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-Tons of activities for our kids. They get to do things and we live in a really active neighborhood but none of them have expressed strong interest in sports so I'm not pushing it for as long as I can get away with it.

-Eating out. We mostly eat at home and pack lunches.

-Clothes. We have gotten many hand me downs. My oldest no longer has a hand me down source but she's very happy with the basics and likes to wear the same things over and over. Neither my husband and I are big shoppers either so we generally just buy when things wear out.

-Gym memberships. We just do stuff at home or run. It's hard to self motivate but there are so many free online workouts that I just can't bring myself to pay for classes/programs/memberships.

-New cars. Pretty much buy them used and drive until they die.

-Expensive vacations. We mostly road trip to various visit various extended family.

I love hearing how others do what's best for their family even if it's something I personally wouldn't choose. Like I do buy an expensive coffee drink Mon-Thurs at my office. And I KNOW it's a total waste of money but it brings me so much joy that my husband says I should feel no guilt about it.

@KT326: My hubs was the same way with sports being his main reason for keeping cable. He now just uses streaming sites to watch games on the computer. Sometimes it's glitchy, or the announcer is speaking another language, but it's still better than nothing or spending $100+ a month.

ESPN has a live streaming service which could be a great option if most of what he watches is available through that network. It's like $4.99/month which is super cheap compared to cable.

@lindseykaye: @DesertDreams88: I've been looking into the various options. We actually already have ESPN+ (if I was on my phone I would insert a rolling eyes emoji....) because DH wanted to watch some UFC fights or something and it was only on that. I just need to work on convincing him he isn't going to whither away if we don't have a zillion options.

I rarely buy lunch, mostly just pack. My husband rarely buys coffee, he makes it at home or uses the office machine.
We don't have cable, we use a combo of actual antennas (thankfully we live in an area where we can get the broadcast channels) and lo_cast (antenna tv over the internet) and a chromecast.
We don't subscribe to many magazines, just one electronic newspaper, our library offers a e-magazine service so we check out magazines through that. I check out ebooks all the time and try not to buy any. My parents library loans out passes to local attractions so we try to pair up with my parents to go to the zoo or aquarium instead of buying tickets.
We wear clothes til they have holes and then just generally replace and much of E's stuff comes from family/hand me downs. If I do need to buy for her its super basics that either are too worn out for hand me downs or no one else buys since they are boring and not cute.
We try to use a combo of points and other offers to offset any travel costs since its something we both love.

I don't pay for special outfits for people's weddings, travel to other people's weddings, bachelorette bullshit, or engagement/bridal/shower/party bullshit. I don't get manicures/pedicures anymore, I dye my own hair with Feria, and I only get it cut twice a year. No gym because I don't exercise, wheee. We used to spend a shitload of money on restaurants when we lived in Brooklyn, but now that we live in the burbs we never go out to eat because the restaurants are awful, so, there's a lot of money back

In my dream world I can completely opt of of Christmas and birthdays for anyone other than my own two kids and husband with other people doing a reciprocal opt out without it affecting my relationships. I am so fucking fatigued by gifting culture, I guess it's nice but ENOUGH ALREADY. haven't figured out how to make this a reality. ETA with the exception of baby gifts, I love to give nice baby gifts to close friends/fam.

Oh wow... I feel like we pay for everything!!

We don't but fancy coffees, I don't drink it and DH makes his at home.

I color/dye my own hair, for a while I was cutting DH's but he got a promotion so he's gone back to a barber but for years I cut it in our kitchen

We don't pay for babysitters, DH's family always watches the kids for us and I'm hoping to build up a group of friends which we can swap nights out... maybe.. it's a thought/idea I haven't put into motion yet

I never get my nails done. I get pedicures only for vacations or like twice a yr

Not members to gym, I jog and DH has work out stuff at home

Dry cleaning.. I don't buy work clothes that require dry cleaning, mostly bc I am lazy (Dh does have stuff that get dry cleaned so it's 50/50 on that one)

Special dinners, like bdays or anniversaries we tend to cook a nice big meal at home instead of going out

I wish wish wish we had hand me downs, but we don't.. I buy at consignment sales to ease the cost though. so I guess that doesn't really count.

Disney
New Cars
A big house
Fabric softener
Cable TV (we have crap internet so also no NetFlix, Hulu. Etc)
Alcohol at restaurants or bars.

@DesertDreams88: We eat out 1-2 times a week too. The place where my husband plays hockey has a pizza/sandwich place inside, it's perfect to order a pizza and let the kids run around! I don't have to cook or clean and the kids get some energy out. It's really a win for everyone.

@DesertDreams88: I also like going out to eat for the same reasons. We probably only go out about once a month, and typically with friends to make it a social outing and give our DD a friend to help occupy her during the meal. I'd go out all the time though if we had the budget! And we definitely decline invitations here and there or redirect them into hosting people for a meal vs. going out in order to save money. We end up spending our 'restaurant' budget more on delivery than actually going out and sitting down somewhere.

@JJ2626: With you there on the electronics. New phones would be SO nice. Both our screens are cracked and held together thanks to our cases but we'll use them till they actually die. Our 'new' TV is a hand-me-down from our friends and then we rotated our old living room TV to our room for an upgrade. The computer is probably 10 years old now and the OS doesn't support newer apple products (even our older phones) so we can't even back them up anymore lol. Sometimes I see folks with new gadgets and shiny headphones and get a little jealous but I definitely am not going to change our habits/budget for that.

I like this thread, it's giving me lots of good ideas for areas where I can cut our spending. Although I think I am one of the only people left under the age of 50 who has zero desire to cut cable.

We don't pay for:
-Family vacations - we are lucky because my parents have a second home near a beach and we have been vacationing there. We've also been going to a lake once a year with our inlaws and the cost is minimal. I realize we are pretty lucky to have a generous family.

-Eating out. DH buys his lunch once a week and we'll get take out after the kids go to bed about once a month. I really miss eating out though...and I do ask for gift cards at Christmas to fast food places and local family restaurants so we can eat out occasionally.

-Manis/Pedis/massages/waxes/any other kind of personal "maintenance"

-Toys - with rare exception I never buy my kids toys. I belong to a local "buy nothing" group and will get them stuff on there occasionally.

-New clothes - We don't have hand me downs for my oldest and while he's gifted some things I usually end up supplementing his wardrobe but it's almost always from consignment stores or sales.

-Childcare - our parents live nearby and always sit for us. I've paid for a babysitter once in 4 years.

-Big house/new decor - we live pretty modestly and I never update the decor. A lot of stuff we've had around for over a decade. I also am really bad at it and while I appreciate a well-decorated house I feel like I can never pull it off myself.

@LCTBQE: I feel you on gifting. The only people I want to buy for at Christmas is my kids and DH. It is EXHAUSTING to me and really dampers an otherwise lovely holiday. Unfortunately I come from a VERY gift-oriented family and if I told them we didn't want to do gifts I think I would crush my mom.

@LadyDi: @erinbaderin: I can't bring myself to cut cable I justify it because it's bundled with our internet, it's not terrible expensive, and it keeps my sanity (read- I can park my son in front of it get things done or a break)

@pinkb: oh yah, no booze for us either

We try not to pay for bottled water. We do keep a few gallon jugs around for emergencies. And I'm sure we buy a few bottles throughout the year, but we try really hard to avoid.

We cut DH's hair at home. DD and I each get out hair cut twice a year. No manicures, pedicures, massages, etc. - unless I am given a gift card. And even then, I typically save them to regift to someone else.

Full price clothes - when DD was little I found most things at consignment stores but that has gotten harder as she sizes up. But we still always stack sales at regular stores.

New clothes for special occasions. We make sure DD has two seasonally appropriate and dressy outfits at all times but she wears them for whatever events pop up. Those are typically still found at consignment stores since little kids don't wear out dressy clothes. I have four "nice" dresses that I wear to all events, I don't care if people know I have worn then before.

Kid activities. DD will be turning five this year and we decided we wouldn't do any activities until she is at least five. And when we do start it will be one at a time. We find so many amazing free activities, some of which we do as a family and some we go to with her friends. We do make an exception for swim classes but that is more about safety to us.

Gym memberships. This got a little harder when we bought our house because our apartment building had an amazing gym. But I have had great luck finding weights at yard sales for super cheap.

Separate toiletries for all of us. We all use the same shampoo, conditioner, and soap. DD had different ones when she was younger, but it is so much easier and cheaper now to have us all use the same ones.

We try to utilize the library for 90% of our books and magazines.

Professional photos - while part of me would love to have them I just can't justify the cost.

This is such an inspiring list! Thank you all for sharing!

@DillonLion: I need more explanation!! Inspiring!!

I love the cereal at work idea! I often bring cans of soup and do the same thing.

-clothes. My girls have received lots of hand me downs. If I do but I shop at thrift stores, especially on 50% off days. You wouldn’t believe how many new with tag items I have bout for 2-3 bucks each.

-streaming services. Yep we are the only family who do not have Netflix.

-gym membership. I work in a rehab facility so I have access to a gym however I prefer to workout at home.