What is your best money saving tip?

[FUEGO]

From the article...
“There are a lot of kids these days who don’t even know what a clothespin is,” he said. “They think it’s a potato chip clip.”

I have a 4 year old daughter, so I had to experiment with this. I held up a clothes pin, and asked my daughter to tell me what it is. She said "a clip". And when asked what else it is, she said "a chip clip" and "a clip for keeping bags closed so the food won't get nasty". I asked her what else it is, and what else could it be used for, and just got more chip clip related answers.

She didn't understand when I explained to her that it was a clothes pin. And this is with her grandma still actively using clothes pin to line dry virtually everything. They are just chip clips now.

 

[Meadbh]

These central attic fans are still sold and are relatively easy to install. I use two box fans set next to each other in a 4 foot wide window and achieve the same result. Last summer, in Michigan, I ran the central air conditioning a total of three days.

I don't think I used my A/C at all this summer. It really helps that I live on a street with tall elm trees that provide lots of shade to my house. Of course it has taken about a century to grow them, so this may not be something you can implement in the short term!

 

[My Dream]

A central attic fan would be worth installing to me. My gosh, the hot air is sucks out so fast is amazing! Why in the world did that ever become unpopular? They're fantastic.

I also installed an electric attic fan but if I may ask, what temperature did you set the thermostat to in the attic before the fan turns off. I had mine set at 90 but I was told that's too low.

 

[Orchidflower]

Maybe 10 years ago I learned from a Dentist who was a client to get the Citibank Advantage card as it gives you a mile for each dollar you spend on American Airlines. I have over 180,000 miles saved for when my eldercaring duties are thru to travel anywhere on. Takes about 40,000 miles for an overseas trip with planning ahead, so hello! SE Asia, S. America, Europe, etc. I plan to use those miles up before I get too old and crotchety..ha!

My Dream: Mine just sucked air up and out thru the turbines in the roof and the vent in the side of the roof. I had no thermostat. This fan was installed probably when the bungalow was built in 1939 maybe, but I have no idea when it was put in. It worked great for the first 15 years I was there and then died one day, so I had another installed by an electrician.They obviously still were making them 10 years ago. I mean to tell you I am a real fan of these attic fans, but mine wasn't so fancy as yours I guess...but it did work well, and didn't cost much to install one or I'd remember the price (I seem to only remember the overpriced items anymore).

 

[smjsl]

Some tips:

(1) If you only need cell phone for emergencies, sign up for T-Mobile plan with $100 original investment + phone price (~$32). This gives you Gold status in the prepaid plan. After that, I am paying $10/YEAR. $100 gets you over 1000 minutes for first year, $10 once-a-year gets you 35 more minutes... So, you get 1 year for ~$140, 2 years for ~$150, 3 years for $160, etc. Even for 1 year it beats the cheapest non-prepaid plan and many prepaid ones where you have to contribute something every 3 months. If anyone knows a better deal, please let us know!

(2) Instead of signing up for gym, consider buying a treadmill or other gym-like equipment. Aside from $$ savings, you get time savings, it's easier to make yourself go workout, you get to use your own shower, etc...

(3) prepare a lot of food at once and freeze it - both $$ and time savings

(4) try to find best rewards card (schwab 2% for all purchases is one I just
started on)

(5) some more general:
- doing your own taxes. It also helps you understand your own tax planning
- tracking all your expenses make it easier to cut down on some and plan for others (e.g. when searching for best rewards card you can see how much you normally put on a card to see if it makes sense to get into tiered offers).
- since time = money, make sure you don't spend too much of the former for too little of the latter... find a way to quickly estimate how much time you want to spend researching something (e.g. if price savings will be ~$25 if you search out the best deal, would it be worth spending 2 hours looking for best deal? How about 6 hours + extra hour of driving? etc.).. If someone has a good ideas in this area, I am all ears. I'd love to cut down on researching things! Too many choices is bad in some cases

 

[RonBoyd]

(2) Instead of signing up for gym, consider buying a treadmill or other gym-like equipment. Aside from $$ savings, you get time savings, it's easier to make yourself go workout, you get to use your own shower, etc...

This idea can be enhanced even further. As I said in an earlier post (#32):

I have a $2,000 treadmill, a $2,000 Stair Stepper, and a $300 Joe Weider Weight Machine -- Total cost: less than $150

Explained in this thread (Post #34).

The key to this is to make sure you hold out for the high quality stuff -- there is a lot of junk in this category.

 

[Lsbcal]

Some tips:
...(snip)...
(2) Instead of signing up for gym, consider buying a treadmill or other gym-like equipment. Aside from $$ savings, you get time savings, it's easier to make yourself go workout, you get to use your own shower, etc...

Or just put on some hiking shoes and head for the great outdoors. Some good bird watching out here too. Running shoes also work too.
...

(5) some more general:
- doing your own taxes. It also helps you understand your own tax planning

And tax planning can be additive to your investment returns.

 

[travelover]

..................
(1) If you only need cell phone for emergencies, sign up for T-Mobile plan with $100 original investment + phone price (~$32). This gives you Gold status in the prepaid plan. After that, I am paying $10/YEAR. $100 gets you over 1000 minutes for first year, $10 once-a-year gets you 35 more minutes... So, you get 1 year for ~$140, 2 years for ~$150, 3 years for $160, etc. Even for 1 year it beats the cheapest non-prepaid plan and many prepaid ones where you have to contribute something every 3 months. If anyone knows a better deal, please let us know!..........

Depending on how many minutes you need, this might be better. I have Virgin Mobile which provides a free phone and you have to contribute $15 every 3 months (if using autopay on a credit card, otherwise $20 every 3 months). Calls are 18 cents a minute, but all money carries forward indefinitely. So basically it costs me $60 a year.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Great thread! Much food for thought from all contributors. Very easy to pick a few suggestions and save some $$$$ without much sacrifice, if any at all.

 

[smjsl]

Depending on how many minutes you need, this might be better. I have Virgin Mobile which provides a free phone and you have to contribute $15 every 3 months (if using autopay on a credit card, otherwise $20 every 3 months). Calls are 18 cents a minute, but all money carries forward indefinitely. So basically it costs me $60 a year.

Thanks travelover, one thing to add to T-Mobile plan is it also carries over minutes (not sure if this was clear). Since I don't use mine much, I still have ~1000 minutes after 2.5 years so far (and ~$160 in total expenses). Sounds like under Virgin Mobile, you get ~333 minutes per year (6000/18). So, if you need more minutes, Virgin Mobile sounds like a good option. If you need less, T-Mobile plan will cost less starting after 2 years.

 

[freebird5825]

Don't be proud - let the other person pay (if offered) for the meal.

 

[Moemg]

Do what my daughter does ! Shop with Mom and be slow to reach for your credit card . It always works !

 

[Bestwifeever]

Fee-free credit cards might be a thing of the past if BofA has its way:

Latest bank fee is for paying off credit card on time every month - USATODAY.com

 

[travelover]

Fee-free credit cards might be a thing of the past if BofA has its way:

Latest bank fee is for paying off credit card on time every month - USATODAY.com

They will surely do it if they can get away with it. They won't get away with it with me.

 

[Walt34]

We already canceled one cc and opened another because of that nonsense. I guess the vigorish they collect from the merchants isn't enough.

 

[RonBoyd]

Fee-free credit cards might be a thing of the past if BofA has its way:

This may only be the beginning.

Citi Mysteriously Closes Scads Of Mastercard Accounts Nationwide

 

[FUEGO]

Yet citicards keeps offering redonkulous sign up offers for new credit cards. Such as their 30,000 American Airlines Aadvantage miles for a card sign up. I have already booked a free trip to Argentina and Uruguay, and there may be a Europe trip and a Mexico trip in the mix if I can get time off from work. FREE!!! There's a money savings tip - keep track of credit card companies and milk them for all they are worth. First stoozing, then mile churning.

 

[Orchidflower]

I have many female and male friends who spend tons each year on pricey aestheticians and products for their skin, which they could do so much cheaper if they would just look on the net at reviews for products and figure out what works best for them. Amazon.com and epodunk.com are good sources for this.
Even a simple exfoliant which you can purchase cheaply at Target will take off the dead skin from your face and help you look fresher and minimize those lines in your face. Why spend so much money having someone else do something you yourself could do?
Do it yourself and save the money you would spend on expensive microdermabrasion or other procedures.

 

[easysurfer]

When I FIRE'd, I decided to turn off my cable subscription. That saves about $60/month which I'd been paying regularly without even taking a second look.

 

[ksr]

(1) If you only need cell phone for emergencies, sign up for T-Mobile plan with $100 original investment + phone price (~$32). This gives you Gold status in the prepaid plan. After that, I am paying $10/YEAR.

I've been on the same plan for the past year and a half and it's working great! I think the only minutes I've used were a few to test the phone when I first bought it. So I have most of my original 1000 minutes plus whatever I bought this year.

I've never had the chance to recommend this plan to anyone I know, because most of them use their cell phones constantly. Honestly, even if I wanted to, I just couldn't come up with that much phone talking. But it really is a great plan if you just need a phone for emergencies or an infrequent call.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Not so much a money saving tip but here are some cost cutting steps we are taking as we we try to do better at LBYM. Actually, we already LBYM, but not because of any strong effort on our part of being frugal. I have just been fortunate on the means side of the equation having a good salary. But we are re-dedicating ourselves to being more frugal and increasing savings so we can FIRE when I'm 55.

Removing costs from our budget:
- No more maid. Saves $1800 annually
- Cut my own lawn. Saves $600 annually and the yard looks better.
- Winterize the mosquito system in the backyard and no longer use it or refill it. Saves $800 annually.
- When our old dog finally passes we will not be getting a new pet. Kinda harsh but we are okay with it. Will save $500 annually.
- Consolidate internet and phone to a single provider and the cost reduction saves $1000 annually. It was a pain because we had to switch email addresses. But worth it.
- Cut my kids itunes account off. May only save about $100 annually but I could not take seeing all those little itunes charges on my CC bill. They will have to go through me when they want to purchase music.

Still looking at our expenditures to find other opportunities. It's funny but rather than missing these things I actually get a big charge out of cutting them. It feels great. Not sure the wife feels quite the same way but to her credit she is trying to be on board.

 

[Orchidflower]

God bless those that live without cable, but I'd be hanging onto the cable cord while the guy was disconnecting it and sobbing if anyone in the house tried to cancel our cable. Guess I'm not the trooper some of you LBYMers are.

- However, I did give up the maid which I'm glad about--even tho she did a better job of it than I do on a weekly basis (ok, I admit it, anyway).
- I did reduce our 3 at a time Netflix account to only one CD at a time with unlimited watching on the computer. It's getting a little hard for my mother to watch a movie all the way thru and it was really for her, but she still has her football now as it's the season. I don't think she has even noticed it. Anyway, this saves about half the previous cost. Not much but every little bit counts.
- For aluminum foil I found that our grocery store is selling almost freezer quality which is thick for $1. And I have purchased some really cute and thick green Coke glasses from the Dollar Store, which we have been using for 2 years now. The Dollar Store has had some great deals like a $1 plastic colander which is huge and strong.
- Cosmetic deals for ladies: Amazon.com has some great deals for things if you look hard enough. Not worth purchasing if they aren't what you want, but they had just the type and color I wanted for $3.99 plus cost to mail vs. $14.99 each at Dillards plus tax = savings. I never thought of buying off Amazon before, but there are some darn good deals there. Plus, I found a couple things I had looked for for years there much to my surprise. (After I did a post on skin care I looked for cosmetics, and found deals there, too, at Amazon.)
- For men/women/childrens things: Sierra Trading Post for you LBYM types that like discounts on casual clothing. Everything from swimsuits to outerwear to shoes to pajamas to sleeping bags and outdoor gear for you guys. Put in sierratradingpost.com. They seem to sell higher quality items for so little.
- Sears Optical ran a good sale and, since this was a birthday gift for my son, we purchased the type of glasses he wanted there. The fellow did a great job (he had been in the biz like 45 years!) and saved a heap going there instead of the pricey Optometrist I used last..and never again. Never thought of using them before, but will again.

 

[samclem]

Okay, here's the tiniest cost cutting tip: If you buy battery-operated items, don't buy ones that take AAA or C size batteries. AAA batteries cost the same as AA batteries, but have 1/2 the capacity. "C" size batteries cost the same as "D" size bateries, but have 1/2 the capacity. If you buy rechargeables, you'll see it is often the same.

Also, 9V batteries tend to be very expensive for their rated capacity, so avoid them when you can. I buy smoke detectors that take three AA batteries rather than a single 9v.

 

[Lsbcal]

I've been on the same plan for the past year and a half and it's working great! I think the only minutes I've used were a few to test the phone when I first bought it. So I have most of my original 1000 minutes plus whatever I bought this year.

I've never had the chance to recommend this plan to anyone I know, because most of them use their cell phones constantly. Honestly, even if I wanted to, I just couldn't come up with that much phone talking. But it really is a great plan if you just need a phone for emergencies or an infrequent call.

Right now we have a Verizon plan that is probably no longer available at $15/mo. The T-Mobile deal sounds cheaper and we hardly use our phone -- I think we have something like 60 hours of time credits. A few questions for those on T-Mobile:

1) Can you use your accumulated minutes while on vacation in the U.S. or are there special roaming charges? That is the one time were we might be using the phone a bit to call back home or call for reservations, etc.
2) Did you have to walk into a T-Mobile store to get the details? There are a few I could walk into around here.
3) What is the standby time before your phone needs charging roughly? Right now we have to charge ours almost every night but a somewhat costly battery replacement could fix this I guess.
4) Any idea how the T-Mobile phone coverage is compared to Verizon? I see that both Verizon and T-Mobile show us on the edge of their coverage because we are on the city edge and a state park is behind us.

 

[Orchidflower]

I'm assuming everyone knows you can check out magazines at the public library and read them at home? This saves me from buying them.

Re: Cell phones. You can use J. D. Powers to check which cell phone company is rated highest in your specific region.
2009 Wireless Consumer Smartphone and Traditional Mobile Phone Satisfaction | J.D. Power