Cuttin' Costs

One of my goals this month is to take a closer look at my spending and find some "areas of opportunity" for cutting costs. While I could certainly take it to the limit and downsize like a true minimalist miser, I'm not in that dire of a financial situation that I need to consider things like selling my car and sending Fanne out to hunt and gather (although she's much better at this than you'd think).

So, here's my (reasonable) list of things to get cheap about:

Food & Drink: I already touched upon this in my last post, but my biggest money suck is definitely food—and rightfully so because it's a necessity to life, but I can certainly eat very happily and healthily on a much more restricted budget than I usually do. More specific strategies on this to come (hint: meal planning). I'm also trying to get into the habit of stocking up on wine at Trader Joe's at the beginning of the month rather than paying twice as much at the liquor store. The $4.49 bottle of Pinot that I buy there is just as good—if not better, than the $10+ one. Plus, my wine rack will look a lot more impressive at the beginning of each month. Bonus!

Car: Luckily I've finally paid the thing off (woohoo!), but my goal this month is to get into the habit of filling up the tank at the cheapest gas station (instead of wherever I can find when the gas light is on) and to start taking the back roads to and from work more often so I can cut down on my Fast Lane costs.

Fanne: Oh my god, I cannot believe how much money I spend on this animal. It's a special situation because she's diabetic and requires prescription food, insulin and needles, and unbelievable amounts of cat litter, but wow—there's got to be a better way.

The food is sort of non-negotiable because it's worked really well for her so I'm not looking to cut back there, but the insulin and needles are so freaking expensive. Has anyone ever used PetMeds.com? Is that cheaper? Is there a diabetes black market? Any other ideas for how to save on this? I already tried to up her pet insurance plan (which I may just nix altogether since it's essentially useless) to see I could pay more monthly to cover more of her expenses, but—I kid you not—they told me her diabetes was a "preexisting condition" so upping the plan wasn't an option. Really? No, really? Wow, even Fanne is a victim of our bogus health insurance system.

And seriously too, she's practically peeing me out of house and home. I need to find a way to save on litter. Do any pet owners have any great tips for this? Buying litter in bulk from BJ's or Costco? A brand that works better than another? Anything? S.O.S.

What'd I miss? What are your favorite money saving tips?