What is your best money saving tip?

[Sparky]

I dropped all but basic cable - bill went from about $70 per month to $14.95. I went from 3 at a time Netflix to 1 at a time - $9 per month, I'm getting about 8 movies a month.

Shop at Aldi's.

 

[OAG]

Dropped Cable Phone Service and went to F&F Cell Phone Only @ $10 a month: Savings about $35 a month.
Dropped "Extended" Basic Cable TV Service and went to pure Basic for $16 a month: Savings about $20 a month.
Have always serviced my own car (Oil & Filter Changes, Wheel Rotation (all 5 which saves about 20% over the 4 wheel rotation, brakes, etc.,). Also went to a single vehicle about 15 years ago.
Set Back Thermostat 80 in summer and 55/65 in winter.
All purchases possible are put on "cash back" PENFED Visa Card.

 

[youbet]

900 out of 850 possible ?...

Pays in advance.......

 

[youbet]

Am about ready to drop cable.

I've been threatening to do that for a couple of years. I'd miss a few Bears and Cubs games a year now that ESPN somehow got rights to do a few exclusively. DW watches some movies, cooking and other stuff on cable channels. But when I tally up the hours we spend watching stuff only available on cable, they turn our to be pretty pricey hours. $55/mo for cable and we spend maybe 20 - 25 hours/mo watching cable channels.

I'm about ready to pull the switch. DW is a little hesitant. She has come around a little since I installed a digital converter box on her Mom's TV (MIL uses only OTA, can't afford cable) and she has seen that there are a number of new, extra channels available OTA inlcuding a dedicated weather channel, etc.

Note: We live in suburban Chicago and a simple antenna gets us a lot of OTA signals. I think if you live in the boonies, you have a different problem as you might require a big outdoor antenna to get just a few OTA channels. BTW, that was how cable TV started. It was called CATV (Conmmunity Accesss TV) and was simply a large comminity antenna system fed to subscribers houses so that each house didn't require a tall tower and rotary antenna. Then it expanded to picking up satellite signals directly. And finally cable channels (programming never broadcast over the air) came into plan.

 

[ziggy29]

I've been threatening to do that for a couple of years. I'd miss a few Bears and Cubs games a year now that ESPN somehow got rights to do a few exclusively. DW watches some movies, cooking and other stuff on cable channels. But when I tally up the hours we spend watching stuff only available on cable, they turn our to be pretty pricey hours. $55/mo for cable and we spend maybe 20 - 25 hours/mo watching cable channels.

Same here. But we only get about 8 different stations with a total of about 12 subchannels (and two are in Spanish). And that's only with two large, high-gain antennas mounted to the side of our garage above the roofline, since we're 60 miles away from the Austin transmitters and have some ridges of hills in the middle.

Nevertheless, I think if we pick up a DVR to use with HD signals over-the-air, we can at least record stuff that's halfway decent on free TV and use stuff like Netflix and Hulu to pick up the slack. In September our two-year commitment to satellite is over and we may decide to cut nearly a grand a year out of the budget.

 

[freebird5825]

Eat at home always, except for special occasions and for "cravings" on don't-feel-like-cooking nights.
Use artifical flowers (not real) in a vase during cold weather to brighten up the table and living room. Rotate locations every month.
Shop at dollar type stores exclusively for canned and dry goods. Bring a list.
Volunteer at and be a customer of a local food bank.
Limit driving (more than 10 miles) to going only if you have 2 or more errands that day. Or match a just for fun driving outing anywhere
with accomplishing 2 or more errands on the same trip.
Frequent garage sales for books, gardening items, sports equipment, appliances, etc.
Cook in bulk in a crockpot, freeze leftovers.
Shop online for lightweight items, use local stores for heavier items.

 

[Dog]

I'm ready to drop cable. Comcast has upgraded to a digital network requiring basic users and extended basic users to add converter boxes and adapters or risk losing channels. We complied and now the channels change much slower and the remotes that need to be used with the adapters are "junk". I'm going to investigate using an antenna. We only watch TV at night for a couple of hours anyway. It would save us over $58 plus taxes/monthly.

 

[tmm99]

Make our own laundry detergent using
How to Make Your Own Laundry Detergent - wikiHow Method 1. We use Fels Naptha Soap. It is very easy to make and it does a better job than Tide and such.

tmm

 

[youbet]

Am about ready to drop cable.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106787/Consumer-Spending-What's-In-What's-Out

Consumers are cooling to cable. And they're not very satisfied with satellite TV. In fact, according to consumer research firm GfK Roper Consulting, about 40% of those surveyed during mid-2008 and early 2009 said they'd be willing to do without cable or satellite TV. Instead, they'd just as soon watch programming on free sites like Google's YouTube or buy videos à la carte from Netflix. Of those surveyed, only 37% said they were getting good value for the price they pay for cable or satellite subscriptions.
The trend is showing up at some of the biggest cable and satellite TV providers. Subscriber totals dropped last year for Comcast, Dish Networks, and Cablevision Systems, while Netflix sales are growing apace, and traffic to video sites including Hulu, owned by General Electric and News Corp., is surging.

 

[Sparky]

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106787/Consumer-Spending-What's-In-What's-Out

Thanks for that! Having dropped my cable down to basic ($14.95), the one thing I've really missed is Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares.

I just watched two episodes on Hulu.com.

 

[jimnjana]

Anybody else use freecycle.org to get stuff you need or to get rid of stuff you don't need? Can't beat free.

Jim

 

[Zoocat]

This is not exactly a tightwad suggestion but I'll offer it anyway. For your vacation lodging, ask for a discount. I'm going to hawaii and renting a condo from the owner. I asked for a discount and bingo! $30 off/night.

 

[ziggy29]

This is not exactly a tightwad suggestion but I'll offer it anyway. For your vacation lodging, ask for a discount. I'm going to hawaii and renting a condo from the owner. I asked for a discount and bingo! $30 off/night.

Yeah, this economy can be a good thing for people who are good hagglers. I'm just not one of them.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

This is not exactly a tightwad suggestion but I'll offer it anyway. For your vacation lodging, ask for a discount. I'm going to hawaii and renting a condo from the owner. I asked for a discount and bingo! $30 off/night.

Within the last week I made reservations for Napa Valley for 3 rooms . I could not get any major chain to give us a discount. Maybe I should have went with a Condo/house rental. Ah well.

 

[travelover]

Anybody else use freecycle.org to get stuff you need or to get rid of stuff you don't need? Can't beat free.

Jim

I've given a lot of stuff away through Freecycle and Craigslist. Recently, I seem to get a lot of people that say they want the item, but then won't come and get it.

I did get some free carpet once when I was making a cat tree - couldn't see buying new for that.

 

[FUEGO]

I've given a lot of stuff away through Freecycle and Craigslist. Recently, I seem to get a lot of people that say they want the item, but then won't come and get it.

I solve the no-show problem for giving away free stuff by saying in the advertisement "You pick up at [my address]. I will remove this advertisement when the item is gone".

Very effective and doesn't require me to spend any additional time coordinating with a bunch of people. It helps that I live in right the middle of things right off the biggest road in town, so it is "on the way" if you are out and about. Probably wouldn't work for more suburban/rural folks.

 

[Sparky]

Within the last week I made reservations for Napa Valley for 3 rooms . I could not get any major chain to give us a discount. Maybe I should have went with a Condo/house rental. Ah well.

I've been interested in Craigslist for their travel swaps - haven't done it yet but I'm tempted...

Every so often, I check Home Exchange.com and look for listings...

 

[CuppaJoe]

Within the last week I made reservations for Napa Valley for 3 rooms . I could not get any major chain to give us a discount. Maybe I should have went with a Condo/house rental. Ah well.

Not even AAA or AARP?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Not even AAA or AARP?

Thats true got AAA. I just figured with things being so bad they might want to tango a bit more. Guess not I get AAA all the time so I take it for granted. Bad me

 

[Lsbcal]

Within the last week I made reservations for Napa Valley for 3 rooms . I could not get any major chain to give us a discount. Maybe I should have went with a Condo/house rental. Ah well.

I suppose another option might be staying in Sonoma or Santa Rosa or Healdsburg and then just hopping over the hills (on the Calistoga Road in the case of Santa Rosa).

 

[Amethyst]

Our best money-saving tips

1. Learn to cook if you don't already know how, and learn about wine so you know what to buy that is good and under $10 a bottle. Then, buy a mixed case of wine when the wine store offers a mixed-case discount (ours does, sometimes) and stop going to restaurants. We have an elegant dinner with china, crystal, and a bottle from our "cellar" [an old lowboy cabinet with shelves and a tambour door, which really is in the cellar] every weekend...without paying 4X what the wine is worth, and 25%-30% extra for tax and tip.

2. Buy electric blankets or warming pads for your beds, and turn the heat way way down in the winter. Saves us hundreds of $$ a month and it's cozy and fun, and the cats adore it.
As Khan pointed out, a person's internal thermostat can be re-set until 65 degrees feels downright balmy.

3. Avoid paying other people to do what you can possibly do yourselves. FIREers probably don't need to be told to "clean your own house, mow your own grass, paint your own rooms."
I only point it out because when we found out what it would cost to have someone else do these things for us, we got the vapors and had to find a place to sit down. (I am hoping to add "do our own taxes" to the list but that's still to be determined).

4. Buy in bulk and store it mindfully...this has been stated on other threads, but there's no point "saving" $$ on a bulk food purchase if you forget about it and the food goes bad.

 

[walkinwood]

In our first year of ER, we did a lot of travelling, so with that in mind...

While on vacation, put your netflix and cable on hold. Netflix makes it extremely easy. Its a little more involved with cable - call them and insist on it. They'll still charge you, but at their most basic rate.

Use priceline.com and hotwire.com to get hotels & rental cars. Use your AAA discounts - they're sometimes even better than priceline & hotwire for rental cars.

Register for frequent stay/flier/user programs.

On a road trip, take a cooler & buy stuff at supermarkets instead of just when you need them. Works even better with booze. Find a nice spot at your hotel for a before dinner drink from your own stash. Find BYOB restaurants - their chefs are often very good, and you save a bundle on wine. Man! I sound like a drunk. I'm going to call AA.

Buy gas from no-name gas-stations. Inflate tires properly. Some stations charge less if you use cash.

Never have breakfast at your hotel restaurant - unless its free. Its almost always less expensive to have breakfast at a diner.

 

[crazy connie]

I enjoy the fresh produce market and make the time in season to put away stuff. Peppers at 10 for 1$ are great when sliced and frozen in a ziploc bag. I have about 4 more nights worth of brussel sprouts from last summers bounty when they were about 2 lbs for a $1. Peaches and berries freeze well and all winter long I can add them into the menus. By stocking up and simple chopping and blanching there is a better variety and lower cost as well as less prep time the rest of the year! Rhubarb sauce over pancakes is tasty and easy to make and freeze ahead. Diced rhubarb makes a great crisp or cobbler during the winter. If the freezer only worked on salad stuff! Oh well, it will soon be bargains galore on the greens!

 

[youbet]

3. Avoid paying other people to do what you can possibly do yourselves. FIREers probably don't need to be told to "clean your own house, mow your own grass, paint your own rooms."
I only point it out because when we found out what it would cost to have someone else do these things for us, we got the vapors and had to find a place to sit down. (I am hoping to add "do our own taxes" to the list but that's still to be determined).

.

Agreed. I consider yard work, house cleaning, meal prep, minor repairs, most decorating chores, automobile maintenance and those sort of things my part time j*b in RE.

 

[haha]

I have three tips.

(2) An unrelated money-saving tip: In the summer, I keep the thermostat as warm as is comfortable, and wear nearly nothing and drink lots of ice water.

I bet the UPS guy loves to bring you packages.

Ha