saving for meetings

[MissTrudy]

Because LDRs can be expensive, I'm wondering what strategies people use to save up for meeting your LD SO. What expenses do you cut, or do you do work on the side to earn extra cash for your trips? Or are you just rolling in dough (and if so, how can I be like you)? :lmao:

 

Currently I save up money by sharing an apartment with a roommate, so I pay less in rent than I would otherwise and use the extra money for visits. If I decide to move somewhere without a roommate though, I will have to figure out another way to save money.

[d0nnivain]

There are tons of frugal & penny pinching web sites out there. Check them out.

 

the big tricks are:

 

1. Eat in. Learn to cook healthy cheap meals & bank the savings. brown bag your lunch & take your coffee from him. That $3.50 coffee fix every morning is almost $70 per month

 

2. Drink water from your tap rather than other beverages.

 

3. Use products like Dryel to clean dry clean only clothes rather than the cleaners. I haven't taken a sweater to a cleaners in years & saved a fortune. One sweater used to cost me $7. Now a box of Dreyel costs $10 & I can clean up to 16 sweater for less than $1 each.

 

4. Buy used whenever possible

 

5. Shop around for your insurances to lower your premiums

 

6. Use coupons

 

7. Cut your cable & cell phone plans to the minimum. You may eliminate cable. Download movies on the Internet or rent them for free from the local library.

 

8. Drink at home not in bars.

 

10. Invite friends over for nights in rather than going out

 

11. Eliminate magazine subscriptions & gym memberships.

 

12. Get a PT job

 

13. Have a garage sale or sell stuff on line

 

14. Turn a crafting hobby into cash by selling your stuff

[Els]

It's hard to give you advice on budgeting when we don't know what you're mostly spending money on. There are a few apps out there that help you track this, and d0nnivan has given you some good general advice, but you need to look at your own budget and see where most of the money is going, before you can get any tailored advice.

 

When we were LD, we were both still college students and my SO flew to me - it still amazes me how he managed to save up for it. His expenses (excluding rent, power, and mandatory stuff like tuition fees/insurance) were something like $200/month. He bought food and toiletries in bulk from the cheapest supermarket around and cooked every day, eschewed buying new clothes completely, didn't pay for any entertainment, didn't have any subscriptions except cell phone and internet. That's a bit extreme, so hopefully you won't have to go to those lengths, but it's generally possible to save a lot more than you think you can.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Elswyth

[Miss Peach]

There is a blog by a guy called Mr. Money Mustache. He also has a great money-centric forum. He has a lot of good articles about how to increase savings. Some may view him as extreme but I found it an excellent source for ideas. I don't even miss half of the stuff I used to spend money on.

[Ms. Faust]

There is a blog by a guy called Mr. Money Mustache. He also has a great money-centric forum. He has a lot of good articles about how to increase savings. Some may view him as extreme but I found it an excellent source for ideas. I don't even miss half of the stuff I used to spend money on.

 

Yup, MMM is my hubby's inspiration, though he is a bit extreme for me. I can get on board with half of what he says, but I think the end goal of financial independence is worth it the hassle for many.

 

OP, I do agree that we would need a better idea of how much you are looking at, and whether this is between states or continents. When hubby and I were long distance we only had 4 states separating us. A roundtrip flight for us was apx. $200.

 

My husband is naturally frugal, and spends very little to begin with. This is a man who if he forgets to take a lunch he will go an entire 8-12 hour shift without eating because he won't get fast food. I made considerably less then him, so the few times that I paid (early in our relationship) I worked overtime, had a second job, did not eat out, carefully planned my meals, and basically did not splurge on much of anything.

 

A friend of mine is currently in an LDR where her boyfriend is all the way across the country and her tickets usually run her at least $500. She has basically done the same thing of minimizing eating out, buying things, saving all monetary gifts, and working tons of OT. Hers is a successful LDR as her boyfriend has gotten an apartment and now they are making plans for her to move when her lease is up in a couple of months.

 

Basically good budgeting habits is what helps an LDR survive.