Tell us a few little things you do to save money

[aja8888]

We wash out plastic baggies...
Eat lots of Ramen Noodles
& Beans and Rice...with a little Bush Meat from time to time to add some mystery.....
Do not do anything for entertainment ~10 months of the year....

But only because we are in 3rd world country working....

to stack up the bucks until we FIRE in about 2 years.....

When you get back to Spring, TX, the road kill is pretty plentiful along the new beltway (99).

 

[IrishMoss]

Done the following to save money or better my life and none of these things have felt like a sacrifice:

- cut satellite TV and had an antenna mounted on my house to get OTA channels
- stopped monthly Tivo subscription and instead purchased a Tivo that came with lifetime service included
- moved from monthly expensive cell phone plan to a pay as I go plan at a fraction of the cost
- got rid of landline phone service
- use Google Voice for my phone service. Used that for the last 10 years.
- got an Obihai adapter so I can use existing cordless phones and it's integrated with Google Voice.
- stick to a budget, now save almost 50% of my current gross salary for retirement
- front loading my 401k last couple of years and maxing it out early.
- contributing to after tax 401k at the maximum in addition to maximum pretax and roth 401k contributions
- continue to put maximum yearly contribution in HSA but no longer use it to pay for medical expenses while costs are low
- do in service conversions of after tax 401K to roth 401K
- invest all my HSA monies.
- have half mortgage payment auto deducted every 2 weeks, which adds 1 extra payment per year
- In addition to mortgage payments every 2 weeks, pay extra to mortgage principal each month to reduce total mortgage payoff time
- started working from home almost full time
- started cooking more for health reasons and purchased an electric pressure cooker (life changing)
- this year cut back on eating meat and chicken and junk food and increased vegetable, fruit, bean, and legume consumption (lost 20 lbs in 6 months).
- upgraded my old Vitamix to a newer model and am using it a lot (healthy smoothies)
- as a result of cooking more, eat out less which saves money

 

[ceciledian]

My husband fixes and repairs everything he can - hoses, lawn equipment, dishwasher (thanks youtube!), changes the oil in the vehicles. His motto is repair not replace. We have never had cable, although we now have Netflix and Amazon Prime. We have never had more than one TV in the house. We limit eating out more for health than money. I change electricity providers every 3-6 months to get the new low introductory rate (Texas). I gave up bi-weekly housecleaner when we retired. We are both products of frugal depression era parents.

 

[target2019]

don't shave. saved a lot of dough in 45 years.

 

[Ronstar]

Stay home and stay off amazon

 

[FreeBear]

Wow, pretty amazing.

In contrast to you guys, DW and I ate out for dinner 5 times this week. She doesn't want to cook every day. Frankly, I don't blame her. I'd rather not cook or clean any day...

I ssed to do almost all of my own auto work too, really fun when you only have one car in the entire household. Now most work gets done by the stealership.

Oh well, I can always refer back to this thread to look for money saving ideas when the market tanks next.

I do get almost all of my books from the library, which is good since I read 50 books last year. I love interlibrary loan! Besides, I almost never re-read a book. I have only paid money for 1-2 books in the last 3 yrs.

 

[calmloki]

My husband fixes and repairs everything he can - hoses, lawn equipment, dishwasher (thanks youtube!), changes the oil in the vehicles. His motto is repair not replace. We have never had cable, although we now have Netflix and Amazon Prime. We have never had more than one TV in the house. We limit eating out more for health than money. I change electricity providers every 3-6 months to get the new low introductory rate (Texas). I gave up bi-weekly housecleaner when we retired. We are both products of frugal depression era parents.

Use it up, wear it out
make it do or do without.

 

[EastWest Gal]

The more you drink, the more you save!

Yeah, 'cause you can't drive anywhere and spend money on gas.

 

[HappyMinimalist]

At the beginning of this year DH's friend introduced him to Blade Buddy which essentially strops the blade. He has been using the same blade since March, 5 months and still as sharp as the first shave. A pack of 8 Mach3 blades sells for $20 where I'm at and DH goes through 1 new blade a week before Blade Buddy came into his life. Total savings per year ( drum roll, please) $130 ($2.50 per blade x 52 weeks)

 

[brucethebroker]

We cancelled our home delivery newspaper subscription (Sunday only) when the delivery part of the subscription fee was greater than 100% of the cover price of the paper. Now DH & I walk to the local Walgreens on Sunday mornings to get a copy. We started last Fall and I can only remember 1 week where weather made us opt to drive rather than walk.

I started reading the local newspaper online about 15 years ago and have never gone back. Free, and up to the minute on breaking news. They began charging a monthly e-paper fee, so I stopped. They are finally (after 5 years) easing into free viewing again. Lots of free news sites on line-why pay for the paper?

 

[brucethebroker]

In contrast to you guys, DW and I ate out for dinner 5 times this week. She doesn't want to cook every day. Frankly, I don't blame her. I'd rather not cook or clean any day...

I agree.
We try to cook "in bulk". (Make 4 days of cooked oatmeal. Grill 6 chicken breasts, not 2. Use crock pot to make 3 meals of pot roast.). That way, we cut down the prep time to 2-3 times a week. Freeze any you get tired of (like when DW makes her famous lasagna-large 8 serving pan.)

It only costs about $2 extra to go from large to XL take out pizza, yet extends it to a second meal.

We are disappointed in low quality and high prices when eating out. (Not including Bonefish Grill Bang Bang shrimp special $6 Wed. Take out, of course!).

 

[Red Badger]

Water with a filtered pitcher instead of bottled water.

We have filtered water from the refrigerator. Recycle water bottles with that water (we have good well water). Save a lot by getting replacement cartridges from Amazon at ~ $15 - not factory aftermarket ones that run ~$40 at big box.

Now that I'm unemployed, I'll use some of the time to chase down better deals on some recurring stuff (TV, insurance, etc). While I have a cheap (but completely satisfactory) cell phone plan from Republic Wireless, DW will surrender her Verizon gig when it's pried from her room temperature hands.

 

[brett]

We shop at Costco for many items. In the store and a fair amount on line.

 

[Out of Steam]

I went a month short of 4 years before replacing my smartphone with a new one. Use mine until the battery died for the second time, then used one handed down from my wife until it has gotten wonky.

Picking up the new phone today.

 

[travelover]

........... Lots of free news sites on line-why pay for the paper?

I do the same, but real, researched "news" costs money to produce. I do hope that "newspapers" find a viable way to continue to do in depth reporting and still make a living.

 

[imoldernu]

My "short list" is here... links to post #134

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

You don't wanna know about the extended list... just too long.

 

[mystang52]

No suggestions here. I've reached the point in life where I'm not all that concerned about how hard I can squeeze a nickel. I figure I've already won that game.

I'm of a similar mindset. Although DW and I eat out a few times per week, we don't do so lavishly (Outback, Bahama Breeze are the types of places we generally go to).
Neither of us are big eaters. So when we do dine out, we almost always share an entree, or share 2 appetizers as our meal. But more often than not when we eat out I like to order a drink, so that negates some of the savings. Still, we usually leave the place only 30 or 40 bucks poorer.
I don't throw away money, in that I'll do a bit of shopping before I buy something, but I no longer go crazy trying to save the extra dollar on an item I am probably buying just once.

 

[redduck]

No suggestions here. I've reached the point in life where I'm not all that concerned about how hard I can squeeze a nickel. I figure I've already won that game.

I'm also not all that concerned about getting the last drop of value for my money. I do have the feeling from reading this thread (and similar threads) that those people who are diligent in saving money enjoy the process (as in doing it as a hobby or a challenge that is fun).

I will ask for an AAA discount, but, I won't adjust the house temperature to save money at the expense of my comfort.

I did pick up a great bargain last week at the grocery store. I mean, if a deal is staring me in the face, I will go for it. Bought six of these bowls.
(Guess I need to work on my photography skills, especially composition).


Edit to add: Guess I need to work on my placing-a-photo-in-the-post skills as well).

 

[txtig]

I always buy 4 bottles of booze at the store, saves 10%

A new Total Wine store just opened in our area. I was paying $62 for a 1.75 L bottle of my favorite bourbon (Maker's Mark) at our neighborhood liquor store. Price at Total Wine is $43. Similar savings on other brands. No more shopping at the neighborhood store for me. I feel a bit bad for the local owner, but not bad enough to forego those kind of savings.

 

[W2R]

I am so incredibly lucky that seemingly limitless amounts of my favorite drink just come out of every faucet in my house! It's as though it was designed just for me.

 

[aja8888]

Hyundai Santa Fe- 2013 - 60,632 miles - 9 oil changes done in my garage (9th one today).

Oil = full syn 5W 20 (5.8 quarts (6) @ $6.00/quart = $36 * 9 = $324.00

Filter (OE Hyundai) @$5 each (dealer price) * 9 = $45.00

Materials = $369.00

Labor (well, me)

Average cost of dealer oil change = $79.00 * 9 = $711.00 (not including dealer add on fees,aka "shop rags,oil disposal fees, new drain plug, etc")

Savings to date = $342.00

Bonus = peace of mind dealer did not strip the oil pan drain plug threads, try to sell me unnecessary services, no wasted hours sitting in a auto service lounge having to listen to crappy music and drink bad coffee.

Works for me.

 

[kimcdougc]

1. Shop at Winco - owned by employees - save at least a third on groceries.

2. Bulk shopping at Costco - get gas there with our 2% back Visa from Fidelity.

3. Pay for everything with our Fidelity Visa and make around $125 per month. Pay off monthly.

4. Clip coupons from the Sunday paper which I get for free when I volunteer on Mondays at our local Community Center.

5. DH and I have always done our own car maintenance, home projects etc.

6. Only buy lost leader new cars, have about 30% equity when we buy without using any of our cash.

7. Cut the landline.

8. Get our "senior" discounts when we go to eat.

9. Get great deals on lots of Happy Hour discounts at fast food places.

10. We each have an American Express card which has a companion certificate buy one get one free airline ticket every year.

11. Cut landline phone 4 years ago.

Just to name a few.

 

[ocean view]

why pay for the paper?

Reading the Sunday paper is a family event in our house. We read a lot of on-line news, but it is just not the same as sitting down with the front page spread out before you while you eat a leisurely breakfast.

But more importantly, having a hard copy paper is how we got our DS interested in current events at an early age. Now in high school he is quite conversant in most national & international news topics.

Plus I get to look through the store ads and coupons for more savings (trying to keep this on the original money saving tips topic).

 

[GravitySucks]

I believe it was the great philosopher TravelLover who said "Don't batherink Sterno."

 

[Ready]

We like to go to Lucille's BBQ restaurant. We buy $100 gift cards from Costco for $70. Then we get $10 coupons for being on their mailing list, and we sit in the bar and get happy hour 22 oz beers for $5. So we typically spend about $35 dinner for 2 when the full price without the discounts would have been $70.

And since we can tip using the gift cards, we get 30% off the tip price as well while the servers still get paid the full amount of the tip.