ENTERTAINMENT

• Bistro 33 happy hour
• Cut out the luxuries that prevent you from enjoying your life more. I mean it. Cable television? How much do you spend each month on it, and how much does it honestly contribute to your mental, emotional, and physical health? Get a Netflix account for $18/mo and you can have three movies delivered by mail as often as you like. You can even set up separate queues for different family members (one or two for the parents, and the remainder for the kids). Makes for better family time in front of the screen if you're watching something together
• Free movies in the park during the fall in Davis
• Go to the library - check out a book or a movie
• go to Tuesday night at movies ($5)
• Invite friends over for drinks instead of going to a bar
• Stop magazine subscriptions
• turn off the TV and read or play a game
• meet the neighbors

FOOD

• beans, beans, the magical fruit.....
• Break out the cook book! Try something new- Make it fun to cook. You can have a potluck with friends for a fraction the cost of meeting them at the restaurant

• bring your own tea bags to work
• Buying less expensive brands
• Clip coupons
• Cut down on eating out
• do your own gardening
• eat out less often
• gardening your own fruits/veggies
• Go grocery shopping while you are in a hurry
• I found a friend to share purchases of bulk items at Costco
• Make a list of your frequently purchased foods and do a comparison of prices at several grocery stores
• Make my own coffee at work
• make your food stretch - fix more rice dishes and soups
• My friends and I are limiting ourselves to going out to lunch one day a week and bringing our lunch the other days. We're also hosting lunches and charging a nominal fee for each participant to cover costs (i.e. quesadillas and chili dogs)
• Order take-out instead of dining in
• Pack your lunch at least three times a week
• Plan meals a week in advance based on what is on sale at the grocery store
• roast marshmallows instead of going out for ice cream
• Sacramento folks can shop at the Sun. farmers market (between W&X)
• shop at the Grocery Outlet in Woodland or West Sac
• Shop at Winco
• Shop in bulk, cook so that you have leftovers such as a roast and then make sandwich's to bring to work.
• Some 'dollar' stores sell fresh fruits and vegetables
• Use the time to prepare meals for the freezer, and therefore eating out less

GIFTS AND CRAFTS

• Create your own wrapping paper with fabric or decorated brown paper bags
• Exchange names w/family and/or friends for gifts
• make Christmas, Birthday, and Special Occasion gifts
• Sew

HEALTH AND BEAUTY

• Do your own hair rather than go to the salon
• Pass on the manicure
• play outdoor games you or your friends own instead of the movies
• stretch appointments (hair, nails, massages, chiropractic) out by a week or two
• Walk and stretch rather than the gym

TRANSPORTATION

• bike to work
• carpool
• Change the oil in the car
• Don't buy an 'A' parking permit
• Join GoClub
• Plan driving errands to cut back on miles (consolidate errands)
• Ride the bus instead of driving
• sell a car
• Take public transit.
• TAKE THE BUS, WALK TO WORK, OR RIDE A BIKE
• Try the new Zipcar program
• Unitrans
• Vanpool
• walk to as many places as possible

UTILITIES

• cancel or reduce cable subscription
• don't use air conditioning
• Downgrade your cell phone service. I called my service to see about cancelling my contract and told them I was about to lose my job. They let me downgrade to a cheaper plan AND gave me a $75 credit, all to avoid me cancelling my plan. That was worth 15-30 minutes of my time
• Energy efficient appliances
• negotiate better rates with utility and other monthly services
• Such as extra cell phone coverage
• tell your service provider you are canceling service due to furloughs and they will offer you 6 months of reduced DSL
• Turn off lights

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS

• barter with others
• combine errands
• create a budget so you can see where you spend your money and where you can cut back
• cut back on the amount of detergent you use for each load of laundry
• Cut down on spending based on need versus want
• Differentiate between needs and wants
• Do some house cleaning
• Do your own lawn maintenance and pest control
• Don't buy it if you don't need it
• Don't do anything or spend any extra money on your furlough days.
• Eliminate cable & internet bills.
• Eliminate high interest debt first. Even if that means putting student loans into deferment for a period of time, killing off your credit card debt should be TOP priority. If you can do it, cut down to one major card for emergencies. If you're worried about keeping a good credit score, remember that the score is based on your revolving lines of credit (active accounts like dept. store cards, gas station cards, and major bank cards). If you just have a card sitting there with a balance, it isn't helping you at all, and may be hurting you.
• encourage working from home--it's great for pandemic prevention AND saves on travel expenses.
• Encourage working remotely from home at least twice a week.
• Establish an automatic transfer from your checking account to a savings account, every month, to build up a rainy day fund
• For working lower income employees (for example $40,000 for a family of four) the furlough days may make previously ineligible families eligible for things like subsidized apartments and homes (for example through CHOC or HUD), a reduction in PG&E, a reduction in your Phone Bill, child care grants (for example through the City of Davis), even for programs like WIC (free cheese, cereal, milk, etc.), reduced school lunches. Call your utility companies, Google things like 'resources for working low income families', ask friends and family about programs they have heard about, check your City's webpage for a list of subsidized apartments (you may be surprised at what you discover.)
• Garage sales
• Go to the library
• I'm going to start selling items on Craig's List and/or eBay.
• I'm working with my son's daycare to not have to pay when I have him home with me on furlough days. That should save a lot of money.
• instead of putting recycling out at the curb, take it to a recycler and get your $20 to put toward basic needs
• Involve your children in the household finances. My wife and I gave her daughter $100/mo. for groceries (she's 17) and took her with us to the store each month. She bought breakfast and lunch foods for herself, and we took care of dinners for all of us. The result was that she started eating better and we were able to control our grocery budget much better as well. It forced us all to plan for our meals with more forethought, leading to us not finding ourselves without food during the week (which always resulted in a pizza delivery or eating out $$$!)
• Keep the blinds closed in the summer, use a fan and not the AC, unplug or turn off power switches for all items in your home when not in use, Wear extra clothes in the cold days, do not turn on the heat, don't go out to eat, walk or ride a bike to get to work or errands.
• lower your insurance premiums
• Pay down debts
• pay with cash. put the credit cards away
• Redeem aluminum cans
• Review your income tax withholdings versus a tax refund, and considering changing your withholding to increase your take-home pay regularly rather than receive it in a lump sum when you file taxes.
• Review your insurance, phone, cell, cable TV plans
• Shop at a used book store
• Shop at thrift stores
• shop freecycle, craigslist; or auction sites, even for new merchandise,
• spend time with your children
• Start by creating a household budget to track your expenses and monitor your savings plan. I use an Excel spreadsheet that my wife and I developed. It's simple and straightforward, and much easier than Quicken or those other so-called 'helpful' money management programs.
• Stay and play at home
• Stay away from ATMs
• Stay home, don't travel as much
• Turn off the TV and the computer; read a book instead