Tell us a few little things you do to save money

[EastWest Gal]

Grow a few of my favorite vegetables. Tried kale this year. Don't like it raw, but sauteed it is amazing.
Cut the land line.
Many years ago got lifetime subscription to Sirius for $250, then they merged with XM. We have 4-one for each car and the house. Transferrable to the next car, and the next.
Eat at home--a lot. I liked home cooked food better anyway.
Drive a Prius (45+ mpg).
Never subscribed to a newspaper. Now with online news, I don't need to.

[Sunnymar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

Another out of the faucet water drinker. Some people are amazed, other very concerned about my health when I tell them I drink plain old water from the tap. Same thing my parents did, been doing it all my life haven't died yet.

[Scrapr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunnymar . Same thing my parents did, been doing it all my life haven't died yet.

Ahhh, but are your parents still with us The jury is still out!

I'm a faucet water drinker too. Carry a water bottle with me pretty much at all times. mmmm...cold, cold ice cubed water

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo 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.

Pretty much the same here too, but some things just because that's the way we are. I don't do car maintenance anymore, I spent more than enough time crawling around under vehicles - I paid my dues on that. I hired a lawn mower guy, health issues forced that.

At the very strong suggestion of my doctor, I stopped drinking wine. Don't like that, but the alternative is worse. But it does save some money. Maybe I can spend the savings on ice cream?

We don't go out to eat much, but went twice this week only because today is 29 years of wedded bliss. But I used a cash-back credit card (paid off monthly in full of course) and when the waitress asked "Are you a member of AARP or a veteran?" I said "No, but I'm retired law enforcement." She said "Close enough." and that was 10% off. I padded the tip a bit over 20%.

We don't travel much, and when we do it's a driving trip. I haven't been on an airliner in over a decade and don't miss it a bit.

Like W2R, my favorite drink is tap water.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Pretty much the same here too, but some things just because that's the way we are. I don't do car maintenance anymore, I spent more than enough time crawling around under vehicles - I paid my dues on that. I hired a lawn mower guy, health issues forced that. At the very strong suggestion of my doctor, I stopped drinking wine. Don't like that, but the alternative is worse. But it does save some money. Maybe I can spend the savings on ice cream? We don't go out to eat much, but went twice this week only because today is 29 years of wedded bliss. But I used a cash-back credit card (paid off monthly in full of course) and when the waitress asked "Are you a member of AARP or a veteran?" I said "No, but I'm retired law enforcement." She said "Close enough." and that was 10% off. I padded the tip a bit over 20%. We don't travel much, and when we do it's a driving trip. I haven't been on an airliner in over a decade and don't miss it a bit. Like W2R, my favorite drink is tap water.

Walt, congrats on the anniversary today!

[flpanhandle]

Found out that now I am in style drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer "PBR" since it has become a craft/designer/yuppie brand in our area. 18 pack for $10.95 and I must admit taste the same as some pricier IPA's.☺

[W2R]

Happy Anniversary, Walt!!!

[UnrealizedPotential]

Without a doubt the biggest thing I did to save money was relocate. I have also found over the years that car repairs are very expensive. So what I do is, I only get done what has to be done . I save up cash for future car repairs and I go online to get an idea of the cost so I don't get ripped off too badly. I try to pay cash for everything I can and only use my credit card when I have to. Any excess cash goes into investments. I have come to believe it is not the little expenses that kill me financially, but the basics like food , shelter, and transportation. Once those got readjusted it was a game changer.

[IrishMoss]

I have some great insulated stainless steel bottles which I fill with filtered water and filtered water ice cubes at home. Plain tap water doesn't taste good in my area, so I run it through a filter. No plastic bottles or filling up the landfill.

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunnymar Another out of the faucet water drinker. Some people are amazed, other very concerned about my health when I tell them I drink plain old water from the tap. Same thing my parents did, been doing it all my life haven't died yet.

I have a charcoal filter on the faucet, but sometimes I drink the H2O unfiltered (the filter has a switch) to get whatever minerals the local H2O has in it. I actually do think the tap water is *possibly* bad for you over long term exposure, with all those chlorine compounds, benzenes, etc, that are in it. My city mails us the test results each year, and there is a huge list of toxins that are present in the water, but at "acceptable" levels. I never did get the whole bottled water craze. I saw it as a huge profit margin gouge attempt that nobody would go for. But I was wrong, obviously.

[FiveDriver]

Some pretty good suggestions for saving money on this thread.

One of the first things we did when we moved down here was to appeal our RE Taxes. I found good Comps in our subdivision with the same Golf Course Views and submitted the package to the Assessor. To our surprise, he agreed to my figures without any further negotiations. The Assessor's Office was swamped with a county Re-Valuation and they must have "rubber-stamped" any Appeal that looked solid. That cut our Taxes by $500 bucks per year and that's some real high-octane money.

Other big savings --
We rarely order a drink with Dinner. Our Daughter worked in Food & Beverage, and she described the markup -- which was astounding !! I don't mind an after-dinner cocktail on my patio......but dining out is always Unsweetened Ice Tea.

Shop around for Insurance. There's new FEMA Maps for our area, and we are now in Zone X. The old maps were developed in 1986, before this subdivision was even built. I'll keep the Flood Insurance, but I expect it to be much less.

Cable Internet and Phone service is all on one Bill, and I claim a Expense Deduction to offset Income from a Small Business.

Use the local public Library. Don't buy Newspapers. Stock the Freezer when good sales come around. I do my own Lawn Care and Fertilizer Applications.

We keep an eye on Gas Prices. My car needs Premium, but I'm only filing up once a month these past few years...I really don't care it it's $40 or $42 per month. DW's Car runs on Regular and gets crazy good mileage.

There's some other small potatoes stuff that I can't bring myself to worry about -- a 12 pack of BIC Disposable Razors lasts me 6 months and costs $5 or less. $10 bucks a year gets lost in the noise. A haircut is $15 with tip, I go on even-numbered months and it keeps me groomed for the Major Holidays. Clothing expense is minimal, I still have quality shirts in my w*rking days and they're still quality 12 years later. LL Bean will never go out of style.

Of course we work the Credit Card Cash Back angles diligently. No Points, Just gimme the Cash.

I honestly can't think of any other cost saving strategies.

[Scrapr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FiveDriver There's some other small potatoes stuff that I can't bring myself to worry about -- a 12 pack of BIC Disposable Razors lasts me 6 months and costs $5 or less. $10 bucks a year gets lost in the noise. A haircut is $15 with tip, I go on even-numbered months and it keeps me groomed for the Major Holidays.

That sounds about like the barber I used to have. $12 rounded up to 15w/tip. Then price raised to $13. Well, ok that's $15 w/tip. Then became Oh, I don't have change for a $20 a couple times. after the 2nd or 3rd time i went to the Beauty Supply store and bought a nice set of clippers. Now Mrs scrapr cuts it. It's easy. If she remembers to put the #1 guard on i get a #1. If not I get a #0...and like it Mister! That clipper has saved us a lot of money over the last 10 years

[Rummy]

I shake my head when I see people in my local supermarket buy "Deer Park" bottled water. The spring where the water comes from is 1/4 mile away north of the market. It's trucked about 50 miles, bottled, then sent back.

Our township water supply comes from the same aquifer, deep wells and springs.

Just turn the tap...

[Blue Collar Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 She said "Close enough." and that was 10% off. I padded the tip a bit over 20%. .

When we were still able to go out to eat, Once in a blue moon, the server would tell us about a discount that was being offered that I knew nothing about, and that I didnt have the coupon/ eligibility for. One that comes to mind was we went to the outback, they had steak and lobster special. I wanted to supersize the steak and super size the lobster tail. The waiter said "oh that was a special a few weeks ago". When the bill came he said that the code for that special we ordered was still in the cash register. We got $12 bucks off each meal. I left him the regular tip Plus $20. I still saved $4 bucks, he got an extra 20. I got what I wanted and paid less than I expected. He thanked me profusely. I left the place full and made me feel good that I made him happy.

[Pilot2013]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flpanhandle Found out that now I am in style drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer "PBR" since it has become a craft/designer/yuppie brand in our area. 18 pack for $10.95 and I must admit taste the same as some pricier IPA's.☺

Now, I drink PBR with my boss when we go to Cigar bar, but I am not about to say it tastes the same as an IPA.

[Koolau]

I do lots of the stuff already mentioned. A couple of other items - shower with my lady. Saves water and is more fun.

Pick up "Hawaiian nickels." In Paradise, we have a 5 cent returnable fee on all plastic and aluminum soda/water containers. As we are out and about, I pick these "nickels" up from the ground (sadly, tourists do NOT toss these on the ground - local people do, but that's another thread) or pick them from the trash. It's not a lot, but it's good for the environment and the nickels are nice to have.

YMMV

[Bamaman]

My wife went to a couponing seminar last week. Now, she's trying to figure out all of the grocery and drug store games--to get something for almost nothing.

It all gets complicated. I finally told her to have fun, but quit giving me the details on how to save a buck because I simply don't want to hear about it.

When we're retired, it's nice just keeping life simple and not worrying about the small details about which store to go to this week.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman When we're retired, it's nice just keeping life simple and not worrying about the small details about which store to go to this week.

Exactly. I see people at the grocery store with handfuls of coupons and wonder how much time they spent on gathering all that together and is it for stuff they were going to buy anyway, or are they buying stuff because they got it cheap and will it eventually expire and be thrown out?

Right now one of the credit cards is offering a 10% statement credit for groceries, gas and restaurant meals and I use that for stuff we were going to buy anyway, but nothing more. Last statement I had a credit of $177, mostly groceries and some gas for the car and truck.

I wonder how they can make any money doing that, but hey, that's not my concern.

[RobbieB]

I refuse to pay to shop.

No Costco, no Sam's Club, no Amazon prime.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB I refuse to pay to shop. No Costco, no Sam's Club, no Amazon prime.

That's my initial reaction too, but....

I consider the total cost of the transaction(s). For example, if I needed hearing aids I read here that Costco offers substantially lower prices, like half off, than the local audiologist. In that case then paying say, $2k for a set at Costco vs. $4k a set for the same quality, then yeah, I'm gonna pay for the Costco membership. (I know you don't need the membership for hearing aids, just using it as an example.) If we lived near one (we don't) and we went there often, over a year's time it probably would be cost-effective to pay for the annual membership. So for me I look at the total cost and I'd get over the membership fee as a cost of doing business.