OK, so basically our economy seems like it was hijacked by Black Bart. I went into a local yesterday Einstein’s Bagels and it was empty. They said is has been very slow and people’s hours were being cut big time. My guess is you are trying to make the most of your money, especially now.
Being a YL leader can cost you a fair amount of money. Here are a couple ideas about how to save money as a YL leader:
- No Starbucks. Some of my friends affectionately call it "Five-Bucks". Not only for yourself, but it is kinda the standard phrase to say, "hey lets do coffee" or "lets do Starbucks". How about meeting at McDonalds? My wife says their iced coffee thing is pretty good. I’ve been meeting people at Wendy’s and we get $0.99 Frosty’s. (Ummm I love Frostys). Basically avoid Starbucks. You can even feel like one of those "down with the establishment" people.
- Paying for school events. Many schools will give you free passes to games if you explain what are you are doing. (Use the word "mentor", they like that). Ask the front desk or teachers or coaches. Your staff person can help with this.
- Carpool to club. Basically carpool everywhere. Maybe ask a kid to pick you up if they can… Why not?
- Fun is free. Dust off the board games and all the stuff you already have. You don’t have to go see movies or anything like that. Also don’t do Pizza Olympics club, that always costs me like $50-75.
- If you expect paying for camp to be a problem, tell you team leader or staff person ASAP! They might be able to help you figure it out if you give them enough time. If you tell them two days for camp then you might be out of luck. Don’t be prideful and don’t wait.
What are some of your ideas how to save money these days?
One thought on “How to Save Money as a YL Leader”
My friend Doug from Canada had there great ideas…
What about….
… using a charge card for your gas – we save 5c/litres and get points
… buying herbal tea for the office in stead of going out
… bringing a lunch/snack to work so when we hang out at lunch time we don’t need to buy lunch
… use the discounts at http://www.staff.younglife.org
… remove the extras from your phone package (saved me $60 but then I got the iPhone!)
… drop to the lowest speed of internet at home if your office has high speed
… call your cable company and see if they can reduce your bill Just some of things I thought of really quickly.
Eating and Starbucks was killing me and the area budget so now I just get regular brewed coffee when I’m out with kids (or a Misto which is half the price of a latte but just as good). I also offer to drive kids to lunch but then get them to make sure they bring their own money for lunch.
We also have a deal here where I share a corporate copier in our leased office and it has saved us so much! I get all m copying and b&w prints for free as the businesses love what we do with kids.