Surprising Budget Ideas

[athena53]

If we were looking to reduce spending, down-sizing the house would have to be on the list.

DH and I will be doing this eventually and I'm not sure it's going to help the cash flow that much. We DO want a smaller house; we've got a McMansion with a pool and it's too much. If we buy what we want, though (relatively new, large kitchen, 3 BR, maybe lake orclubhouse access), it's not going to cost that much less so the property taxes and homeowners' insurance will be about the same. Then there are the out-of-pocket costs like the realtor commission and moving. Our friends are our ages, so they're beyond the point that they can be persuaded to load our stuff into a U-Haul in exchange for free beer. We're talking to a realtor tomorrow but my guess is that it won't be a huge economic win, but more a reduction in the hassle of cleaning/maintaining a bigger house and lawn, and somewhat lower utility costs.

Similarly- someone mentioned insulation. We just paid $3,600 to get better insulation in the attic. (House is 30 years old and the original insulation had fallen down in places). How long do we have to stay in the house to recoup that through lower utility costs?

For the OP, reducing impulse spending, watching monthly commitments and minimizing restaurant/fast food meals should help. ETA: check Asian groceries for inexpensive produce and interesting spices; one near us has not-so-fresh produce but the other has great stuff. Check the bulk section of Whole Foods for great deals on couscous, bulgur, oat bran (makes great oatmeal), etc. They're far cheaper than the health food sections of regular grocery stores. Beware of impulse purchases in both places, which will wipe out your savings!

 

[redduck]

I was just curious if anyone went over their budget and found ways to save that surprised them.I have gone over mine and am kind of at a loss of where to save.I realize everyone is different but we all have places where we can save.Please share your ideas.

Here’s an idea: Instead of going over your budget, why don’t you simply increase your budget? Just make up your mind to work six months longer than you planned and maybe your entire life (except for those extra six months) becomes easier. This way you don’t have to grow your own food, you can drink something other than tap water, and you won’t need to think of davef when you use toilet paper (sorry about that, davef). It’s still probably a good idea to heed frayne's suggestion of not going on Ebay or Amazon if you have been drinking.

 

[NW-Bound]

Here’s an idea: Instead of going over your budget, why don’t you simply increase your budget? Just make up your mind to work six months longer than you planned and maybe your entire life (except for those extra six months) becomes easier.

But can 6 months of more work make that much difference? Or is it going to be OMY, then another OMY, and OMY, till you are no longer talking about ER, but just R?

It’s still probably a good idea to heed frayne's suggestion of not going on Ebay or Amazon if you have been drinking.

If the OP is just drinking water, or even water laced with lemon juice like I suggested, is it safe then to surf eBay and Amazon?

I do occasionally lace my water with something other than lemon juice, like a tablespoon of water to something 80-proof, but there's water in everything we drink, right?

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I really doubt this is saving any significant $ (if at all, depending), and I doubt you get your investment back. Even assuming a higher end of $0.20/cooking cycle, and assuming zero energy cost for the thermal cooker (which of course there must be a cost to this, but it's tough to estimate),

A slow cooker only costs a penny or two an hour to run. A basic slow cooker is cheap ($15-$20?). If you pay an extra $50 for a thermal pot (reasonable $?), that is 250 cooking cycles to break even, with VERY generous assumptions.

Same with an Instant Pot - how do you figure TCO?
-ERD50

We have reduced our electricity costs by around 2/3s so far, just from doing the kinds of things in my post. Our energy bills used to be $300 - $500 a month, and the last bill was under $100.

Our top tier costs per KW hour are 36 cents, plus not heating up the kitchen means not needing to use the A/C to cool down a big house in a hot climate, with bedrooms above the kitchen. There is a reason older homes in hot climates sometimes had summer kitchens located off the main house. The Instant pot stays cool on the outside, as does the thermal pot. I use them multiple times a day.

We went around with a Kill a Watt so we know what watts all our electrical appliances use and what we can save by making select replacements.

I am not sure what the point of your post is, though. If you don't feel a suggestion from some else is useful to you personally, based on your local energy cost, food costs, number of people in your family, climate, and house size, why not just ignore it?

Added -

I got most of my rechargeable batteries, solar chargers and cooking gadgets either free for doing product reviews or used on Amazon warehouse deals, so that makes the ROI higher than if bought new.

 

[ocdokie]

Since retiring 4 years ago, DH and I have saved a bundle by buying our clothes at Goodwill, Salvation Army, and other resale stores. It's even more fun to go on the "1/2 price" days, where we have snagged very nice clothes in great condition for as little as $2.

 

[NW-Bound]

Speaking of clothes, we have not been spending any money the last couple of years, other than for underwear and socks. I have been wearing my T-shirts mostly, and when they became thin, my wife said she got more stashed away, the ones she bought during our past travels that I did not have a chance to wear much due to work.

 

[athena53]

Here’s an idea: Instead of going over your budget, why don’t you simply increase your budget? Just make up your mind to work six months longer than you planned and maybe your entire life (except for those extra six months) becomes easier. This way you don’t have to grow your own food, you can drink something other than tap water, and you won’t need to think of davef when you use toilet paper (sorry about that, davef). It’s still probably a good idea to heed frayne's suggestion of not going on Ebay or Amazon if you have been drinking.

It's a mindset, redduck. Cutting expenses in areas that, in the end, don't really improve your quality of life, can have big returns over a long period. I cut DH's hair (he doesn't have much) and for 10 years the two of us managed with one car. We're homebodies and rarely eat out in restaurants unless we're traveling. As I mentioned earlier, he makes soup stock out of stuff most people throw away. We have also kayaked around the city walls of Dubrovnik, regularly enjoy bottles of $75 single-malt, single-cask scotch, and are about to go on an up-close-and-personal-with-nature cruise in Alaska in a 73-passenger vessel. Those are our priorities. I used to tell my son we could have anything we wanted, but not EVERYTHING.

As for "planning" to work 6 months longer, good luck with that. I got disgusted with my last job and, although I had planned to retire in another 4 1/2 years, I just decided to quit and enjoy life. I'm VERY glad I didn't have a plan that was heavily dependent on working to a particular age, or I'd be conducting a desperate job search right now instead of taking bicycle rides and working in the church community garden.

 

[lindal00l00]

Now that I have more time to study receipts, I am finding mistakes from the grocery store check out. Either the cashier doesn't use the pull off coupon, or the price charged was not what was advertised. I try to watch during the check out, but have no hesitation to take the coupon and receipt back if I need to get a refund!!

 

[ERD50]

...
I am not sure what the point of your post is, though. If you don't feel a suggestion from some else is useful to you personally, based on your local energy cost, food costs, number of people in your family, climate, and house size, why not just ignore it?

Because, as I said 'it depends'. Some of these suggestions are posted as 'universal truths', and in most cases, 'it depends'.

I think it is useful to other readers to have it pointed out that some of these ideas may not work for them, they need to take a closer look. That is the poit of my post. I dislike 'broad brush' statements (well, most of them, don't want to paint with too broad a brush on that one! ).

Added -

I got most of my rechargeable batteries, solar chargers and cooking gadgets either free for doing product reviews or used on Amazon warehouse deals, so that makes the ROI higher than if bought new.

Well, that's an important detail to leave out regarding 'savings'. It would have been helpful to point that out in the post. Anyone who is looking into savings has to do an ROI if there is an upfront cost.

Anyhow, glad these things are working out for you.

-ERD50

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Well, that's an important detail to leave out regarding 'savings'. It would have been helpful to point that out in the post. Anyone who is looking into savings has to do an ROI if there is an upfront cost.

Anyhow, glad these things are working out for you.

-ERD50

We have still saved thousands per year on our energy bill, and even if bought new at full price, the LED bulbs, changers and kitchen gadgets all together would only cost ~$500 or so total, making the payback period using summer energy bills under several months, while most of the products purchased should last for years.

This thread prompted me to look up our current top tier electricity rate. It is now 36 cents per hour, not 34.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

Since retiring 4 years ago, DH and I have saved a bundle by buying our clothes at Goodwill, Salvation Army, and other resale stores. It's even more fun to go on the "1/2 price" days, where we have snagged very nice clothes in great condition for as little as $2.

I will try that.A week ago I grabbed some Levis I thought were on sale.I was shocked when they rang up $68.For some plain old Levis?I could not believe it.Needless to say, I did not purchase them.

 

[Aspire]

For some really cheap veg, sprout your own mung beans. I didn't even have to buy any equipment for mine - I just use old fruit punnets with some netting from onion bags at the bottom, standing over and draining into a slightly larger fruit punnet. Soak beans for 24 hours first and discard or resoak ones that didn't swell. There are lots of instructions online.

 

[mountaintosea]

I buy my jeans at thrift stores anymore. It's about $5.

 

[REWahoo]

I just use old fruit punnets...

Another 'educational moment' on the forum:

punnet [puhn-it]

noun British, Australian.

A small container or basket for strawberries or other fruit.

 

[imoldernu]

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/sharing-23-years-of-frugal-retirement-62251-2.html#post1372574

for starters...

 

[photoguy]

We have still saved thousands per year on our energy bill, and even if bought new at full price, the LED bulbs, changers and kitchen gadgets all together would only cost ~$500 or so total, making the payback period using summer energy bills under several months, while most of the products purchased should last for years.

I'm surprised that you can save that much from appliances/lights/gadgets. I would have thought the bulk of the bill would be from air conditioning/heating. Also thanks for bringing up the thermal cooker -- i probably won't get one due to the large upfront cost but it's very interesting idea that I hadn't known about.

My only tip to contribute to this thread is to use window fans instead of air conditioning. Usually we set up one fan to blow air out of the house and open a window to ingest air strategically.

 

[aja8888]

I'm surprised that you can save that much from appliances/lights/gadgets. I would have thought the bulk of the bill would be from air conditioning/heating. Also thanks for bringing up the thermal cooker -- i probably won't get one due to the large upfront cost but it's very interesting idea that I hadn't known about.

My only tip to contribute to this thread is to use window fans instead of air conditioning. Usually we set up one fan to blow air out of the house and open a window to ingest air strategically.

Here's a good reference chart:

Home Appliance Amp Reference Chart | Electric Safety | Georgia Power

 

[NW-Bound]

In the past 12 months, my lowest daily consumption was on 3/31/2014, when we used 25KWhr.

My highest daily consumption was on 8/16/2013 when we used 120KWhr in a 24 hr period.

* Data from the online record of our utility company.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I'm surprised that you can save that much from appliances/lights/gadgets. I would have thought the bulk of the bill would be from air conditioning/heating. Also thanks for bringing up the thermal cooker -- i probably won't get one due to the large upfront cost but it's very interesting idea that I hadn't known about.

My only tip to contribute to this thread is to use window fans instead of air conditioning. Usually we set up one fan to blow air out of the house and open a window to ingest air strategically.

It would probably be very different if we lived some place with more temperature extremes and heating and A/C became bigger parts of our annual utility bill.

We get hour by hour online charts on kw usage from our utility company, and our biggest spikes in kw hours used came at meal times. Between the utility company charts and the Kill a Watt, we could make a spreadsheet for the day that estimated daily kwh used by category - freezer, refrigerator, outside lights, TVs, wall oven, dryer etc. and then go through line by line to lower each item. I used to use a fan for white noise overnight, but after the Kill a Watt review I bought an album of fan sounds on iTunes and just repeat some of those sounds on an iPod docked on a clock radio.

 

[ERD50]

We have still saved thousands per year on our energy bill, and even if bought new at full price, the LED bulbs, changers and kitchen gadgets all together would only cost ~$500 or so total, making the payback period using summer energy bills under several months, while most of the products purchased should last for years.

This thread prompted me to look up our current top tier electricity rate. It is now 36 cents per hour, not 34.

I'm surprised that you can save that much from appliances/lights/gadgets. I would have thought the bulk of the bill would be from air conditioning/heating. ... .

I think part of the point that daylatedollarshort is making is that during the A/C season, efficiency savings in appliances/lights/gadgets also translates to less load on the A/C system.

While that's true, an A/C with a SEER rating of 13 has a COP of 3.2. Which means it takes about 1/3 watt to remove an extra watt of heat. So there is a fractional improvement in the A/C costs. I haven't done all the math, but it's a little hard to imagine that this could add up to thousands per year, even at $0.3x/kWh.

Some super-rough-cut numbers - my A/C has a 40A breaker, so let's estimate 30A @ 220V = 6.6 KW. And let's say it is running a 50% duty cycle, so 3.3 kWh. If I have five, 60W incandescent lights on in the evening (that seems like a lot to me), that is an extra 300W load, so that adds about 0.1 kWh to a 3.3 kWh A/C consumption. Or roughly 3% when the indoor lights are on, which is only a portion of the day, so maybe 1% ( 8 hours/day - but really, 5 - 60W bulbs on indoors 8 hours/day?)?. And I'd assume that A/C is only used a portion of the year, so cut that by whatever that factor is. And that's not accounting for any of the heat output of the LED (fairly negligible though). So I'm really having trouble seeing where this could add up to even a small portion of thousands per year savings, but i'm always anxious to learn.

Same idea with a slow-cooker. Yes, they are not insulated, so some of that ~ 100W is heat that is escaping and would need to be removed by the A/C in cooling season. But the numbers are similar to above, and any cooking system will release some heat.


-ERD50

 

[sengsational]

When its time to recover space on my hard drive, I go to spacemonger which lets me do maybe one deletion to get the results of fumbling around for hours if I didn't have the data. So in budgeting, if you have good data, and a way to present it, you might be able to make a single change instead of dozens of little things.

 

[aja8888]

It would probably be very different if we lived some place with more temperature extremes and heating and A/C became bigger parts of our annual utility bill.

We get hour by hour online charts on kw usage from our utility company, and our biggest spikes in kw hours used came at meal times. Between the utility company charts and the Kill a Watt, we could make a spreadsheet for the day that estimated daily kwh used by category - freezer, refrigerator, outside lights, TVs, wall oven, dryer etc. and then go through line by line to lower each item. I used to use a fan for white noise overnight, but after the Kill a Watt review I bought an album of fan sounds on iTunes and just repeat some of those sounds on an iPod docked on a clock radio.

Some utilities will allow you to install a demand controller. Have you looked into that?

 

[photoguy]

I think part of the point that daylatedollarshort is making is that during the A/C season, efficiency savings in appliances/lights/gadgets also translates to less load on the A/C system.

While that's true, an A/C with a SEER rating of 13 has a COP of 3.2. Which means it takes about 1/3 watt to remove an extra watt of heat. So there is a fractional improvement in the A/C costs. I haven't done all the math, but it's a little hard to imagine that this could add up to thousands per year, even at $0.3x/kWh.

Thanks for clarifying.

I think I didn't quite see how the numbers could add up in DLDS' situation because my own costs were so different: My electric bill only runs $35-45 a month so there simply isn't thousands to cut out (electricity for 2 adults in 1200 sq ft house with heating/cooking/dryer on natural gas, no air conditioning). I was confused because even if you double or triple my bill (to account for a larger family/home), there's still no way to save thousands.

I dug up my last full bill from Feb (my last bill because we moved) and we used 257 kWH @ $0.13. However, we haven't done anything to reduce our electricity usage. PG&E tells us we're using similar amount of electricity to other homes our size but based on responses here it seems like we are on the very low end for both total kWH and cost per unit.

 

[Live Free]

My grocery bill is always lowest when I meal plan for the week before going grocery shopping. I don't always do the meal planning and I have noticed from tracking costs that I end up spending more for groceries as well as wasting more food.

Another thing I am really bad about is buying food items I already have (buried in freezer, frig, or pantry). About two weeks ago I took on organizing the pantry and found lots of food items that had expired, lots of two or three cans of same items, etc. So after purging and organizing everything, I took a few pics (one of each pantry shelf) with the phone and if I can't remember if I have something while I am at the store, I can pull up the pic on my phone and look for it. But if you meal plan you can check for items before shopping.

Need to save money right now? Eat for the next month from the freezer and pantry until you have cleaned it all out. Only buy short-term perishable items (e.g., milk) for the month.

 

[Katsmeow]

To the OP. It is hard to know what would specifically help you without knowing more about your specific spending. I understand why you might not want to post it, but many of the suggestions given may or may not be helpful to your situation.

Some years ago, we were trying really hard to reduce spending and were having a hard time of it. I found that many generic suggestions on how to save money on little things didn't help us because we weren't spending much on those categories.

The main reason for this was that the main driver of our spending wasn't the little things, it was the big things. And, these big things were things that couldn't be changed without major lifestyle changes.

Sure, we could turn out lights and do all the little things to reduce electricity consumption...but that wasn't why our electric bill was high. Our electric bill was high because we had a 4500 SF house with energy inefficient windows and had a pool and a guest house and 2 garages. The only thing that was going to appreciably reduce our electric bill was moving.

And, that was another thing. Lots of our expenses were tied to the fact that we had that house. Our mortgage was expensive. Maintenance was expensive from little things to the big things (repainting the interior of a 4500 SF house is a lot more expensive than repainting the interior of a 2000 SF house).

Several years later, we spend less than half of what we spent annually back then. And, note that our spending right now includes paying for college for 2 kids. Once they are out of school our projected spending will be less than a third of what it used to be.

The point is that what made the big difference was not primarily the small stuff. It was changing a few big things. The most significant of which was moving to a smaller house that was newer and required much less maintenance and was much more energy efficient.

As for the smaller stuff, we did work on some of that. What helped us was to use a budgeting program. We used You Need a Budget. See ynab.com if you are interesting.

We also looked at our budgeting to figure out what things were really important to us and to look at the budget as a whole. We worked on cutting back on things that we didn't think were worth the money (paying for someone else to clean our house for example) versus things that we did think were worth it (eating out a couple of times a month).