you can’t blame your spouse!
@Everyday Tips-I totally agree. Overall, we don’t have really expensive tastes, except for Broadway Shows & travel, and our spending is really in line with our values-so sticking with our usual budget usually works out just fine for us.
@ Jacq-Loved the challenge-how about next June 2011 for another round?
@Amanda, I will check it out! Toiletries are really expensive and certainly not much fun to buy. Who gets pleasure out of a roll of paper towels or tp?
Thank you all for your visit and comments, Barb
[...] For those looking for the results of a personal finance catfight, go to Barbara Friedberg’s site. [...]