Financial Crisis belt tightening tips

[Drazzil]

So, with the economy everyone seems to be in, what have you done to tighten the belt?

Personally I lost a sales job I had in March of 09. Since then I have dedicated myself to going to school full time at Cal Poly Pomona. I am six months away (knock on wood) from graduating with an International Business Management/Marketing dual major degree. These last three months have been extremely hard for me as I lost seven thousand dollars in aid for the upcoming year due to a Financial Aid screwup. They fixed it but by that time all the money had been given out. I will have to take some loans to make ends meet.

Since I discovered this I have done the following:

1. I have quit buying cigars. I am smoking stuff that I would have sold or given away and or doesn't appeal to me as much. Sure they're yard-gars, and I would rather be smoking something else, but meh! Needs always proceed wants. I am now much more careful about my cigar buying habits. I buy almost no new cigars.

2. I have cut my Netflix subscription from six disks at a time to three. This has taken my bill from sixty dollars a month to 35.

3. I have quit eating out almost entirely. I now make my own lunches for an 80% savings. A 150-200 dollar a month bill has shrunk to 25-50 a month.

4. I have suspended Direct TV. I don't miss it.

5. I do a lot more of my grocery shopping at Costco. I have a Costco business credit card in which I get 1% cash back, or 4% on gasoline. I have an executive card which pays an ADDITIONAL 2% at the end of the year. I can buy in bulk and plan my meals weeks ahead.

6. I have cut my "discretionary" spending by around 90%. I ask myself "do I REALLY need this?" I wait two weeks before I pull the trigger.

With these tips I have cut my total spending by almost 50%. I am suffering a bit, but I simply don't have a choice.

The one area I have not reduced much spending in is my local cigar shop. Because of familial issues involved in taking care of a mentally and physically ill mother (mainly stress and relationship issues) I drive around 40 miles round trip each day to go spend time at my shop. This is the closest shop to me.

This, I am thinking is going to be the next thing drastically reduced, meaning this is probably the next thing to go, or be significantly reduced.

I have done calculations and I can save around 250 dollars a month in gasoline and cigar costs if I just stay at home or go to the library instead.

So, what have you done?