Another Way We Saved Money on our Trip

Probably the biggest money-saver we own is our little car.  I haven’t tallied up the gallons on our gas receipts yet (unfortunately I am still trying to locate a few receipts), but I’m sure we averaged over 40mpg.  It may look like small and you may feel like an ant when up against a semi truck…but that car has saved us so much money.

You may remember that there were two recalls on our car and I was concerned on how to get the repairs done because the dealerships are so far away.  Because of our trip, we were able to take our car back to the dealership where we bought it.  I made the appointment and stressed the urgency to get the repairs done that day since we were in only in town two days.  The employee I talked to assured me they would have two guys working on it to get it done.  They kept their word, and now all of the recalls on our car are completed.

One drawback that I must mention about the car is that you can’t really fit too much in the trunk.  When you are shopping, that is a good thing because you end up spending less money by not purchasing big ticket items.  With visiting family, we always go back home with more than we had and this time we had to refuse some things our parents wanted to give us.  We just didn’t have the room. Free stuff is always nice, but we quickly filled up the available room for more goodies.

For being an inexpensive car, our car has been a pretty darn good car.

Posted by Tricia on November 4, 2006 at 4:27 PM in Spending Money | 9 Comments »
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  1. Debi responded:
    Posted: January 23rd, 2009 at 11:53 am

    My DH is giving me H*ll for spending over $100.00 on groceries for our family of 5 in western MA. He eats lunch out every day and our kids bring a lunch to school plus I have a baby in diapers and on lactos free milk. I love fresh produce and good meat and poultry and he wants doritos and ice cream and chocolate in the house. How do I do this and keep everyone happy. On our one income His.

  2. Debi responded:
    Posted: January 23rd, 2009 at 11:54 am

    Thats $100.00 per week

  3. melissa g responded:
    Posted: February 23rd, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    Debi…I live in southwest michigan and you can’t get a weeks worth of groceries in michigan for anything less than 100 a week with a family of 5. I work and so does dh…but i spend like 440 plus eating out three to four times a month…unless you cut out fresh fruit and such you will starve if you don’t eat variety…doritos and ice cream are junk and that is not eating. try getting him to do the shopping and see how long the food goes…he will appreciate you alot more…

  4. Mad'n responded:
    Posted: September 29th, 2009 at 8:48 pm

    We are a family of 4 and we spend about $400 per month on food. Kids take their lunches to school and my we eat left overs.

  5. Pamela responded:
    Posted: January 4th, 2010 at 3:44 am

    My daughter and I live alone. I became unable to work in 2001 and started receiving SSA, we spend $100.00 a month on groceries, my other two children married and out of the house help, but they have families also. We do not eat out, or buy much besides Comet and Dishwashing liquid for cleaning, and use hard work ethics on dirt. Clothes are washed once a month.
    It’s getting harder to pay rent also.

  6. Val responded:
    Posted: March 10th, 2010 at 2:37 am

    Wow! I don’t know how some of you do it, but with our family of 3, which includes a fussy teen, we spend $800. to $900. per month. This does include shampoo, soap, makeup,dog cookies, as well as a few non food items. I shop mostly at the grocery stores, but once or twice a month at Trader Joes. I use coupons 90% of the time and save 30 to 40% on average. I don’t know what I am doing wrong. Maybe California is more expensive.

  7. dayna barret responded:
    Posted: April 7th, 2010 at 4:18 pm

    Val,
    I live in California and your bill is what I am facing as well if I want my teenagers to eat healthy food. My daughter is a vegetarian and my son HATES vegetables. It’s a struggle.

  8. Mary responded:
    Posted: April 19th, 2010 at 5:41 pm

    My family consists of myself, my husband a 15 year old male and a 23 year old male. We average between $500-$650 a month. A site you all might find helpful; it was for 2007 so you will have to evaluate the cost of living increase.
    http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2007/CostofFoodFeb07.pdf

  9. Ron responded:
    Posted: August 19th, 2010 at 8:46 pm

    A senior couple, just started watching food expenses. Average around $400 per month from grocery store. Includes TP, paper towels & plastic bags and maybe misc. items.

    Add maybe $50.00 for lunches out, not fancy, just drive in’s and McD’s $1.00 menu of side salad, we split a Mcdouble, fries & ice tea.

    It’s a challenge! Would like to earn $, but tho experienced and healthy, limited opportunity.

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