Budgeting resolution?

Since we have had a very tight budget that would give most anyone a panic attack, I thought I'd offer my advice for creating and sticking to a budget. In no particular order
- evaluate what you spend. Shockingly, gifts is a huge spend for us each month. There is no way to really get around this, other than to plan for it ahead of time! Also making gifts is a good idea, but I usually spend more making a gift than buying it. Is this weird?
- use mint.com. Set it up and then each Sunday night go through and categorize everything. This way all those alerts will diasapear and you will know what is being spent where.
- another huge spend for us are work lunches. Bring a loaf of bread, some peanut butter and jelly. No planning or tupperwares.
- we spend 500 a month on gas. No advice here, just venting. Sorry! Tyler just has a long commute.
- turn down the thermostat. I am perpetually cold, so this sucks, but it does make a difference. My lower limit is 65 at night and 68 during the day. However, I do know people that turn it down to 59 at night. This is insane, but I may have to do this someday!
- avoid any type of monthly payment. No, I am not saying stop paying the bills, but nix cable, gym, Netflix, data phones, what else is there? Anyway, this may suck too but we are talking about saving cash and saving for something amazing, or just pay off debt! Nothing beats that feeling!
- food. Ah, the category in budgeting that I hate the most. Hate is a strong word, but I am using it. For some reason this is where budgeting gets tricky. If we have an excess of gifts to buy that month, guess where the money comes from? The grocery budget. Suck.. We have three mouths that are constantly hungry. I am NOT a coupon shopper. Maybe I am too prideful. Well, probably I am. It seems most those coupon foods are just junk promo items and I would eat twice the amount of junk that I already do. Here are my grocery tips not using coupons:
:make a list of commonly bought items and compare prices between stores. For example we compared Costco, kroger and Meijer (a local version of WalMart) we found that unless an item was on sale at Meijer, Costco was always less expensive. Kroger was always more expensive.
:use what you have and get creative! You know all those canned foods you never use? What about that giant bag of (fill in the blank). Use it! You would not believe how many dinners and lunches I have put together when I "didn't have anything planned" or set aside
:make it from scratch. Do you love bloomin onions? hamburgers? Milkshakes? Make them at home and save a bundle. Plus, you don't have to tip and will come across amazing recipes!
:don't buy cereal. Put this on the crazy list. I know. But having a huge can of oatmeal to make from scratch is way healthier and much cheaper than spending $3 to $6 on one box of cereal that will last us a day. Literally, that is how fast we go through the stuff.
:don't buy expensive meats, or meat at all. This may not be an option if you or someone you love is a huge carnivore, but you can buy a ton more veggies or even organic if you don't have to spend $10 to $20 on a cut of meat.
:plan ahead. Every Friday I do not feel like cooking. If I have something frozen, like a pizza, on hand, I don't have to worry about spending eating out. Plus digiorno with breadsticks, cookies or wings included in the box is way too genius of an idea to pass up.
:avoid grocery shopping like the plague. The less you do it, the less money you spend
:stock up on basics like milk, eggs, flour and rice. You will be amazed at what you can make!
:find some great cookbooks. This is good motivtion
-find tips that work for you. Maybe you are not willing to turn down the heat, but you are willing to cover the windows with plasic and turn down the hot water heater. Just do it!
-swallow your pride and shop at the Salvation Army. I got Ava a whole school wardrobe for less than $100.
-haircuts. Yeah, you know what that means. Long hair that your significant other will love (even if you hate it), and more natural color. You could also try to do the color yourself. I cut our family's hair. If you need a tutorial let me know!
-really evaluate needs and wants. When our kids were babies I got their photos taken at 4, 8 and 12 months instead of 3, 6, 9, and 12. Now each birthday I take their photos myself. We do have a nice camera, but the money saved from photo sessions is piling up!

Those are my best tips. I didn't inclue stupid things like nixing vacations because that is too obvious. If you have to buy it with a credit card, don't do it.

Best wishes for you all in the New Year. Maybe we'll all strike it rich this year and never have to worry about topics like this again!