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Money saving ideas; Ways you save and also good ideas to make life better.
Topic Started: Dec 1 2011, 04:32 PM (5,872 Views)
72gremlinx


Well I got my XFI so I can save money and put maybe $30 a week compared to the $100 a week I was spending in my Jeep plus needed repairs.I have our own apt with my Fiancee and a 3.5 year old so moneys always tight.So I try to save the money and she spends it all.But I do sidework for extra $ use all our shopping bags as trash bags. Buy and resell bunch of stuff from thrift store craigslist etc to make few extra bucks
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Turbo Dan-O
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Obsessive Car Detailer

I almost had to buy trash bags today... Winning! Love this thread! I had to learn: Turn your hot water heater down to "as low as you can go to =warm shower on full hot". Turn off and unplug EVERYTHING when you are not using it(and be hard core about it)! Wash your dishes in cold water. Keep your thermostat as cool as possible in the winter and as warm as possible in the summer. If you have a fire place in the winter or windows on a nice day USE THEM and turn your heat/air OFF!!! Close the vents and shut the doors in the rooms you are rarely in. If you stay in a hotel: take all the TP, free razors, and soap you can grab. This is all very common since but keep em coming! I am sure my cheap ass can come up with more!
Edited by Turbo Dan-O, Dec 1 2011, 09:35 PM.
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Shinrin
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Save Walmart bags.
Save cardboard to burn
Use lots of blankets as opposed to the heater
Growing some plants in the yard, should come in next year. Tomatos and green bell peppers
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Memphis metro


Another way I save money is when I am at the store with my wife, she loads the basket up and while she is turned away, I unload it. We get home and she has done forgot all about what she had picked up. Lots of times at walmart or the grocery store just before checking out, I will look in the basket and say (now what in here do I really not need?) then unload a few things. You really have to be careful shopping.
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bansheetaz


wizard93
Dec 1 2011, 08:27 PM

Hopefully by next year I'll have LED Christmas lights instead of the C7 bulbs I'm lighting the outside (and heating the outdoors at 7 watts per bulb X 200+ bulbs) with.

how bout not putting christmas lights up outside at all. saves you the money of buying the lights and also still spending the money to light the LEDs.

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72gremlinx


enginedoctorgeo
Dec 1 2011, 09:39 PM
Another way I save money is when I am at the store with my wife, she loads the basket up and while she is turned away, I unload it. We get home and she has done forgot all about what she had picked up. Lots of times at walmart or the grocery store just before checking out, I will look in the basket and say (now what in here do I really not need?) then unload a few things. You really have to be careful shopping.
That is a great idea and cracked me up thinking bout it but its true. We look at how we spent x amount of dollars and what we got with it and she cant even remember or add it up.We also don't eat out much at all and eat at home.
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bansheetaz


starscream5000
Dec 1 2011, 07:18 PM

I am one of those people who do use the Wal-Mart sacks as garbage bags in the bathrooms as well.
i have a bunch of reusable shopping bags. the stores around here give you a few cents off for each reusable bag you have. also cuts down on the amount of plastic bags going in the garbage.

i use those shopping bags in my trash as well however when i dump them in my main garbage can out back i reuse the bag unless its really nasty or has holes. this way i only use 1 bag to throw trash from the whole house.

i also recycle everything that is recycleable. it really helps to cut down on my trash every week. i maybe throw out 1 large bag of trash every 2 weeks.
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bansheetaz


Turbo Dan-O
Dec 1 2011, 09:34 PM
If you have a fire place in the winter or windows on a nice day USE THEM
the fireplace thing only works if it takes air in from outside or has a firebox blower that blows out hot air. if you have just a standard fireplace with no blower.. the fire is actually taking warm air from inside your home, using it for combustion and then sending it out the chimney.

i have been in apts with fireplaces and once the fire was lit. the whole apartment would cool down a few degrees.


fireplaces can actually make it cost more to heat your home sometimes
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Memphis metro


As for the fireplace, its nice to look at but very ineficent in todays insulated houses. Close up the fireplace and install a free standing inclosed heater or a insert in the fireplace. Moocho better.

Heres some good ideas for single working people that are not home much.

1)Programmable ac thermostat set to come on about 30 minutes before you get home from work and go off when you leave for work.

2)Same thing for the water heater. Programmable switch to cut the hot water heater off the same way.
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clarkdw


There are lots of great ideas here to save some cash. One thing I do is to save milk bags. I don't know if they are even available in the U.S. but milk is available in Canada in bags. Inside each bag are three bags, each containing about 1 qt. The outer bag works well for garbage in the kitchen or bathroom and the smaller bags make really good reusable wrap for my sandwiches, fruit, pizza slices, etc. that I take for my lunch. Replaces ziplock bags. Can be used to freeze leftovers, even soups and stews.
They also make great containers for organizing the bolts and small bits when you are doing a car project. We go through a lot of milk at my house so there is always a good supply of bags.

Between myself and my partner, we have 5 dogs so they go through a lot of food which comes in good sized zipper type heavy plastic bags. These get reused to hold the dog :shit picked up in the yard. Food goes out in the same container it arrived in. ^o) They are also good for other garbage.

The one thing that saves me the most money is simply an attitude. I find that as I age many, many of the things that I used to "need" have become "wants".
Used to be that I "needed" the house to be at 70 degrees to be comfortable in the winter. I now "want" the house to be 60 degrees. :cold I would keep it colder if I was on my own. I can dress to keep comfortable. I do not have tv or landline phone. I have a very cheap cellphone because I commute over 60 miles through a heavy snowbelt.

I "need" a car to get to work. The Metro fills the bill and saves me over $200/month over my Taurus. I "want" my Metro vert cuz it is cute and fun and still saves me a lot. I suspect that it will be sold in the spring because of that, it is a "want" and ties up money that could be put to better use.

Good topic for a thread at this time of year. Time to consider seriously what "needs" and "wants" we each have at Christmas. The bills can soon pile up if we don't get the balance between the two things right. :deal
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Coche Blanco
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Troll Certified

Coupons, but don't do like my mom and buy stuff just because it's on sale.
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nerys
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Grr

go LED lights now. they are so cheap they will pay for themselves the FIRST TIME YOU USE THEM.

200 x 7 is 1400 watts. if you run it 10 hours a day 40 days that is $76 in electricity or worse.

if you goto Big Lots you can get strings of LED lights for $6 to $10 depending on color and style.

you can buy 7 strings for $70 plus tax and use so little electricity you STILL won't go over $76.

want to try some LED lighting in your home? biglots now has WARM WHITE led lights. ie they have the "color" of nice warm incandescent lights

AFTER christmas when they are 50 to 75% off buy a bunch and have fun rigging them up as primary lights in creative ways.

The best deal (Not sure if it will exist again this year) is Five and Below stores.

last year they had 9 watt 100 WARM WHITE led strings for $5

you flat out can't beat that except at Five and Below AFTER Christmas where I bought 14 more boxes at $2 a pop :-)

I REALLY hope they have them again this year I could use some more :-)

you can also get the big C7 C9 style bulbs in LED string form as well (Big Lots) both in typical multi color and in warm white.!!

------------------------------------------

Craigslist Craigslist Craigslist. Craigslist and Metro's were a match made in heaven.

many times you find something WONDERFUL on CL but its just too far away to be "worth" going to get.

Metro's change that. they use so little gas even going 40+ miles away is dirty cheap and suddenly your options open up for killer scores on CL.

add a trailer and the sky is the limit :-)

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Spend the cash on POWER STRIPS. if you have a lot of electronics going you would be amazed how much vampire power they consume even when "apparently off" each does not consume much but remember it consumes that 24/7 and that adds up.

if something consumes even just 5 watts say. thats 50 cents a month. PER GADGET.

$6 a year. PER GADGET. it really adds up faster than most people think.

CFL's are amazing if you can't go LED yet. but you need to buy the right ones.

typically what dies is the BALAST in the base of the CFL not the tube itself.

I ONLY buy CFL's that provide a warranty for as long as the "life" they claim the bulb will last.

When you see 5 year lifespan 1 year warranty. well I walk away.

so I only buy Sylvania and GE CFL's typically. they warranty for the life they claim it will last. I used a sharpie and I write the date I install the bulb right on the bulb itself (the base) so I know how long they last.

I typically get MORE years than they claim out of them.

another GOOD CFL (no real warranty but they last a long time and are CHEAP and have great color index)

Dollar Tree. Green package CFL's great bulbs and CHEAP.

in a typically home environment they PAY for themselves in a couple of months TOPS so even if they only last 9 months to a year your SAVING CASH.

13watt CFL to 60watt Incan.

CFL $1 incan 50cents.

assuming typical average of 4 hours per day the electrical consumption is

97 cents for the INCAN and 21 cents for the CFL

so after 1 month the CFL costs you $1.21 including bulb and power while the INCAN costs you $1.47

you save 26 cents IN YOUR FIRST MONTH.

its a no brainer GO CFL or LED if possible.

STOP using incan.

ONE warning. DO NOT use CFL where you have ART or PICTURES. it could destroy them (it emits a lot of UV)

if you can't go LED at least go halogen. halogen is no where near as efficient as CFL or LED but its WAY more efficient than Incandescent.

--------------------------------

The metro also makes FOOD cheaper. because you can travel MORE and still save money since your using so much less gas now.

I am fortunate to have a local place with DEEPLY discounted food.

hunt around see if you have a similar type place near you. I typically never pay more than $1 to $1.50 a pound for meats.

Veggies 3 for $1 sometimes 4 for $1 (I have about 700 cans of veggies on hand at any one time when I see than 3/1 4/1 I buy ALL of them.

if you have a save a lot near you they typically have canned veggies for around 50 cents a can (and GOOD stuff too) way cheaper than walmart.

for the stuff you can't get ultra cheap :-)

Use CL and your metro and your trailer and snag a deep freezer off CL cheap or even free.

now you can "stock up" on food when its cheap. and USE IT when its expensive.

yes you lose some running the freezer but a dedicated freezer is actually pretty efficient I darned near turn mine off from November to end of March. (lowest setting)

I am building a "pantry" in the garage to be a sort of extra room from the kitchen.

I plan to design the room such that I can seal it in the summer to keep the contents cooler and OPEN IT UP in the winter to let the cold in to reduce energy demands.

older house? inefficient windows? they sell plastic film kits to "cover" all your windows. do it right and you won't even know its their (crystal clear) and dramatically reduces heat losses through your windows in the winter.

Consider adding shutters to your windows if you get a lot of heavy sun through them. fun to do can look good and save energy.

when the sun is beating in the window CLOSE the shutters to stop the solar radiation from "heating up" the room. once the sun's arc takes it out of the windows scope open up the shutters.

sooo soo many things you can do.

Consider a laptop or even a netbook as your primary computer. its portable neat convenient and EXTREMELY energy efficient compared to a full desktop machine.

typical netbook consumes under 30 watts typical lappy under 90 watts

typical desktop 150 to 400 watts plus the monitor.

and you can get them CHEAP. around $100. my favorites are LENOVO IBM T and R series laptops.

the T60 can usually be had for $75 to $200 depending on how its speced out and that is a 15" screen dual core machine consuming under 80 watts full tilt !!
Edited by nerys, Dec 2 2011, 12:20 AM.
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Woodie
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enginedoctorgeo
Dec 1 2011, 09:27 PM
Now I am a frugal person but I draw the line when it comes to washing out and reusing condoms!
No need to wash them out, just turn them inside out and use the other side.
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Memphis metro


Woodie
Dec 2 2011, 07:13 AM
enginedoctorgeo
Dec 1 2011, 09:27 PM
Now I am a frugal person but I draw the line when it comes to washing out and reusing condoms!
No need to wash them out, just turn them inside out and use the other side.
Aint that kinda like poking pin holes in your brothers condoms in his nitestand drawer while visiting him?
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Memphis metro


Heres another area you have to be careful. Shampoo bottles. Some bottles are real thin and designed to where you can squeeze them and you squeeze out way more than you need. Especially if you have kids. I usually buy the kind that has a pump on it. I have often wanted to design a shampoo dispenser that would only allow a certain amount to come out for a given time. Especially when my kids were small. Lots of shampoo went down the drain that ended up costing me money to buy more before I should have.
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