[Rochard]

In the past few months I've trimmed a lot of fat, and the silly stuff is the first to go. I just decided we were spending too much money on a monthly basis on stupid shit.

First up was car insurance - We shopped around and got our insurance dropped.

Pest control? Do we really need that? Do we have so many pests that it's a problem?

The alarm company...... Do we really need 24 hour monitoring? We shut that off. I want it mostly for at night when we are sleeping - I don't want someone snatching my kid.

Even my landscaper.... He was coming every week and charging me $20 a visit just to trim my lawn. I turned down the water on the sprinkler system (saving me yet more money), which caused my lawn to grow slower, so now he comes every other week.

Next up is power. I live in Northern California and this time of year is pretty neat. It's cold in the morning but yet warm in the late afternoon. We haven't run the heat or the AC in the past two months. In the morning we open up the windows, let the house remain cool, and then when it heats up outside we close everything up. By the time the house gets warm again it's dark out, and we open up the windows again.

All of this must have saved me about $500 a month......

But one of the main problems with our industry is that it's run on credit - and credit right now has taken a crap.