What is your best money saving tip?

Just found out we could downsize our garbage can because we do so much recycling now. Saves around $6/month.
 
Two can live so cheaply as one...if one doesn't eat: another saying.
Where I find the biggest hardship being single is traveling as hotel rooms for 2 makes it cheaper for each person.
 
Should be easy to find another single traveller and economize! ;)
 
Two can live so cheaply as one...if one doesn't eat: another saying.
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True but other cost like property taxes stay the same no matter how many people are in the household. Also the extra person can mow the lawn, get moss off the roof, put up Christmas lights, change my oil besides paying for his own food and something to me for his share of housing cost.

I didn't marry him but if he moved out or died it would cost me more than $1,000 a month in lost income and chores I would have to hire done
 
The last car repair I had we took to a dealer located in a neighboring city where the home and land prices area bit cheaper than the city where we live, and the repairs were about half of what the local dealer would have charged.

I think both dealerships were charging basically what the local markets would bear. So it was well worth the trip for major repair work to go out of town to a less expensive city.

I know going to the car dealer isn't probably very frugal, but we don't know much about cars and whenever we have tried the little corner places the work hasn't been done right and we had to pay extra to have things redone at the dealers anyway.
 
Orchidflower said:
Two can live so cheaply as one...if one doesn't eat: another saying.
Where I find the biggest hardship being single is traveling as hotel rooms for 2 makes it cheaper for each person.
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Which is why a possible trip with Exploritas(formerly Elderhostel) is appealing to me as the single supplement doesn't rock you. I don't mind paying somewhat more but I am very opposed to paying the "for two" rate or buy one get one free when I don't need the "free".
 
Get one of those Foodsaver vaccum sealers. Great for saving buying in bulk and freezing/sealing/saving, sealing extra portions, or keeping snacks (chips, pretzels, cookies, etc.) fresh.
 
Just found out we could downsize our garbage can because we do so much recycling now. Saves around $6/month.
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Find out whether you city has a "blue bag" type program. Here, we can buy big blue bags for about $7.50. They will pick those up at during trash rounds at no additional charge. You then cancel your regularly scheduled pickup.

With recycling and composting, we only use about one of those per month.
 
TromboneAl said:
Find out whether you city has a "blue bag" type program. Here, we can buy big blue bags for about $7.50. They will pick those up at during trash rounds at no additional charge. You then cancel your regularly scheduled pickup.

With recycling and composting, we only use about one of those per month.
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I canceled garbage pickup completely years ago. I hauled recyclables to the center for years, compost all vegetable matter, and had about 1 can of other garbage every 2-3 months. I do a trip to the dump a couple of times a year. Earlier this year, they increased the recyclable stuff and now do free pickups every 2 weeks. It's even better. Saves me lots of money.

I take the meat refuse and put it in a public trash can so it won't be attacked by animals.
 
Also found out that our garbage pickup allowed for 2 large yard waste containers instead of just one. I like to garden and generally fill these up each week. Haven't gotten into composing yet and a lot of the yard waste is large branches and stuff that would not compost quickly.
 
Tesaje said:
I canceled garbage pickup completely years ago. I hauled recyclables to the center for years, compost all vegetable matter, and had about 1 can of other garbage every 2-3 months. I do a trip to the dump a couple of times a year. Earlier this year, they increased the recyclable stuff and now do free pickups every 2 weeks. It's even better. Saves me lots of money.

I take the meat refuse and put it in a public trash can so it won't be attacked by animals.
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Tesaje, I see from your signature line that you only have three more weeks? How exciting!! You are almost there. :D:dance::clap:
 
Re: Post #188 here

In Post #188 on this thread I mentioned that maybe it is worth it to buy good/well made things like my Grandma used to have a philosophy as I paid $75 for $150 Prada wallet on sale maybe 10 years ago now from Overstock.com. Today I was looking for the same wallet for fun, and find that wallet is now worth $480!:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
What kind of fool pays $480 for a wallet? Regardless, here it is as proof:

Top left corner (mine's in black, this one is in white):

Saks.com


Now if I could only get my MONEY to INFLATE like that, eh:confused:? Just ridiculous the escalation on this price....good grief.:nonono: Oh well...I figure I have another good 10 years out of this one wallet as it's still standing up well. But $480? Uh.....no.
 
Orchidflower said:
...buy good/well made things like my Grandma used to have a philosophy as I paid $75 for $150 Prada wallet on sale.... Today I was looking for the same wallet for fun, and find that wallet is now worth $480!:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
....
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That would create such a bidding war on eBay.:D
 
Orchidflower said:
In Post #188 on this thread I mentioned that maybe it is worth it to buy good/well made things like my Grandma used to have a philosophy as I paid $75 for $150 Prada wallet on sale maybe 10 years ago now from Overstock.com. Today I was looking for the same wallet for fun, and find that wallet is now worth $480!
Click to expand...

Obviously you have good taste! :)

Maybe the next time you stumble upon a great deal on a quality item, you should buy two - one for you and one for an investment.
 
My best money saving tip is: stay away from malls!
 
I was skeptical that anyone would pay that much for a Prada purse. A quick check on ebay shows a "pre-owned" (used, lol) purse matching Orchidflower's description that was listed as being carried only a few times, and it sold for $130. A very used version also sold for $60 that looked like someone had lifted it from a bag lady's push cart.

Pre-owned (ie worn out) Prada men's leather wallet that looks identical to my lesser-brand-name wallet sold for $36. The listing even said a number of credit card slots needed to be restitched! The photos show that the lining has separated from the leather pretty bad. It looks like garbage to me, but some sucker paid $36 for it. Best as I can tell, it exhibits the same failure patterns as all my previous $10-on-sale lesser-brand-name leather wallets have shown. Whodathunkit!

My take is Prada still equals average to above average quality, you're paying a lot for the name and it being manufactured in Italy vs China. From a strictly net present value cost analysis, these "luxury" items wouldn't pencil out vs buying the similar item for 80-90% less and replacing it a little more often (and you would have something nice and new more often).
 
CuppaJoe said:
Did he also pay postage; on the bright side eBay refers to the highest bidder as the winner.:ROFLMAO:
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No; that was an extra $2.95 I think. But the buyer was a "winner"... :D
 
FUEGO said:
I guess I can't really see paying more than $10-20 for a wallet. Some claim the designer wallets that run $200+ retail (like Orchidflower's type) last a long time. But my el cheapo is going on at least 8 years and show no signs of wear. I'm sure it wasn't more than $20. Some people like nice things and a $75 wallet/purse on sale should be nice. And that is ok. I just wonder if it justifiable from a strictly financial net present value standpoint (completely ignoring aesthetics).
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I never liked the feeling of the wallet in the jeans/pants

just keep paper money in one pocket, cards in the other.

change goes in a jar that gets cashed in at the grocery change machine every few months.
 
TooFrugal said:
The last car repair I had we took to a dealer located in a neighboring city where the home and land prices area bit cheaper than the city where we live, and the repairs were about half of what the local dealer would have charged.

I think both dealerships were charging basically what the local markets would bear. So it was well worth the trip for major repair work to go out of town to a less expensive city.

I know going to the car dealer isn't probably very frugal, but we don't know much about cars and whenever we have tried the little corner places the work hasn't been done right and we had to pay extra to have things redone at the dealers anyway.
Click to expand...

the only thing I will get an extended warranty on is when DW insists on buying a new car...she does drive them 10+ years however

my belief is that the warranty protects me from dealer repair fraud
 
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