False Economies

$4.29.

That's what I paid for a gallon of gas on Monday.

I don't have to tell any of the readers of this blog that times are tough all over.

For the last few months, I've found myself in the unaccustomed position of the person who rains all over everyone's parade. I have been trying my darndest to cut fat out of our budget: I cancelled our cable premium channels, cut down on the money I spend on grooming (no more acrylic nails; am now getting hair colored and styled by beauty school trainees), and have changed my grocery shopping habits.

I no longer drive home after dropping Megan off at school. Now, I just hole up at a nearby coffee place with wi-fi and work there. This saves me 10 to 20 miles of driving per day. I would love to reduce my driving to under 200 miles per week. I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.

I figure I have cut a good $400 a month out of our budget. Unfortunately, that's about equal to the increase in our gas and grocery spending.

Whenever someone in the family wants to buy something, I'm the bad cop who says "No."

I'm so not good at this.

Today, I discovered that my daughter had subscribed to some kind of ringtone download service on her cell phone. I should have been tipped off to that by a conversation the two of us had a few weeks ago. I don't remember how it came up, but she seemed surprised to find out that we could be charged a lot of money to download ringtones. Sure enough, there was an unexplained $9.95 third-party charge on our bill this month, and when I called T-Mobile to find out what it was for, I discovered that she had agreed to pay that charge every month. I'm pretty sure she had no idea... and that's why, by law, children her age have no legal right to enter into those agreements. I had the charges (because it had already been charged again for this month!) reversed and arranged to have third-party sites blocked from her phone.

I also discovered an annual recurring charge from Consumer Reports that I had forgotten to cancel (they refunded the money without argument), and a monthly charge for an identity security service on my husband's card that he doesn't remember signing up for (they canceled the membership but not the charge; I'm feeling too tired right now to fight that one). I saved $40 today, which doesn't even pay for an extra tank of gas.

I am really hating living in Los Angeles right now. I've been complaining for years that I felt imprisoned in my little neck of the San Fernando Valley by all the traffic I would face if I tried to go over the hill and come back before school pickup. Now, I don't want to drive because it's so darned expensive.

When Megan was invited by friends to spend a day at Magic Mountain on Sunday, my husband suggested we go for a drive, and I told him NO. I ended up having a change of heart; staying close to home all the time was likely to stress the two of us even more than money worries. So we dropped her off and took a drive to Ventura, stopping halfway at the Giessinger winery in Fillmore (which offered some surprisingly nice vintages). We lunched on the Ventura Pier and drove home in time to shop for groceries at Costco.

That little drive probably cost us $200 (between the gas, the food and the two bottles of wine we bought), but my husband and I were more relaxed than we've been in months. We had a very good day.

That's good; because the way the economy is going, that might be the last long drive we take for fun for a very long time.

Comments

[Lucia Davies]

As another mother of the SOCAL WALLET SQUEEZE-A-THON, I feel your pain. Sometimes, though, you do just have to get outta Dodge, because that's where all your problems spend most of their time. They'll still be there when you return, but, as you and your husband found, you'll come back rested and refreshed. And ready to bitchslap those "added" expenses!

[Daisy]

The next drive might not be so relaxing, if the price of gas keeps going up. We're going on vacation this summer for the first time in four years, and we're trying to cut other costs to make up for the gas. It's time to get a hybrid.

[Robert Rowe]

I hear ya. Single male, living in a studio apt, barely able to afford life on my teacher's salary. I've done all the simple "green changes" which have saved quite a bit, but that 15 mile drive to/from school, plus the commuting between buildings during the day, is killing me.
We can only hope our government gets their heads together to do something.

[Adrienne]

My sister had to go downtown LA today and saw a sttion with gas for $4.67! For the cheap stuff. the premium was over 5! It is beyond belief the way our economy is falling.

[Mocha]

You're doing all the right things. I'm inspired listening to all the changes you've already made! Good on you.

But we need a respite. For sure.

[The Simple Family]

You're at a good start. It is hard. We've done the cable, the cell phones... every thing we can think of to cut the extra out and save money.

We've been riding our bikes more, and in the Texas heat, I hate it. But...I try to remember every time I bike instead of drive, I'm saving $.