Reaching out!

Lately,I have been wondering what one of my audience members has to say about thrifty shopping. So I reached out to Janae Griffin, a student at Towson University. She recently was laid off from her job and I was curious how her spending has changed, so I asked her few questions.

1. Since you lost your job recently, how have your spending adapts changed?

Not that I have ever been a big spender, but my expenses have really been cut in half! I pinch my pennies a lot now when I go shopping. Before I lost my job I would treat myself to a a little something extra when I go to the market, or I may go out to eat or visit a shoe store . Now a days I am sacrificing a lot of my leisure activities to save my money for big bills such as car payments.

2. What do you find yourself saving now?

Food is usually my biggest expense aside from my regular bills so I find myself saving by making a big trip to the market maybe twice a month and then fixing my meals to go rather then stopping at a fast food joint. Before I didn't have the time to invest in making my meals but now that I have no job I have a lot of time on my hands! Also I'll do things like buy all of the components of a salad and make it up myself rather than buying those bags of salad for convenience. Little things like that make a big difference.

3. Where have you made cut backs in your budget?

I have cut back on going out for leisure activities such as the movies or going out to dinner. Also I put less gas in my car and try to limit the places I go. Before I would just fill my gas tank up and telll all of my friends "Hey let's go out" but nowadays if it's not school or home then I am not driving to it,lol.

4. When you go shopping, what stores do you go into first? Also do you find yourself looking at the price tag more?

When I do get the time to shop I go into H&M and New York and Company. Right now shopping has been completely cut out of my budget so I don't have to worry about looking at prices! But when I do something like market shopping I definitley look at prices and add things up as I make my way through the store to make sure I am not overspending.

5.Any advice for other people who might be in the same situation or future concerns.

SAVE SAVE SAVE! Even if it is a dollar a day try to save. You will be a happy camper if you have a couple of dollars sitting on the side after you've lost your job. Also apply for your state's unemployment benefits!

Thank you Janae for letting me interview you. Good luck saving!