{"id":1817,"date":"2008-11-15T19:02:33","date_gmt":"2008-11-15T19:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/?p=1817"},"modified":"2008-11-15T19:02:33","modified_gmt":"2008-11-15T19:02:33","slug":"tips-fees-and-saving-money-its-the-little-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/tips-fees-and-saving-money-its-the-little-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips Fees and Saving Money – It’s the Little Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post was inspired by an article at Gather Little by Little. The article was titled “Is tipping getting out of hand?<\/a>” 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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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<\/a> this week because he parked in a red bus zone. Ouch…<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

I use YNAB<\/a> (You Need A Budget) software. It lets me itemize everything<\/em>. 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. <\/p>\n