I live modestly so I can travel. I don't own a car. The bus system here is excellent, and my employer gives us free buspasses. I bring my lunch to work. These 2 things saves me so much money.

Do you alter your lifestyle to have travel funds?

Where do you live? I knew some Jandas in Chicago, when I was at Northwestern. Anyway, I don't give up anything, I just do extra jobs on the side (I'm a public school teacher, so I supplement my meager earnings with freelancing as a musician). I definitely make a point to live within my means, so I save up for travel. Seeing the world is more important than buying a lot of junk! Take care.

I'd rather live under my means and see the world, and have my experiences, pictures, etc., than grow old and have all these things but nothing else.

Amp,
I live in Seattle now but from Kansas originally. I have only met one other Janda.

When I went to Italy for the first time in 1999 I worked 2 jobs to afford it also. Now my job allows me to do so without having to work another. A true blessing.

Do you travel alone? This will be my first European trip alone. I am really looking forward to lingering in squares over a glass of wine. I was surprised to hear from many woman on this board that travel alone and really enjoy the freedom of it.

I drive a 16 year old car and I eat more restaurant meals in Europe than I do in the USA. Of course, where I live, not eating in a restaurant is easy because they are uniformly not to my liking.

Amazing what not spending $25,000 on a new car will do for personal cash flow.
On a $25,000 loan at 4% true rate, the payments for 3 years are still over $700 monthly.

That is 2 trips of 4 weeks per year.
At least it was until the dollar declined 30% or so in value against the euro.

My car is ten years old; it's so true, the average American throws away hundreds of dollars each month on an object that depreciates steadily. My little old Ford Escort gets me and my groceries home from the supermarket just as well as as my neighbors' SUVs! Some of my kids' friends (who are used to nice new SUVs and minivans) are just fascinated with our "low rider" with the hand-cranked windows.

Good post...amazing what making some cuts can do...
My husband and I reevaluated our spending habits...here is what we have come up with...
1) Cut cable to only basic
2) One cell phone in family...for my husband since he travels and can deduct for business
3) Eat at home
4) Our cars are both new but we plan on driving them as long as we can...our next cars will definitely be used
5) We wait for movies to come out for rental or else if it is a must see on big screen we go to matinee..
6) Our possessions...we have kept to minimum ...we have antiques...great because they hold their value..one day you can sell and pretty much get your money back.
7)We pay ourselves first. We bank as much as we can.
8) I keep a copy of "The Millionaire Next Door" next to my bed and I reread portions periodically if I get the overwhelming urge to buy something I don't really need.
9) We have family and friends over at our house and play board games, watch movies, grill hamburgers or we come up with something to do such as a daytrip or something...
10) We have a small slush fund that we use to play the market...we have a better chance with the stock market than we do gambling in Vegas or playing the Lottery. It is money that we are prepared to lose so if we lose it is no big deal.
11) We have no maid..I clean the house myself.
12) I use the Library instead of buying books.
13) I love to go to Garage sales..you never know what you are going to find and my best finds have been there instead of overpriced Estate Sales.

I could go on and on..these cuts have made a huge difference in our budget...

Bob and Anonymous...since the market is flooded with used cars I have had friends who have gotten unbelievable deals on some used cars...I wish we had definitely bought used...

We live in Europe and here are some of things we've given up to stay here:

1. Owning our own home. At some point, we may buy a home, but right now, renting is much more sensible.
2. Having any influence on local/regional/national government. We can't vote in Belgian elections (which is understandable, of course).
3. American style amenities--i.e., most apartments in Europe have small kitchens, small (if any) closets, no air conditioning (and no SCREENS on windows, something we really miss!), no laundry rooms (or fast working American style appliances--we have a top quality Miele brand washer and it takes nearly 1.5 hours to wash a single load).
4. Bargain shopping--prices for clothes, etc., are usually higher than they are in the U.S. (and the quality is not always better), sales are government regulated, held only twice a year. The kind of customer service we got at our Portland Nordstrom's is unheard of here. Returning anything is very difficult. Exchanging things is not so bad, but European merchants are extremely reluctant to give money back, no matter how defective the product.
5. Limited shopping hours. Most stores here, including grocery stores, close at 6 pm. (In Germany, stores close even earlier--anywhere from 2 to 4 pm on Saturdays, in small towns as early as noon or 1 pm on Saturdays).
6. The ease of dealing with everyday life in English. My French is good enough to deal with utility workers, commune personnel, etc., but sometimes I would just love to speak in plain English.
7. A more expensive, more complicated and less certain lifestyle--European taxes are higher (a LOT higher in most cases), fees pile up, and there's no safety net for non EU expats. As an American, if you lose your job here, you get no unemployment insurance, and the loss of a job *can* mean cancellation of your residency permit. It's a risk you have to be willing to take.

We greatly enjoy living in Europe and all its travel/culture opportunities, but we have had to give some things up.

I just wanted to comment on the new/used car debate - I don't do either . I always lease cars. Teh car payment is about half the amount each month of a "new" car but you still get the benefits. Plus, with a lease you don't pay for maintenance other than say oil changes, tires and wipers, everything else including costly breakdowns and repairs are covered by the leasing agent. I don't like to drive cars outside of warranty and buying a new car every 50,000 miles is too expensive so this works for me. By the way, I have an SUV but it is the scaled down compact variety the Jeep Liberty and my monthly payment is $273, I made no security deposit or down payment ,only paid the first month payment at inception so I would say that is not too bad!

I also skimp as well, while friends are headed out for facials, massages, manicures, etc, I try to hold these down to a "special occasion once a year thing! I also shop at plays like Big Lots, and the Dollar Tree (even cheaper than Walmart) for things liek detergent, papertowls and other oridinary household items. I also take my clothes I don't wear to consignment and make money on them. (I took several summer clothes at the beginning of the season and have already made $300 on them). Finally I get abonus at work every year which is substantial. I haven't been there long enough but some people say in the good years, they got as much as $12k for their January bonus! Last year was the worst in company history and we still got a little over $3k before taxes but I think the average runs around $5 or $6k. Anyway, I devote my entire bonus after taxes to only to things: 1) paying the IRS if I happen to owe them that year and whatever left over is vacation money! it works for me

We live in a comfortable but modest home and eat most meals in. Our cars are paid for and we only have one credit card with a balance on it and we use it for miles. We both like casual clothes so we don't spend a lot there and they travel better.

BTilke
You have certainly given up a lot. I really don't think I could do it. Especially no Air or screens.

We live in Munich so everything BTilke said! Plus, we don't have cars, no cool big screen TVs or DVD players, we dress casual for work so no big outlay there, we don't eat out much, no maids (I wish! ar ar), etc, etc ,etc. We lead a simple life and don't spend much money on anything but travel. I have never added up what we spend on travel in a year and I really don't want to know! ar ar ar

i think we'll find a lot of commonalities here. We also are careful about our money. I cook a lot even though I work full-time. Good home-cooked food just tastes better, is cheaper and better for your health. We don't smoke, drink, gamble. Always buy the best we can afford on sale. Have decided to stay in our home, which we own, and resisted the impulse to upgrade to a bigger more elaborate home. We charge everything we can on the credit card, pay it off entirely every month, and get our travel award points. We also have found what style clothes and colors look best on us, so most items mix and match. Again, great quality, at sale prices.

I've always either packed my lunch or have been fortunate to be able to go home for lunch. Basically, we don't squander our money, watch it carefully, but we certainly live a good life. Our local library has book sales that are unbelieveable. For $1.00 I buy the latest novels.

Bottom line, if we didn't develop this lifestyle, we probably wouldn't be able to travel as frequently as we do. How sad at the end to have regrets that you never got to see at least part of this world.

Thankfully, my maid, Esmeralda, is an illegal alien, so I pay her almost nothing to clean my house. I also transfer cheap Gibley's gin to Tangeray bottles whenever I have a dinner party. (My alocholic friends never know the difference.) And finally, whenever I dine with companions at places like Le Bec Fin, Fountain, or Fork, I run to the toilet when the check arrives and stay in there until someone else pays.

Hello JandaO, I know this is off the topic, but since you mentioned that you know only one other Janda I just thought I'd mention that my daughter had a Spanish teacher here in NYC whose name is Miss Janda. Maybe a long lost relation?

sunlover, I think you're doing a lot of good, sensible budget things, but I had to LOL at your leasing strategy. I've had no car payment for 6 years, so that leaves me with over $3,000 for vacations that you're spending on lease payments ($273 x 12 = 3273). To me, leasing just looks like a way to guarantee that you'll always have a car payment!

Anonymous LOL all you want but if you haven't had a car payment in 6 years that means at a minimum your car is 6 years old (I would guess older as most people don't go to the dealer and pay cash for a new car). As I said I refuse to drive a car outside of its warranty, too many things can go wrong and add up to big repair bills which are unexpected not to mention that as cars get older and have higher miles they get worse gas mileage. Oh well, to each his own I always say at least I am not buying a new car every 3 or 4 years (now that is a waste of money).

Couple of other things I forgot to mention about money saving tips: I don't own a cell phone or pager (if anyone wants to get a hold of me they can leave a message at work or home). Also I use a miles credit card and have my long distance tied to the same airline. I always buy gas on miles card and make travel reservations on same, anything travel related charged earns you double miles! I don't take my lunch to work as I don't have time to get everything ready but I usually eat a McDonalds Happy Meal or somesuch fast food value deal totaling $4 or less. If I do go out to a sit down restaurant I never eat the whole thing and I take a doggy bag back to the office fridge and eat the leftovers the next day for lunch! I also love the movies but only do matinees on Sunday afternoon because it is about half the cost! I too use the library or the used paperback trademart to fill my love for reading and I NEVER repeat NEVER buy Starbucks! Such a waste of time some of my coworkers go downstairs every morning about 10 am and buy a $4 Starbucks (that is as much as I spend on lunch!)

One thing I have to laugh at that many people say they don't do to save money but it is the one luxury I refuse to part with is a housekeeper! I work 60 hours/week. The last thing I want to do is get up on Saturday morning and spend 4 hours cleaning the house(soemtimes I work on saturday and I go to church on Sunday so that makes even less relaxing time). By that time it is 1 o'clock in the afternoon and I haven't even showered or done anything all day. To me time is money. I live alone so my house doesn't get too messy except for maybe cat hair and general dust, so I only have the housekeeper come in every otehr week. It costs me $120/month ($60/visit) but it is worth it to have her come on Fridays during the day so that when I come home from work, I can really relax and not have to think about more work around the house. Yes this is extravagant but I would rather live on penut butter and crackers and forgo something else than give it up. I know I'm crazy but that's jsut me!

A number of years ago, one of our local newspapers had a column called "Skinflint Tips" and I'll never forget one tip sent in by someone. This person said that they cut wide rubber bands in half, lengthwise, so that they could get two rubber bands from one.

I'm sure it *had* to be joke, but you just never know...

We don't skimp on alot, however, we are in our 40's and have no kids...Up until 2 months ago we lived in a very small house..My husband drives an 88 half ton, and I lease a Saturn with very low payments...Our main thing we don't do is expensive entertainment..Although we do eat out from time to time, we have company in and do not do alot of outside entertainment, i.e we basically drink at home..Although, travel takes up most of our money, I cannot think of any better place to put it..What we get out of travelling is far more rewarding than a full bank account!!

WOW...you guys are disciplined! Great tip on using the library instead of buying books. I'm a single mom, homeowner,and I drive a fairly new but modest car. I don't do alot of expensive entertaining, we don't have cable, my son is 2 years old, so that really limits where we can go out to dinner if ever.

SUNLOVER: I hear ya. I have a cleaning service come once a month and I just can't live without them!