Thrifty.

I am addicted to being thrifty. Addicted! I love it.  Moving to portland really helped with changing my lifestyle. Not that I was spending maniac in the Pitts but I wasn't saving anything either. I knew what bills I had to pay and the rest of the money always evaporated. Here though it is different. Joe and I keep a budget on an excel sheet.  I guess it is more of a tracking sheet than a budget. We don't set guidlines about what we can spend but can look at the sheet and say either "wow! we spent way to much money on X... time to lay off" or "Man, we haven't gone out to dinner at all this month lets treat ourselves!" We have done this for a year now. It is awesome to be able at a glance to see where our money goes. Our biggest expense last year was housing as most peoples is. Our second was misc. which covers things like plane tickets, doctors appointments, glasses, engagment rings.. ect. it goes down from there with categories from student loans to gas for the truck, ect..  Anyway. All of this tracking has had us saving money too! I think of all the small ways I save money and then think i should write articles for Readers Digest or better homes and Gardens or some such magazine. I have read all those articles about saving money from those magazines and what they forget to mention is the lifesyle change. It is easy to say "don't drink starbucks" For someone who buys a coffee every day that could save 1000 dollars a year.  but it is hard to change your morning schedule ..for that person to wake up earlier, make their own coffee, miss the small experiences of waiting in line seeing your barista. It' a tough transitition even if it seems trivial. I don't know that i have a solution for that lifestyle change other than support. I had Joe. it continues to make things easier.  This week our thrifty solution to saving 720 dollars a year was getting rid of our cell phones and getting Vonage. (let me know if you need the number) In other words. I was spending 80 bucks a month on the cell phones and now i am spending. 20.  60 extra dollars a month! Thats change i can believe in. Speaking of the economy.. I can't even log into my 403b. I would only assume there is no money left in there and Tiaa-cref doesn't want me to know. I should have kept it under my matress. or in our new checking account that as 5.1percent interest! Totally redicoulous. Bet you wished you lived in Multnomah County so you could join my credit union and get that rate. It is better than any savings account ever! and i have searched far and wide... any. with looming depression in our future. don't fret over fiancial woes. call me! on my new cheap phone (incoming calls are free! so really I don't mind)