Tips Fees and Saving Money – It’s the Little Things
This post was inspired by an article at Gather Little by Little. The article was titled “Is tipping getting out of hand?” It really got me thinking about all of the little expenses, the ones that add up to become a big expense by the end of the month.
I’ve always tried my very best to be a generous tipper. I worked as a waitress for a while, and I have never forgotten what it felt like to be paid next to nothing, work hard, and then occasionally not be tipped at all.
Gather Little by Little didn’t take issue with waiters and waitresses though, but they did point out that today we are expected to tip for our lattes, our pizzas (after they tack on a “delivery fee”), our hair cuts…the list goes on and on.
It’s not just the tips that make a dent in our wallets either. Sometimes it’s the fees. Broke Grad Student got a $250 parking ticket this week because he parked in a red bus zone. Ouch…
There are tons of other little places where money runs out too. That unexpected school field trip, organization dues and membership fees….some months it is easy to feel like you are being nickel and dimed to death.
So I was thinking. How do I fight all of these little expenses that are just a part of my life? Many of my incidentals are things that I can’t cut out, or don’t want to cut out. But I still want to even the score a little bit.
I use YNAB (You Need A Budget) software. It lets me itemize everything. So I do set aside a specific amount for these types of expenses. Given the rising cost of food, and pretty much everything else though, I think I am going to start cutting those small expenses down a bit. I think it’s a good time to kick my frugal nature into high gear.
- I am going to tip less – I usually tip everyone extremely well, but I am going to scale those tips back a couple of bucks each and see if I can save some money.
- I’m going to plug up some of my other small financial leaks – Stuff like ing food that we end up not eating, combine my shopping trips to save gas.
- I’m going to call my credit card company, and see if they can waive my annual fee
- I’m tempted to pick up the Sunday newspaper and grab the coupons out of it (even though coupons give me nightmares!)
Just the basic frugality stuff. I’m not quite into washing my baggies and plastic wrap, or saving my tea bags yet. (Though I did find some killer re-usable tea bags for next to nothing, so I may actually do that one!).
So I was wondering…what are your frugality tips? How do you cut down on those little expenses? Give me your best tip below! I’ll work it up into an article, and include a link to your site.
I did find some excellent articles in my feed reader this week, and many of them had some great tips for living on less.
Saving Money:
- Mrs Micah has a list of Favorite Dates for Under $15.
- Clever Dude tell us how to save money as a pet owner.
- Capital Couples Finance recommends playing to your strengths to save money.
- Steadfast Finances has a really interesting article titled “Individual Development Accounts: The Best Poverty Assistance Program that We Never Hear About.“
- Bible Money Matters has a guest posts that takes the reverse approach with “How to Lose $100,000 in Ten Easy Steps“
- Free From Broke gives a 12 step plan for shoring up your finances in tough economic times.
Planning for the Holidays:
- The Smart Spending Blog has the Top tips for a frugal Turkey Day
- Money Under Thirty has Seven Tips to Save Money This Holiday Season.
- Money Smart Life gives us ten great ways to Earn Extra Money For the Holidays
- Taking Charge points out that the Salvation Army donation kettles are going to accept credit cards
Carnivals:
- Carnival of Money Stories Edition 84
- Money Hacks Carnival No. 38: Aviation Month edition at Credit Cards.com
- Festival of Frugality~The Veteran’s Day Edition at Quest to Be Debt Free
- Carnival of Financial Planning – November 15 2008 Edition at The Skilled Investor
- Carnival of Debt Reduction #165: A History of the National Debt at Greener Pastures
- Carnival of Personal Finance No. 177 at The Sun’s Financial Diary
- Carnival of Family Life: Honoring Our Veterans Edition at Colloquium
Have a question for us? Leave a comment below!
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