save money tip #4: closet shopping

Looking to save money?    Is your pain point shopping?


Get the same sort of kick by closet shopping - go home and spend an entire afternoon going through your closet and making new outfits. You will absolutely discover some piece of clothing you had forgotten. Mix it up - layer weird things, add scarves, jewelry, socks - just try stuff out.

Remember to take pictures of the outfits that work so you can remember them when you are getting ready in the morning!


While you are here, get rid of all clothes that do not fit, look bad, or you hate. No matter who gave them to you, or what concert you wore them to - donate them now. You will feel much better.

I promise you won't look like a clown! 

sorry for being mia

So sorry for being missing in action! I have great stuff to write about and post, so we should see some action here soon.

- dasLael

save money tip #2: cook your dinner

Save money and learn a new skill: cook your own dinner.

Plus sides:

• saves money 
• you know what you are eating
• healthier 
• make extra for lunches 
• fun! 

But don't just listen to me, listen to Michael Pollan too! He has a lot to say about why eating less processed food is important, why cooking with your family is important and why its better for you and the planet. 

And: saves money.

So get thee to a website or the library, check out some recipes and get cooking!  

save money tip #3 & joy and fun tip #3: friends

Friends are fantastic. They are so fun and wonderful - they make you laugh, they listen when you cry, they like to go do the same things you like - in a word: fantastic.

And what is funner than friends? Nothing.

They are cheap or free - so make plans to see your friends. I know we all live busy important lives but I would encourage you to take the time to see your friends. Go for a walk, meet at the playground or park, take a hike, picnic on the beach.

We live in a transitory place - people move to and from here all the time. Get in the habit of making new friends your whole life long. It's a great skill and a hard one as the years march on. People who make friends are happier and live longer. 

So go see your friends today, - nourish those connections. Say hi to a mom at the playground and make a new friend too.

joy and fun : free stuff to do # 1 - libraries rule!

I've been focusing on how to save money a lot since I started the blog - but I want you to have a great life too. And I want you to know they aren't mutually exclusive. The only joy in your life isn't from spending - honest. There are amazing things to do that are free - everywhere, no matter where you live. So with that in mind, I'll be posting free things to do! Free!

First off: go get a library card. There you are: free books, free CDs, free movies.

Also: free activities! 

Writing workshops, rhyme time for toddlers, musicians, events, you name it.

There is also a reading challenge every summer for kids - with prizes! A cool book bag, stickers, journals, fun stuff! (also: free)

Have fun!

save money tip #1: pack your lunch

A few have mentioned that a total overhaul of how you spend money and think about money can be hard for folks - that's a lot of change all at once So I thought I'd start some simple tips posts with things you can start today to save money.

This week: Pack Your Lunch

Seriously.

In San Francisco packing your lunch can save you $2,600 - $3,900 a year easy. That's literally spending $10 - $15 a day on packed lunch, 5 days a week.

I know, packing your lunch: hard. But it's not. If (a big if, I know) you are cooking your own dinners you can just make a little more and pack that for lunch. If you eat out - this restaurant portions are giant so save half for lunch tomorrow!

DOn't have a microwave at work? Pack a simple sandwich. Cheese sandwich, PB&J, even expensive lunch meant will be a net savings on being lunch each day:

Shopping lists:
Loaf of bread, mayo and block of cheese
Loaf of bread, peanut butter, jelly or jam
Loaf of bread, mayo, lunch mean, lettuce

And: fruit. bananas, apples or oranges make great lunch time additions.

Happy lunch making!

thinking about money & shopping differently

One of the ways you can help yourself spend less is to think about money and shopping differently. Well that's basically it, isn't it?!

But I have a several tricks that help with cutting my own spending when I feel I'm exceeding my personal spending goals.




Think about the amount of money you had to earn to buy what ever a caught your eye. 

Okay, what does that mean? Well, let's assume you want to buy something that costs $80 dollars (yes, I'm picking numbers that make the math easier). Maybe you don't need the item, but it is so shiny!

Well - how much money did you have to earn to have $80 to spend?  Let's assume some tax rates. Married with children averaged under a 10% tax rate, and singletons with no kids average 25%, but  typically pay 15% - 20% aggregated tax rate. We'll just use 20% for the exercise.

So you had to earn $100 dollars to buy the item. Yup. It's not 80$, it's 100$ of your pretax earnings.

How do you use this in the field? Mark everything up at least 20% when you look at the price.

Cost: 0$



Don't buy when the urge strikes. 

See something awesome? Must have it? Give it a week. Still need it? Probably not. Do not impulse buy.

How does this look in the field? Don't carry credit cards so you aren't tempted to spend. Build a cart at the on-line site and wait a week before buying. (This is very helpful in a second way: I actually build a cart with our needed household items as my shopping list, so I don't forget stuff.)

Cost: 0$ 



Closet Shop

Need new clothes? Go though your whole closet. You will totally find stuff you forgot. Spend a day just putting together new outfits. Do this for any sort of shopping. Convinced you have nothing to cook at home? Spent your budget on food already? Force yourself to use whats in the cabinets. Have a hobby? Really want to buy more yarn/fabric/insert thing needed for your hobby here? Go look though what you already have.

Cost: 0$


Borrow things 

Borrow items instead of purchasing. So borrow books and videos from the public library. Need a tool? Borrow from a local tool library.  Can't find a local library? Borrow from a neighbor. Email a local neighbors group - you can search google or yahoo groups - to see if you can borrow the item.

Cost: 0$


Trade Things

Find someone who has the thing or service you want and trade for it. I know a ton of moms who do this. Examples: They work a few hours for a company and than get to take yoga classes. They form a babysitting co-op and all take turns watching each other's children. I'll do your taxes if you build this cabinet - barter, the way we used to make almost all our purchases!

Cost: 0$



Look for free or used things 

Look around for free stuff. For instance, I live near a very, very tony neighborhood. I find the most amazing, new, things on the street. Wooden doll houses. Tricycles. I also make it known that I am happy to take hand me downs - kids clothes, and toys, etc. You can also join a local Freecycle group where folks are offering items for free to keep them out of the landfill.

Cost 0$


Share ownership on items

Basically buy things you use infrequenlty with a freind or neighbor and share ownership.

Cost 1/2 what you would spend$


Happy Thinking About Shopping Differently!

-daslael

budgets

Why should you budget?

Basically you either figure out how to live within your means -  you spend less than you earn - or you go into debt.


That's it.


It doesn't matter how much money you make - if you spend more than you make you are at a deficit - borrowing money. I live in San Fransisco and I know folks who make alarming amounts of money and spend more each month than they make. And yet when I made $30,000 a year - an extremely low amount here in SF, mind you - I was able to save toward my retirement, save into my savings account, and pay off my student loans. So even though I knew people making 4 times more than I made - and even more - I was actually in a better financial position than they were due to my frugal ways. That's right - I was in a better financial position than people making three or four  times what I made.

So how do you do it?

Some people are really good at living within their means.  They may not have savings goals but they may have an aversion to debt - my husband was like this when I met him.  And this is great if this is  you too! He had a big savings and no debt - a perfect place to be. If you are this way you may still want to draft a budget and get some savings goals down on paper - to buy a house, retire, pay for your kids college, etc. Just to get you excited about saving. Another sort of 'lives within their own means' person grew up poor - like me - so they developed really cheap hobbies and they think eating beans for dinner multiple times a week is totally normal. Again - this is great! Unlike my husband I tend to spend to the limit of my income, but not over, unless I have some actual savings goals. A budget really helps me see my goals and how I can get there simply by the choices I make about how to spend my money.

If you are living within your means - but only just - you are at risk. If anything happened- to you, your car, your house, your job - you wouldn't have a cushion to fall back on. You would need to borrow money. You need to have a savings in case of emergency at the very least, and to save for big items like vacations, a home, a car, etc.The general rule of thumb is to have 3 - 6 months living expenses in your savings account, in case of one of these emergencies.

So lets create our budget and start saving today!


Creating a Budget

So you are ready to budget - that's great! Yay! Let's think of something we want ot save for. Emergencies. A home. A vacation. Something because a goal helps.

First up, it does help if you have some idea about what you spend your money on right now, so try to keep track for a month. Computer savvy & do most of your spending on a debit or credit card? Hook your bank accounts and credit cards up to Mint and you can see what you spent your money on last month. Otherwise download from your bank. And add in all the ATM withdraws under miscellaneous.

Shocked?! If you are like a lot of people you just discovered you spent a car payment on coffee shop coffee last month and a mortgage payment on your debt. Never fear - knowing whats going on money wise is half the battle. If you see some spending you are not happy with, change it. I know it seems hard, but it is doable. Bring your own coffee. Get a small regular coffee instead of a big fancy coffee drink. Bring your lunch. Buy groceries and start to cook at home. Small changes add up to big bucks! But I digress!

What do you need to create a budget? A spreadsheet is great, excel or google docs are wonderful. But honestly, a piece of paper works just fine.

So, starting:

List everything you spend money on in one column
List the amount, monthly, in another column

 
Here is a good list to start with:

• Rent or Mortgage
• Renters or Homeowners Insurance
• Debt: Car payment
• Car insurance
• Electricity and Gas
• Garbage
• Water
• Groceries
• Restaurants
• Debt: Credit Cards
• Debt: Student Loans 
• Gifts
• Entertainment (movies, bands, books, Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc)
• Coffee Shops 
• Miscellaneous

Total it up.

How much is it? More that you make? Less? Are you including everything?


( Expert budget maker? Add in a monthly amount for annualized costs like car registration,or other annual membership costs like AAA. )


Now, the budgeting part is figuring out how much you want to spend on each thing and then reducing your spending to get there. This is where handy tricks come into play!

Lets say you want to radically reduce spending - so go from $400 a month on lunches out at work to $0. You need to break the habit - spending, and get a new habit: making and bringing lunch.That's hard. But you can do.

First: plan ahead and buy lunch stuff. Keep it simple:

Lunch menu: PB&J, fruit, water

• Bread
• Bananas or other fruit
• Peanut Butter
• Jelly

   
Next make lunch the night before.
Bring it to work.
Repeat for the week.

Now, how to not go to lunch with your friends? How to actually DO IT? That's hard but not impossible.   

• Trick one: Have no other options. Leave your money and ATM/credit cards at home. Once you get used to the new habit you can start bringing your cash or ATM / credit cards again.

• Trick two: Remember your goal: print out a picture of what you are saving for: a house, a bicycle. a vacation. Put the picture where you can see if at your desk.

• Trick three: Enlist a buddy. Get a buddy at work to also bring lunch or have a savings contest with a friend. 

• Trick four: Replace the habit. Learn to make super gourmet lunches from scratch. Or use the lunch time to take an awesome walk and call a friend. Go knit somewhere. The key is to replace the spending habit with a new habit that you like. 

• Trick five: Spending or Savings Made Visible: keep real paper money - the amount you have decided you can spend on something - in an envelope. Only use that money for that expense. So put your grocery money in an envelope and use it to buy groceries. No ATM/credit cards allowed. Seeing the actual money as you spend it is a great motivator! Conversely see your savings by putting your average lunch costs (15$) into a jar each day you don't spend it.

What tricks do you all have for saving? For budgeting? I am always looking for new tricks!!

-daslael

spinning plates

I love the celebrating Moms and Their Choices Series that the Gooseling Moms are doing on their blog. I see so many of us Moms struggle with our choices – what is right for us, for our family, for the child. What we have to do financially, what we want to do. It’s hard. And by sharing my story here I want to say that: It’s hard! And whatever choice you make is okay. I stand with you.

So, what were my choices? I work full time out of the house and I have a daughter.  She’s 4 ½ and I went back to work from my maternity leave when she was 4 months old, I went back to work with she was 13 months old, and I went back to work when she was 3 1/2.  Why – we can get to that. But how were these experiences different?

At 4 months old I cried. I cried a lot. I cried handing my little tiny baby over to my newly laid off husband. I cried trying to pump in dark, ventilation -free lactation closets (I started commandeering my boss’s office). I cried from hormone swings. I cried when my boobs squirted milk all over my expensive dry clean only suits. I cried when my lovely pregnancy hair all fell out in clumps. And my husband cried. He’d call and ask me to come home early – crying. And the baby? She cried nonstop! Yup – we had a colicky one. Suffice it to say – the reentry was hard. I was laid of several months later. Yeah – both parents laid off within 6 months of the child’s birth. But at least I was with my baby! I cried a lot less, but I worried about money.

I got a job about 7 months later, when our daughter was 13 months old. I was so jealous that my husband was getting all the good times! Our child was no longer colicky and was so much fun! Sunny disposition! Walking, running, playing!! Work itself was easier without the pumping and the hormone swings. The contract ended after 4 months and I was once again home! I will say, returning to work with an over 1 year old was much, much easier from the ‘leaving my baby’ standpoint. But it was harder from an ‘I’m missing out’ standpoint.

My husband began working several part time jobs and started a business. This quickly morphed into a 38 hour a week job at a local East Bay science museum, a 20 hour a week job at a non-profit in Marin and working 80 - 100 or so hours a week with his business. So basically he was working all the time.  I did the stay at home mom thing – I cooked, I cleaned, I took care of our daughter. I loved it! Spending so much time with my lovely, cheerful, fun child!  And it was hard. I was lonely. My husband worked all the time and I rarely got a break. I also missed being an expert at something! At work I was an expert – I was so not an expert at the whole ‘mom-ing’ thing. I have a blog post on some ways to make friends and stay sane as a stay at home mom – and not spend too much money, if you are interested. I will say - my house was clean and I cooked lovely organic vegetable based meals. I crafted. I pinterested. I had (still have actually!) bags of all the materials for things to do on rainy days. Home made play doh – check. Paper mache – check. But I worried about money.

We live in San Francisco – it’s an expensive place, so I knew I would need to go back to work, and I was looking for work while home with my little bean. For SAHMs who are interested in returning to the work place, I found just saying I’d been home with my child right up front in the cover letter worked much better than trying to obfuscate the fact. I did also draw attention to my freelance accomplishments, schooling, and any volunteer work I’d also completed. Pro tip: do try to volunteer or work a little while home, or go to school. It will keep you sane while you are home, and if you do choose to return to a job it will make reentry into the work force much easier.

I started working full time, back at an employer I‘d worked with prior, and with a group I’d work with prior, when our daughter was 3 ½. This time it was much easier! My daughter was in preschool part time and had already been clamoring to stay full days with her friends instead of the part days. I trusted her caregivers. I’d been able to ease her slowing into school, starting with an hour a day – something I probably wouldn’t have been able to do if I’d gotten a job earlier. I am not expected to work crazy hours – I leave at 4:30 and pick my daughter up from school. I don’t get to take her to school any more, I’m at work too early – and I do miss taking her to school. Not so many tears at 3 ½ - from any of us.

I love working. My job is enjoyable, uses my skills and I like my coworkers – which is super lucky, I know. We have enough money to worry less – we can save for retirement and college and I’m vesting in my retirement plan again. I got to be home with my daughter through the early years – which I am so thankful for. I made some great new Mom friends when I was home with her, which was hard to do – making new friends while parenting! –I am so lucky to have them in my life. We survived a financially tough time as a very new family and it made us stronger.  I still worry about money – it is San Francisco!  But less, I worry less.

My house is not a clean as I would like. Not every meal is a lovingly-crafted-organic-made-from-scratch meal – and those that are my husband now cooks. I think I’d like to figure out how to work part time, I’d like my house to be cleaner, I’d like to take my daughter to school.  I know that for middle school I want to be home a lot, those are hard years, so I am trying to plan for that in 8 years. But I also want to buy a house. Retire while young. Go on vacations. Save for my daughter’s college education. So – it’s a balancing act – the mom thing. And right now I feel like the plates are spinning just right……

Wishing you all the best on your parenting journey!

- daslael

staying sane as a stay at home parent with not a lot of money

OK, so you are staying home with your kid(s). Good for you! It was a little crazy making for me,  and harder to get stuff done than I expected (hey, I was going to write a book!)  but it was a fantastic experience being with my daughter for the first 3 1/2 years of her life and one I wouldn't trade for anything.

Here are some of the things I did to try to stay sane, and keep myself in budget.

I still cooked like a parent with a out of the home job - meaning I cooked  in batches. By cooking up a storm a few times a week we would have lots of things that were ready to eat all week long - like beans, rice,  prepped veggies for stir fry's, a big pot of soup, a roast chicken, a veggie casserole - and I would have free time in the week for outings.

I also tried to cook in the mornings, or at nap time, but not the evenings when everyone is cranky and hungry.


On top of chores - cooking, cleaning - each day my goals were:

• Something social for the child
• Something social for me
• Exercise for the child
• Exercise for me

I found that going to the same place at the same time on the same day of the week meant I would develop friendships with other moms, dads, or nannies. (Social!) And trust me, other adults you can talk to are a very good thing as a stay at home parent!!

A. Very. Good. Thing.

My Weekly Rotation

• YMCA gym with child watch (low cost)
• Park and Rec center toddler play time (low cost, and prior to my child being 1, free)
• Library toddler rhyme time (free)
• California Academy of Science (worth every penny)

YMCA San Francisco gave us a discounted membership and the childwatch was very low cost. Bean loved being with other kids and teachers an hour or so a day - socializing for her. This also meant I could assess her readiness for preschool when the time came, and I knew she had the skills to be able to manage school on her own. We started with just 1/2 an hour and I could check on her whenever I wanted. By the time she was 3 I knew she was ready for preschool - it was really wonderful to be able to ease her into a situation slowly. And typically the same kids were there every day at the time we were there - socializing for her! I worked out - exercise for me! I also love the YMCA pool and child swim lessons.

San Francisco Park and Rec has Toddler play times at gyms throughout the city. Cost and times vary, check their website. Our local Rec center had two weekly, drop in was 6$, if you bought a booklet or registered for the class it was less. Under 1 years old free. We went weekly to the Rec center near our house during the rainy season. You can also take lots of wonderful low cost toddler art, cooking, and movement classes through the Park and Rec - we particularly liked the Art class at the Hamilton Center.

The library is free, and in a city like San Francisco there are Rhyme Times multiple times a week. I have made some fast friends at Library Rhyme times. You know who you are! Thank you!

We went weekly to the same Rhyme Time and I biked, getting some exercise in for me, and tons of socializing for my child. We would also check out lots of books and DVDs each week - more free and wonderful entertainment!

In our city, San Francisco, I found that a membership to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gare Park totally worth it and in the winter regularly went twice a week or more. I got the individual membership as my under 4 year old child was free. With that membership I could also take a guest - which is awesome! I could bring my husband as my guest! Or a friend! One of the hard parts of being frugal for me is that I love to treat people - to lunch, to a snack, whatever - so being able to bring a friend to the Academy meant I could feel like I was treating, even if I wasn't spending any money. And treating that friend meant they saved $29.95, the cost of an adult ticket. Individual membership is $99 a year. As you can see, going twice a week and taking friends - this quickly pays for itself. Note: there is a super cool toddler room in the Academy, special member only hours an hour early twice a week, and cool members only evening events that are family friendly and stood in for date nights for my husband and I. Those events and special members only hours: no additional cost. If you don't live in San Francisco look for a similar museum near you! 

Less Frequently Than Weekly

Other places I went less frequently, so not every single week, included exploring playgrounds in San Francisco as well as all of our cool wild ares!

• Beaches (free)
• Hike in one of our cool rugged parks(free)
• Playgrounds (free) 
• Park and Rec center art class (low cost)
• Ride the Cable Car (low cost)

A lot of my friends went to the Randal Junior Museum (free!) a lot. It was a bit more difficult for us to get to as we were typically on our bicycle but I did go probably once or twice a year and really loved it. You can pet bunnies, play with trains, and build with LEGOs - all free. A solid place to keep on your list of activities. There are Junior Museums all over California, find the closest one to you!

San Francisco Park and Rec has a great tool to locate playgrounds and parks in San Francisco. We have a ton - it's pretty awesome!I would head toward the sun on foggy days and just get off at the first playground where it was sunny!

I always had a morning plan because getting out of the house was key to having a great day! So a week of mornings looked like this:

• Monday:YMCA
• Tuesday: YMCA Child Swim Lessons
• Wednesday: YMCA
• Thursday: Library Rhyme Time
• Friday: YMCA followed by Rec Center
• Saturday: Academy of Science

Afternoons were open for plans to meet folks or just adventure. Or stay home and make things. Pinterest became my toddler craft time reference library. I will say: lots of fails but it was fun to try to make play dough and oven bake pottery beads. I'd also meet friends at the beach, have people over, try to go on a hike, or go to a different library.

I feel truly blessed to have been able to spend that time with my child and actually miss being home. If I won the lottery I'd work part time or not at all and just volunteer for the causes I care about.

Have a great time at home with your child(ren)!


- daslael

community supported agriculture

Our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Eatwell Farm, is pretty fantastic.

What is a CSA? You join a local farm and pay a membership fee and in return you get the bounty of the farm and you participate in the community of that farm. . From Eatwell we get a box of super fresh produce every week along with 2 dozen eggs. Some people get a box every other week, and you select how many eggs you want. How much food is it? A lot. It's two grocery bags full or organic produce each week. We do a great job of eating our box – or put something up for winter, like the wonderful basil – every week as well as easily eat our 2 dozen eggs. Getting farm fresh produce means our food is super fresh, and stuff keeps longer, so sometime we save the garlic, onions and acorn squash for a few weeks. It also really forces you to up your veggie eating, as in yikes - the box is here, lets get cooking and eating! We also try new veggies we wouldn't have normally have tried - my husband now makes a mean kale chip - and pretty much anyone who tries them ends up eating handfuls.Prior I would guess that hand;t been a vegetable he considered purchasing and eating.

The veggies and eggs are fantastic, a good deal, money wise, for organic produce and free range, bug and tomato eating, chicken eggs. Two bags of organic produce will run you 60 - 100 dollars at Whole foods or the local farmers market, and it's just 27$ a box. The eggs are a super food and a amazingly healthy source of yummy protein for our egg loving child. We pay $108 every four weeks (27$ a box) and eggs are 8$ a dozen. But by going with a CSA we eat super fresh, local, organic produce and are saving at least $160 a month, if not more, on groceries.

Apart from the giant box of super fresh organic produce being a super deal,  every year Nigel (our farmer) has multiple events at the farm where you can visit, tour the farm, camp over and can - free for members!  There are two strawberry days, two tomato days, a pumpkin day, a garlic braiding day, and a chili cook-off, to name a few. At these events you can really can a ton for winter – we have yet to be super organized about this, leaving with a dozen of so jars of organic tomato sauce, but some farm members manage to can 90 (!) jars of tomatoes for winter. The strawberries are all you can eat and then 1$ a pound - I have made some amazing jam and fruit roll ups from the Strawberry Days. And these are shockingly low prices for organics - you can spend $7 a jar for organic tomato sauce, and how much are organic strawberries a pound? So look around for a local to you CSA and check them out! And hey, if you sign up at Eatwell tell them daslael sent you - I get a jar of Nigel's homemade tomato sauce if you join!

One event that was fun last year was the chili cook-off! We met lots of other farm members, some from our town with a little girl just a bit older than our bean! Little bean bounced in tents with other kids, held baby chicks that will grow up to lay our eggs, swam in the pond with little fishes and a little snake, and slept like a rock. We stayed up late, ate chili, drank home brew, toasted marshmallows around the campfire,  and had an awesome time.

My husband’s chili – a Chicken Curry Chili – was a giant hit! And we did manage to can a few cans of tomatoes for winter too.



A great weekend was had by all, and a great deal as these are free!

What are some of your secrets for low cost high quality organic food?

- daslael 

practicing giving thanks, every day

A group of friends and I decided to start a 40 day gratitude challenge on February 1st - challenging ourselves to post at least one thing we are grateful for each day. The idea is that as we each focus on the things in our lives that we are thankful for we will discover inner wells of grace and positivity. I have participated in a gratitude circle before and it was life changing to find myself filled with positivity and grace almost against my own will. 

You can  participate in the Gratitude Circle by joining me on twitter where I am posting daily things I am grateful for - like the fact that my daughter is a reader! Or that my husband picked up groceries for the family! Find me on twitter here:@daslael

And thank you for reading this!

first things first: what should you do if you suddenly lose your income

First: I am so sorry that this happened to you. A sudden drop in income is rarely a happy occasion.

The good news is that you can mitigate the long term damage to you and your family's finances by cutting expenses immediately.*  Don't worry, I'll cover more of all the amazing fun things you can do for free in later posts. Cutting all of your bills honestly won't make your life miserable. It may focus you a bit. You might miss off-season raspberries but at the same time you will appreciate them when they are in season oh so much more. If you do the below suggestions you could easily cut your spending by $2000 dollars a month or more.

Some back ground - my husband and I both lost our traditional, stable, secure, government jobs in the first six months of our daughters life. Yeah, that happened. We live in San Francisco, arguably one of the most expensive places in the United States to live. Parenting list servs, of which I am a member, regularly had posts titled things like "How Does Anyone Live on $250,000 a year in San Francisco!" during the time we were working hard to live on about $30,000 a year.  I am not going to pretend that it wasn't hard - spoiler alert, it was hard - but it was survivable. And, honestly, we had a great life during those lean years. But, we cut expenses way down so that we could reach into our savings as little as possible.  Here are some of the things we did:


Apply for Aid 

Yes, apply for unemployment. Apply for food stamps if you are eligible. You have been paying into these systems and they are here to help you out now that you need a hand.  You will probably also learn that the unemployment office has a terrific work center you can use to make copies, search for jobs, etc -all free!

• Here's a California website with info on benefits: https://www.mybenefitscalwin.org/
• Here's another one - more San Fransisco specific : http://www.sfhsa.org/
• Here's the unemployment website for California: http://www.edd.ca.gov/unemployment/

Net value: + $1800 unemployment, + 400 - 600 in food benefits = $2200 - $2400 in $ you can spend on your expenses

Bills

Look at all of your bills and make sure you are getting the best deal. If something isn't necessary - cut it. I mean it - cut it. For all other bills look to see if there is any way to consolidate or cut costs. The more you save up front the better off you will be if this is a prolonged income reduction. If you are lucky enough to have a very short period of unemployment you may discover that you greatly prefer saving all the money you were spending.

In Order of Importance (mostly) 

Student Loans
Do you have student loans? It may be a good idea to freeze your loans with no interest and no payments due - you can usually do this if you lose your job. Alternately you could get on an income based repayment plan, which would knock your monthly amount way down.  Contact the lender managing your loans for details on what is available to you.
Savings in monthly spending = depends on your loan payment, can be $500 a month or more.

Credit Cards
Call credit card companies and get rates lowered if possible. If you have an offer for a rollover with zero interest you may want to to transfer that balance.  If you haven't lost your job then I would suggest you do all you can to pay off your credit cards, now. Also make sure you have the absolute lowest interest rate possible; this can be as simple as calling and asking for a lower rate. No, really.  And think about getting unemployment insurance for your debt.
Savings in monthly spending = $100 (savings depends on debt amount. We had no credit card debt - but if you do it is important to get the monthly bill reduced while you are unemployed. If you are working I suggest pay your credit card debt off asap.)

Health Insurance
There are a lot more options in the health insurance world, which is a great thing. You will likely want to take advantage of your company's COBRA just so long as necessary to stay insured while you search for a lower cost option. Your children are likely to be eligible for low or no cost excellent coverage - here in California it is Medical.You may also find that applying for coverage from providers,  like Kaiser, provides a great low cost option. Here is San Francisco we also have Healthy SF, a terrific very low cost program that can insure all SF residents. A good place to start is with the your local Human Services Agency (a social worker). They can tell you the steps you need to take to be eligible for different low cost plans.

• San Francisco's Human Services Page: http://www.sfhsa.org/
• California's Medi-Cal page: http://www.medi-cal.ca.gov/
• San Francisco's Healthy San Francisco page: http://healthysanfrancisco.org/ 
• California's Covered California Page: https://www.coveredca.com/

Savings in monthly spending = $1000 (Our COBRA costs compared to our Healthy SF, Kaiser & MediCal costs)


Car & Car Insurance
Are you keeping your car? Can you sell it? If you need it to work or to look for work - ie you live where there are no real public transit options, then keep your car. If you live someplace like San Francisco (transit rich) and your work does not require a car, consider getting rid of it. Cars are expensive. Estimated annual cost of ownership in California is $3966 - but I'd hazard a guess it's more if you live in San Francisco, land of parking tickets! Mind you - that is the cost of a paid off car, never mind if you have car payments. If you are keeping your car, audit your insurance and make sure you have the lowest rates (shop around!). 
Savings in monthly spending = $330  (Savings if you get rid of car, per the estimated annual cost, above. Savings is greater if you get rid of a car payment)

Cable
Cancel your cable. Really. Alternates: For $7 a month you can watch unlimited Netflix streaming TV shows and movies, for approximately 7$ a month (annual fee and not monthly) you can use Amazon Prime which also has a ton of free streaming TV shows and movies and includes free 2 day shipping on all Amazon orders as well. Hulu standard has free streaming - so even cheaper than Netflix and Amazon Prime. Equally as inexpensive is checking out movies and TV shows from the library for free. When we were unemployed we only did the free options - broadcast television websites play most episodes day after airing, Hulu is free and we checked out DVDs from the library.
Savings in monthly spending = $150 

Gym
For some things, like gym, I would do a cost analysis. The first three years of my child's life I was out of work and home with my daughter as full time care for her as well as managing the house, cooking, etc. One of the only ways I could get a small amount of time during the day when I was not watching my child was the extremely affordable child watch at my local Y - which also gave us a big break on membership while we were looking for work. I got a break and a work out and it was super affordable. We kept the gym membership. You might choose to simply go running instead. If you do think you want to keep your membership - see if you can get a price break.
Savings in monthly spending = $80

Phone
Reduce your phones - I'd recommend keeping a cellular and canceling your land line unless you have a good reason to keep the land line, in which case cancel the cellular. Audit your cellular plans and make sure you are getting the best aggregate deal for your whole family. We did this and ended up saving over $100 a month on cellular bills plus over $50 a month on land lines. That adds up!
Savings in monthly spending = $190

Internet 
You may decide to do away with your internet connection entirely and do all you internet-required work (job hunting!) from a local coffee shop or the library. If you decide you do want to keep internet at home, audit your bill, call you provider and ask for the lowest rate and then shop around. We got a lovely high speed connection for 30$ a month - introductory offer for the first 6 months.I call every six months to see if they want to extend that offer. So far: yes.
Savings in monthly spending = $25 


Other Expenses

Food
Cut your food budget in half and likely half again. Start making everything from scratch, this is easier than you think and cooking is a great lifelong skill. How else to cut that food budget? Eat way less meat. Eat in season - so no out of season berries! Buy in bulk. Buy on sale. Eat more beans. Eat more vegetable soups. Learn to bake bread. Learn to make pizza. Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture, literally, a local farm).  I'll cover this extensive topic in a later blog post - I promise!
Savings in monthly spending = $400 (depends on your food spending, savings can be considerably more)

Entertainment
Stop going out to dinner or meeting friends for drinks. Stop going to movies. Stop drinking coffee and tea from coffee shops. Instead invite friends over and make pizza or have a potluck; a super fun and inexpensive way to see people. Buy a thermos and bring tea or coffee along. Bring your lunch. Go on hikes. Once you get used to not spending and feel like you have developed the skill (it is a skill, you can get better at it) feel free to meet friends for drinks - just only have water. Or leave the credit and debit cards at home and only bring the amount of cash you are willing to spend. I would argue only do this for a networking event, have friends over and buy a bottle of wine or a six pack to share if you want a drink - much more cost effective!
Savings in monthly spending = $200 (savings will vary, can be much much more than $200)

Clothes
Do what I call 'closet shopping' and review everything in your closet. You will discover clothes you have forgotten. If you absolutely need a piece of clothing (other than underwear and socks) look at your local thrift store, try to borrow it from a friend, or see if you can organize a clothing swap with friends.
Savings in monthly spending = $100 (savings varies, but annually you can save thousands. I have a great friend who buys all his fancy designer brand suits from a consignment store. Saves a ton. Looks great.)

Books
Stop buying books. The library is your friend - check out books for free. You can also get many titles digitally for your ereader. You don’t need to buy one, you can download free ereader software to most smart phones.
Savings in monthly spending = $20 (depends on your reading habit.)

Movies
Stop going to the movies. Its super expensive. If you must, find a great local cheap matinee and buy no snacks. I can't tell you how much fun my daughter and I have at 7$ matinees now that we can actually afford to go to the theater!
Savings in monthly spending = $100 (that's one trip to the movies for three, so your savings may be much greater)

Hair
Stop getting your hair cut and dyed at a salon. In San Francisco you can easily spend $80 on a hair cut and $150 on coloring - so this can add up to big savings over the year. Use box dye or go au natural. Cut your own hair, cut each others hair. Find a terrific barber and get $12 dollar hair cuts - typically short hair cuts, remember! My husband uses clippers and does his own barbering for his sleek look.  I grew my hair out for several years and box dyed. Just recently I stopped dying my hair and asked my super awesome sister in law to cut it for me, which she did. She also cuts my daughters hair. So we are now at the very low end of hair costs.
If you have an interview and a hair cut/dye job will help that along, work with your salon to provide a better price, free trim, and a cut that will look good for a longer period of time. I know several salons locally that do this - so ask.
Savings in monthly spending = $115 (based on above costs, every two months, annualized)



If you look at what you were spending against what you are now spending you should see a large monthly savings just by making the above changes! 


I'll cover getting free stuff, bartering and trade and other ways to still obtain things you may need in later posts. 


Thanks for following along, and please share your cost saving tips! I'm always interested in learning new ways to save!! 


*If you haven't suddenly and unceremonious had a precipitous drop in income, think if this list as a great set of things to do to boost your savings monthly.

Note: I am not a lawyer, legal expert, or any other sort of financial expert. These are my opinions, that is all!

love letter to San Francisco

I was riding the bus this morning at 6:30 am and I had the following thoughts about San Francisco.

Thank you SF for being you. I love that my family only has one car. I can ride my bike, take the bus, or even walk to work. Thank you for the huge choice of open and fantastic coffee shops, on the way to my job, where I can get an excellent cup 'o. At 6 am.

Thank you for the diversity of people I see and interact with on my way to work - differences keep my mind fresh and open.

I love the quiet and clean sleepy feel of the avenues, the family and pocketbook friendly eateries within walking distance of our apartment. I love the cosmopolitan feel of some neighborhoods in the city. I love looking in the windows of posh boutiques, walking down winding roads past French bakeries, climbing up steep hills filled with tiny jewel like shops.

I love that I can eat at cutting edge restaurants, tiny dives, or get fresh produce, meat, milk and eggs from a local farmer - who I know by name. I can chat for hours with any San Franciscan about favorite eateries, delis, sandwich spot, pho, sushi, you name it.

I love the fog rolling in - so romantic! - blanketing the hills and nestling into cracks and crevices, reaching for the sunny open spaces on the east side of town. I love the wind in my hair as I hike through the trees in the national park that is literally next to our apartment, looking out over the ocean. That vista opens my eyes, clears my head of cobwebs and connects me to the planet. I love the sweet ocean air I breath each day - clean and oxygen rich. I love the way our city smells after rain, the green of all the parks near where I live, picking blackberries down the street from our house, and runs past the bison in Golden Gate Park. I love being able to be outside year round!

I love watching people on the bus help small children find seats. I remember how kind everyone is to my daughter when we ride the bus, chatting with her in a host of languages, giggling and connecting in some common baby language.

I love working at a world class organization - a non profit to boot. I love knowing my work each day helps others all around the world and right here in SF.

I love the crazy bust and boom cycle that means I have to develop a strong inner sense of what things are worth and not be swayed by hyper-intense market conditions and other people insisting things are worth far more than I think they are. I love packing my lunch, pinching pennies, managing a budget for my family, cooking dinner with my daughter, and making sure I get the best deal possible on organic beans. Being frugal and saving money are good ideas and a great skills no matter where I live. I love rising to the challenge of keeping my daughter grounded in a city with such wealth and such poverty - I know our nation as a whole suffers this same problem right now.

I love packing dinner, picking up my daughter from her amazing public preschool, and heading to the beach for a meal al fresco at Baker Beach.

I love having a small apartment. I can't imagine having to clean a larger space. I also love having a great reason to keep our possessions to a minimum and to curate my daughters toys, our library, and our closets.

In short: I love living here, San Francisco. Thank you.