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Old 10-20-2009, 06:05 PM   #161
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Don't be proud - let the other person pay (if offered) for the meal.
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Old 10-20-2009, 06:20 PM   #162
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Do what my daughter does ! Shop with Mom and be slow to reach for your credit card . It always works !
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Old 10-20-2009, 06:36 PM   #163
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Fee-free credit cards might be a thing of the past if BofA has its way:

Latest bank fee is for paying off credit card on time every month - USATODAY.com
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Old 10-21-2009, 06:02 AM   #164
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Fee-free credit cards might be a thing of the past if BofA has its way:

Latest bank fee is for paying off credit card on time every month - USATODAY.com
They will surely do it if they can get away with it. They won't get away with it with me.
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Old 10-21-2009, 06:29 AM   #165
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We already canceled one cc and opened another because of that nonsense. I guess the vigorish they collect from the merchants isn't enough.
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Old 10-21-2009, 07:16 AM   #166
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Fee-free credit cards might be a thing of the past if BofA has its way:
This may only be the beginning.

Citi Mysteriously Closes Scads Of Mastercard Accounts Nationwide
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Old 10-21-2009, 08:04 AM   #167
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Yet citicards keeps offering redonkulous sign up offers for new credit cards. Such as their 30,000 American Airlines Aadvantage miles for a card sign up. I have already booked a free trip to Argentina and Uruguay, and there may be a Europe trip and a Mexico trip in the mix if I can get time off from work. FREE!!! There's a money savings tip - keep track of credit card companies and milk them for all they are worth. First stoozing, then mile churning.
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Old 10-21-2009, 08:21 AM   #168
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I have many female and male friends who spend tons each year on pricey aestheticians and products for their skin, which they could do so much cheaper if they would just look on the net at reviews for products and figure out what works best for them. Amazon.com and epodunk.com are good sources for this.
Even a simple exfoliant which you can purchase cheaply at Target will take off the dead skin from your face and help you look fresher and minimize those lines in your face. Why spend so much money having someone else do something you yourself could do?
Do it yourself and save the money you would spend on expensive microdermabrasion or other procedures.
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Old 10-27-2009, 09:19 AM   #169
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When I FIRE'd, I decided to turn off my cable subscription. That saves about $60/month which I'd been paying regularly without even taking a second look.
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Old 10-27-2009, 09:52 AM   #170
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(1) If you only need cell phone for emergencies, sign up for T-Mobile plan with $100 original investment + phone price (~$32). This gives you Gold status in the prepaid plan. After that, I am paying $10/YEAR.
I've been on the same plan for the past year and a half and it's working great! I think the only minutes I've used were a few to test the phone when I first bought it. So I have most of my original 1000 minutes plus whatever I bought this year.

I've never had the chance to recommend this plan to anyone I know, because most of them use their cell phones constantly. Honestly, even if I wanted to, I just couldn't come up with that much phone talking. But it really is a great plan if you just need a phone for emergencies or an infrequent call.
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Old 10-27-2009, 01:57 PM   #171
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Not so much a money saving tip but here are some cost cutting steps we are taking as we we try to do better at LBYM. Actually, we already LBYM, but not because of any strong effort on our part of being frugal. I have just been fortunate on the means side of the equation having a good salary. But we are re-dedicating ourselves to being more frugal and increasing savings so we can FIRE when I'm 55.

Removing costs from our budget:
- No more maid. Saves $1800 annually
- Cut my own lawn. Saves $600 annually and the yard looks better.
- Winterize the mosquito system in the backyard and no longer use it or refill it. Saves $800 annually.
- When our old dog finally passes we will not be getting a new pet. Kinda harsh but we are okay with it. Will save $500 annually.
- Consolidate internet and phone to a single provider and the cost reduction saves $1000 annually. It was a pain because we had to switch email addresses. But worth it.
- Cut my kids itunes account off. May only save about $100 annually but I could not take seeing all those little itunes charges on my CC bill. They will have to go through me when they want to purchase music.

Still looking at our expenditures to find other opportunities. It's funny but rather than missing these things I actually get a big charge out of cutting them. It feels great. Not sure the wife feels quite the same way but to her credit she is trying to be on board.
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Old 10-27-2009, 02:17 PM   #172
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God bless those that live without cable, but I'd be hanging onto the cable cord while the guy was disconnecting it and sobbing if anyone in the house tried to cancel our cable. Guess I'm not the trooper some of you LBYMers are.

- However, I did give up the maid which I'm glad about--even tho she did a better job of it than I do on a weekly basis (ok, I admit it, anyway).
- I did reduce our 3 at a time Netflix account to only one CD at a time with unlimited watching on the computer. It's getting a little hard for my mother to watch a movie all the way thru and it was really for her, but she still has her football now as it's the season. I don't think she has even noticed it. Anyway, this saves about half the previous cost. Not much but every little bit counts.
- For aluminum foil I found that our grocery store is selling almost freezer quality which is thick for $1. And I have purchased some really cute and thick green Coke glasses from the Dollar Store, which we have been using for 2 years now. The Dollar Store has had some great deals like a $1 plastic colander which is huge and strong.
- Cosmetic deals for ladies: Amazon.com has some great deals for things if you look hard enough. Not worth purchasing if they aren't what you want, but they had just the type and color I wanted for $3.99 plus cost to mail vs. $14.99 each at Dillards plus tax = savings. I never thought of buying off Amazon before, but there are some darn good deals there. Plus, I found a couple things I had looked for for years there much to my surprise. (After I did a post on skin care I looked for cosmetics, and found deals there, too, at Amazon.)
- For men/women/childrens things: Sierra Trading Post for you LBYM types that like discounts on casual clothing. Everything from swimsuits to outerwear to shoes to pajamas to sleeping bags and outdoor gear for you guys. Put in sierratradingpost.com. They seem to sell higher quality items for so little.
- Sears Optical ran a good sale and, since this was a birthday gift for my son, we purchased the type of glasses he wanted there. The fellow did a great job (he had been in the biz like 45 years!) and saved a heap going there instead of the pricey Optometrist I used last..and never again. Never thought of using them before, but will again.
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Old 10-27-2009, 02:51 PM   #173
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Okay, here's the tiniest cost cutting tip: If you buy battery-operated items, don't buy ones that take AAA or C size batteries. AAA batteries cost the same as AA batteries, but have 1/2 the capacity. "C" size batteries cost the same as "D" size bateries, but have 1/2 the capacity. If you buy rechargeables, you'll see it is often the same.

Also, 9V batteries tend to be very expensive for their rated capacity, so avoid them when you can. I buy smoke detectors that take three AA batteries rather than a single 9v.
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Old 10-27-2009, 03:30 PM   #174
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I've been on the same plan for the past year and a half and it's working great! I think the only minutes I've used were a few to test the phone when I first bought it. So I have most of my original 1000 minutes plus whatever I bought this year.

I've never had the chance to recommend this plan to anyone I know, because most of them use their cell phones constantly. Honestly, even if I wanted to, I just couldn't come up with that much phone talking. But it really is a great plan if you just need a phone for emergencies or an infrequent call.
Right now we have a Verizon plan that is probably no longer available at $15/mo. The T-Mobile deal sounds cheaper and we hardly use our phone -- I think we have something like 60 hours of time credits. A few questions for those on T-Mobile:

1) Can you use your accumulated minutes while on vacation in the U.S. or are there special roaming charges? That is the one time were we might be using the phone a bit to call back home or call for reservations, etc.
2) Did you have to walk into a T-Mobile store to get the details? There are a few I could walk into around here.
3) What is the standby time before your phone needs charging roughly? Right now we have to charge ours almost every night but a somewhat costly battery replacement could fix this I guess.
4) Any idea how the T-Mobile phone coverage is compared to Verizon? I see that both Verizon and T-Mobile show us on the edge of their coverage because we are on the city edge and a state park is behind us.
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Old 10-27-2009, 04:44 PM   #175
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I'm assuming everyone knows you can check out magazines at the public library and read them at home? This saves me from buying them.

Re: Cell phones. You can use J. D. Powers to check which cell phone company is rated highest in your specific region.
2009 Wireless Consumer Smartphone and Traditional Mobile Phone Satisfaction | J.D. Power
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Old 10-27-2009, 04:45 PM   #176
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lsbcal,

1) No roaming charges on prepaid at T-Mobile
2) Ordered online (Prepaid phones: Pay As You Go from T-Mobile) but you could probably set up prepaid at one of their stores. Online they often have specials with free refill cards -- I ordered a Motorola flip phone for $19.95 and got a free $25 refill card. They usually get the phone to you the next day if ordered online.
3) This would depend on the phone/battery -- the phones are the same as you would use with a typical cell plan. Depending on use and signal strength, my phone usually only needs to be charged every 3-4 days.
4) I am not sure that T-Mobile coverage is quite as good as Verizon but I have had no issues in my travels around the country.

I have had the prepaid phone for 18 months or so and have been satisfied. I use it for my long distance calls and usually buy the 1000 minute refills for $88-$90 at callingmart. Most folks that use as much as 300-400 minutes a month would save money with prepaid since even most basic cell plans are around $45 with all fees/taxes.
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Old 10-27-2009, 05:26 PM   #177
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1) Can you use your accumulated minutes while on vacation in the U.S. or are there special roaming charges? That is the one time were we might be using the phone a bit to call back home or call for reservations, etc.
2) Did you have to walk into a T-Mobile store to get the details? There are a few I could walk into around here.
3) What is the standby time before your phone needs charging roughly? Right now we have to charge ours almost every night but a somewhat costly battery replacement could fix this I guess.
4) Any idea how the T-Mobile phone coverage is compared to Verizon? I see that both Verizon and T-Mobile show us on the edge of their coverage because we are on the city edge and a state park is behind us.
1) I used it on vacation in and outside of US as I recall, but don't remember (or never checked) how much was deducted.
2) I signed up in one of the T-mobile booths in a mall
3) I almost always have mine off actually, but when on the road, I turn it on. I think I charge it once every few months since it's usually off. If I recall correctly, when I had it on continuously, I could easily go for days or even weeks but no hard data here (I have "Nokia 3560 digital").
4) Never had Verizon but it's better than my old ATT coverage.
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Old 10-27-2009, 05:49 PM   #178
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Thanks for the replies Lakedog and smjsl. My wife is probably going to be OK with a phone change especially if the phone has to be charged less often. She keeps the phone on so that I can reach her occasionally, like when she's in the market and I remember that I'm out of olives or maybe lunch meat. So I'll check into this T-mobile plan further -- sounds promising.
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Old 10-27-2009, 06:27 PM   #179
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I'm sold on T-Mobile at least in the Midwest and Texas. Drove from Houston to New Orleans 6 years ago and up to Chicago and T-Mobile worked all the way there on that trip. My prepaid card is T-Mobile now, too. I really like their service and customer service.
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Old 10-27-2009, 06:35 PM   #180
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I'm sold on T-Mobile...
Catherine Zeta-Jones... <sigh> thanks, I needed that.
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