Ways to save and spend money

It was a good week at our house. We only had 5 times this week we spent money! This even included the wife's haircut, vet bill, and one of my guilty pleasures.

Our main money issue to date is that we nickel and dime ourselve to death. Rarely do we have an expenditure other than bills and groceries over $20. We just have 20 or more of these a month. So even though I monitor the money on a very regular basis, we constantly have the "It's only $5. That's not a big deal, I can get this." Then at the end of the month we have no extra savings.

But not this week!

The vet bill, though, brings up a good way to save money. Saving money while having a miserable life is rarely recommended. One way that we have chosen to brighten our lives is with our dogs and cats. We recently got a new puppy (female) to our mix. If you do decide to get a puppy and have to pay to get it fixed, use the Banfield Puppy Wellness program. It costs $21.95 a month and you sign up for a year, but you get free doctor visits, included vaccinations, and fixing is included. The spaying of a female costs almost as much as the cost of the plan anyway. Big savings if you do decide to get an cat or a dog.

Another fun expenditure that I have is Sirius Satellite radio. That came in this week for $12.99. I am a big Howard Stern fan, and regularly enjoy listening to his whole show. We've both agreed that I can keep this purchase, becuase this activity takes up more than 30 hours a week, so it costs me only $0.10 an hour for enjoyment. Well worth the cost. And I mean how can you not like it with Artie Lange fighting with his assistant Teddy, and then possibly quitting the show.

If you want to read up more on Frugality, and not feeling guilty about spending money when you are actively trying to save more, head over to Trent at The Simple Dollar. He's got a lot of good posts about this topic.