My partner likes his breakfast. I mean, he really likes his breakfast. The issue is, he’s on a tight (retired fireman) budget and he seriously needed to tighten up his spending habits.
The $1.58 New Year’s resolution was born.
Small changes can make a big impact.
For all you frugal types trying to nudge your non-frugal partners into a more frugal direction, this blog is for you.
Pick one thing, one small thing. For my partner, this was breakfast. He spent about $20 (with tip) at the local breakfast joint at least four times a week. That amounted to an astonishing $4,160.00 a year, money he genuinely wanted to go toward things like vacations and other items.
I came up with the $1.58 New Year’s solution/resolution. My partner’s favorite morning meal is simple; two eggs sunny side up, two slices of white (sigh) bread, four small sausage patties and a tall glass of milk. I decided we could do much better than $80 a week and to prove my point, I visited our local grocery discount store and came back with a short but sweet receipt and great results: Milk is $3.09 a gallon which means that a 12 ounce glass is about $0.28 cents. I buy two dozen eggs for $2.57 so two eggs run me about 0.22 cents. The sausage can be pricy but I got lucky and found his favorite brand where four patties run just $0.80 and bread is just eight cents a slice so $0.16 cents. Add ten cents for butter and you end up with a $1.58 breakfast or $328.64 and a savings of $3,831.36. That savings is a pretty amazing vacation and it doesn’t even factor in the gas, time or hassle of going to a restaurant.
The breakfast challenge is entirely doable for my partner, yours may be turning off the lights, borrowing books from the library instead of buying them, walking or biking instead of burning fossil fuels, you choose. Your New Year’s frugal challenge should be something small but entirely achievable and the results should net you thousands over the year.
What’s your frugal resolution?
thefrugallife 