Saving a Big Chunk O'Money

I've dithered about our landscaping plans and what they're going to cost in the blog before.  This time, we've finally bit the bullet and decided to get it done, hopefully sometime next summer.

This is one of the things we're not really comfortable with doing ourselves, so we're going to have to save up the cash for a landscaper.  From what I can tell, we have reasonable quotes, but this sort of thing just adds up.  I'm not going to name the total sum, but it has more than four figures and less than six.  For some people, it's probably not a huge hurdle.  For us, though, it's a chunk.  We don't have it just lying around and we refuse to take out a loan for this sort of thing, so we need a plan.

I'm the money person in our household, and I like to think of myself as a reasonably frugal person.  I'm not dumpster diving or eating rice and beans for every meal, but 80% of the movies we see come from the library and I religiously save my Cool Whip and yogurt containers for future use.  We have a budget.  I come from a family known to speak in reverent tones of someone who put cardboard in his shoes to cover up the holes in the soles.  My grandfather the Ph.D. got his clothing from the church rummage sale, but only on the last day, when everything was half price. 

I've got the basics down, but I've got my issues.  I'm willing to eat out at the drop of a hat despite having a freezer full of food and a meal plan, and my nascent crafty side thrills to the siren song of fabric and yarn.  Magazine subscriptions just seem to multiply.  Craig has toned down his purchasing sports memorabilia a lot, but will still shell out for little pieces of cardboard with pictures of men on them.  (They just have to be the right men.)  I long to be able to practice the kind of "cheerful frugality" that Meredith at Like Merchant Ships demonstrates.  I know it takes time and effort, but it just seems like so much fun as I lurk around similar blogs.

The bottom line is that this is something we KNOW we can do, we just have to set our mind to it.  We can reach about 75% of our goal simply by putting away a piece of each paycheck.  It's just that last 25% that's going to be hard, especially as we continue to work on the basement and contribute to our other savings.  We both have enough work with our full time jobs and neither of us wishes to revisit the retail hell of our college years (even for a few months), so we're going to have to get creative.  Selling off stuff, paring down bills, everything is fair game.  It'll be an adventure with a barbeque at the end.

As of today, we've saved $250 toward the goal.  Ready, set, GO!

Comments

[Martha]

Hey there!

Just wanted to say "Hi"! I found your blog a while ago...can't remember how.

I love your landscaping plans, but I'm totally bummed at the price. Argh. I want to start thinking about doing some things in our back yard, but sheesh!

Anyway, I'm a St.Paulite, as well.....stop over and see me :)

Kindest Regards,
Martha

[Ellen]

Hi! I don't know if we've totally ruled out cheaper alternatives, but it's come to the point that if we don't start saving something, we'll never even be able to consider getting it done. Then if we decide to do something else, at least we've got the savings!

It's times like this that I wish I lived in a warmer climate and could just lay down a DIY gravel or flagstone patio and paths. But no, we've got to worry about freezing and thawing and how any given surface will stand up to a snow shovel.