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Safety in Numbers

December 22nd, 2008 at 02:23 am

I was talking to a good friend of mine last night. Her husband travels Sun night/Mon morning through Thursday every week. She works part-time in the city, 3 days/week, (1.5hr commute each way), and she's been finding it difficult with him away so much to manage everything at home (2 kids in school, their activities, etc.). She thought her hubby would be done travelling this year, but he'll continue through March. She's decided to quit her job and start a dog-walking business in town.

They can make it on just his salary, but things will be tighter. So I told her that we're going through the same thing and would be definitely watching our $$. Another friend's husband just started his own company (she's a SAHM) and another friend's husband has a job that's not totally secure in this economy. (So far no problem with it, but you never know, and she's a SAHM too).

These are all the people we get together with every week. The girls will go out for drinks after the PTO meeting, the guys will go out to watch a football game, and we usually end up at one house or another during the weekend. It ends up costing quite a bit of money. Even if we're going to someone else's house we usually bring a 12-pack of beer or wine and some sort of food - a good $20/week at least, more if we're going out or hosting people at our house.

So I told my friend that I'm planning on being more frugal in the new year. I'm going to make sure that I have food on hand or in the freezer (meatballs and sauce, brownie mixes, cookie mixes) so I don't have to buy expensive food to cook for them or bring to their houses. We can make it a point to get together at our houses more than we go out. We can (hopefully) stop with the Tupperware and Candle parties, where I always end up spending $100. (Even if they're not game for this, I'm not going to any of these parties in 2009!).

I'm hoping that it will be easier to watch our money now that all of our friends are in similar positions. It's more like "keeping down with the Joneses"...

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Safety in Numbers”

  1. lizajane Says:
    December 22nd, 2008 at 02:48 am 1229914115
    1229914115

    It will be great if they all join in, because then no one will feel out of place.

  2. pearlieq Says:
    December 22nd, 2008 at 02:58 am 1229914685
    1229914685

    Skipping those "parties" saves a ton of money!!! Plus, it's so much more fun just to spend time with your friends without having to sit through the spiel.

  3. Lady T Says:
    December 22nd, 2008 at 05:13 am 1229922788
    1229922788

    I stopped going to those parties several years ago, too ... even though the hostess always says not to feel obligated to buy anything, you always do!! Big Grin

  4. Ms. Pearl Says:
    December 22nd, 2008 at 08:24 am 1229934243
    1229934243

    I love it...keeping down with the joneses. How appropriate for this moment in time!

  5. creditcardfree Says:
    December 22nd, 2008 at 01:50 pm 1229953806
    1229953806

    That is great that you are all in this together! Share your coupons with friends when you go for lunch or coffee. Invite the girls over for coffee at your place or tuna salad lunches! Keep us updated with how this works out for all of you.

  6. Petunia Says:
    December 22nd, 2008 at 01:53 pm 1229954002
    1229954002

    With the changed circumstances it sounds like "keeping down with the Joneses" is an idea whose time has come! You've got a great plan for frugal and fun get-togethers.

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