Mulah, Mulah

Lately I've been thinking a lot about different ways we could be saving money.  Are we strapped for cash?   No.  However, I think that we could definitely be making the most of how we spend our money since I don't have a second job anymore.

Most of this mentality is because I've realized that we've reached an "ok" place.  We have the essentials and that's a great feeling, so I'd like to squirrel away as much as we can... or at least finish saving for the $4500 I need for braces.

The things we could work on:

Food

We don't eat out as much as we used to, but we still primarily grab lunch out while we're at work.  Mostly this is because we switch off who gets to go home and let the dog out.  I wish we could write up a set schedule, but our workloads are always in flux and meetings sometimes come up with only a few hours notice.  Boo.  One option would be for us to keep things to make food at work so that we don't have to go out, and I'm going to start doing that.

Books

This is mostly my problem...I love books...maybe too much.  If I want a book I normally just buy it.  That might seem wasteful, but for some reason library books will never get read before I have to return them.  It's a strange paradox.  I'm going to make a vow to start going to the library more and try.

Our 3 year anniversary was yesterday (big smiles) and Mr. S got us a nook(which I can get free ebooks for)...so I think it's safe to say he's tired of every surface in our house being covered with spanking good literature. The part of me that doesn't like clutter agrees and the other half is convinced that books are the best decorations there are...it's a win-lose thing, but he gets a new gadget, I get to save some money, and one day when computer parts take over our house I can bring up my book sacrifice.  Good plan!

Pets

Our pets--and by pets I mostly mean the dog--are Spoiled, with a capital "S."  Whenever I go to Petsmart, I always come home with some new toy or a specialty bone.  My puppy could care less, although he does like the $8 a bag yogurt chewy bones only available at Petsmart.  He loves his old smelly toys, but I have to throw them out every couple of months.  Lately he has really taken to liking tennis balls.  No need to buy any of those because my pseudo-mother-in-law (what else do you call your boy toy's mother when you've been together as long as we have?) is an avid tennis player.  What I can really cut out, is the trinkets.  I've already stopped with the accessories.  That's mostly because they don't make sweaters big enough for my boy...I'm thinking I'll have to get him a sweater from the little boys section this year for Christmas cards. 

I digress.  The long and short: huge, expensive, loveable dog who needs to learn some responsibility.  I'm going to make him get a job to pay for his chewy bone habit. I jest.

Any road, what do you do to save money when you can?  I'd love some tips.