With such a rough economy that is projected to get rougher and the costs of transitioning, Do any of you find yourself examining wants vs needs and restricting your budget more?

What do you do?

I've been limiting my electrical use. If a light isn't nec. it isn't on. I rarely turn on the heater - Only when I shower

I haven't been out to eat for months. No movies either. I spend most of my free time at home

Yes, I try to. I felt really bad about having to buy a new laptop, but I would have had to replace so much on the old one to get it running again; it was best to just get a new one and start from scratch.
Other than that, I've cut down on my use of hair gel. 

That does help explain the dif. between needs and wants

When we've barely been able to afford food and hadn't paid bills in 3mos, yeah fun stuff took a back seat. We finally got my hubby's disability settlement we got caught up on bills, but still trying to be frugal to an extent cause we know that money wont last.

There is no fat to trim.  I live on bare minimum now.  What can I cut?  No food, meds, gasoline or rent.  It is just that I can hardly have the basics.  And finding another job is just plain tough.


Janet

Yeah, I'm barely surviving on the basics myself now. Any treats are few and far between 

Quote from: Janet Lynn on November 12, 2009, 09:26:33 PM
There is no fat to trim.  I live on bare minimum now.  What can I cut?  No food, meds, gasoline or rent.  It is just that I can hardly have the basics.  And finding another job is just plain tough.


Janet

Ditto.

 As I am still trying to work out where I fit in the TG spectrum, I am concentrating on the interior stuff, and not spending much on clothes, make-up etc. 
The local library has a lot of books on make-up and clothes, so I can do my homework and try and find my personal style to some extent. By shopping for a few sale items I have been able to start learning to apply eye make-up for instance, so that when I do eventually venture out, at least that part will be okay.
By the time I am ready to "break out" I will hopefully have sold my house and down-sized, so will be in a better state financially, and can consider doing the RLT properly equipped.

I bought an Rv for $1000 and live in it now instead of an apartment. I'm glad I did too, because the girl who rented my apartment after me REALLY needed a place and mine came up right in the nik of time for her; funny how far reaching our decisions can be  I got rid of my cable because I never watched it anyway, kept my cable internet and registered for half online classes to save on travel, and declined my work study grant in favor of a larger student loan. This frees my time up to work an off campus job. I don't go out much, and when I do I don't pay. I recently bought a really nice iPod, but it's earning it's keep.

The rv is really cold, the girl is really nice (and brings CUTE guys to the neighborhood), I never watched the tv anyway, the online classes are freaking HARD and it's kind of a drag cooking hamburgers while working on a masters...but I'll have my new forehead and nose soon enough, and a slippery new vagina a while after that so it's all worth it.

Becca.  Go get one of those oil filled heaters and plug it into the meter box by a heavy duty extension cords.  It works real well or taking the chill of.  I know because I live in a 30" Pull trailer myself.



Janet

I've somehow managed to be lucky enough to work in the one factory in town which not only hasn't cut hours, but is actually having some mandatory overtime right now.

Despite this, I've still curbed my spending significantly, with many common entertainment-related purchases stopped. What really killed me was lending a large amount of money in total to someone for whom I cared greatly. By the time I learned this person wasn't the kind of driven, capable, and responsible person I initially thought she was, I'd already given her over $3000 over nearly a year.

I've lived with less on less before, though, and my transition related expenses are still low due to being early. I'm knocking on wood now because I know my luck can't last too long.