Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Camper to Cottage



Last year for our anniversary Tom & I bought an acre of land at Lake Cumberland, it is a beautiful lot in a small subdivision that is only about a 5 minute walk to the lake. We have a 36 foot, 2 bedroom camper that we have on a permanent campsite but lately we have been thinking about building a house on our land. The camper is great and we love the atmosphere of the campground but during the late fall and winter we can't stay in the camper it's way too cold (we tried it this January) we love this area and hope to retire there one day. I have been pouring over house plans and think that I have found one that we suit our family now and in the future when the boys are married and have lots of grandchildren for us to enjoy.
In order for us to be able to afford to build we need to make some major financial adjustments! We spend way too much eating out and buying stuff that we really don't need, so I have to decided to start saving by not eating out as much. Every time we want to eat out or normally would eat out (i.e. Saturday mornings & Sunday afternoons) I'm going to transfer the amount that it would have cost into my savings account, I already have transferred a $100! I have also decided instead of buying magazines at the checkout I will subscribe to my favorites and save the difference. My grocery bill is OUT OF CONTROL!!! I spend around $900 a month for a family of four, THIS IS CRAZY!! I want to cut this down to around $450. What are your best money saving tips & ideas?

2 comments:

CreationsForEleanor said...

I LOVE the house plan, it is perfect. We are a family of 3 and Eleanor is only 4 so we probably do not buy as much as you, however I budget $150/week and usually spend $100-$115. I make our menu for the entire week and buy everything I need Friday. I DO NOT go back to the store until the following week. Also, I always have the big bags of individually frozen chicken on hand and ground beef frozen in 1lb packages. In the summer I use the slow cooker all the time. After a long day outside I never want to make dinner and this prevents us from eating out. That is my two cents, hope it helps!

Pamela said...

Hope you get to build your dream cottage! It looks like it will be lovely! As for groceries for a fam of 4 which includes three men and two cats I spend $560-$640. We use to go out to eat three times a week as well. It was crazy. We now eat out normally only once a week on Sundays and the rest of the time I cook if ya can call it that! HA!:) I try to lower my bill every week. I would love to get out at $110 a week but I doubt that will ever happen. The boys eat and eat and eat!