220 replies to this topic

[54regcab]

By all means use the programmable thermostat, but, but, turning your heat off during the day is a bad plan if you have a heat pump. When you go to turn it back on it kicks in your electric emergency heat. Also those simple programmable thermostats at Lowes are not for heat pumps unless it says heat pump, heat/cool if for gas/oil/electric furnaces with a/c. The hot water heater is a good plan, we put an insulation kit on ours and did the switch on and off, saved bunches. Also, where heating and cooling is concerned change your filters regularly, dirty filters impede air flow and increase required run time.

YMMV...I don't think I have a heat pump, but for the last couple of months I would turn my AC off before I left for work and back on when I got home in the afternoon. This past month, I decided to leave it running all day because I finally took the time to program my thermostat...guess what? It cost me $29 extra NOT to turn it off and back on. I know what I'll be doing for the rest of the warm months...

A heat pump works exactly like a normal A/C in the summer, shutting off when not in use is a good plan (as you have found out). In the winter leave it running all the time so the heat strips don't kick on to help heat the house up, heatpumps can get more heat out of the warmer daytime air than the cold night air for the same energy.

For the water heater check into going natural gas, this can save a bunch of money.

[angeleyeskkhr]

Another way to have some extra money for cc payments is:

get rid of cell phone bills, long distance phone bill, remove cable or take it down to just basic, search for the best car insurance rate, shop with coupons, don't eat out.

High speed internet
Cell phone
Home phone

If you have all three, DUMP THE HOME PHONE... cell minutes are cheap... upgrade your plan and use the cell exclusively. Or get vonage ($29.99 / month beats out 49.99 Verizon unlimited)

what kind of high speed? because I have DSL I believe and you have to have a home phone.

What I did is just get a measured line (5 outgoing calls/month no long distance)...We have a cell under my mom's plan....And I pay her $40/mo for two phones. I pay $30/mo for the measured line and DSL

ETA: It does suck though that the taxes are often much more than the actual phone bill (it's like $15 all together for the phone, $15 for net access)

ETA 2: We can't get rid of cell phone anyway because fi needs one to sign into and out of work.

Edited by angeleyeskkhr, 25 June 2006 - 02:50 PM.

[mdw2006]

Another thing is to get timers for heaters and air conditioning, don't leave them on when you are not home and when you are home try and leave them off if possible. When I was laid off and then later decided to stay home with our daughter there were several things I did to cut back on expenses.

I got rid of my cell phone
We went from cable to dish - it saved us a bunch and all the movie channels we had before, gone, rent a movie - besides we are so tired now we can't stay awake to watch anything
We don't go out to dinner very often - and when we do it is really special
I started calling around for the best phone offer and cut that in half
I started getting insurance quotes from different companies and I found out we were paying more for less so now we have better covereage for 1/2 of what we were paying - hugh savings.
Gas went down cause I don't use that much - before I was driving 2 hours a day to and from work, now I drive maybe 2 hours a week - the baby and I try and walk to a lot of places - great for the body and mind and the earth.
Called and got interest rates lowered.
Started using coupons for groceries and started looking at sale papers and shop on those days.
Put DH on a budget - he gets so much a month and he has to use it wisely, if he blows it all there is no way to give more - he has gotten very good at making it last into the next month so he has more cash of his own. Good for his sole.

We got long distance thru a company called TTI...I dont call long distance to much but the highest its ever been is 10 dollars and that was when our grandma was in the hospital in other State and we where calling quite often...if you dont make any long distance calls that month no bill to pay...last months was a 2 dollars.
We also Tracfone which works out great...we do have Qwest but since no long distance its only 20 a month but we have to have a home phone because of my husbands work. There is some great ideas here like the hot water tank...keep them coming...

[BBQ123]

Here's the big things me and my family do to save money:

1) When it's on sale, load up - if its not a perishable item and is something we use, we load up on it. (The other day Bounty paper towels were on sale for $2.99 (8 pack). Normally this costs about $9.99. We bought six of the 8-packs.)

2) Cell phone for all U.S. long distance after 9 PM and on weekends - might as well actually use those free night/weekend minutes instead of paying 5 cents a minute landline.

3) Online DVD Rental - it costs like $4.50 to rent at Blockbuster. For less than the price of four movies we get 3-at-a-time unlimited via Netflix. We used to spend double that combined renting at Blockbuster.

4) Coupons - if we buy it and we see a coupon, cut it out post on the fridge and use when shopping.

5) Credit cards - Always pay-in-full (unless 0% APR). Always use credit cards instead of cash/check for rewards.

6) Shades - close them in the summer to help keep house cooler, open in winter to help heat.

7) Garden - Why pay for vegetables that have been treated with chemicals at the supermarket when you can grow them yourself?

8) Clothes - Take advantage of sales. If you can save money by opening a credit account, do it and PIF to avoid interest. (This is how I saved money at Old Navy, Macy's, and Sears... parents did it at JCPenny/Sears).

Now some things we might be able to save money on, but don't:

1) Eating Out - More variety out, don't like to cook and have dishes to do every day

2) Movies - sometimes you just have to spend the $9/ticket for big blockbusters

3) Air Conditioning - no one likes 80 degrees... it stays at like 70 all summer

4) Cheapo Food - we'd rather spend more money for good food and not have health issues later

[GEORGE]

Another way to have some extra money for cc payments is:

get rid of cell phone bills, long distance phone bill, remove cable or take it down to just basic, search for the best car insurance rate, shop with coupons, don't eat out.

High speed internet
Cell phone
Home phone

If you have all three, DUMP THE HOME PHONE... cell minutes are cheap... upgrade your plan and use the cell exclusively. Or get vonage ($29.99 / month beats out 49.99 Verizon unlimited)

OF THE 3

WE DUMPED THE CELL PHONES

[radi8]

For the water heater check into going natural gas, this can save a bunch of money.

That used to almost always be true, but it isn't any longer. Some parts of the country Nat Gas prices have risen faster than electricity, not only catching up but surpassing then.

Our electric rates have stayed reasonable up here (hydro power) but Nat Gas has gone up to nearly 3X what it cost 3-4 years ago. Probably best to do some <homework> before making the purchase.

[CargoJon]

For the water heater check into going natural gas, this can save a bunch of money.

That used to almost always be true, but it isn't any longer. Some parts of the country Nat Gas prices have risen faster than electricity, not only catching up but surpassing then.

Our electric rates have stayed reasonable up here (hydro power) but Nat Gas has gone up to nearly 3X what it cost 3-4 years ago. Probably best to do some <homework> before making the purchase.

Agreeing with Radi8 here. Had electric heat pump during 2004 winter. 2005 winter we went to natural gas house...and our heat payments doubled.

[tds]

I dunno if I should even speak. But I am 24 years old single man, making decent money, I usta spend 800 dollars a month eating out. I don't like fast foods so dinner was always a sit down restaurant. I had a cellphone, home phone and dsl., and cable: 50, 70, 60, and 54. I now have basic cable and high speed internet (67) and a cellphone (7 oclock N&W and mobile to mobile) 55. Im almost saving a grand a month on when I started to cook for myself.

Good for you! When I married DH, he was the only person I knew who always had money. Why? He did not own a car and took the bus, he did not have cable or a cell phone (although he did spend a ton of money on DVDs and video games), and he only had one credit card and one student loan as his debt. My friends made fun of him because he did not drive (I am in Texas and everyone drives here). He did not really have any savings to speak of other than his retirement, but he was doing a lot better than I was financially. He was able to save for a few months to buy me a beautiful, reasonably priced ring and pay for half of our modest honeymoon and wedding. I saved and paid for the other half, but I was also juggling years of debt. In another 4 months we will only have 1 car payment and 2 student loans. We have been married just over a year and all of our other debt will be PIF! I am so grateful that he was willing to make repaying my debt part of his goal and make sure that we had adequate savings for emergencies. Last year, most of my friends declared bankruptcy and many of the women I know were completely devastated when they found out how much debt was incurred while they were dating. Not to mention the expensive weddings that followed! All I know is that those same people who made fun of the guy I was dating who didn't drive are now wishing their DH was not stuck in a car that he bought to impress resulting in a huge car payment on an upside down loan!

[tds]

Bump for an awesome thread. Any new ideas anyone?

Here are a few things I do:

I bought a dorm sized fridge for my office. I keep a pitcher of water in there so I don't have to buy soda or bottled water at work. I can also keep my lunch out of the big nasty fridge in the break room!

I use the grocery game website for shopping with coupons. I learned about it here at credit boards and it is amazing. I cut my grocery bill in half and I have never had so much food in the house! The grocery game saves me $200 a month for the two of us and I don't have to try to figure out when to use a coupon to get the best deal - the website does all of the work for me.

I don't go to the mall or any other stores unless I really need something. We have enough pants for each day of the week, except DH who wears jeans more than once. We have enough shirts for two weeks just for variety. We have both a summer and winter wardrobe, so the closets are still full, but not overflowing with stuff we don't need or wear. I buy gifts online so I don't start picking up things for myself when I am shopping for others!

[angeleyeskkhr]

Bump for an awesome thread. Any new ideas anyone?

Here are a few things I do:

I bought a dorm sized fridge for my office. I keep a pitcher of water in there so I don't have to buy soda or bottled water at work. I can also keep my lunch out of the big nasty fridge in the break room!

I use the grocery game website for shopping with coupons. I learned about it here at credit boards and it is amazing. I cut my grocery bill in half and I have never had so much food in the house! The grocery game saves me $200 a month for the two of us and I don't have to try to figure out when to use a coupon to get the best deal - the website does all of the work for me.

I don't go to the mall or any other stores unless I really need something. We have enough pants for each day of the week, except DH who wears jeans more than once. We have enough shirts for two weeks just for variety. We have both a summer and winter wardrobe, so the closets are still full, but not overflowing with stuff we don't need or wear. I buy gifts online so I don't start picking up things for myself when I am shopping for others!

I did too...but they don't reciprocate. Someone posted a question about budgeting and I gave them the link to the thread (in a way that they had to copy and paste so as to avoide fear of viruses) in Money Management with all the calculators in it...and they deleted the post because they didn't want to look at the website to see if it was legit/had nothing to do with coupons. Oh well, I didn't realize we weren't allowed to post it (I remember they've had credit/money management threads before).

I stopped doing it for a long while though because I wasn't getting the newspapers (BTW I need to call Austin American Statesman since in three weeks/4 newspapers now they've failed to deliver a single one), and our grocery bill shot up to like $200 (granted DD is now eating more and we were trying to cut back on the junk food/red meat and introduce more seafood and chicken--which I'm picky about--into our diet)....

However, I am shopping today and have my budget of $135 and we should be getting more than we normally do (like 16-17ish days of meat +snack foods and juices and breakfasts, etc) Usually we barely scrape by with 14 days of food.

ETA: That is $200/2 weeks

Edited by angeleyeskkhr, 26 June 2006 - 10:24 AM.

[mjtsd]

I use grocery game too. What a great site I live alone but I also started to stockpile for my BF too.

[BlueButterfly]

can i have the link for the grocery game site?

how i save money:

like another poster, i turn the bottles upside down and honestly get everything out of them. shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, detergent, everything.

again like another poster, i buy in bulk, cook it up, freeze it for later especially hamburger.
and i cook enough at dinner for leftovers the next day for lunch.

i get free coffee/tea at work so i never drink soda.

i'm fortunate in that my DH works for WM so we take full advantage of the discount card.

we use a lot of coupons for shopping. and, i know places where kids eat free every night of the week in our area and even tho the kids eat free, DH and i order cheap--just b/c they eat free doesn't mean we can order steak and lobster!!

i cut my kids' hair myself. Easy to do since they're boys. probably wouldn't do this if i had girls!

DH is a mechanic by trade so he maintains our cars--we haven't ever had a major repair to any car we've ever owned due to regular maintenance.

we have a programmable thermostat in our house and use it. we live in the hot midwest (MO) so turning it off while gone doesn't work b/c then it works twice as hard when we get home. in the evening it never goes below 79 degrees and while we're at work it's on 85. we like our ceiling fans better.

i work for a pharmaceutical company and can buy our products at cost so i take advantage of that b/c i get a lot of everyday stuff for next to nothing. compared to the over the counter price, i'm paying a small fraction for the same things (i.e.--aspirin for .80 bottle!)

we have a great family doctor who whenever we come to see him and he diagnoses us always gives us samples when he can instead of writing a Rx. he's very conscious of Rx drug prices and insurance.

i am the penny pinchingest person ever!!!!

bb

[tds]

can i have the link for the grocery game site?

how i save money:

like another poster, i turn the bottles upside down and honestly get everything out of them. shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, detergent, everything.

again like another poster, i buy in bulk, cook it up, freeze it for later especially hamburger.
and i cook enough at dinner for leftovers the next day for lunch.

i get free coffee/tea at work so i never drink soda.

i'm fortunate in that my DH works for WM so we take full advantage of the discount card.

we use a lot of coupons for shopping. and, i know places where kids eat free every night of the week in our area and even tho the kids eat free, DH and i order cheap--just b/c they eat free doesn't mean we can order steak and lobster!!

i cut my kids' hair myself. Easy to do since they're boys. probably wouldn't do this if i had girls!

DH is a mechanic by trade so he maintains our cars--we haven't ever had a major repair to any car we've ever owned due to regular maintenance.

we have a programmable thermostat in our house and use it. we live in the hot midwest (MO) so turning it off while gone doesn't work b/c then it works twice as hard when we get home. in the evening it never goes below 79 degrees and while we're at work it's on 85. we like our ceiling fans better.

i work for a pharmaceutical company and can buy our products at cost so i take advantage of that b/c i get a lot of everyday stuff for next to nothing. compared to the over the counter price, i'm paying a small fraction for the same things (i.e.--aspirin for .80 bottle!)

we have a great family doctor who whenever we come to see him and he diagnoses us always gives us samples when he can instead of writing a Rx. he's very conscious of Rx drug prices and insurance.

i am the penny pinchingest person ever!!!!

bb

The site is www.grocerygame.com. They do have strict posting rules on the message boards as another person noted, but I love the weekly lists! It is only $1 to try it and it is easy to cancel. When I first heard about the site, I thought it would be one of those that make it nearly impossible to quit. I do have a few friends who tried it and just did not stick with it for different reasons. They found it very easy to cancel.

[Polarhound]

One item I haven't seen here is pellet stoves.

Our house is not large (~1000sq/ft). Switching to a pellet stove costs $1200-$1500, but over the long run you can save a lot in heating costs.

Living in New England, our gas bill can easily run $150-$200 in the winter with our 4 year old gas furnace. During that same time period, we can have plenty of heat for the entire winter for about $450 in pellets.

In the next room I have two tons of pellets for this winter, so I'm already locked in pricewise.

[Luzianne]

I do the grocery game too, but I don't use the list. When I first started doing it (six, seven years ago?) there was no list in my area yet; it was brand new. But they offered a grocery game "field guide" to tell you how to do it yourself instead of going by their list. There is a list here now but I still prefer to do it myself. The store I use is not on the list and I don't know why, because it is the BEST store in my area for doing the grocery game.

It definitely saves LOTS of money when you only buy food when it is on sale and you also have a coupon, preferably a coupon that can be doubled, for the item. You never pay full price for anything and lots of stuff ends up being free or nearly free.

Someone above mentioned Quaker oatmeal packets. Yup. I just bought two boxes of those today, peaches and cream and strawberry and cream. They were on sale for $1.99 and I had 70 cents off coupons. So I got two boxes for $1.29 each. Not bad. And that's two weekdays of breakfast if I eat two packets a day, but sometimes only want one.

Someone mentioned saving change when you buy something. I use the Bank of America "keep the change" savings. Every time we use our debit card, the change from the transaction is deposited into a savings account. BOA matches whatever you save in the first three months. It's an electronic way to save change, I guess.

When we want Chinese food, I have found that it is cheaper to order the lunch special. The entree is smaller than the dinner size, but with the lunch special you get soup and either crab rangoon or eggroll and fried rice included. Our local Chinese restaurant serves the lunch special from 11 till 3 so I will order and pick up close to 3:00 and microwave it to warm it up when it's time for dinner.

Also, our family rare eats IN a restaurant anymore. When you add in soft drinks (or any drinks) and a tip, it costs a LOT more for a meal. We cut way down on restaurant meals anyway, but we will occasionally order carryout from Chili's or On the Border or someplace similar and go pick it up and bring it home and eat it. We give a couple of dollar tip at the carryout counter but definitely not the 20% we would give to a waitress and we have our own drinks at home.

I know at restaurant.com you can pay, for instance, $10 for a voucher or card or whatever that is worth $25 worth of food, or whatever deal they have set up with a particular restaurant. I have looked at it and the restaurants listed in my area aren't any I really care to go to, but some of you may find some good deals.

Oh, also lots of restaurants have their "club" that you can join and they send you an email once in a while with a coupon for a free appetizer, a free meal on your birthday, things like that.

[meme]

Great thread! I haven't much to add here, but I did remember something I read somewhere online a long time ago about window cleaner.

Instead of buying the Glass Cleaners at the supermarket you can buy glass cleaner from an auto store in a larger bottle for much cheaper and works just as well. Never tried it myself but thought someone may find the tip useful.

Oh yes & Grease stains - instead of using Shout or Spray & Wash, etc. try sprinkling baby powder over grease stain and with a paper bag over the material, iron over it. You'll need to wash out the powder that clings, but most of the grease should come out with it.


meme

[Cactus Flower]

Hi. I am sharing this in the hopes that it will help many of you have more $$ in your pockets each month.



Hope this helps someone who needs extra money paying off those pesky bills.

I think it depends on where you live.............it has never saved me a dime.

What costs us out here is running the A/C all summer long (GRIN)

I do have one of those digital programmable thermostats through, and that saves me a few bucks each month.

[Ocean]

Hi. I am sharing this in the hopes that it will help many of you have more $$ in your pockets each month.



Hope this helps someone who needs extra money paying off those pesky bills.

I think it depends on where you live.............it has never saved me a dime.

What costs us out here is running the A/C all summer long (GRIN)

I do have one of those digital programmable thermostats through, and that saves me a few bucks each month.

Know all about the A/C running all summer out here!!!!! A/C ran nonstop from end of May to here recently...

Since its "cooled" off a little...down in the upper 90's to low 100s...it doesnt run as much now!!

[zoetrip]

I highly recommend (like some others here have mentioned) getting Vonage. Very easy to set up, unlimited calling works well, all the 'extras' included in that one price. Plus, if you have relatives overseas in Europe, the price to call there is THE SAME now as to other places in the US. Additionally, other international calls are equally as competitive as those you can make off calling cards from Sam's Club, AT&T, etc. Plus, you can choose your number too, so you can 'be' someplace new if you want.

Also, if you live near a college town or university and need computer equipment, check out some surplus stores that may be run by your local academic place. Ours locally to me sells everything from $5 office chairs to $100 complete computer systems (which have been completely cleaned and ready to use with the latest software of your choice), and I'm sitting here typing on a $10 computer desk/organizational center that, if bought new, would be something I would have to pass up on completely...and it's only 3 years old, next to perfect condition.

I can't say enough about the Habitat for Humanity stores, either. Not only do they have building supplies and materials that have been donated from worksites, many of them also operate Resale Stores, too, of donated furniture and homewares (Google for Habitat for Humanity Resale Store for your area). So not only is your money being spent wisely, but it's also going to a worthy cause (plus, donations are tax deductible).

If you're looking for furniture, don't waste money going to expensive rental stores that charge extraorbitant interest and weekly rental rates or settle for cheaper furniture that may cost more in the long run. Look for Hotel Furniture Liquidators...stores that sell QUALITY (and frequently high end) used hotel furniture items cheap. Some may have some nicks, some may need some paint or upholestery, some may be perfect just as they are...but generally very low prices, inventories change often and need to 'move it out' is high, making the chance to negotiate high. Believe it or not, good place to get growing children's furniture on the cheap (dressers, twin beds, nightstands). The armoires/entertainment centers are generally excellent buys. Available in many large cities, but always growing.

FurnishCheap

Hotel Surplus

I've saved some serious $$$ doing the above, and all of that savings has been put directly to paying down and/or completely off my CC bills. Hope this can help some others, too.

[Promethyl]

I was telling someone of this the other night...

When my wife and I quit smoking, we saved a lot of money. I mean, no more patches, no more gum, no more cigarettes. We were buying patches for long airplane flights, and gum for short flights, cigarettes for the landing and everyday.

Dumping our cable helped too. Work pays for my internet, phone, pager, etc.

Althought this is slight off-topic, what about expensing items if you work at home? I bought a chair this year, and I use the third floor of the house as an office... Even though I lease... can I expense that? Anyone here also a CPA?

[Kona]

Just a quick little example as I'm about to dash to the supermarket.

I drink Mountain Dew but not as much as I once did. The local supermarket has four of the six pack of 24 ounce bottles of Pepsi products for $9. This amounts to about 38 cents a bottle. Compare that to the $1.25 some here pay for the 20 ounce bottle from the machine. I never get products from a machine if I can have my own stash. I'd rather pay $9 than pay $30 for an equivalent number of bottles from a machine. It doesn't seem to stop people from dashing to the machine at work. I believe in "bring your own bottle."

[gweedoh]

Sorry if this has been covered before but I just saw this thread and thought I'd contribute my latest money saving tactic.

The health insurance my employer has costs about $350 a month for DW and I. It's got a $2,000 deductible, $20 co-pay, perscription plan and some other bells and whistles. These things are great, but DW and I are very healthy and go to the doctor once a year at most. I started searching around and found a health plan with a reputible company that has a $5,000 deductible and $30 co-pay and saves me $150 a month. We're still covered if the sh*t hit's the fan, but in the mean time, we have $1,800 more a year to put into savings and earn interest.

[KyWildOne]

I got rid of our landline years ago, before it was the "in" thing to do. People thought we were crazy like the world was going to come to an end because we did not need a landline.

I get a 23% discount on my cell phones, killer plan with shared minutes that even on our most talkative months have never been able to come close to going over. I use it for my long distance since it is included no matter how long I talk.
And really, like most of us out there, you are at work during your daytime minutes on your cell and not using it that much to burn after you get off work. I am lucky to be able to use my desk phone freely for personal calls too.

[rich1138]

Does anyone know if this would work with a gas heater? (turning it off and on)
Just wondering....

I've taken the time to install a water heater blanket (a piece of heavy plastic with a layer of fiberglass insulation on the inside) on my gas water heater and the girlfriend's electric water heater. Improved performance and longer periods of hot water while showering were immediately recognized. I expect her to save more than me on the electic bill. I will also be looking into switching it off or installing a timer.

Edited by rich1138, 03 February 2007 - 10:47 PM.

[Seawind36]

BUT, I am a book & puzzle person.. I am now trying to find some type of used puzzle and paperback book club in my area so we can trade (at freecycle, you offer - but no trading is permitted).


KH

check out paperbackswap.com I love it for getting books, they don't have puzzles but we trade paperback books. You list what you have and when someone requests it, you mail it media mail and when they receive it, you get a credit that you can use to get a book from someone else!