Ways to SAVE MONEY
With fuel prices going through the roof, it's driving the cost of everything up. This forces most of us to start penny pinching. I would like members to post any money saving ideas, which maybe we could all benefit from. I know that this month coming up, I'm going to get my TV cable disconnnected, at an annual savings of over six hundred dollars. Below are a few of my ideas
Disconnect TV cable
Start a small garden
LED lighting for my entire house ( I stiil have to check into this)
Buying in bulk
Disconnect TV cable
Start a small garden
LED lighting for my entire house ( I stiil have to check into this)
Buying in bulk
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sandra on -
I have a Florida room (basically the same as a lanai), but I think if I were to hang the clothes out there, the end result would be the same as Katherine hanging it in her garage. It's true, too, that the government must inspect any fruit trees down here. Shortly after we bought our house, I noticed some kind of tag on our orange tree. They had been here and inspected it. Guess it passed inspection because i still have the tree! =)
Ways to save money?
Now you're talking my language!
1. Carpool; not just for work. Get with a neighbor to get groceries together or department store or even the beach. You don't even have to hang around each other once there; just decide when its time to head back home.
2. Buy in bulk and know how to store it.
3. I use to hang my clothes back when i lived in Iowa. Kinda miss doing that down here.
4. Barter. Watch the next door neighbors kids on Friday night in exchange for getting your grass mowed. Be creative.
5. Install a timer on your water heater. Do you really need piping hot water at 3PM or 3AM for that matter? Set the timer so that the water heater is on during your peak usage times. It won't get cold in just a few hours in between times (unless you are in Minnesota in January!)
6. Hook your water heater, AC unit, etc up to solar power. "They" can't charge you for using the suns rays -- at least not yet!
7. The brick or two in the toilet is a good one.
8. Wash all your clothes in the cold water setting. They will get just as clean in cold water as they will in any other temp.
9. Turn off computer when not actively using it! This goes for other devices as well -- TV, stereo, radio, lights.
10. Sell your second vehicle and get a motorcycle. ok OK not everyone will go for this one! But look for alternatives to transportation -- take the bus, bicycle, walking.
11. I have a friend back home (in Iowa) that uses a wind turbine (windmill) to generate electricity. It does cut down his electric bill. And when it generates more than he can use, he sells it TO the electric company!
Well that should be enough for tonite!
Shalom,
sandy
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Permalink Reply by annie mustang on
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I saw a woman in the Walmart store the other day with 4 small children. She was letting her children "graze" while she was shopping. The woman got some deli meat from the deli counter and some bread and then took her kids in the Micky D in the store, sat them down and made sandwiches for each kid and herself. When she was done, she threw the rest of the bread and the empty deli meat package in the trash! Then she got up, gave each kid a cluster of grapes and let them graze on them while she finished shopping. Totally against the law, but I guess "grazing" is becoming the norm in some stores as people are hungry and cant afford to feed their families. I think she was just doing what she had to for her family and I noticed her cart was only filled with milk and eggs and a few other small items which is what she checked out with. I was curious and just sort of observed her during her grocery shopping trip. I wondered if she was elegable for food stamps or some sort of government assistance but she paid cash for the milk and eggs etc she did purchase. So thats what some people are doing to save money, but guess who pays for it in the long run, you guessed it, the rest of us consumers. As for me, the way I save money is to buy in bulk, and mostly I have gone back to scratch cooking. I no longer buy convenience foods at all. I only go to town once every 10 days to save on gas and when I do go, I have a list of any and everything I need to do once I get to town. I grow my own veggies and have fruit trees that are producing peaches, apples and apricots. I freeze or dry some of the fruit for winter and have the "curly lightbulbs" in all my lights to help save energy. I try to only do full loads of laundry once a week, and when I do use the machines, I try to use them late at night when the peak hours are over. I've also put power strips on all our tv's, computer, and radios so they dont suck the "vampire electricity" when they're not being used. Thats about all I can do, and if it saves me a few pennies, its worth it. Rock On!
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Permalink Reply by Mr. Natural on -
"Grazing", huh? The woman should have been arrested. And what a good role model she is for her kids.
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I agree, that she should have been arrested. But then her kids would probably been taken from her and put into the foster welfare system. Sooner or later that might happen anyway, but I couldnt turn her in. Its a tough world out there and she might have been doing the only thing she could. I was just a little amazed at her outreageousness of taking the food and sitting down in the Micky D resturant to eat like she did with her kids. These days, you can go into almost any grocery store or walmart and see people "grazing" as they shop. I do it too but I always save the candy wrapper to be checked and scanned with my other purchases. Rock on!
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You can get power strips at any hardware or even walmarts. They just look like a long skinney strip with 4 to 6 plug outlets on them. They also have an on/off switch. You plug your electrical items into the strip and then when your not using the appliances you turn off the switch so the items dont use "phantom electricity". Rock on.
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Permalink Reply by KnowNow on -
Vote in Hillary Clinton so she can control OPEC..... I AM JOKING.
Like Opec has anything to do with these preditor oil companies.
I think bartering is a good solution. Everytime we use a federal reserve dollar we put the whole country in more debt.
Learn how to create a local currency.
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Permalink Reply by Mr. Natural on
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Yea, Ned.. check it out. (wink)
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Permalink Reply by Mr. Natural on
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Hey Lisa, I'm co-owner of our local Freecycle group. It's great, isn't it? I've been telling Ned about it... but she never listens to me. Tell her! Our group just hit 2600 members today.
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Permalink Reply by Sandra on
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I just joined our local freecycle a couple of days ago. Never heard of it before this thread! I haven't seen anything yet, that I need, but I know that I have plenty to give! I am a recovering pack rat and trying really hard to get rid of the stuff I don't need. It's crazy, but it sure is hard.
Shalom,
sandy
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Permalink Reply by Larry on -
Start ridding a bike for the short runs to the store. I have baskets on mine to carry the load. Works great. Great for the body too.
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Permalink Reply by che on -
I used to be a contractor for SF muni but i got laid off last october. I still use my contractor pass to ride the busses for free. Its basically a lifetime buss pass. I got rid of everything that requires me to pay monthly. Only things i have to pay are my rent and phone. I got a metro PCS. $100 for the phone and $60 a month for unlimited everything. I shop at farmers market and trader joes. I make sure not to do anything fun until the weekends. Having videogames in the room helps alot. Some videogames especailly RPG's can provide upto 60 hours of entertainment. Almost everything i need i buy off craigslist or i get for free under the craigslist free section. I also find that working over time and taking on additional part time jobs helps you save money because its alot harder to waste money when your at work. I like working 12 hours a day 5 days a week. Eating raw will save you alot of money. I eat raw five days a week. I eat mostly $2 bundles of kale and $4 bags of oranges from farmers market. I can make $20 last a whole week. I've never had my own cable. Somebody posted that they do give you 300 channels but most of em suck. Even if i had cable. The only channels i would watch are cartoon network,sci fi and comedy central. I wish i could just call the cable company and tell them that i only want cartoon network. That would be great. It would be really really good if MTV started playing music again instead of stupid reality shows. There are some great reality shows but MTV only plays the ones that suck.
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