Savings Tally - Week Ending 1/11/09

All in all, a good week. I realized that most weekdays I spend very little to nothing because I eat all meals at home and (between working, going to the gym, dinner and DVR) don't have time to get into any shopping trouble.

Ah - there's a good lesson: Staying busy saves money.

Then there's the weekend. We often eat out with friends or out of laziness, so we're working on making thriftier choices as you'll notice below.

Sat 1/10: Ate at Mudgies instead of splurging on expensive pre-theater dinner plus adult beverages. Mudgies is our latest Detroit fav - Matt especially loves the award-winning Madill sandwich. = $70.00

Sun 1/11: I used to laugh at my Dad when he proudly proclaimed he was saving money by showering at gym. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree afterall - rack a free shower up for me! = $1.00 (a total guesstimate - will work on figuring this out)

Sun 1/11: The plan was to cook at home, but we ran into a plumbing snafu and didn't have running water. Pulled out the Entertainment book and clipped a CJ's coupon = $13.00

Adding $84.00 to the pot!

Savings Tally - Week Ending 1/4/09

It's the end of the first week here at One Paycheck. Time to see how the savings are piling up so far and update the Savings Meter. It was a short week since we started on Thursday 1/1...but I think we're off to a good start.

1/3 - Stuck to exchange amount at Banana, didn't buy cute black long-sleeve shirt with fun pleating detail at neckline = $34.99

1/3 - Agonizingly decided to skip giving gifts at friends' birthday dinners. Gave nice cards to Dan and Brian instead. = $30.00

1/4 - Used coupon to order our favorite Jet's pizza (deep dish w/pepperoni and mushroom, mmmm) = $2.08

Adding $67.07 to the pot!

How did you do this week? Let us know in the comments.

The Savings Meter Explained

Image courtesy of stockxpert.com

You may have noticed the little tally we have going at the top right of the blog. It's called the Savings Meter - and it represents the whole reason for writing this blog in the first place.

The Savings Meter will track our progress as we try different ways to cut the fat from our daily spending. It shows actual savings...and what I like to call "opportunity savings." Here's what I mean:

• Say we use a coupon to buy 2 movie tickets for a discounted price of $6.50 each (regular $9.25) - we add $5.50 in actual savings to the jar.
  
  
• Now, say we meet friends for dinner at a new restaurant. We're typically wine drinkers at a dinner like that. But, if Matt and I forgo the wine and stick with water, I'll add 20 bucks to the pot. (We had the opportunity to spend $20, but we didn't.)

See, it's all very scientific...and every penny counts. At the end of the year we'll donate a percentage of the total Savings Meter amount to a charity (TBD) that helps needy families in the Detroit area.

If you're trying to save money, too...why don't you play along with us? Come on, it'll be fun!

3-2-1 START YOUR METERS!