Cheers! Here's to Saving Big Bucks for Wine Drinkers

Cheers! Clink.  I love a crisp white on hot days with cold grapes and a hunk of Vermont cheddar.  In cooler months, it is a warming red with dinner, by itself, or with a piece of dark chocolate while sitting on the couch in front of the fire.  My husband and I together, on average, drink 3 bottles of wine per week, depending on the week and depending on if we have company or are throwing a party.  For this instance, let's just stick with 3 bottles per week, or 12 bottles a month.

My favorite red is from Chocolate Box.  The first time I sipped it, I thought I had gone to grape heaven in a beautifully woven hand-basket.  The thing is, Chocolate Box costs around $20 per bottle, but it is so yummy! Since moving closer to the coastline, my white of choice is a lovely bottle of Beach House: a perfect "house" wine for us since we have gone from concrete to sand.  It has a more palatable price of only $10 per bottle.

Just for example's sake, let's say that we drink white May-September and red October-April.  Our white cost per year would be $600.  Our red consumption would add up to $1,680. Total Yearly Wine Purchases:  $2,280.

The simple solution, of course, is to cut back on drinking or to find a wine you like that costs less.  Let's start with cutting back. We looked at our consumption and cut back to 2 bottles per week.  If we stuck with our current wines of choice--Total Cost: $1520. Yearly Savings: $760.

OR we could find less expensive wines to drink on a regular basis while not cutting back.  Our friends introduced us to Black Box Wines.  I can hear the collective inhale:  yes, wine in a box.  Remember those from college years?  BUT Black Box Wines are good; the flavor is satisfying for weekly consumption and we actually enjoy them on special occasions as well.   Each box costs around $20 (yes, I said $20) and contains the equivalent of 3 bottles of wine.  It comes in a sleek, black box that fits nicely in a corner--whether on the counter, in a pantry or in the refrigerator for the whites.  With the bag sealing, the flavor lasts for up to four weeks.  There are more pluses: its box doesn't break when you transport it, it is lighter than 3 bottles of regular wine and it is recyclable.  If it isn't available at your local liquor store, ask them to order it (Sometimes you get a discount for buying cases.  Just ask.) or try to find it on line.  A couple of things to remember: some states do not allow the receiving of liquor through the mail and the cost of shipping.  If you look long enough, you may be able to find it with free shipping.  Total Cost: $960.  Yearly Savings:  $1,320.

Now,  IF we cut back to two bottles a week and drink Black Box Wines, our Total Cost:  $620 with a Yearly Savings: $1,660!

Now that is something to cheers about!  Lift those glasses!

Start Saving Now!

Once the din settled down in my head, I pulled out a piece of paper and pen.  I knew that I had to take a hard look at our monthly spending with Superman x-ray vision.  I remembered enough about fixed costs, variable costs and mixed costs from high school economics class to know that much of our spending was variable.  But I also knew that I also had control over mixed costs.

How about a little economics 101?  A fixed cost is one that you cannot change, like your mortgage or a car payment.  Examples of variable costs are ones you can change such as food, entertainment and clothing spending.  Mixed costs are just that---a cost that you have to pay but you have some control over:  electricity and water bills.  You have to pay those bills to keep the lights on and the water running but you can turn off the lights and fix leaks to help with the costs.  More on those later.

I started with our variable costs and discovered that there was a lot of mindless spending.  I didn't get all technical with it:  I just did a quick go through in my head and made an educational guesstimate of the monthly costs.  Here we go:

House Keeper (Stop whining and get out that elbow grease:  $400
Data Plans on iPads (WiFi--need I say more):  $50
Local Coffee Shop (Love their Chi and muffins...hubby loves the iced coffee):  $100
Buying Lunch (It is OK to eat at your desk, honey):  $125
Going Out (had to go!): $200
Clothing and Random Crap I Buy at Target (Although I LOVE Target, snif!):  $300
Exercise Classes (Yoga, Ballet--what's wrong with walking?):  $150
Guitar Lessons for my Son Who Doesn't Practice (He isn't going to be a Rock Star):  $100
Mani/Pedi, Eyebrows, Facial ( that is what a good washcloth, tweezers and pumice are for):  $150
Going to Movies (wait for Netfilx, On Demand or Pay Per View): $100

Total Monthly Mindless Spending:  $1,675 (What??)
Yearly Mindless Spending:  $20,100 (Really?!?!?!)

I know!  I had gotten so used to our lifestyle we'd had over the "fat years" that it never occurred to me how much we were spending on goods and services we didn't need.  Now, of course, there are some trade-offs.  I still have to buy clothes for my growing children, just not as many.  My husband has to each lunch, he just doesn't have to buy it at a restaurant.  I have to use cleaning products to clean my house.  However, those costs pale in comparison to what we were mindlessly spending.

I got rid of all of the above amenities immediately.  Over the months, I came up with other ways to cut cents and dollars that actually add up to a significant savings.  I will share those with you day by day as well as look at some of the above line item costs.

Until then, grab a pen, paper and calculator and make a list of your mindless spending.  It may be less than mine or even more.  Regardless, these are things you can either cut out all together or figure out a way to cut back the cost as much as comfortably possible.  For me, it wasn't a tough decision to make and not really painful to implement:  it is what I had to do.  Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.