What is your best money saving tip?

[caninelover]

My best money saving tips:
1. Drive your car for at least 10 yrs
2. Don't buy too much house
3. Pay attention to credit score as it affects what you pay on insurance as well as loans
4. Use credit cards for the rewards & benefits as much as possible (but don't carry a balance)
5. Limit eating out, bring your lunch to w*rk & learn to creatively use leftovers to stretch the grocery budget
6. Don't chase fashion trends - buy simple, basic clothes and take care of them. Same with shoes & purses (for the ladies, unless you guys like buying shoes & purses too...no judgement )
7. Color your own hair - I just need to cover grays, so I buy the box stuff for $7 or so, vs. paying $40 or more for a salon to do the same thing. I also keep my hair cut in a simple style, and just go to Super Cuts to get it cut for ~ $18 every couple of months.
8. Buy store brands vs. name brands. For most stuff they are fine. If you try & don't like, than stick with the name brand but look for coupons. I find Costco's Kirkland brand to be good for most stuff. Also Whole Foods' 365 store brand is very good.
9. For cooking, try learning some vegetarian meals to mix in once or twice a week - will shave a bit off your grocery bill vs. eating meat every day.
10. Limit magazine & newspaper subscriptions, as they can add up every month and there is a lot of stuff on the net for free
11. When traveling pack your own food. When flying, bring an empty water bottle and fill it up at a water fountain once you are past security, instead of buying a bottle in the airport. Pack only what fits in a carry on vs. checking bags w/ a fee (plus, if it doesn't *happen* to fit on the plane...they will gate check your bag for free, vs. paying to check it in ).
12. Wash & re-use zip-lock bags & the "disposable" plastic containers.
13. Condition your hair with egg yolks instead of store bought conditioner (yes, its a little gross, but it works great...leaves my hair shiny, soft and manageable). Eat the leftover egg whites for breakfast

Hm, that's all I can think of right now. I need to look at restaurant.com again, the last time I checked it out the participating restaurant list wasn't that great...

 

[JohnDoe]

I just tried it and it worked. For the restaurant you are interested in, select the gift card you want (i.e.,) $25 dollar card for $10 and select the quantity (I selected 4). Then click add to cart. At the top of the page there should be a field to enter the code, enter "deal". It should then apply the savings.

My 4 - $25 cards (for $10 each) showed up as $40 with a savings of $32 for a grand total of $8

Note: for the specific restaurant I picked, there was a disclosure that 20% gratuity is added to the bill before the discount is applied.

Make sure you read the fine print on that web site. Some of the deals aren't as good as you think (with regards to redemption).

 

[73ss454]

Am I missing it? I don't see anything offering 80% off. Where is it mentioned?

If you sign up with Restaurant.com you will receive email offers during the month with the special deals.

When I lived in NY we used it all the time. Down in Fla there are not as many restaurants signed up with them.

It's a great deal if you live in an area where the restaurants are signed up so you have a variety of choices.

 

[simple girl]

FYI, they are doing a special "Feed It Forward" program with restaurant.com right now. You can give free $10 Restaurant.com gift certs to as many as 40 different people a day through Dec 31. Details are on the website.

 

[caninelover]

Thanks, Simple Girl...I tried the DEAL code on restaurant.com and it worked!

 

[simple girl]

Thanks, Simple Girl...I tried the DEAL code on restaurant.com and it worked!

Actually, I can't take credit for the DEAL code, that goes to bright eyed (see quote below). I posted the Feed It Forward special. But thank you for thanking me!

Hi, - there is 80% currently for restaurant.com I just bought a load of gift cards/certificates for friends and only spent $20...!!!

Use code DEAL at check out

The restaurant list has improved since when I first saw folks mention it here...thought I'd share!

 

[caninelover]

Woops...then thank you bright eyed for the code and simple girl for the feed it forward special!

 

[artist59]

Fine print

The terms and conditions state that you can only use one gift card per restaurant, per month, per party. So it's better to get one for $50 instead of 2 at $25 each.

 

[ERD50]

The 2 liter containers of soda (e.g. A&W Diet Root Beer) are much cheaper than cans, but the trick is to make the fizz last. I had one of these fizz keepers, but found, through experiments and Internet research, that they don't work.

The trick to keeping the fizz is to (a) not open the bottles when they are warm, and (b) to be extremely gentle with the bottle. That is, you act as if it's a bottle of nitroglycerin, and take it in and out of the fridge very slowly (don't keep it on the door). When you pour, for example, don't let the liquid blurp against the top of the opening. If you see any bubbles, you are being too rough.

If you pour it down the side of the glass, you'll lose a lot of fizz, so first put several ounces of cold (from the fridge) water in the glass and pour the soda into the water. This stuff is too sweet anyway, so diluting is a good idea.

With these techniques, there's still some fizz in the last pour from the bottle.

Yes, CO2 comes out of solution more easily as the liquid warms. Although I don't see where pouring into a cold glass will do anything to preserve the beverage in the bottle (but it would help keep the fizz in the glass). But keeping the bottle still and cold should help. You might even want to set it in the freezer for 20 minutes (set a timer - don't forget!) before you pour.

Soda is carbonated at up around 3.7 volumes of CO2. At 60F, that bottle will be at ~ 40PSI, but only ~ 19PSI at 32F.

Or you could go this route and buy your own syrups:


Carbonating at Home with Improvised Equipment and Soda Fountains


I've also used a similar setup with a 20oz paintball tank, an adapter and regulator. I'm normally carbonating beverages that are not so sweet and that I definitely would never water down.

-ERD50

 

[keegs]

I figure bringing my lunch and a snack to work every day rather than buying it outside or even in the cafeteria saves about $2k a year. Another one is driving a car that gets 40 MPG versus one that gets 20 MPG adds up to about $.5k savings a year for me ..it's also a hedge against volatile gas prices. For TV I use an OTA digital receiver and an antenna rather than cable. The digital receiver runs off the PC which also provides DVR ...together they save us about $1k a year. The wife calls her mom in Sweden 2x a week and talks for a good hour per call. Leveraging the cable broadband service with Vonage saves us a few hundred a year....I think...never did a comparison though. I actually enjoy finding ways to save money.

 

[bright eyed]

Woops...then thank you bright eyed for the code and simple girl for the feed it forward special!

Haha, no worries... happy to help.

 

[Free To Canoe]

You piqued my curiosity, so I researched and found this on the Web.

In Oregon, the state buys and sells all hard liquor. Independent agents receive a commission for operating the stores that sell the spirits, getting at most 8.88 percent of sales.
​

What? What kind of communist policy is that? What other goods does the state reserve for itself as the sole merchant? When traveling through some eastern seaboard states, it bothered me to have to look for liquor stores on the turnpikes, but it never occurred to me that these may also be state-owned stores.

Actually, it is more like fascism. My state, Pennsylvania has it set up where the state sells all of the hard liquior and wine in their own chain of stores. Nothing independent about that.

This is a good thread. I knew I would figure out a way to post on it.

Free is good

 

[kumquat]

This stuff is too sweet anyway, so diluting is a good idea.

.

Diluting is good, diluting with alcohol is better. Dilute your soda about 50%. Think of the savings and how much better you feel because of them.

 

[52andout]

wow, you must be rich to buy soda when you have running water in the house!

Every skill you learn can save money. I recovered my beautiful heirloom furniture in my living room- the quote I got was $2500-$3000 dollars and I did it myself for under $500. It didn't even take that long and it looks fabulous.

Now that we don't work we keep a list by the back door of any errands or things we need to do when leaving the house and consolidate trips. We rarely run out of anything that way. Tomorrow when I go to the dentist I'll stop by the library and the post office to mail a christmas package as long as I am in the area instead of making another trip today. Use less gas and make your cars last longer.

 

[TromboneAl]

Wear long underwear (top and bottom) under you clothes around the house. You can keep it 5 degrees cooler and be just as comfortable. I have some Swedish wool stuff that is very cozy.

 

[REWahoo]

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but a great way to save money on eyeglasses is to buy online from 39dollarglasses.com or a couple of others. DW bought two new pair of progressive lens eyeglasses today for about $85 each, delivered. Based on her past experience, that's 1/3 or less the price at a brick & mortar store.

Yes, I tired to tell her brick & mortar stores didn't sell eyeglasses, but sometimes she just doesn't listen...

 

[powerplay]

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but a great way to save money on eyeglasses is to buy online from 39dollarglasses.com or a couple of others. DW bought two new pair of progressive lens eyeglasses today for about $85 each, delivered. Based on her past experience, that's 1/3 or less the price at a brick & mortar store.

Yes, I tired to tell her brick & mortar stores didn't sell eyeglasses, but sometimes she just doesn't listen...

I have ordered from Zenni and have been pretty much satisfied with them. The price is about 1/5 of what I have bought glasses for locally. It is hard to select a style and sizing when you can't try them on though. Zenni charges $5 for the coating and I think just that component at Kaiser was $65 a few years ago. The savings is dramatic and I really wonder why eyeglasses can't be more affordable in the US.

 

[FreeBird]

I've also caught on to 39dollarglasses.com (and I'm sure that the other online stores mentioned are good too). Bought my first pair about 4 years ago and have purchased a couple more pair since then. Still using all of them and all under a hundred bucks. Using pre-tax dollars got them still another 1/3 lower in price. I suppose that some folks are scared they won't fit correctly when purchased online but mine have always fit perfectly. In ordering you will send them various nose-eye measurements... well worth the trouble in my experience.

 

[bright eyed]

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but a great way to save money on eyeglasses is to buy online from 39dollarglasses.com or a couple of others. DW bought two new pair of progressive lens eyeglasses today for about $85 each, delivered. Based on her past experience, that's 1/3 or less the price at a brick & mortar store.

Yes, I tired to tell her brick & mortar stores didn't sell eyeglasses, but sometimes she just doesn't listen...

I do something similar - I try on eyeglasses at several stores (I'm hard to fit) and then order online...saved nearly half the money on the frames this way. Then get them filled at local optometrist.

 

[bright eyed]

I really wonder why eyeglasses can't be more affordable in the US.

I think there is a big eyeglass conspiracy over here In Asia you can get amazing glasses for something like $10 a frame...and they can put the lenses in for you while you wait...

 

[TromboneAl]

I do something similar - I try on eyeglasses at several stores (I'm hard to fit) and then order online...saved nearly half the money on the frames this way. Then get them filled at local optometrist.

Do you mean that you write down the frame number when you try them on, and the order that frame, then bring it into the optician's and order lenses?

 

[WanderALot]

I have ordered from Zenni and have been pretty much satisfied with them. The price is about 1/5 of what I have bought glasses for locally. It is hard to select a style and sizing when you can't try them on though. Zenni charges $5 for the coating and I think just that component at Kaiser was $65 a few years ago. The savings is dramatic and I really wonder why eyeglasses can't be more affordable in the US.

Another endorsement for Zenni. DW has gotten many pairs of glasses for something like $13 and my parents also got some progressive glasses with other 'features' for close to $40 and the results have been very good. Frames are a crapshoot, but it's so cheap. DW didn't like one of the frames, so she just saves it as a backup pair. Shipment takes about 2 weeks, so it definitely pays to have a backup pair.

 

[devans0]

For DIYs, I bid the job from pros and see how much I have for a tool budget and whether I can do the job myself. After the basic tools are purchased, I am able to beat out the bids and save my profit.
I try to make each purchase pay for itself in some way. For example, when I bought a bicycle, I rode enough miles on mandatory trips to pay for the bike in gas savings.

 

[W2R]

I have a money saving tip that really works. Find something legal and free that you like to do more than shop, and that you also like to do more than shop online. Then spend a lot of time doing whatever it is.

OK, get your minds out of the gutter! I'm thinking things like going for a walk, spending time at the library, playing a beloved video game that you already own but that is gathering dust, practice pencil sketching, dust off that guitar in the back of the closet, do math problems if that appeals to you.

 

[ERD50]

I have a money saving tip that really works. Find something legal and free that you like to do more than shop, and that you also like to do more than shop online. Then spend a lot of time doing whatever it is.

I don't think you understand the male mind (do any females? And vice versa!).

Most males HATE to shop! We would do just about anything to avoid it! We don't need motivation to avoid it. We would rather do just about anything else at all.

My #1 gift request for years has been "clothes". Saves me the agony of shopping for clothes. Priceless.

The time I spend shopping online is to get the best value, not to find ways to spend. So that's a $ saver (but time killer).

-ERD50