Recession belt tightening & your personal spending priorities.

Thanks - I talked to him a bit ago and today's went very well. My husband sent a quick thank you by email and already received a reply from the owner. It sounds like a similar situation he was in before whereas it is a small company. The base sounds like it is less and % of commissions sounds less as the owner described he would want to discuss those details - but it sounds like they have much higher volume which would result in overall higher money.

Sounds alot like us - we also cut the big vacation this year - sorry family out west and decided to go camping instead. The kids are so excited about camping and I've found some great camp sites - bonus allowing dogs will let us bring our new puppy with us on vacation. I love the idea of camping as no opportunity for TV and we all love the outdoors and being active. We also switched to Vonage.

Another thing along the lines of consignment shopping - my daughters' school usually does a clothes drive (as they have dress code) - they usually sell pants and shirts for $1 or less. So we bring in clothes the kids have outgrown, they sell it to other families and the school keeps the money for school needs. Helps everyone out.

I also, have not bought any clothes for myself in quite a while. I am in need of some things, but have been able to get by - I will wait until hubby is employed. I might have to search for a consginment shop in a richy town (plenty near where I live - unfortunately not my town).

I never use credit cards - I have a charge card which gets paid off every month. I have also started thinking now beofre I spend. I eat out a lot less, buy fewer clothes and have got over the desire to have every latest gadget which comes out in the market. Giving up smoking has also helped in saving cash - which I either put towrds my mortgage (2 yrs left YAY!!) or buy shares (they are sooo cheap). I also have started using public transport more often, rather than jumping into a cab everytime.

does cutting out a non-working spouse count as belt tightening? If so, then yes..

I have downsized my household, trimmed the excess waste, and settled on a simpler more practical lifestyle.