Things you do to save $$
 

We've never been BIG spenders, but just the same we've been trying to tighten our belts lately.

I always like hearing tips & tricks to save a few bucks. Some of you guys must have some ideas...

Here's what we do:
- Use a drying rack for laundry, seems to be saving us $30-40/mth in power and it's easier on the clothes too.

- I don't buy new shirts. Ever. I'm too hard on clothes to justify buying new, when I know they'll have coffee or oil stains within a month. I go to the used clothing store every few months and load up on long-sleeve button-up shirts. I'm sometimes able to find some nice khakis too

- Use a wood stove for heat, supplemented by electric baseboard. Best we can figure is it saves us ~$1000-1300/yr. Good exercise too, stacking 4-5 cords of wood... probably saves me a gym membership too.

- I do all my own car work. Saves me at least a grand a year, probably more if you consider savings on parts from shopping around.


What do you guys do to save a few bucks?

-Bring my lunch to work. I can count on one hand the number of lunches I buy in the cafeteria in a year.

-Discuss major purchases with the spouse. This goes both ways, and we often remind each other of other big expenses coming up and may decide "we don't need that right now".

-Don't go out a lot.

-Occupy my time with inexpensive hobbies. I go to the gym 3-4 days a week. The membership costs the same regardless of how often I go.

Forgot that one. I used to buy lunch pretty much every day @ $5-7 a pop. Now my wife packs my lunch every day. I am pretty spoiled that way.


Yeah we are working on that. I have to admit I'm the spender in the house. We put EVERYTHING on the Visa, then pay it off every month. Makes budgeting a lot easier, and makes it easier to go back down the list and see where we're overspending. Usually it's trips to the convenience store for snacks, but often it's "scope creep" on household DIY projects. I have a hard time stopping once I get started on a project.

Biggest budget buster lately is gas in the 4runner. It's a pig

i stay single

1. Called my newspaper delivery company, said I was canceling, they gave me a 25% discount.
3. Cancelled water delivery service.
4. Dropping land line.
5. Cable Company is next, ( I need a discount from my $233.00 per month bill)
This service covers high speed internet, Cable TV, All movie stations, and 2 digital land lines)
6. Found comparable pet food for 50% less.
7. Dinner out less
8. Lunch out less
9. Wash my own cars.
10.

Oh yeah, stay married, (29 years)

Learned to cook... don't need a wife or a cafeteria... :D

walk to work most every day, once in a while take the bus
limited dining out
no impulse buying
exercise at home / around neighborhood instead of joining a gym

Speaking of cell phones....

Two years ago my wife and I cancelled the landline, and consolidated our cell phones under one company under one plan with 200 anytime minutes. (We're not big talkers.)

So now, instead of paying $40 a month for a landline, $70 a month for my cell phone, and $45 a month for my wife's cell phone, we pay $55 a month for a single plan for both of our phones.

That saves us around $100 a month from where we were before!

quit drinking. Then get sick for a month or so, go nowhere do lots of nothing. Great, although not recommended, way to see money pile up in the checkbook.

Well, the quit drinking is probably a good thing. Looking back, I can't think of much positive that came out of the practice. Now that I have type 2 diabetes, it's definitely off the "things to do" list.

I used to carpool with my wife to work also, did that for two years. She was moved to another building about six months ago and that no longer makes sense as we are headed in opposite directions in the morning. I do ride the motorcycle now when it is warm. :D

I married right.

Sweet Mary and Joseph why not just hop in a casket and call it a day!:eek:

Nothing.
Costs nothing.
Boring though.

Actually, ate my canary.
No more cheep food.
That ain't chicken feed.

The monkey's next.
Expense may be peanuts,
but hay! It adds up.

Speaking of hay...
I have a horse
(on my menu of course).

Race Car is on jack stands until my kid is done with college. I sure miss it SmileWavyhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232570180.jpg

I stil have some expensive hobbies:

-Shooting guns
-Reloading ammunition
-Electronics

I just can cut back when I need to.

I stopped my most expensive hobby, racing, only to replace it with a new expensive hobby........Really good wine.

Oh, and there's collecting guns too.

Which reminds me, I have another order to place...

Race one of these while he's in school:D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232570738.jpg

40 horsepower? No Thanks:D

Think power to weight ratio. I'd go for it! :D

Hey, it's probably more like 45 or 50 with the way the motor is built :D

Point is it's cheap in racing terms and the bonus is it's the most competitive group in our vintage club in terms of actual racing. Also the best group of people to drink and turn wrenches with. But yes, I need to get a fix at track days in my 911 once in a while.

about to re-new my library card.

increasing the frequency of packing my lunch.

walking to the nearest work office, so i can drive my worktruck from there.

cancelled our gym memberships.

paid off all our debt except the house.

Cancelled:

the bug guy
the "make my yard green" service
the "clean my house" service
the "cut my yard" guy
the outside storage

Made the old house much more energy efficient. Went with the cable, internet and phone bundle. Changed insurance companies. We drive the wifes car more than my truck. Wife started using the grocery game. Got rid of the frig/freezer in the garage. Use a clothes line instead of the dryer. Don't eat out as much. Cut down on the large purchases. Drink cheaper wine and beer. Cut way down on Xmas spending. Using cheaper dog and cat food. I try to all the maintenance and repair I can on the vehicles and appliances. Buy and sell Porsche parts on ebay to support the Pcar addiction.

cook with bulk foods rather than prepacked stuff which is typically more expense and not as good for you...

turn out the lights when i leave the room or uplug appliances that are not in use

cut down on drinking

DIY on the Porsche as much as I can

Married a cheapskate.

Do as much DIY stuff as possible, although if I put as much time into work as I put into personal projects, I'd probably be a vice president :D

some neat ideas. I'm going to start cooking more, maybe that will help a bit. I like the idea of buying bulk foods... I always wondered if the box and bag were more expensive than the bran flakes themselves.

David, ditto with the DIY stuff. I save thousands a year on that, but sometimes I wonder if that energy could be better used at MAKING a fortune. I dunno, if DIYing is my hobby it's probably cheaper than many. Like ultralight airplanes, or collecting castles.

I'll tell you one thing... seeing pictures of FV's doesn't help ONE BIT. There are two for sale around here, and I'm supposed to be saving for a Ford 8n!

- eat at home
- do not drink (much)
- do not buy coffee (brew your own)
- change my own oil
- do cash repairs for people on the side
- set the thermostat really low and use an electric blanket when you watch TV
- set the thermostat even lower at night
- combine car trips to minimize driving
- don't join a gym, run (or walk)
- cheap holidays (or none)
- read the newspaper online
- high def TV antenna
- drive a crappy car
- NO DEBT. EVER.
- no movies or concerts
- buy used books from the 'dollar store'
- Buy expensive Scotch and enjoy it. Occasionally.

We don't travel except for holidays and instate. Our entertainment is really just being at home. We don't do movies or concerts.

We eat dinner out once a week only. Usually just Chinese take-out.(Ok, fine, it's American Chinese. We like it.:p)

My wife gets the kids play clothes at garage sales and resale shops. I have logo shirts I wear for work so I rarely need any new clothes.

She also makes outfits and sells them online.

We don't have "toys" except for the 911. The wife has a bunch of freakin' purses.

Bought the BMW used. I most likely will never buy a new car again given that I can DIY most repairs myself.

Home/car repairs are handled "in house". Between myself and my FIL, we could tackle most anything that comes up.

Neither of us drink lattes or fancy beverages. I buy coffee of any brand when it's a good deal and mix it all together. I've found some excellent coffee at a dollar store for $3.00 for 5lbs before. I won't give up my coffee.

I've given up most of the car magazines except for Excellence and European car.

Keep the thermostat at 67 all winter. We have a small house so this one's pretty easy.

We live pretty simple compared to alot of folks but we are happy.

The Room Monkey's moved out. We are seeing substantial savings . . . so just kick your kids out. :cool:

But also . . .

We just sold my DD ('00 3 Series) since I seldom used it. Big savings there. I therefore had to switch my 911s insurance since my old car insurance was dependent on a DD. I broadened it (the allowed usage part) but it did zing to $1300. I can now use it as a DD for about 7 months of the year.

We seldom go out by choice. I cook. All of my business travel expenses are covered & the loyalty miles earned really offsets vacation costs with free air & some hotels.

My only $ vices are the 911 & collecting/drinking wine.

Ian

-Drink cheap booze rather than the good stuff
-attempt to go out for food less than 3 times a week

I was going to say pass up on some of the small things and limit myself to major purchases, but I just added up my credit card/checking account activity for the last 7 weeks and I've dropped $1800. Impressive considering that I basically only pay for my entertainment. My parents pay for school, most living expenses, some clothes, gas, and insurance. $1800 on going out to eat, booze, a trip to canada, new skis, a tv, and a few other small random purchases. Looks like I need to tighten up the belt a little bit until I hit the summer and start making money again. The only good news is that I still have 10x that amount in savings.

When I'd go to the historic races, I'd always hang around for the formula V races...some of the most entertaining close racing of the entire event.

There is a lot to be said for a high power to weight ratio. :)

I suppose I can hijack my own thread...

Here's a Huron FV that was street registered from new (1965)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232589721.jpg

How much fun would THAT be?!?

You're so full of *****! Look at your signature!!! :D

You guys trying to save money by DIYing car/house stuff, remember that it may be more financially profitable to spend that time at work and pay someone to do the repair stuff for you. Especially if you're like me and DIYing a shower faucet washer replacement takes 2 hours and involves tile grout! :eek: Seriously, though, after I did one oil change on our (thankfully gone now) Ford Explorer, I realized it was way cheaper for the dealership to do an oil change at $50. Oil alone for me was $30, filter was $10, and it took far more than $10 worth of my time.

no more hookers and blow.

that car is from around Barrie and I have seen it on the road a few times. It really does look like a lot of fun.

For saving money, I have started bringing my morning coffee instead of buying and I now bring my lunch. That saves at least $200 a month.