Recent good idea's to save $

[rodi]

W2R - #11 is a biggy.
We have a dvr and I've trained the kids that commercials are bad for you. It really hit home how important this was when my (then) 7 year old informed me he wanted a "sealy posturpedic mattress to get a better nights sleep."

 

[sengsational]

Did lots of the same as previous posts, but thought I'd throw in a unique "investment" kind of saving...

Since we have a weekly dinner with friends at a restaurant (ok, it's a bar), that gives a 25% discount on food for AHA members (American Homebrewer's Association), I bought the AHA membership ($38 and comes with magazine subscription too). Break-even is at about 8 visits, so it's probably saving us around $150/yr.

 

[spncity]

I cut dryer sheets in half. Sometimes fourths. Trying to remember where I got that idea...

 

[kgtest]

A few ways I have saved quite a bit of change over time:

- Buy used parts instead of new
- Service broken items yourself using youtube
- Monitor all monthly subscription fees and cancel anything unneeded
- Google and print coupons and discount codes before purchasing anything over say $50
- Look on craigslist for better deals on bigger purchases over say $50
- Buy as much food as I can at CostCo and periodically price check to ensure I am getting the best deal
- Wash my own vehicles
- Cut my own hair (although I usually pay for this)
- Take advantage of the latest high-yield industry points/rewards systems like cash back and airline points
- Challenge myself to find cheaper accommodations and rental cars etc when traveling
- Don't buy anything I don't absolutely need
- Use my military discount anywhere I can...plan on doubling down when I am a senior
- Avoid any convenience fees, late fees, fines and charges as much as humanly possible
- Buy off-brand products and only name-brand when absolutely necesarry
- Buy clothes twice a year, that's it...and only if they are on sale
- Drink only water (I quit soda/pop a few years back and a lot of the people that love me have caught on that soda is terrible and will amount to high doctor bills when older)
- Plan date nights so every night doesn't turn into Consumer Night
- When I do have to go to the store, it seems if I go during a busy time I get the hell in and out and don't spend as much moolah
- When you think you want to buy something, go for a walk around your neighborhood instead. Rationalized thoughts will ensue.
- When the Jones' get a new vehicle or toy, check your retirement accounts and compare your smile to the Jones'.

 

[Mango1956]

I needed this thread. Just cancelled Netflix. I find myself watching TV less and less. Amazon Prime will have to do for movies. Thanks for the nudge!

 

[Major Tom]

I think that knowing yourself well, and knowing what you need to be content, is key.

As W2R has said quite a few times, keeping the recurring costs down is a very effective way to keep your total expenditure down in terms of effort put forth vs savings realized.

I have low rent, which includes utilities
I have no cable or satellite TV. In fact, I have no TV, as I watch online and am currently doing it from free sources (Hulu, YouTube etc)
I have no cellphone, because my landline is cheaper
I have no car. My bicycle cost me $125 used on Craigslist

My only recurring bills are rent, landline, and DSL service. That's it.

The one thing I will not compromise on, though, is quality cat food for my kitties

 

[athena53]

Here are eleven ways of saving money that I did, am doing, or plan to do, which come to mind:

<snip>
(5) Enjoying free podcasts. There are a million online on a huge variety of topics, and the ones I choose have no commercials either.

Amen to that. I LOVE Podcasts. I was hooked when I found that I could get news n French and German, plus the BBC. Who knew? It's done wonders for my French and German vocabularies but darn it, no matter how hard I try, I still can't speak The Queen's English like the BBC announcers.

(4) Ordering nothing but water to drink with meals at restaurants.

Well, sorry, you've gone too far! DH and I just had a lovely dinner at the B&B in Hermann, MO where we're staying and splurged wildly on a $24 bottle of fine Missouri wine.

But I understand your point. Each of us has areas where we can cut back painlessly and we need to find them as early as possible and make those cuts.

 

[pb4uski]

A.....DH and I just had a lovely dinner at the B&B in Hermann, MO where we're staying and splurged wildly on a $24 bottle of fine Missouri wine. ...

Sorry, but leave your LBYM credentials at the door on your way out..

 

[chris66]

DH and I just had a lovely dinner at the B&B in Hermann, MO where we're staying and splurged wildly on a $24 bottle of fine Missouri wine.

Hope you're enjoying your stay. At $24, I'm guessing this may be a Norton. If so, as I understand it, Norton has some of the highest levels of antioxidants of any wine. So, maybe this is saving money on health? Have it with some dark chocolate...you know, for the health benefits

 

[rodi]

As W2R has said quite a few times, keeping the recurring costs down is a very effective way to keep your total expenditure down in terms of effort put forth vs savings realized.

This!

It drives me nuts that so much software is now on subscription basis. My son wants some rendering program - but it's a monthly subscription... I've told him that's against family policy. My other son wanted to get a minecraft server... again, a monthly subscription. Even with him paying, I refused to let him do it...

It's why I don't do netflix... It would drive me nuts to be paying for it on months I wasn't using it. (And trust me - I do a full analysis on amazon prime each year before continuing it.) Cutting the cable bill, phone bill, cell phone bill, reducing utilities all leave more $ in my account at the end of the month.

 

[ChainsBeGone]

I had an iPhone at work and when I made the sudden decision to ER, I really wanted to keep it. They said I could- for $550. Yeah, right. I bought a new one from Verizon for a little more and got the cheapest data plan. My monthly bill isn't much more than yours- $51- and by keeping Cellular Data turned off except when I actually use it I've stayed well below the max.
.

Thanks, it's been awhile since I've looked at phone deals. We have an old iphone4 that we had in Germany and are now locked out of it. We gave up trying to get it unlocked when we moved back to the States and DW wanted to move up to the iphone5c. We couldn't find an Apple Store when originally trying to unlock the old phone, but now we know where one is at. We'll see if they can help us unlock the old phone and maybe I can switch microchips.

 

[ChainsBeGone]

It's why I don't do netflix... It would drive me nuts to be paying for it on months I wasn't using it. (And trust me - I do a full analysis on amazon prime each year before continuing it.) Cutting the cable bill, phone bill, cell phone bill, reducing utilities all leave more $ in my account at the end of the month.

Thanks rodi, you just gave me the push I needed and I just canceled my Netflix. I too have Amazon Prime, and have been thinking that Netflix is redundant. We use the Prime 2 day shipping quite often, so it makes sense to keep that service instead of Netflix. If I want a current DVD that's not on Prime, I can just go to WalMart or Safeway and rent it on Redbox for $1.35.

 

[rodi]

Thanks rodi, you just gave me the push I needed and I just canceled my Netflix. I too have Amazon Prime, and have been thinking that Netflix is redundant. We use the Prime 2 day shipping quite often, so it makes sense to keep that service instead of Netflix. If I want a current DVD that's not on Prime, I can just go to WalMart or Safeway and rent it on Redbox for $1.35.

Yep - I use redbox to infill... but that doesn't happen as often as I expected it would have.

I'll sign up for a free month of netflix (you can do that every year or two) when the next season of house of cards comes out. I binged watched the previous seasons during a free trial month earlier this year... then cancelled netflix before the month was over.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I have started using Bing rewards to get Hulu Plus for free each month. My deal with DH was I'd rather have Hulu Plus, Netflix and Prime than pay for cable TV, but for now we have basic cable on one TV for the same price as Internet alone, so he has actually been coping just fine with basic cable plus the other 3 to watch.

We switched to Ooma for the landline number last year. For our cell phones we also went off our contract Verizon plans for a combination of prepaid T-mobile and low cost month to month Verizon for now. We bought our own modem to avoid the monthly rental fees from the Internet cable company.

My one shopping vice used to be kitchen gadgets, which I used to order from Amazon. Then I realized I could buy open box items from Amazon warehouse deals at sometimes deep discounts so I started doing that. Next after using garage sales and thrift shops to furnish a complete kitchen for one of the kiddos, I realized I could get practically new kitchen gadgets to my hearts content at thrift shops for pennies on the dollar. Plus I can resell whatever I decide I don't want on eBay or our annual garage sale for probably more than what I paid for them. Yesterday I bought a Presto pizza oven that had been on my shopping wish list for $5. It is supposed to use up to 80% less electricity than a regular oven. Plus I can use it on the patio when it is hot outside and not heat up the house like the wall ovens do. I am hoping for a $5 investment I can knock off a bit more from our monthly energy bill.

This past month was the first month ever our utility company reports show us as having lower energy usage than local energy efficient homes (bottom 20%) and we did it mostly with just changing our habits and Amazon / thrift shop gadgets and energy saving small appliances - no major insulation or big ticket items.

 

[In-control]

Started using CardPool a few years ago. Been very happy with it. Free shipping and the cards have been accurate. You have to just on the popular one fast if you want them.

http://www.cardpool.com/

 

[athena53]

Hope you're enjoying your stay. At $24, I'm guessing this may be a Norton. If so, as I understand it, Norton has some of the highest levels of antioxidants of any wine. So, maybe this is saving money on health? Have it with some dark chocolate...you know, for the health benefits

Yes, thanks, we had a great time! This was our 4th visit. The wine wasn't Norton but we did include some Norton in the bottles we bought to take home.

One other thought on saving money: DH and I managed with one car for 11 years. He was retired. Ironically, we decided to buy a second one because my job was getting too hectic and he needed it for doc appointments more often and I retired 3 months later. (Brief summary: got tired of the BS, the numbers looked good , so I quit.). We still have 2 cars but we saved a bundle having only one for 11 years.

 

[Gunny]

I have really ramped up the "frugalness" lately and finding it actually fun to see how much I can save on a monthly basis. Here are some of my saving habbits.

No cable. Use Netflix and Hulu.
Consumer Cellular. $50/month for two phones and all the voice and texts I can use. No land line.
Still drive my 02 GMC with 200k plus miles which runs good
Water with eating out meals which are limited to two a month. We really don't think eating out is a big deal and could cut it out completely.
$400/month grocery budget for three and we eat clean. We could actually cut this.
No purchase of New items if possible. Bought kid's last bike on C List and saved over $100.
Heat at 65 and AC at 78.
Limit shower time.
Hand water lawn to control amount used.
Catch rain water for garden watering.
Do my own vehicle and home maintenance when possible.
Use local library and parks for free recreation.
No fancy vacations. We own a small RV and our vacations are camping trips to State Parks.

 

[robbridg]

I haven't spent the time to read the whole thread yet so I don't know if anyone has mentioned this....I cut my own hair and trim my dog. I've been doing mine since I was 20 (over 25 years). Most guys hair are very easy to do if you are the handy DIY type of person. I started doing my dogs coat after grooming prices went up and now it's a piece of cake. I'm still working on getting my wife to let me try hers. Maybe in actual retirement. Of course hers is the most expensive.

I repair/install/make anything I feel I can tackle and still do a good job. And because it's mine I usually do a better job than the 'pro' who's just looking to move to the next $ source.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

It would be nice if we could keep this an ongoing thread. I am always looking for new ideas. I also find it fun to see how much I can save on an ongoing basis.

This week I canceled Hulu Plus and so far no one has complained.
I signed up for a program to get a $1K rebate from the water department to pay for xeriscaping the front yard.
I joined several Freecycle groups.
Received my $30 train tickets from a library program.
Received a bunch of free products like headphones and an LED bulb for doing product reviews.
Bought a new in the box grill for $5 at a thrift shop.
The local grocery store had grass fed beef overstocked and marked down to half price so I bought it all and put it in the freezer.
We went to a free lecture at the planetarium by a NASA rocket scientist.

 

[RetiredAndFree]

Various family members have pooled our library cards so that we can download ebooks instead of buying one-read Kindle books. As we all burn through a lot of books, this is collectively a big savings.

I've been working on DH to drop cable for years. I'm appalled by what we spend for cable. Of course, I never watch TV and didn't even own one prior to our marriage so I can see no downside to dropping it....

All LED lighting, all drip irrigation.

Am so in love with library e-books! And, at risk of exposing my sneaky side, a trick I use is to download them via USB cord to my old Kindle (Gen 2) which I leave turned off for WiFi. They then live there for as long as it takes me to get around to reading them. And no, it does not prevent the book from being returned. I've tested this multiple times to be sure.

I have a thought/suggestion regarding weaning your DH off of cable. Could you and he do a dry run for a period of, say a month, to see how it 'feels' to use a service like $7.99 Netflix or HuluPlus instead? Either he'll miss it terribly, and thus you'll know cable needs to remain a spending priority, or he'll discover it's kind of cool to have access to what you want when you want and join you onboard the dump-cable bandwagon.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Woodstove-chop my own
Repair, when I can, instead of replace (but how much can you repair a $30 appliance?) I broke the top to a slow cooker. The OEM was $12 but the DW found a thrift store "suitable" replacement for $1.50.
Drive a 2003 auto with 146k miles. Just replaced the terminal ends myself. Battery store said that it required a dealer. I guess they never had electronics kits as kids. Parts $5.
Have a small garden. It is more for the freshness than saving $, but the vine ripened tomatoes with fresh basil and a pinch of fresh oregano can't be beat. I just can't figure out how to grow the Mozzarella, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
Each spring I study and use volunteer plants instead of buying from a nursery. And I grow my own from clippings. A little root hormone goes a long way. This year I had volunteer mustard, butterfly bush, ornamental grasses, spirea, forsythia. Some times I do the National Arbor Day - 10 for $10.
Vacation out of season. Getting ready to go to a luxury penthouse condo on the ocean for about 50%.
Bought a $20 heat gun that tells me where I am losing heat. Insulating is easy, finding the source of the loss is not so easy. This laser gun fixes that.
Keep records of those thrift shop donations. They can pile up.
Some may not like this but I buy meats mainly on last day sale, then freeze. I am thawing wings that were originally $2.99 per pound. Last day $1.95.

 

[Options]

Disconnected or placed on a power strip all electricity using devices that use power when not in use. This has lowered my monthly electric bill.

 

[wmc1000]

i like the daily bookbub.com alerts! Every day there are 1 or 2 free ebooks that look interesting and I will never have to buy a book for my kindle again!

 

[ERD50]

Disconnected or placed on a power strip all electricity using devices that use power when not in use. This has lowered my monthly electric bill.

I have to question this often repeated advice. Yes, if you have some things that really suck power 24/7 that are rarely used, it makes sense to shut them down.

But most of these things really use very, very little power in their 'off'/standby state. Their usage may be a rounding error on your bill, not really measurable at all. You may never even recoup the cost of the power strip. And some devices will last longer being 'always on', rather than going through a power cycle.

I use a kill-a-watt meter to help determine which things warrant being shut down, and try to consider any on/off wear and tear. I stopped shutting off my old inkjet printer after I measured its standby power. It didn't even register on my kill-a-watt meter, (so even if 1/2 W, that would be ~ 3 cents per month), and turning it on/off made it go through a start up cycle that added wear and tear to it.

So be selective, or it really isn't worth it.

-ERD50

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Bought a $20 heat gun that tells me where I am losing heat. Insulating is easy, finding the source of the loss is not so easy. This laser gun fixes that.

That's a great idea. May I ask what brand you bought?