Tightening Budgets: Tips

[Caladan 19]

I will cut the cell phone and the Internet before I start buying crappy food to save money. But we don't eat out often, and don't use a whole lot of prepackaged goods.

-When you get your paycheck, pay your savings first. Figure out a percentage you can afford to save while having enough for expenses, and make that the first thing you do when your check clears. Put that money into savings. Pay your bills out of the rest. This way, that x% won't be *there* mentally for you to think of spending.

-If you bank with a bank that does online banking, set it up so that your account balance is e-mailed to you daily. This doesn't save you money, but it does give you a mental idea of your cash flow.

[SMOKE 1,426]

i was watching a tv program this morning about this....condensed vesion... write down every penny you spend for 2 months, then go thru the list & cross off what you don't really need. they said you'd be suprised how much money you're wasting.... i'm gonna try it.

[Reba 2]

I'll thirdly (or am I fourth now) say that I will cut costs with fuel and phones and such before I'll cut costs on food. I can't eat ####### every day, but I can live without texting on my cell phone (I never use it anyhow so why pay the monthly fee for it?). Just turn the dang cell phone off now and again, that'll save a few bucks I'm sure! And brown bag your lunches rather than eat fast foods. Every day!

Get Vonage or some other internet based phone service. I pay $31 per month for my Vonage phone, and I can call all over North America and Western Europe for that. Flat fee. Our land line was costing about $45 per month just for local service, long distance was rediculous!

Turn the thermostat down in winter and up in Summer. Ours is set at 64F in winter, and 75F in Summer. Yesterday we turned the heat off entirely, the temp outside was warmer than we have the thermostat at. Its still off now, its a bit chilly in here this morning, but it'll warm up.

When I shop for food, I look for the 2fer sales. Our cupboards are full of canned goods like tomatoes, beans, and such because they've gone on sale a few times this winter. 10 cans for $10 or whatever. If you have the space, watch for the sales. Then some weeks all I have to shop for is fresh stuff like salad greens and fruits. And when I shop I take my own canvas shopping bags. I get a 5 cent credit off my bill for each bag I take. Check your local grocery stores, they may offer similar credits or store "points".

If you have a big chest freezer, make sure its full. If you don't have it full of food, fill a bunch of soda bottles with water and freeze them in there. A full freezer and frige will work more efficiently than an partly empty one. I have a bunch in ours on the bottom that doubles as a shelf because I can't reach food items if they're down the bottom! If your applicances are working more efficiently, then your electric bills will go down. Periodically clean the back coils on your refrigerator and dryers too. Dust and animal fur (if you have pets) will clog them up and cause them to have to work harder. Better yet, if you can afford new Energy Star appliances, get 'em. They'll pay for themselves in a couple of years.

Wash your laundry in cold water. Use a laundry soap that can be used for cold water, and wash all your loads cold. This'll save you tonnes of money on your electric or gas bill (depending how your water is heated). If you have a dishwasher, rather than have the machine hot-air dry your dishes, shut it off, and open the door a smidge to have the water just evaporate. This'll save about half an hour off your electric bill.

Take shorter showers. And turn stuff off that isn't being used. If you leave a room, shut off the lights. If you're done with the computer, shut it down. Put all your electronics on a surge bar, and when they're not in use, don't just shut off the appliance, shut off the surge bar too. Get compact fluorescent bulbs for all your lamps and lights. (these tips pull double duty as being economically and ecologically friendly )

Yesterday I was at K-Mart to get a paint roller, and they were having a clearance sale. I got myself a long sleeve t-shirt for $2.50 and a pair of trousers for $5.

Buy generic/store brands rather than name brands. For instance, get the drugstore brand of pain reliever rather than Tylenol. They're sometimes about half the price, and the ingredients are exactly the same. Why pay full price for anything?

[reeses16 8]

Thanks Reba! One thing we did was replace all of our lights with energy efficient bulbs. Our bill went down by $10! I was shocked, it was during winter. I didn't expect it to drop that much. We live in an older building, we were replacing light bulbs literally once week, since the switch its been several months and none of the bulbs have blown.