Cheapwad Finds--Opposite of Blow That Dough!

Not a “find” but definitely the opposite of BTD. We have a 2001 GMC Yukon XL with just over 100k miles. It has been garage kept and very well maintained, with synthetic oil changes every 7500 miles. I added a head unit (called a stereo when I was younger) that has Bluetooth and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. A backup camera was also installed, so it’s now relatively up to date technologically. I just received LED bulb replacements from Amazon that will give better visibility at night. We also had seat cushions and leather upholstery replaced. Less than $2500 invested and we have an up to date vehicle that should last another 100k miles based on the longevity of the 5.3L V8.
 
Music Lover said:
We buy real cheddar cheese slices, much better than processed cheese. I always get a burger with no cheese (usually takeout) and add my own cheese at home. It tastes better and of course it's cheaper, too.

Sometimes I'll stop at a local burger place that has great burgers. A single is $8 and a double is $9.50. I get the double as takeout and give one of the patties to my wife or save it for the next day. All we need is a bun and the fixin's. This works because the single is large and more than enough.
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My Dw and I do similar here, there is a hole in the wall place here that we buy a BBQ & fries to go, for 8 bucks. The bbq is huge and the fries are fully 1/2 a bag full. We then make another sandwitch and DW get it and a few of the fries and it is plenty for us. Another local place we go we both get the "kids" meal and it fills us up. :dance:
 
We now share a takeout meal, when we get Chinese we will split 1 meal. The same for our Thai take out.
I do order 2 meals at a time, and we have one the next day for lunch, as it seems more efficient use of the car to get more than 1 meal.

This also helps with the waistline.
 
Sunset said:
We now share a takeout meal, when we get Chinese we will split 1 meal. The same for our Thai take out.
I do order 2 meals at a time, and we have one the next day for lunch, as it seems more efficient use of the car to get more than 1 meal.

This also helps with the waistline.
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Yeah, the sweet spot at our Panda Express Chinese is the carryout with 4 items. Comes with rice (fried) or noodles or steamed veggies (or a combo of those) plus 4 standard items. We can stuff ourselves on one such meal for about $13 unless we buy any premium items ($1.50 each extra.) YMMV
 
650 bucks at Costco for new tires on our 2000-something Camry, after $150 on a new serpentine belt, installed. Not as cheap as Chinese takeout, but sure cheaper than $30-40K to replace it. Less work & headache as well. I hate new car shopping!

Probably will need a new battery since current Costco-Interstate is now over 7 years old, but reluctant to BTD. I've got an electronic battery tester (measures internal resistantance), so maybe I will wait a bit if it tests OK-ish. Love getting "full value" out of stuff! :dance:
 
Koolau said:
Yeah, the sweet spot at our Panda Express Chinese is the carryout with 4 items. Comes with rice (fried) or noodles or steamed veggies (or a combo of those) plus 4 standard items. We can stuff ourselves on one such meal for about $13 unless we buy any premium items ($1.50 each extra.) YMMV
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We love Chinese food, Thai too but it's more expensive and harder to find.

Found a great Indian buffet. Just 13.95/person, all you can eat. I try to stay away from the starch and power load on the protein and veg. I'm embarassed to say how many Tandoori chicken legs I can eat! :D The veggie dishes are amazing too.
 
Recent bargains - a 14 pound organic pumpkin for $7; two huge leeks, over 2 feet long for $2.99; half price ballet tickets; free entry for seniors at a recent concert; saved $130 off retail at Grocery Outlet; saved $70 on a gut test on sale; and DH brought a couple of used books at a library sale for 50 cents each. Tonight for dinner I made turkey vegetable soup in the thermal cooker, which saves on electricity.
 
FreeBear said:
650 bucks at Costco for new tires on our 2000-something Camry, after $150 on a new serpentine belt, installed. Not as cheap as Chinese takeout, but sure cheaper than $30-40K to replace it. Less work & headache as well. I hate new car shopping!

Probably will need a new battery since current Costco-Interstate is now over 7 years old, but reluctant to BTD. I've got an electronic battery tester (measures internal resistantance), so maybe I will wait a bit if it tests OK-ish. Love getting "full value" out of stuff! :dance:
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31k for a new Camry. Could you see the wire wear bar on the tread. Once they start sparking as you drive down the road, its time for new tread. :greetings10:
 
FreeBear said:
…but sure cheaper than $30-40K to replace it.

Probably will need a new battery since current Costco-Interstate is now over 7 years old, but reluctant to BTD. I've got an electronic battery tester (measures internal resistantance), so maybe I will wait a bit if it tests OK-ish. Love getting "full value" out of stuff! :dance:
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Fully agree on keeping vehicles well-maintained and getting the most out of them. In regards to getting full value, I recently had the battery in my 2011 Buick checked out. It was below whatever threshold they use to determine whether or not to replace it. I found my receipt from the purchase of the battery. Four years to the day and the battery had a four year warranty! Drove off with a new battery and didn’t pay a cent.
 
Finally got daring and switched to synthetic oil from conventional oil in my car. Actually, they had NO conventional oil for sale at the Walmart I went to. Supposed to be able to go 10,000 miles on this synthetic stuff. Only 5,000 on the conventional. And the synth only costs 25% more than the conventional.
 
FreeBear said:
We love Chinese food, Thai too but it's more expensive and harder to find.
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We have found one small Chinese restaurant that's heads above the rest, and they do a great take out business.

We order a large Hot and Sour Soup for $4.75 and it feeds two. Then we'll order a small Pork Lo Mein for $4.75, and it also feeds two.

Sometimes I'll order a full meal of Kung Pow Chicken, and it comes with egg roll and chicken fried rice. It's a meal for 2. It's one of the best Chinese dishes I've ever eaten--anywhere.
 
ugeauxgirl said:
The list price for my 18 year old college student's books at the bookstore was $750. I got them all used on either ebay or Amazon for $155 including access codes for online course work.
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When in college, I seldom studied until the night before a test. I found out that the college library had a dozen copies of every textbook used in the university.

From there on, I'd just check out a textbook as needed. I sure saved big $ on not buying textbooks.

Thankfully Business School wasn't really that difficult of coursework as I listened closely in class and took notes.
 
daylatedollarshort said:
Recent bargains - a 14 pound organic pumpkin for $7; two huge leeks, over 2 feet long for $2.99; half price ballet tickets; free entry for seniors at a recent concert; saved $130 off retail at Grocery Outlet; saved $70 on a gut test on sale; and DH brought a couple of used books at a library sale for 50 cents each. Tonight for dinner I made turkey vegetable soup in the thermal cooker, which saves on electricity.
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What's an organic pumpkin? :confused:
 
aja8888 said:
What's an organic pumpkin? :confused:
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A pumpkin grown under USDA organic labeling guidelines. We try to buy mostly organic food these days. It is a lot more expensive than conventional so anything organic for 50 cents a pound is bargain. Organic canned pumpkin at Whole Foods is $4.39 a can for 14 ounces, and other winter squash is usually at least $2 a pound.
 
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Apple TV is offering 90 day free trials. Stream on your smart TV or device.
 
One of the “T-Mobile Tuesday” deals today is 90 days free subscription to Walmart+. I signed up for the free trial so I can try food delivery, and set a reminder on my phone to cancel at the end of December.
 
kgtest said:
31k for a new Camry. Could you see the wire wear bar on the tread. Once they start sparking as you drive down the road, its time for new tread. :greetings10:
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Probably more than 31k for the Camry DW would want to replace our 17 yo one! Had my share of tire drama in my youth. Lost the entire tread on the highway, whipped across 3 lanes when I tried to brake. Changed tire in front of fried chicken shack in the 'hood. Fun times. Now I spend $$$ on tires but just wash the cars a few times a year at the dyi car wash, usually after DW "reminding" me for a few weeks!
 
FreeBear said:
Probably more than 31k for the Camry DW would want to replace our 17 yo one! Had my share of tire drama in my youth. Lost the entire tread on the highway, whipped across 3 lanes when I tried to brake. Changed tire in front of fried chicken shack in the 'hood. Fun times. Now I spend $$$ on tires but just wash the cars a few times a year at the dyi car wash, usually after DW "reminding" me for a few weeks!
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Yeah, I was gonna ask about spending $650 for a set of tires for an "older" Camry. Those must be premium tires indeed (that is, if you're still using the same size that came on cars of that age.) Probably not particularly "low profile" so maybe they're top of the line Pirelli??

The "cheap sob" in me would go for "middle of the road" (pun intended) tires instead. But, we all have our preferences based on our own experience. Personally, I've only had tread separation issues with "re-treads" back in the day (on my dad's car, ca 1967 or so.)

I applaud keeping older cars (especially Toyotas) rather than buying new. Best of luck!
 
Planning a quick trip to Vegas to see the Barry Manilow Christmas show (yes, I'm kind of a "Fanilow").
Airline tickets $59 each way on Southwest.
Staying at the Mirage for the resort fee + tax ($132 for 3 nights.....which is ridiculous and another story altogether). We started a MGM card on our trip in August, which is what gave us the offers.
Balcony seats for the show $55 + taxes/fees.

I know we'll have some other expenses, but a good start for a budget trip.
 
Koolau said:
Yeah, I was gonna ask about spending $650 for a set of tires for an "older" Camry. Those must be premium tires indeed (that is, if you're still using the same size that came on cars of that age.) Probably not particularly "low profile" so maybe they're top of the line Pirelli??

The "cheap sob" in me would go for "middle of the road" (pun intended) tires instead. But, we all have our preferences based on our own experience. Personally, I've only had tread separation issues with "re-treads" back in the day (on my dad's car, ca 1967 or so.)

I applaud keeping older cars (especially Toyotas) rather than buying new. Best of luck!
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I think you would be surprised what tires cost these days as oil is up and inflation is BBAACCCKKK...... (now one can get cheap Chinese made tires if you so desire for a little less.)
:LOL:
 
kgtest said:
31k for a new Camry. Could you see the wire wear bar on the tread. Once they start sparking as you drive down the road, its time for new tread. :greetings10:
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31k is not too far off from buying a used Tesla Model 3 with low miles: https://www.tesla.com/m3/order/5YJ3E1EA3KF361944?titleStatus=used&redirect=no#overview

Dreams that are not put into action so money is used towards investments.
 
OMG I think I just finished my holiday shopping. I was at the grocery store and Peet's coffee was marked way way down with best by date next spring, the Box of cookies best buy date next summer was 299 instead of 1399, the little kids sweatshirts are now 50% off, and the only other thing I do is zelle 1k to 3 on their own, $100 to 2 still at home, and $20 to the little grandkids

Just need to find a warriors hoodie so YL
 
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