Recent good idea's to save $

[Live And Learn]

We have 5 Verizon phone contracts and as they expire we are moving, unless someone has a better idea to TracPhones. That way each phone service can be customized and priced by use and need.

Anyone else doing that? If so hows it working for you?

I just moved 4 Verizon phones to PagePlus (uses Verizon network). We don't use our cellphones alot so I got 4 $80/2000 minute/1 year cards. Went from $120 / month to $320 per year for cellphones - savings of $1,120 per year ! They have several plans, so you might want to check them out.

Raised thermostat from 73 to 74 degrees. Saved $30 on a one month bill. Over 5 hot months that will be $150 annual savings. Trying to get DH to "suffer" with 75 degrees to see how much more that saves.

 

[Walt34]

Anyone else doing that? If so hows it working for you?

We've been using Tracfones for about the last 8 or 10 years, they're fine for our purposes. But then we don't talk a lot when out and we maintain a land line because cell phone reception is spotty where we live. Great when it works, not so good otherwise.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

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

Black and Decker TLD100 Thermal Leak Detector $28.02 at Amazon.

It is a fun toy to play with. It found many leaks for me.

 

[Walt34]

Black and Decker TLD100 Thermal Leak Detector $28.02 at Amazon.

It is a fun toy to play with. It found many leaks for me.

Thank you, I didn't even know something like that existed. At least not at an affordable price. I put it on my wish list at Amazon and will order one later.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Black and Decker TLD100 Thermal Leak Detector $28.02 at Amazon.

It is a fun toy to play with. It found many leaks for me.

Thanks, I have added that to my Amazon queue. I'll treat myself next time I have enough CC rewards to pay for it.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

Raised thermostat from 73 to 74 degrees. Saved $30 on a one month bill. Over 5 hot months that will be $150 annual savings. Trying to get DH to "suffer" with 75 degrees to see how much more that saves.

We are at set at 78 in the summer so I am doing some laughing here.

 

[Vincenzo Corleone]

My wife and I switched cell phone service from Verizon (~$70/month) to Republic Wireless ($20/month - unlimited voice and text; unlimited data only when within wifi range). I recently bought an OBI 100 VoIP telephone adapter which, when configured with Google voice, allows us to make and receive free national phone calls and dirt cheap international calls from our usual home telephones - allowing us to ditch the monthly phone service charge. Still trying to find a way to get rid of the Verizon Fios television service. That's a tough one though because DW's mother comes to stay with us for about six months of the year from Romania, and Verizon has Romanian programming.

 

[In-control]

I keep trying to get myself to do this, but I just break my ESPN addiction. Hate those guys.

I know - that and some of the local stations, MA, like NESN own the market and if you want to see, i.e., the Celtics, play you have no choice except to buy an NBA League pass for $150/year and be subject to stupid blackout games.... gerrr

 

[RetiredAndFree]

Switched from Verizon's ancient Family Plan (since the mid-90's I think) to StraightTalk, going from $95 a month for two phones, 1000 minutes total, to $60 a month for two phones, unlimited talk and text, and, I think, 2MB of data. Since we have basic phones, we use the data for local search only, and never come close to using it all up. Have been thinking of converting to Smart phones in order to leverage the data in our plan, but just can't get excited enough to do it. Too many years of being chained to a BlackBerry via my j*b. Plus, our Kindle Fires work just fine in our normal lives. Lots of free WiFi out there.
We bought Verizon compatible Basic phones ($49 ea), and I can't tell any difference between our former 'front end' Verizon service vs our current backbone Verizon usage via StraightTalk. Should have done this years ago!

I made a bunch of other cost saving changes our first year in retirement:

- Revised housecleaning service from every two, to every three, weeks.
- Revised haircuts from every six, to every eight,weeks.
- Dropped cable and landline phone.
- Started taking group lessons in place of private lessons (dance, tennis and piano).
- Use Goldstar.com for 50% off almost all of our live theater events.
- Use TravelZoo.com for many of our travel jaunts, going wherever the next great deal is. We are able to be flexible with our travel dates in retirement, which has been a great way to leverage these 'hot' deals.
- Stopped ordering alcohol when we dine out, instead starting off the evening with our own wine and cheese plate here at home. We dress up and flirt, just as if we were already at the restaurant. Actually has turned out to be a great addition to our night-out evenings.
- Started washing our own cars.
- Dropped all online subscriptions - news, radio, credit monitoring - and use free sources instead.
- Dropped all snail mail subscriptions except one each, which we still barely have time to read.
- Cook from scratch, which is probably more a hobby for me than anything else. The result though, is that we eat wonderfully, our fridge/freezer/pantry are always full, we cut our food budget back by almost $2,000 a year, and I haven't had to increase it in the four years since we FIRE'd.
- Raised our AC to 77 in the summer, and pretty much keep it off in the winter other than a quick 15 min warm up on the occasional cold mornings. (We live in a warm climate). That added up to almost $500 in annual savings.
- Scoured our automated online banking transactions in Year One, and found a ton of stupid stuff we cancelled - life insurance, virus software for old computers, pest control (from when we had a dog, i.e., fleas).
- Raised our HO deductibles to $2000. Purchased an umbrella policy with the premium savings.

In looking through this list, there is nothing we'd go back to even some four years later. All painless stuff that isn't missed whatsoever.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

In looking through this list, there is nothing we'd go back to even some four years later. All painless stuff that isn't missed whatsoever.

Great list. We did much of the same. We have time now to go over every expense, kw of electricity and therm of gas. Doing that cut over a decade off our ER date.

We're several years in and I still keep finding things we can cut that we don't miss and without lowering our lifestyle. I wish we had done this 30 years ago but I guess better late than never.

 

[RetiredAndFree]

Great list. We did much of the same. We have time now to go over every expense, kw and therm of gas. Doing that cut over a decade off our ER date.

We're several years in and I still keep finding things we can cut that we don't miss and without lowering our lifestyle. I wish we had done this 30 years ago but I guess better late than never.

In our case, we were able to literally double our travel budget without increasing our overall spend. Powerful motivation for me to continue to stay the course.

 

[Donzo]

I get my yearly $50 dollar fee for my United miles card (Chase) waived every year. I call and threaten to switch to Capitol one or another card - $50 for 2 minutes, can't beat that!

also i have become a great online shopper. If I need something/almost anything! I can find it with free shipping at great savings.

Like may others have said - none or less alcohol with dinners out. In the past DW and I would end up with 2X the bill for dinner because of booze! This is often where the restaurants get their profit.

As discussed in "your recent repair" thread - do most of my home/auto repairs. Very rewarding monetarily and mentally!

Harvest wood from my property. Wood stove does 90% (approx) of the heat in our house. And I love the feel of radiant heat. Also do cooking on the wood stove - stews, chili and even crock pot type of cooking. Free and the house smells great all afternoon.

 

[walkinwood]

Another online tip. Before buying anything - especially online, google for coupons. Doesn't work every time, but it is amazing how often it does!

 

[Meadbh]

I have cancelled Sirius XM radio in my car, cable TV and the online newspaper that I tried out on special offer. Any regular subscription is an ongoing drain.

 

[ksr]

Another online tip. Before buying anything - especially online, google for coupons. Doesn't work every time, but it is amazing how often it does!

I try to do this, too. I've had a lot of luck with www.retailmenot.com/

 

[RetiredAndFree]

I have cancelled Sirius XM radio in my car, cable TV and the online newspaper that I tried out on special offer. Any regular subscription is an ongoing drain.

Do you remember that call that recently went viral, where a customer attempted to cancel their Comcast service and the rep argued with them for something like 45 minutes? That is almost exactly what I went through when I contacted Sirius XM to cancel our service a few years back. I was on the phone for close to 45 minutes being handed from dept to dept. It was insane. I swore I would never, ever be held hostage like that again, and to this day I will only deal with services that either bill month to month, or have an online tool for easy cancellation.

 

[Meadbh]

Do you remember that call that recently went viral, where a customer attempted to cancel their Comcast service and the rep argued with them for something like 45 minutes? That is almost exactly what I went through when I contacted Sirius XM to cancel our service a few years back. I was on the phone for close to 45 minutes being handed from dept to dept. It was insane. I swore I would never, ever be held hostage like that again, and to this day I will only deal with services that either bill month to month, or have an online tool for easy cancellation.

Fortunately my call was much easier. The agent made two lower offers, the second at 50% off, but I just said "no thank you" each time. The call lasted ~ 2 minutes and we parted on good terms.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[RetiredAndFree]

Like may others have said - none or less alcohol with dinners out. In the past DW and I would end up with 2X the bill for dinner because of booze! This is often where the restaurants get their profit.

Two recent real-life situations convinced me that ordering wine while dining out is one expensive proposition. Situation one occurred at a Morton's Steakhouse, where I noted a bottle of J.Lohr Hilltop Cabernet priced at $105. I had the identical bottle at home, including year, for which I paid $32. Situation two occurred at a Hyatt hotel bar. A bottle of Trinity Oak Chardonnay was priced at $40, for which I pay $6.99 at the supermarket, sometimes only $4.99 if on sale.

I now make a point of calling ahead to ask about corkage fees. Usually a much better deal to bring your own bottle and hand it over to them to open and pour.

 

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

We are lucky to live close to Gruene hall that has wonderful free music almost every day. Also monthly wine and beer tastings with music! Tomorrow night is Guy Forsyth who I would gladly pay to see, but he is free! Also check out local house concerts, usually a $10 donation and you bring pot luck. I did just use a $500 plane ticket voucher for an oversold flight, and my credit card rewards for an almost free weeks vacation to Roatan. I'm pretty proud of that!

 

[MRG]

Do you remember that call that recently went viral, where a customer attempted to cancel their Comcast service and the rep argued with them for something like 45 minutes? That is almost exactly what I went through when I contacted Sirius XM to cancel our service a few years back. I was on the phone for close to 45 minutes being handed from dept to dept. It was insane. I swore I would never, ever be held hostage like that again, and to this day I will only deal with services that either bill month to month, or have an online tool for easy cancellation.

They(XM) must have changed, I recently canceled 1 account, took about 5 minutes they offered 50% off for 5 months. I declined, get a snail mail every 3 months with better discounts. They all go in the trash.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[Closet_Gamer]

.

Like may others have said - none or less alcohol with dinners out. In the past DW and I would end up with 2X the bill for dinner because of booze! This is often where the restaurants get their profit.

PA is in the stone ages in most regards when it comes to alcohol licensing and sales. An interesting by-product of it being hard to get an alcohol license is that there are many "BYOB" restaurants where it's encouraged that you bring your own bottle of wine. Usually no corking fee or just a few $. One good restaurant is across the street from a state liquor store. We literally ordered apps/dinner and then DW walked across the street to grab a good bottle to go with it. She brought it back and the guy corked and poured. Apparently a lot of people do that.

BYOB is popular enough that at least one of the nicer restaurants that does have a liquor license has introduced BYOB Sundays...I think it's not a coincidence that they are down the street from the other restaurant...

It feels a little weird at first, but it's really great once you get used to it.

 

[rodi]

PA is in the stone ages in most regards when it comes to alcohol licensing and sales. An interesting by-product of it being hard to get an alcohol license is that there are many "BYOB" restaurants where it's encouraged that you bring your own bottle of wine. Usually no corking fee or just a few $. One good restaurant is across the street from a state liquor store. We literally ordered apps/dinner and then DW walked across the street to grab a good bottle to go with it. She brought it back and the guy corked and poured. Apparently a lot of people do that.

BYOB is popular enough that at least one of the nicer restaurants that does have a liquor license has introduced BYOB Sundays...I think it's not a coincidence that they are down the street from the other restaurant...

It feels a little weird at first, but it's really great once you get used to it.

Yeah - but the state store in my old neighborhood (suburban Philly) was terrible for wine selection. (It was nicer a few miles away in Chestnut Hill).

I learned to buy the wine across the river in New Jersey - then bring that to the restaurant.

 

[SunnyOne]

Several months ago, I was given the opportunity by my employer, to work from home. Initially, I was amazed at the savings in transportation costs, clothing, shoes, coffee and lunches out, etc.

Then I noticed something interesting - my utility bills have gone up, purchasing greater amounts of kitchen supplies (detergent, foil, plastic, etc) due to eating more frequently at home and needing housecleaning help more frequently.

But you cannot place a value on time and lack of commuting stress, although it forces one to be more social.

TB

 

[BellBarbara]

Our savings:

We have tracfones, $75 each per year. I got my son to pay 50% of the prime membership as he uses the content and free shipping. We have a glass of wine before we go out to dinner, then order water. We often order one appie and one full meal and share - it is plenty of food. We mostly go out to lunch for an event rather than dinner as it is half price or less. We will go late in the day and have fun. We definitely get free library books to the kindles. We clip coupons and buy in quantity and freeze. We buy a lot off what we call the "scratch and dent bin" at our grocery - old veggies and fruits, meat that is frozen but about to go, etc. We will just plan meals around these immediately. We plan regular weeks of eating only what is in the house.

For travel: We use Days Inn during travel (used Marriotts when working). We set a budget per day when we do road trips and have fun figuring out how to fit in events/food/hotel - makes it fun. For example if we want to stay in a nicer hotel we will do a room picnic and save the leftovers in an ice chest for lunches. We bring our camp stove and coffee makings, plus oatmeals and pick a nice spot to stop (stops the Starbucks drop ins). We standardize on less expensive fair - like we will pick a theme, say barbecue or thai, which is pretty inexpensive. We rarely eat at expensive dinner places on the road. Bring our own alcohol that we bought on sale. Look for specials on the road, like beers and appies and turn that into dinner.

We are pretty much DIYers - except wiring and plumbing. We put most miles on one car, so the other qualifies for low mileage discount.

We really enjoy thinking of ways to save money. You have to make it fun.

 

[In-control]

Saved $100 per month on our cable bill. I installed a small indoor TV antenna that is amplified with a 50 mile range. We get 46 HD digital channels. The magic jack has been working great. We use HULU Plus and Amazon Prime for our streaming content.

Next mission is to get the moble phone bill down to $30/month each using Straight Talk instead of Verizon.