Re: Such a deal-What $ saving ideas have you found
Onesuite is pretty good. I've noticed sometimes when I dial someone I get a busy signal when they arent on the phone, and sometimes the person on the other end reports low volume or a delay. I wonder if they're using some "voice over IP" stuff. Hadnt had that with sams club phone cards. If you use a LOT of long distance and have a cable modem or DSL, look into Vonage or Packet8...long distance calling over your high speed internet line using a regular phone to anyone in the world. For $20-35 a month you can talk all you want in the US.
For those with low adjusted gross income, see if you qualify for any "low income" service rates. Because I have no taxable income, I qualify for $5 a month phone service and 20% off my utility bills. I feel a little weaselish, but I didnt make the rules.
Whole house fans are very nice for quickly and inexpensively cooling down a house. I bought the smallest one and just screwed it into the attic opening, ran a cord to a wall outlet and plugged it in, and hooked that up to a small x10 remote control. Voila, for about $100 I have a remote control house fan.
Instead of cooling the whole house on hot summer evenings, I just put a high efficiency window a/c unit in and for 1/10th the cost of cooling the whole house, I cool just the room we're in.
Check out your shopping options. I found a little cash only market not that far away that has great produce, pretty good meats, a heck of a bulk section, and a surprising array of what I would consider moderately "gourmet" foods. Its the food stamp crowd and its nowhere near as pretty as the fancy "bel air" market, but the prices are 30-50% cheaper for the same merchandise. I make heavy use of the bulk section - I can refill a $3 container of hot cocoa mix for 75c and buy a variety of hot cereals, rices, beans and grains for about 1/2 of the packaged rate. Pasta in whole wheat or regular is about 50c a lb. I also have a grocery outlet near me that handles a lot of closeouts and merchandise nearing its expiration date. I wouldnt buy any fresh food there, but I occasionally pick up canned and dry goods for about 80% off to refill my pantry. They had a bunch of pretty good wine there, originally about $10-12 a bottle at the regular store for $2.99 a bottle. I buy all my gas at sams club and anything I can use in large quantities from them as well. We go through a lot of orange juice, so I get the six packs of concentrate there for a buck a can, each makes a half gallon.
Gets hot here and pools cost $15-30k, so we bought one of those little inflatable collar Intex pools at walmart. A 10' one for under $100. Comes with a pump filter, a skimmer and a cheesy but surprisingly effective little bottom vacuum. Takes me about 5 minutes a day and 10 minutes a week to clean and adjust the chemicals, respectively. I've had an in ground pool and except for not being able to swim laps, this is every bit as good for sitting in on a hot day or a warm evening. Surprisingly tough, we've gotten 3 years out of them and they still look good. The 8' model which is clear in case you have kids and want to see them when they're in it costs under $50. Its not really deep, but for people with a small space its not too bad.
When you buy appliances, buy energy star models. My new fridge cut ten bucks a month off my electric bills over the 17 year old hunk of junk that came with my house. The front loader washer I bought a while back uses half the detergent, water and electricity.
If you like having a big tv, consider a DLP projector instead. I paid $750 for my Infocus X1, and throw a 10' picture on a regular wall over the fireplace. Takes computer and video connections. Requires a somewhat dim room; you wont be able to use it at 2am with all the drapes pulled back and the sun blasting in. You need a separate stereo for the sound, but I imagine most people have one of those already. If you have a seldom used room, like I did in my old mcmansion, you can set up a "movie room". Between the projector, a low cost dolby digital setup, and a Netflix dvd subscription, we havent been to the movies in years. And we dont want to.
Its a lot of pennies and dollars here and there, but wow does it add up.
