In an attempt to organize my finances and fix my budget, I spent all day on the phone with lenders and utility companies trying to find ways to cut down my bills. I even spoke with a debt consolidation non-profit to see what I could do to get rid of my credit card debt. I can't tell you how frustrating this process was. It almost seems like these places that take your money give you the run around on purpose when you call to cut costs (well, duh!). Virtually every call I made led to either another call, or the request to wait for a future date to do something. A call to my cable company even resulted in a $2 increase in my bill over last month even after getting rid of Showtime (they told me it's because last month's bill was only a partial bill). It feels like I spent four hours spinning my wheels and made no progress toward reducing my bills. The debt consolidation people, however, were great. They spent a lot of time talking to me about how I could reduce my bills (which is what sent me on the calling frenzy to all my lenders and utility companies). They also prepared a budget for me that shows my current spending as well as what the typical national spending for a family of four is. Wow! I could not believe that my grocery bill should be one half what it currently is! How in the heck do people grocery shop for so little? On the plane when I flew back to Kansas there was a show about couponing. Those people are crazy! One woman spent nearly $900 on groceries and after her hundreds of coupons only spent $88!!!! There is no way I could be that dedicated to couponing. In fact, I've always held a bit of disdain for coupons because they really are just a marketing tool by big companies to get you to buy their products - and then be hooked. After all, $.50 off of the name brand cleaner is still more expensive than buying the off brand label, so why bother with the coupon? But my debt consolidation counselor told me that I should look into coupons and the stores' value programs.
I've always considered myself a good shopper; I usually buy the off brands unless it's something I trust in the name brand, I bring lists to the store and generally stick to them, I really don't buy frivolous things, I check the per unit cost. How the heck can I possibly cut so much from my grocery budget? Needless to say, since I'm unemployed for the near future, I will be looking for ways to cut my costs, and groceries, eating out and entertainment will be at the top of the list. Not that we really had any entertainment when I was working anyway...can you say "Netflix"?
