Stretching the shrinking dollar

[bowtieguy]

i'd be really interested in what everyone does around the house besides energy conservation to stretch the shrinking dollar. BTW, i've used the conservation techs already. okay this is what the idea is-- for example: i shave only twice a week:eek: 'cause it saves. also, i use disposables and clean/dry them afterwards--this allows them to last forever(well, a long time). so please help! no matter how trivial, give me your ideas. my familiy's single income needs some stetching! THANK YOU!

[SVOboy]

I do things like turning off the main bathroom lights when I shower, as well as just not running the water much of the time I shower. Also, I turned the a/c off to the bathroom since it sucks to be cold when getting out of the shower anyway. For me, it's also worth turning off the a/c to my room since I am not in there during the day and the windows are open at night.

zpiloto has a really cool monitor as well!

Best of luck.

[skewbe]

...i shave only twice a week

Heh, yah I don't shave very often, and like to think it is to save money LOL :) I do get a lot of mileage out of a disposable razor too (you will know when it needs replacing). Maybe we can start a hypershaving chart?

There's all kinds of stuff, thrift stores, rice and dried beans are cheap and good for you, wholesale shops for stocking up, a garden or co-op. Best bet is to itemize your spending and see where the big hitters are for starters.

[2TonJellyBean]

I insulated, had new new windows installed, and switched from a crude old atmospheric oil fired boiler that would have lasted forever but was wasteful to a high tech outdoor reset controlled modulating condensing natural gas fired boiler. It will also do the domestic water heating duties at top efficiency in place of the current electric WH as well... once I stop procrastinating.

The current electric water heater will then be joining the heating system as a buffer tank to help decrease return temps at the end of each firing cycle to increase the ΔT and extract a few more efficiency points when running at lower loads and shoulder seasons.

And CFLs galore... until LEDs are a go.

[bowtieguy]

Heh, yah I don't shave very often, and like to think it is to save money LOL :) I do get a lot of mileage out of a disposable razor too (you will know when it needs replacing). Maybe we can start a hypershaving chart?

There's all kinds of stuff, thrift stores, rice and dried beans are cheap and good for you, wholesale shops for stocking up, a garden or co-op. Best bet is to itemize your spending and see where the big hitters are for starters.

this is without a doubt the kindest you've ever been to me. you hit it right on--food is my second biggest greatest expense. budget already, but perhaps itemizing a budget within the budget is in order. thanks!

[bowtieguy]

I don't buy nuthin. Serious,,,,,,,,,,,,, cept fule, groceries, cat food, tp. Nice clothes= sparingly used, stay nice forever. Wear grungy (most of them not THAT bad) work clothes otherwise, gotten at garage sales or ?. EVERY time I try to do something while wearing nice clothes I damage them anyway. Try to stretch razor life til the dang thing pulls every whisker out. Have a goatee so only shaving half the real estate anyway. Blades just don't last that long for me tho. Shaving in the shower is the ultimate, beard nice n soft and only have to clean tub, not tub and sink. Not set up for it at home tho, need a mirror and decent light in there. blades aren't that big an expense anyway. never throw stuff away- 97% of the time broken stuff is fixable. I can afford to replace broken/old stuff but I like the challenge. i don't feel the need to have the latest and greatest. i go for quality when i can. still have good 25 year old stereo- NAD, B&O, Nakamichi, Polk, etc., gotten off bulletin board in student union. dumpster diving yields much goodies. it's weird at first; not so much after a while. drive an old car- not only saves p&i; tabs, ins, everything is less. don't use credit. layer up on clothes in winter. no a/c, jsut fans summer. Ya learn ta be frugal when govt bastids run off with half yer money for child suppoort.

entertaining as usual clencher. i use credit to buy gas w/3-5% cash back, but pay them off EVERY month. see my gas log--got one free-be already.

[trebuchet03]

Groceries tend to be a big expense...

On Howell Branch and 436 - there's a farmer's market. And it's cheap by farmer's market standards. It's not open on Sundays (FYI). In that same shopping center you'll find a large thrift store(Thriftco) and Harbor Freight (I'm weak when it comes to tools :p). Not sure if that's close to you - but your location is C. Fla.

In the Bay Area, CA - I did a bit of dumpster dipping (diving happens to be dangerous and illegal :p). I really do miss the gourmet bread :p But you can find all sorts of things you may need (or do need). I've yet to explore since then, but one day :)

My bathroom has three lights over the sink... unscrewed all but 1 and replaced it with a CF.

CFLs --> natural light is even better

Hang Dry clothing... Really, it's faster than my dryer :p You can throw your clothing in the dryer for a few minutes to get rid of wrinkles if you want...

I use homemade dishwasher soap and laundry detergent. Unless there's some form of organic stain in clothing (grass and such). Socks get regular detergent. As for dish washing soap, it takes some tinkering to get the recipe right to prevent powder residue.

Programmable T-stat if you can.

Cook outdoors in the summer (hooray BBQ).

...

[Snax]

Oops, BESIDES energy conservation . .

We only get the Sunday paper. :P

[cfg83]

theclencher -

I don't buy nuthin. Serious,,,,,,,,,,,,, cept fule, groceries, cat food, tp. Nice clothes= sparingly used, stay nice forever. Wear grungy (most of them not THAT bad) work clothes otherwise, gotten at garage sales or ?. EVERY time I try to do something while wearing nice clothes I damage them anyway. Try to stretch razor life til the dang thing pulls every whisker out. Have a goatee so only shaving half the real estate anyway. Blades just don't last that long for me tho. Shaving in the shower is the ultimate, beard nice n soft and only have to clean tub, not tub and sink. Not set up for it at home tho, need a mirror and decent light in there. blades aren't that big an expense anyway. never throw stuff away- 97% of the time broken stuff is fixable. I can afford to replace broken/old stuff but I like the challenge. i don't feel the need to have the latest and greatest. i go for quality when i can. still have good 25 year old stereo- NAD, B&O, Nakamichi, Polk, etc., gotten off bulletin board in student union. dumpster diving yields much goodies. it's weird at first; not so much after a while. drive an old car- not only saves p&i; tabs, ins, everything is less. don't use credit. layer up on clothes in winter. no a/c, jsut fans summer. Ya learn ta be frugal when govt bastids run off with half yer money for child suppoort.

I admire your frugality because you can say "I am not part of the problem" without being a hypocrite. I can't say the same for me, but I underlined the ones that I try to do.

bowtieguy -

If you have to use AC, then limit it to one "cool room". Close the other doors so that the AC doesn't have to cool the rest of the home. This is the summer version of what my Mom's family used to do in Minnesota, aka close off rooms in the winter so that you don't use more energy heating them.

CarloSW2

[Erdrick]

Something that I am not willing to do, but others may be, is using a microwave instead of a gas/electric stove. They cook quicker and more efficiently, but they don't make things taste as good. I live to eat, so I don't cut corners anywhere when it comes to food. $20 steaks are nothing to me!!.... course I wait until they are half off to buy them!!! haha!!

Otherwise, you should check out Michael Bluejay's site. It is chock full of electricity info.

Oh, and you can save a TON of money by hang-drying your clothes. a) no upfront cost of a dryer b) no maintenance cost on said dryer c) no electricity cost on said dryer d) your clothes will last forever. My fiance, being Japanese, has never used a clothes dryer, and has a sweatshirt that she wears about 180 days a year, washes about 60 times a year, and it still looks the same as the day she bought it... which was about 20 years ago.

You can spend money outright on more efficient appliances, but you really need to check out what you are using now, and a good way to do that is checking your bills and/or using something like a kill-a-watt.

I will post more things as I think of them.

[Coyote X]

I have my expenses down to a bare minimum. I pay electric $30, natural gas avg$40, water $25, and cell phone $50. No Cable TV, no landline phone, no subscriptions to anything. Food/household is prob $125 a month for me and that could be cut further but I am happy with what I have now so I haven't cut back any more lately. I don't normally run the a/c in the summer unless I have a date over or something. A box fan stuck to an old radiator hooked to a sump pump out in a creek can cool the house more than enough for me when I am here by myself.

CF lights, attic fan, laser printers and some other things have a higher return in savings than their initial cost so I look at total cost when changing something. Think of it as a long term plan and look at something that might cost more upfront but save money long term. Once you have your monthly expenses cut down you can afford to spend more upfront to save money long term.

I Just started by writing down every penny I spent for a month then started from there figuring out what the biggest bang for the buck I could get. Saving the first 25% of my paycheck was easy. It gets harder to save money as you cut out unneeded stuff but every dollar you can save gets you that much closer to getting out of the rat race and into being independent.

Really it is like getting better mileage you have to get a baseline before you do any changes so start tracking every penny you spend in a notebook. Then you can see what the biggest/easiest changes are you can do first and start trimming it down from there. I used a PDA so I could save my expenses in excel so it was easier to sort out and figure things but use whatever you are comfortable with just make sure to start tracking everything you spend even if it is 50 cents in a vending machine. The extra effort in having to track things can sometimes make you save money by not wanting to bother :cool:

[QDM]

Solar PV powered off grid house. Solar water heater. 50 MPG car. 80 mpg motorcycle. Ponytail and beard so no haircuts or razors. Buy wheat and grind it myself with a hand grinder to make bread. Vegetarian so no high priced meat. No cable TV and $9.95 internet. House and car paid for so minimal insurance costs. No debt so no interest payments. There's more but I can't think of them right now.

Q

[Telco]

On the groceries, look for the discount joint that sells odd brand stuff. I cut about 40 percent off my food bill by shopping at the deep discounters like Aldi and Sav-A-Lot, and in many cases the food tastes better than what you get at the high dollar grocery stores. Sure, the store isn't quite as nice and clean looking and sometimes the other shoppers are a little whiffy but then the food isn't packages there, either. Definitely, buy in bulk to not only save on the per unit cost, but the number of visits to the grocery store.

Razors? I shave about 3-5 times a week using one of those 3-blade jobs with the disposable blade (keep the handle). I like the weight of the handle vs the 99 cent disposals, not to mention the disposables always felt like I was shaving with sandpaper. Each blade lasts me about 6-9 months. True, I don't have a heavy beard, but the whole face gets the swipe. Also look into getting a mug, brush and soap for shaving cream, a bar of shaving soap is about 99 cents and lasts about 6 months, with no razor burn. Canned shaving cream usually has alcohol in it, which will irritate the skin. With the soap, no need for aftershave, just a quick water rinse and it's done.

Laundry is another area for savings. Tide is nice, but Arm and Hammer is less than half the cost of Tide and does the same job. It also has colorsafe bleach in some of it, which does a great job. Vinegar in the wash also helps get things clean, and if you soak a new pair of jeans in the washer with about a quart of vinegar, then wash, they come out a lot softer than when they went in.

Picked up a manual sweeper for spot cleaning around the house, now the power sucking vacuum cleaner only comes out for whole-house cleaning.

I also have no subscriptions to anything. My TV comes in on an outside aerial with a turner on it, which the HOA Nazi neighbors hate but can't do anything about since it's against federal law for any public or private entity to outlaw a TV antenna so long as it falls within install guidelines. I do have a landline since I've got DSL, but no fancy options on it. I don't text anything on the cell phone, or use any of the other expensive options. The DSL is also the cheapest, lowest speed version, which means I might have to wait 2 seconds longer than someone with the really fast connection does.

Next up, power strips everywhere. Death to the phantom load! My computer is on one and is about to get a second so I can only turn on the printer when something needs printing. Going to shuffle the TV area around as well, so I can get the power strip out front where it'll be easy to get to. I'm also on the hunt for a thermal carafe coffee maker that has no clock in it, and makes 12 cups of coffee. These pots have no burners, the coffee brews and it's done.

Those of you with the toaster ovens, how well are they insulated and how hard would it be to add insulation to one? Was thinking that they are pretty small and don't look like the cooking area is insulated, if it were then a toaster oven would take a lot less power to run. Might make a nice replacement for the oven too, since 90 percent of what we put into the oven to cook is only about an inch or two tall, like pizza. Then we could save the power sucking oven for hams and turkeys. If they aren't insulated, might be able to get a box built to slide the oven in, then insulate the void. Would make it safer too, since the body wouldn't be exposed.

[bowtieguy]

thank you everyone--great info! hey don't forget Big Lots. kind of hit and miss tho. try to run by once a week or so. also, try to eat at relatives/friends and host meals as well. we tend to get invited more than we host tho. but it works to save money.

[cfg83]

bowtieguy -

thank you everyone--great info! hey don't forget Big Lots. kind of hit and miss tho. try to run by once a week or so. also, try to eat at relatives/friends and host meals as well. we tend to get invited more than we host tho. but it works to save money.

Oh yeah, and the 99cents store. I remember when Big Lots used to be called Pic'N'Save. Pic'N'Save always had good prices. With Big Lots you have to be careful because it isn't always giving you a bargain. I was practically raised in a thrift store, because that's where my Mom has always liked to shop. She was raised in the Depression, so she has the frugal gene.

For me thrift shops and Big Lots are treasure hunts, aka trying to something good and/or useful among the "stuff". And, if you got that hankerin' to shop, at least you won't spend that much.

CarloSW2

[skewbe]

I'm gonna go off on shaving for a bit, I can't beat 6 months on a razor, but here is the RIGHT way to do it ;) :

1. Single edge razors are the easiest to work with, they unclog the easiest. Be careful if you are used to double/triple razors, if you use the same pressure you will shave off a strip of skin.

2. Use plain old bar soap, lather it in your hands and spread it on your face.

3. Just put a little water in the sink, a couple inches. Enough to swish it around to get the hair out. I used to do it in the shower, but it is quicker and wastes less water (and fuel to heat the water). It is really obvious since we got a tankless heater, the thing was screaming loud the whole time I was groping around for stubble.

4. Of course, pull the razor up, or up on an angle.

[trebuchet03]

You know, the easiest way to save on shaving.... Use a straight blade... It's reusable/resharpenable and NOTHING shaves closer than a straight blade ;)

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Where can we get 'em?

[McPatrick]

One of the things I like to do is keep the bigger picture in mind. A lot of people will drive an extra mile to get gas 2 cents a gallon cheaper and then buy a Snickers while they're there. On any trip, bring your own food and drinks. On longer trips pack lunch or dinner; don't buy food while being on the road.
On the subject: don't eat out. Imagine what great meats you could have bought for the less than what you're paying eating out (and drinking out).

See if you can get a cheaper car insurance or any insurance for that matter. get quotes. if you live in an appartment: could you go to a smaller one and still be comfortable? Smaller places are also less expensive to cool down or heat up.
Food: get stuff on sale and put it in the freezer. Clothes: go visit stores like TJ Maxx to find name brands for a whole lot cheaper.
use Craigslist to find any larger item you need replaced like washers, dryers and stoves. If you plan a building project: start looking on Craigslist two months ahead of time and get insulation and your 2x4's a whole lot cheaper. Don't get anything you will have to pay off. Interest charges are a waste...

[hawkgt647]

On shaving -
After using your favorite disposable razor, rinse well in the sink by swishing around, and pat dry on towel.
Then immerse the blade in a shallow container with mineral oil. The blades will last much longer and won't pull on your skin.

Cutting the lawn -
Ditch the gas mower and go to a reel type if your yard is small. I used an electric (corded) mower for awhile, but prefer the cut with the reel type mower. Gave up the health club and saved the dues.

Watering the garden -
Collect rain water from the gutters in recycled plastic drums.

Fishing -
Cut and dry bamboo for jig poles. Multiple coats of varnish and they last for a couple of seasons. Great for bream and sac-a-lait.

Phones -
I kept one cordless phone for the convenience, the others are corded phones. This eliminates 3 power adapters and the phones always work when the power goes out.
Cell phone - Charge it at work only. Mine will hold a charge over a 3 day weekend with moderate use.

Cooking -
On weekends, we cook outside with a solar oven. Try to make a few extra meals to have during the coming week. Zero energy and doesn't heat up the house. Most recipes work the same, cooking times go slightly longer.

Kitchen Clean-up -
Use cloth kitchen towels that can washed rather than paper towels. Save the paper towels for the goo or poop pickups.

[DRW]

My favorite energy saving tip (I hope the downstairs neighbors aren't reading this) is to live in a second story apartment above someone who likes to crank up the heat in winter, and make sure the exhaust flue for their heater runs right up the middle of the apartment. I haven't had to use the heater in about 4 years, even the pilot light is off. Winters here are mild anyway.

I just converted the whole place to flourescent lights. Previously I had 4CFL's but then my electric bill went up to around $13 a month over the summer with all the heavy fan use (35watt window fan) so I said, "I can't take it, this has got to stop!" and now the whole place has CFL's.

Since I'm an apartment dweller I don't pay for water, which means I also don't pay for hot water. A hot shower in the winter does wonders for shaking off the cold. I also like to let drained spaghetti water sit in the sink instead of running down the drain. It keeps a little heat and humidity inside.
A few sets of situps, pushups, and deep squats warms me up, too.

My dirty laundry 'hamper' is a cardboard box. I've had it for about 8 years now, still in great shape. I carry it carefully since it doesn't have handles so it lasts longer. I can't imagine paying money for a plastic laundry basket that breaks every year or so, gets thrown in the landfill for eternity, then spend money on another.

[egnorant]

A budget and accounting for how I spend my money was the single most helpful tool for getting the best bang for the buck.

I first noticed this when at my old job I would get a snack rather than lunch.
Snickers bar and a soft drink from the vending machine.
$2.75 per day and I rationalized that I was being cheap.

One day my girlfriend and I were shopping and found a 10 pack of the snickers
bars for $3.25 and a case of the soft drinks for $5.00 with a dollar off.
Same stuff for only .54 cents per day. Saved $2.21 per day for 20 days a month (roughly).....$44.20 per month!!!! I was hooked!

Got my brother hooked also.
Garage sale Christmas is fun also.
I already have all but one Christmas present for this year.

Plan well ahead for known purchases. I bought my next set of tires and wheels for girlfriends car last night. Young friend bought some big shiny things and took his 2000 mile tires and wheels off. $225!!!
(17" Mustang Bullitt wheels with Goodyears)

Coupons, sales, rebates, last years models.
Went TV shopping and sales lady told me that floor models where on sale next week so I waited. Found an HD 48 inch Sony for $998. Had a coupon book from Sears that gave me $100 off for purchases up to $999.
Noticed the TV next to it was 52 inch and $50 more but I had a coupon for $150 off for $1000+ purchases. Sony website and bonuses that I signed up for when I purchase a digital camera got me an additional $200 off and then 10% for using my Sears card and 10 % for buying on sales days.
Bought $250 worth of gift cards which got me 2 cheap FM radios (The Incredibles) for stocking stuffers AND a $25 discount. Due to some stock lawsuir I had a voucher for $300 for Sears merchandise. Out of pocket....
$210...delivered. 14 months no interest or payment that I payed off in 4 months from my budgeted funds.

Buy DVDs at the pawn shop for $2..cheaper than renting and swap with friends. Buy tool there too.

Find cheaper method to get what you need.
I discovered I needed a fence so I shopped for fence. I could have just paid the fence guys and not worried about it, but It would have cut my funds for my Mexico vacation.
I could have bought fence stuff and done it for less.
Then I discovered that what I really needed was an acceptable method of blocking a 150 foot area from view from the road to meet city ordinance.
Free 8 foot pallets from the industrial hose place that I do some Hotshot work for and $84 worth of other supplies, I was able to build my own in 2 weekends. Looks great too as I found the paint in the cheap part of Home Depot for $5.

Utilize your skills and those of your friends. Our "We Tight" group has mechanics, housepainters, electricians, restaurant managers (Free pizza!) and college teachers.

We rotate around and have roofed my house, wired my friends shop, restored several cars, designed Advertising campaigns, Got scholorships for 3 kids (Lawyer, College professor and environmental chemist).
I have a group of college kids working on my hybrid car right now as a class project.

Avoid items that provide no direct asset to you.
I work hard to avoid Interest, taxes (legally), advertising and my own desire for the newest and shiniest.

If you can discipline yourself to keep track of ALL you expences for one month...do it.
You may be shocked at how much some activities are wasting and how little some are helping.

As a mechanic, I see a huge waste in not maintaining your car.
2 example are Automatic transmission fluid change.
90% of folks will not do it and at 100,000 mile the $4000 car breaks and they
get a new one rather than pay $1500 for a rebuilt. $300 worth of scheduled maintainance and the car will keep going.
I bought a 98 Mustang with a blown tranny for $400.
Nice car..girlfriend drives it every day!

Item 2: Cooling system! Maintain it and fix early.
96 Mustang was getting hot and blew a head gasket sold it to me for $600.
I already knew that it was still covered under an extended factory warrenty
for this problem so I got it fixed for free!!
Niece is driving a 98 Escort ($100) that got hot and blew a head gasket.
$200 for a new waterpump and head gasket and it was a great car again.

Shop and study before you buy....TV listed above is identical to the newest model with some cosmetic changes and was listed $580 less than the new model.
Buy value..not just cheap.
Particleboard furniture is a TOTAL waste of money.
I went through 3 "kit" computer desks that fell apart in 3 years before I found a solid oak desk at a junk shop for about the same money...15 years and it will outlive me.

Quality clothes...boots in this example.
$200 boot have lasted 11 years with 2 resoles at $30 each.
Before I bought $79.99 boot that lasted maybe 2 years.
Do the math.

Bruce

[Snax]

Terrific examples and ideas Bruce. I'm definately on-board with the boots thing. Those $80 specials in the department stores are for people who don't really need to work in them. Paying twice that much typically gets one a boot that is made in the USA that will last at least 2-3 times as long.

In other words, cheap does not always mean less expensive.

We have a local furniture store that I want to do business with because all of their stuff is both locally made and is of solid wood construction. We don't need anything right now however, but that is definately where we will go when we do.

I am also very much the DIY type when it makes sense. We installed solid oak flooring into our house over the course of a week for about $1200 + our labor which about doubled the cost. That alone saved us at least $1000 over outsourcing it and gave us a new appreciation for similar projects in the future. Plus out of that $1200, I now own another $600 worth of tools!

[egnorant]

Bingo on the flooring.
Discovered that some of the houses in a nearby town were to be demolished.
I was allowed to scavage in one for 2 days before it was knocked down and bulldozered off to a landfill.

I got about 3000 square feet of Oak flooring, iron railings, 2 clawfoot bathtubs, Some curly pine panelling (extinct species), 6 oversized doors and a lot of glass doorknobs among other fixtures.

I was in the process of pushing the house over so I could get the 8 40 foot columns out front and the 8x10 cypress beams when the guy with the demolishion contracts ran me off and let his school buddy with the antique store loot the other 3 houses.

I REALLY wanted the 3 floor cast iron spiral staircase from the house next door. Heard the antique guy got 45,000 dollars for it.

Bruce

[WisJim]

Solar PV powered off grid house. Solar water heater. 50 MPG car. 80 mpg motorcycle. Ponytail and beard so no haircuts or razors. Buy wheat and grind it myself with a hand grinder to make bread. Vegetarian so no high priced meat. No cable TV and $9.95 internet. House and car paid for so minimal insurance costs. No debt so no interest payments. There's more but I can't think of them right now.

Q

My kind of guy. Our place is grid-connected, we use the grid as back up, and have a wind generator and PVs. My wife trims my hair and beard every month or so, my dial-up internet is a perk from work. No debt unless you count the phone bill. Bought our place 18 years ago 2 miles from work as I expected fuel/energy prices to keep going up (I remember the 1970s gas crisis).

Always take "left overs" for lunch at work, and seldom (just for special occassions) go out to eat in our home town--cheaper to eat at home. Grow a good percentage of our own food, and can/freeze/dry/root cellar it for year-round use.

[ffvben]

a bunch of items my wife and I changed:
12 out of 19 light bulbs to fluorescents
rechargeable fan .01kw vs fan use .02kw x 8hrs run time.
rechargeable razor 10-14days before recharge.
hang wet clothes 1/2 the time outside
tv/pc/printer off with power strip
don't flush unless its a stinker ;) or more than a day.
some Anderson windows get the plastic shrink wrap also, big diff in room temp
high efficiency washer, wife used distilled water when tide is 1/2 gone, makes it last longer and still cleans good.
cook outside with propane, cooks faster no extra heat inside for ac to struggle.
use better pots/pans, food cooks way faster.
comcast dsl/cable tv $140+ now we have verizon fios $107 and faster internet/with dvr/and 30 hd channels extra
thermostat auto adjusted when not home/or sleeping
wife, me, 2 big dogs heat up the bedroom in winter, feels like 5 degree diff. from rest of house.
new lawn mower uses 1/2 the gas as the old one.
my dad gave me an very old reel mower, i use on front part 2days after i cut w gas just to keep it trimmed.
planted ivy around 2 rear trees, this saves a load of grass cutting from the square foot of the ivy.
rechargeable weed wacker, no more gagging on 2stroke fumes.
1 new plastic trash can collects rain water for watering plants on dry days.
I always repair my own car/trucks with discounted factory parts.
I do some scrap metal recycling money goes to help with bills.
I fly 2xs a year with wife, i missed the last 3 flights ;)
i use ebates.com to save a little also on online purchases
credit card has flyer miles that add up too.
cell phone, pay as you go, 14 a month. I don't really use it but its good for emergencies.
2 small gardens for food.
and of course hypermile to get extra free milage/gas.

future items:
buy a energy star ac window unit to cool 1 room
solar panels(someone on this site got me hooked on)the 500 deposit,free installation/maintenance, using sun instead of coal sounds good as long as the company doesn't go under.
solar heating, that will help lower my gas bills since my house's insulation stinks( built in the early 60s)gas bill should drop 40-60% will get my money back in just a few years.

[DracoFelis]

i'd be really interested in what everyone does around the house besides energy conservation to stretch the shrinking dollar.
1) I use VoIP (internet phone) on top of my broadband connection, to keep the costs of phone service down. Not only does this give me an "unlimited" outbound USA/Canada residential phone line (in addition to the main phone line my telco requires me to have to get the DSL), it also gives me a local number to where I work (my home is in the next county and rate center over from work). This means I can phone home to the wife "for free" when I'm in the office. BTW: The VoIP (including the "unlimited LD") costs me aprox $10/month, beyond my other phone/internet costs (and I would need the internet anyway)...

2) I shop for non-perishable food (that I otherwise use) based upon sales when possible, and then I "stock up" at the discount price. In particular, I try to buy enough during the sale to last until the next sale for the same item (since store sales often go in cycles). For example, I just picked up 30 cans of Progresso soup for $1/each (this was the premium soups that are normally around $2.40/each). I just put them down in the shelf in the basement, and we will slowly eat those soups up over the winter when we are in the mood for a decent hot but quick meal. And we also bought 6 boxes of cereal today. Why you ask? Because the current promo is buy 6 and get $10 off + also get 2 free gallons of milk on your next visit. With the cereal boxes running between $3 and $4 a box, that makes the total cost (after discounts) aprox $13 for 6 boxes of cereal AND two gallons of milk. We will store the cereal in an airtight box until ready to eat, and the milk we will drink right away...

3) I often use coupons when taking my wife out to dinner. This doesn't mean we necessarily go to cheap restaurants (sometimes we do, but sometimes we go to fancy places). But we do like our discounts. After all, if your meal is $18/plate, you can still get out of the restaurant for around $25 if you have a 2 for 1 coupon.

4) Instead of a health club, my wife and I are now getting annual passes to a local water/theme park. We figure this gives us just as much exercise as a health club, for less than 1/4 of the cost. And as an added bonus, the rides (not to mention the water slides, etc) are more fun than just sitting on an exercise machine.

5) During the summer we purchase fresh produce from the local farmer's market. Save some money, and the produce is nicer as well.

6) We often save money by cooking our own food. And items like our pressure cooker just make this easier than it is for many people.

7) When eating at a buffet, we often go for the lunch specials. Less cost than dinner, and a large lunch saves on being as hungry at night.

8) When paying for stuff, I often do a quick cost/benefit calculation. For example, sometimes the big quantity isn't the cheapest way to buy something ("unit pricing" calculations, etc). And in other cases you can get something equivalent for much less. For example, on our recent trip, we saved aprox $30 one night, simply by calling ahead with our cell phones, and arranging to drive an extra hour (towards our destination) one night, vs stopping in the town we were already in.

9) And yet I won't always get the cheapest of something. Sometimes I do (yes, I do shop at dollar stores, among other places). But I will also pay more for quality when it seems appropriate, instead of being "penny wise and pound foolish". This is especially true of "durable goods". Get quality "durable goods" that really are "durable", and you could easily (over the life of the item) save a bundle over just getting cheap items that easily break.

10) I try to plan my cash withdrawals to avoid ATM fees. I'm usually (but not always) successful at this.

11) I buy my gas using my AAA (yes, the auto-club) branded credit card. This gives me 2%-5% cash back on my gas purchases. Yes, I use techniques to minimize my total gas needed (I wouldn't be on this site if I didn't), but I still rack up a lot of miles (many of the commuting) over the year. So I might as well also save a little on the gas I do end up buying...

12) Speaking of AAA, I have their "AAA Plus RV" (gold) service. Yes, between me and my wife it runs aprox $120/year, but we also get useful discounts/maps/guides/etc. And a single tow during the year (and that plan has emergency 100 mile towing "for free") can (and has in some years) paid for my entire membership fee all by itself.

13) When we got the chance a few years back, we "locked in" a 15 year FIXED RATE mortgage at a little under 5.2%. Naturally, with rates going back up, that "refinancing" is proving to be paying for itself (and may continue to pay for itself for years to come).

14) I use my Credit Union's free "bill payer service". Not only does this make it easy for me to schedule payments in the future (for example, schedule the payment today, but don't actually pay the bill until a few days before it is due), I don't even have to pay the stamp to mail the money out! But the thing that makes this service so great, is that you can setup a schedule of future payments, to make sure you always pay certain bills "on time". As a result of that ability (to auto-pay on time, every time), I've held onto a 2.9% teaser rate with American Express (and therefore been very slow to pay off that bill) for a few years now (even though the 1st missed or late payment would lose me that extra low teaser rate)...

[Snax]

I forgot to mention that my neighbor doesn't spay or neuter her cats. We eat allot of stew.


























Sorry. :)

[8307c4]

This project is for me on-going, I started about 3 years ago, here goes:

- Replaced all light bulbs with CFL's, also downgraded one step in wattage (100w's became 75's, 75 > 60, 60 > 40, 40 > 25).
> Wow, $20 a month on the electric thou the next step helped as well.

- Replaced shower faucet with a water-saver (cost $7).
> Reduced water bill by $5 a month.
> Almost literally never run out of hot water, not recommended to test it, but I can :p

- Replaced heat pump's mechanical thermostat with a digital one.
> Not sure on the savings, but I like the accuracy.
> Mine happens to be programmable thou I think the digital part is the thing.

- Turned the hot water heater down to 130.
> Not sure on savings here, might be part of the $20 a month, but it helps.

- Acquired a kerosene space heater.
> This thing is 98% efficient, at $3 a gallon this thing dumps out 125,000 btu's / gallon, I usually run it 3-4 hours / day at a cost of $30 / month.
> Reduced winter heating costs, more so on very cold days.
Other notes: Start-up / shut-down are the worst part of it, this thing needs to run for at least 3-4 hours, longer is better but it dumps out a lot of heat :p

- Increased ceiling insulation from R-11 to R-19.
> Can't wait until next year, when I can afford the additional R-30 unfaced to put on top of the R-19, specs call for R-49.
> Not sure on the savings yet but I can feel it, the heat pump kicks on less, and for shorter periods of time.

- Hang clothes outside to dry in summer, run ONLY full loads in the dryer in winter.
> A half a load takes 55 minutes, a full load only 100...
> Once that dryer is HOT it does its best work.

- Every bill except water and for now credit card is on auto-pay.
> Saves money first in stamp check and envelope, then in time spent writing out the check, last but not least never a late fee or interest. Technically it's worth it just in peace of mind alone, only drawback is I recommend maintaining a minimum balance equal to at LEAST two months worth of bills, the money HAS to be in the account, why I'd have to mention this :p
> For those of you who can, Direct Deposit helps a ton as well.

[Dust]

Use the bathroom at work. Until I got a girlfriend, one toilet paper roll lasted about 5 months. Less poopy, less flushing. Also put a few glass jars in the toilet to reduce water usage.

[Snax]

No doubt on the paper useage. I think I used to go through about a roll a month. Now it's one of this big 24 roll packs a month. No wonder the toilets in this house plug up so often. >:|

[Devinator]

You can save on lighting costs by trying to wake up at sunrise to take full advantage of daylight and minimize the time you are awake at night and have the lights on.

[jcp123]

I unplug my TV/Satellite box/other electronics when not in use. I'm a light-turning-off nazi, too. We use some CFL's, but aren't font of the harsher light range they put out, and can't use them in dimmer lights or in a couple of lamps where the shades mount on the bulbs, either. Otherwise, the house does a lot of conservation work for us - the guy who built the house for himself was a housebuilder by trade, so it's so well-sealed that when you close a door you can hear the pressure changing on all the other doors and windows in the house.

Of course, the guy next door to us who built his house into the side of a hill has us beat...$70/mo electricity bill for a 2200sf house vs. $130 for our 2800sf.

[Snax]

We just cancelled our satellite subscription which should lead to much more TV off-time. Throw in the writer's strike and the fact they give away Faux News but charge people more for somewhat more real channels, and I'm not missing it much.

I pretty much only watched DIY, HGTV, the premium movie channels, and Mythbusters, but between Netflix and all of the on-demand stuff available over the internet, it's hardly a loss. Now my kids won't be watching endless ads for crap that nobody needs during their cartoons, and they just might have to do something active or read!!

I guess having grown up with just 3 over the air channels for so much of my youth, I don't have allot of sympathy there. ;)

[white90crxhf]

Solar PV powered off grid house. Solar water heater. 50 MPG car. 80 mpg motorcycle. Ponytail and beard so no haircuts or razors. Buy wheat and grind it myself with a hand grinder to make bread. Vegetarian so no high priced meat. No cable TV and $9.95 internet. House and car paid for so minimal insurance costs. No debt so no interest payments. There's more but I can't think of them right now.

Q

every try growing your own wheat? i'm going to try this year in a small part of my yard.

[James]

I would like to grow my own wheat. I dont think I will get to it this year, but we are doing potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, onions, and winter squash. I am excited to use the root cellar in the house we just bought. I have a lot of work to do clearing a big garden and planting an orchard, along with pruning back the old apple trees to get them bearing.

[James]

We are getting goats for milk, and for clearing brush around here. It should save some money, considering how expensive organic milk is. Also am doing it for health reasons: if you drink raw milk from animals eating green grass, you barely ever get cavities...so it reduces your dentist bill. really good for children too. I do realize that goats are a complete pain in the a**, and I will have to do a lot of fencing to keep them where i want them.
We also have a use for the hq manure they produce...the garden and fruit trees.

[white90crxhf]

i won't be growing much wheat...maybe 150sq ft probably not even sure how much wheat i'll actually get. Do moles eat wheat? we got a mole that won't go away.

[Snax]

Mrs. Snax here

We also did cloth diapers.. fuzzy bunz. 300 dollars invested in diapers, an extra 10 bucks a month in laundry (less in summer). Breast feeding children is also a money saver. Between the saved medical costs and formula costs it is expected that parents can save between 1200 and 4000 a year JUST by breast feeding your babies. (dads get to sleep more at night too)

We buy the best bikes we can for the kiddos. We have a Gary Fisher cross over bike that has now been through four children... much cheaper than a 70 dollar walmart bike for each kiddo. ESPECIALLY since my mom is the one that purchased it and passed it to us after my MUCH younger brother and cousin were through with it.

[MD2000]

All good suggestions,
I canned 24 quarts of tomatoes using a modified radar dish (c-band would work) and only the sun for energy.
http://www.99mpg.com/resources/articlesandblogs/pluggingintothesun/
This dish outputs 1500 watts and can melt aluminum.
I heat with coal,wood, and solar, and get all my winter hot water for free.
Story of heating system development.
http://pages.cthome.net/genesisone/solar_page.htm
Then I have the batmobile for transportation that can get over 100 MPG and run 40 miles on only electric which I generate with solar panels over the garage door.
http://www.99mpg.com/Projectcars/mikesinsight/
;)

[RoadWarrior]

We've been coping with reduced income lately. I get out all the grocery store flyers that come in the free newspapers and go over them, typically there's two stores that are close together, that will seem to have the best or reasonable deals. I make a list of stuff to get that's on sale in them and that's my grocery list... with maybe some basics added, which I buy the store brand of. We've been living off maybe $100 in groceries a month for the last few months.

Beware of Costco and bulk food stores, you are typically not actually saving money there, compared to buying the big packages of store brand stuff. There's very few items you can actually save decent amounts of money on. However, in terms of value when replacing small appliances etc, you can find good quality stuff for cheaper in Costco etc.

Beware also of the "false" economy pack, some large packages are more expensive per unit fill than the smaller packages. For some reason ketchup always seems to be like this, it's cheaper overall to buy the 1L store brand than the 1.5L, cheese slices I have to watch too, sometimes the 48 pack is more than double the price of the 24 packs. On the other hand, the saving is often huge on larger packs, $2 gets you a kilogram of rice, 50c more gets you 2 kilograms, and a dollar more gets you a 5kg bag.

I always visit the marked down and reduced sections, never had a problem buying marked down meat, but I don't buy the stuff that looks or smells funky. Stick it in the freezer as soon as I get home and use it the day I get it out. I am always careful to cook it thoroughly.

Crock pot cooking is quite economical, 6 hours of 100W is 0.6KWh, compare that to having a 2.5KW oven on for 45 mins, or even cooking on the stove top in a couple of pots with two 1.5KW rings. Yes those do cycle according to the thermostat, but overall I think it works out good. However, it's also economical with food, throw in cheap meat, carrots, onions, diced broccoli stalks or the good limp bits of any other veggies, dash of nutmeg, teaspoon of poultry seasoning, couple of spoons of flour, fill with water and it makes a hearty nourishing stew. 6 servings usually, we usually freeze 2 in margarine tubs for quick microwave dinners. "Chili" is simple, ground meat, over night soaked beans, 50c on sale pasta sauce, onions, I like peas and carrots in mine, seasoning... again 6 servings or so of damn good food.

If you're on the chicken thighs/quarters for 99c a pound diet, and can't even stretch to the store brand shake and bake, put flour, onion salt and poultry seasoning in a 2lb margarine tub, shake them up in that and bake.

You can buy "going limp" greenstuffs off the reduced rack and just chop it all up, put it in cup sized packages in the freezer, and the crockpot meal is as simple as picking out 4 packages, throwing them in the crockpot and forgetting about them for a few hours.

Reusing packaging. I wash out all margarine tubs and reuse them for saving and freezing food in. They last quite well, then they finally go to the recycling box when they get warped, scratched cracked or stained. Bread bags, I shake the crumbs out and re-use them once for wrapping opened packages of bacon, cheese etc. You can wash plastic bags if you so desire, for freezing veggies you can buy some nice heavy duty thick freezer bags and wash them out a few times, I personally wouldn't re-use bags for meat though. I have a 8 or 9 year old roll of saran wrap (cling wrap) kind of stuff. I paid $7 for a catering roll.... and I'm still using the damn thing, box disintegrated a couple of years ago. I know other people are probably using about the same amount as me and needing a $1 or so package every month or so, so it pays for itself in a year easily. Yeah it's made from non-renewable resources, but it is very thin stuff, thinner than bags, and means you can buy the huge packages of ground beef or chops etc and split it up easily when you get home, and a layer of clingfilm is generally less plastics than individually trayed and heavy duty wrapped smaller packages of meat would use.

Home remedies, don't buy tylenol, buy acetominophen, don't buy advil buy ibuprofen... store brand generics, also there are huge savings in larger packs on those, you sometimes see bottles of 100 right next to the blister packs of 10 for only double the price. Store them real carefully if you have kids of course. Usually if you see a brand name remedy like Benylin or something, you can read the medicinal ingredients and match them to a half price generic a foot or two away on the shelf.

Dollar and 99c stores can give you huge deals, but can also cost you money if you're not wary. For example, you can go through a dollar store can opener every couple of months, or go spend $3 on one at a department store that will last years. (Look in the thrift stores for a "Swing-a-way" opener, you'll probably get it for 25c or 50c, clean it up and it will be the best opener you ever had) A few items in those stores can be found in regular stores for 59-89c they're priced up to a dollar. Then there's dollar store sized packs of things, like 100 sandwich bags or coffee filters for $1 when the grocery stores have 200 packs for between 1.29 and 1.59. However, you can still get some great deals. The best kinds of those stores to find are those that are more independant and buy anything they can get in skid loads and bulk lots that they can price for a dollar. This is opposed to the larger chains which have everything made to be priced at a dollar. Those that buy "whatever" have huge deals, for instance, I was getting a listerine equivalent mouthwash for $1 a litre until they ran out. That would normally be a $2.99+ store brand listerine equivalent.

Oh, another false economy I find is store brand and dollar store dish soap. It's too thin, you need half a cup or so of it to get your dishes clean, with regular Sunlight, you need about a teaspoon full. I guess you have to be careful, sometimes the name brand pays off sometimes it doesn't. Was looking at a name brand "double roll" TP the other day, 12 rolls for $5 or the generic 24 rolls for $5. Now, this name brand claimed you could use a 3rd less (okay, like the rest of the people in my house will ACTUALLY be careful) due to being thicker or something, but looked at the number of sheets on the roll, 200, compared to 240 on the generic brand. So, there was nearly a third less paper to start with and it comes nowhere near being a "double" roll.

Beware also of stores that use "get you inside" sale items but really have everyday basics priced pretty high, one example store here has seemingly good sales (which are always quantity limited, to like 2 or 4 GRRRRR) and then you realise the bread is 30c a loaf more, the eggs are 25c more, the sugar is 50c more......

anyway, that's all I can think of right now.

[Snax]

We just cancelled our satellite subscription which should lead to much more TV off-time. Throw in the writer's strike and the fact they give away Faux News but charge people more for somewhat more real channels, and I'm not missing it much.

I pretty much only watched DIY, HGTV, the premium movie channels, and Mythbusters, but between Netflix and all of the on-demand stuff available over the internet, it's hardly a loss. Now my kids won't be watching endless ads for crap that nobody needs during their cartoons, and they just might have to do something active or read!!

I guess having grown up with just 3 over the air channels for so much of my youth, I don't have allot of sympathy there. ;)
Just an update here:

We've been more or less satisfied with the over the air stations this last month, but we also just upgraded to a DTV tuner/recorder combo and it is working out great. No more monthly bill except for Netflix and electricity, yet we still get the basic FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, and 4 different PBS channels in a crystal clear picture and audio. And incidentally, those channels cover about 90% of what we watch anyway.

I HIGHLY recommend going to the DTV standard for anybody putting it off to the last minute. The quality kicks the snot out of anything you'll receive over SD satellite or cable. Don't wait for the government coupon ($40 off an as yet unavailable standalone DTV tuner) if you intend to purchase a DVD recorder any time soon, as you can get the combination of the two for just over $100 if you are willing to accept a refurbished model. (Essentially you get a DVD recorder with the DTV tuner thrown in for virtually no cost.)

[Erik]

Snax- how does the DTV reception compare to the regular signal reception?

I live about 60 miles from several of my "local" TV stations and so I use the amplified rabbit ear type antenna and I experience "ghosting" sometimes (picture loses color and is very grainy).

I am worried that the DTV receiver won't be able to give me any picture at all in these situations.

When you try to pull in a distant station with your new DTV setup- does it come in just as clear?

[Snax]

It's really like night and day on the quality and reception for us. All of the digital channels come in perfectly, but I'm fairly certain every station is within 15 miles of here. (We are in a valley surrounded by hills with the transmitters on them.)

The downside to DTV however is that you either have a picture and sound or you don't. There's no watching or listening to anything through static. This also makes getting the rabbit ears into the right position for everything a bit of a challenge.

[Erik]

I was afraid of that- It sounds like I'll lose a few stations next year when they finalize the changeover.

[RoadWarrior]

By the way, noticing something with my house that might help other people with the winter heat.... my north wall isn't the coldest....

My neighbour is on the north side and has white siding, combined with some snow cover on the ground, this works as a right angle reflector for any winter sunshine. It seems my brick north wall gains a reasonable amount of heat from this on sunny winter days. In addition, a short fence between the driveways, gets snow built up against it either from shovelling or drifting, which usually approximates a parabolic reflector, so sun is reflected off that also. I can feel the warmth on my face when I stand in front of the window in the upstairs hallway, which area can feel quite toasty on some sunny days. This effect doesn't seem to happen so much in summer thankfully, due to less reflectance off the driveway and also the angles of the sun being different.

If you have siding, and insulation on your north wall, you might not gain much reflected heat through the wall. However, reflective radiative heat might be introduced through any windows... so if you have snow and open area to the north of your house, you might try something like this... tie a rope to the bottom of the windowsill or middle of the frame of a north facing window, and using enough length to put you somewhere that will see morning or afternoon sunshine, tie a board or something to the end of the rope there, and use that radius to sculpt snowbanks, so they reflect towards that window. If you felt like it I guess, you could peg up a silver tarp at a suitable distance to reflect solar energy onto that side of the house.

Anyway, this effect might be saving me a couple of bucks in heat, I can certainly feel it working on sunnier days.

[bobc455]

I shower at the gym. Keeps me in the habit of exercising too. Besides, it takes a lot of energy to heat up water!

[Snax]

Never thought of that one. Even if I were too lazy to work out, that would be a great cheapskate maneuver. ;)

[Dust]

I shower at the gym. Keeps me in the habit of exercising too. Besides, it takes a lot of energy to heat up water!

Word, poop at work, shower at the gym. Now, where do we find food?

[RoadWarrior]

Cattail roots for carbs, dandelion greens and evergreen shoots for veggies, fresh roadkill for protein.....

[bodhi_tree777]

maybe minor, but for a movie junkie like myself it was awesome. We canceled our cable completely, in favor of a netflix subscription. $70 + on cable vs. $18 for netflix, plus free shipping and we've got a steady flow of eyecandy around that we *want* to watch, rather than 300 channels of crap and advertisements.

also, gardening has helped. We're vegetarians, and growing our own food is tastier, cheaper and a heck of a lot more satisfying. Compost all our kitchen goodies = less trash.

[Snax]

I discoverd one other way for me to save a little bit at least through the warmer part of the year: I just shaved my head.

This is not the first time I have shaved my head, and in fact, it's the first time I've gone 6 months in the last 5 years where I have not shaved it. At any rate, in my air conditioned house of 72F on a 92F day, I was still sweating my butt off after a long day out working in the heat and sun, so I decided it was time to do something about it. The end result is that I almost instantly went from uncomfortably warm with long mop of hair to completely comfortable. I could feel a significant temperature difference on my scalp and was able to reject the urge to reach for the thermostat.

Bonus: No more shampoo and shorter showers. In our house we go through at least $20 worth of shampoo a month, and me shaving my head will knock down about a 1/4 of that. Plus I literally spend a good 1-2 minutes less in the shower because a complete simple handsoaping of the scalp and rinsing takes less than 30 seconds.

It's not much really, but I'm happier for it and saving at least $5/month for the change. I would have thrown in the cost reduction for haircuts, but the truth is that I haven't had one until yesterday, since the last time I shaved my head 7 months ago.

[bowtieguy]

Snax,

i think you under estimate yourself. besides, even if it were only $5, imagine saving that much for every change made.

also, with higher gas prices affecting the cost of goods and services, eliminating any consumer spending is an added bonus!

[Snax]

I'm having trouble convincing the rest of the family to shave their heads too. ;)

[ColonelPanic]

Shaving your head is a great way to save some dough. :) I started shaving mine with a razor about 7 years ago, but the excessive wear my hard head brought on upon those expensive triple blade razors made it a little cost prohibitive after a few months. ;) I chose to let it grow out a little more and just buzzed it off with some clippers instead. Not a bad deal, I spend $15 on a pair of clippers versus the same on one haircut and just do myself once a month. An average bottle of shampoo can last me several months with as little hair as I have.

I've gone through 4 sets of clippers now due to wear and my lack of proper maintenance but I'm still in the good compated to having to spend $15 a month on a haircut over the years.

I've also switched to the generic 3-blade disposables for shaving now, do just as good of a job and for a lot less. I tend to use them until it hurts or the little lubrication strip falls off. :D

[theholycow]

Okay, so shaving...Mach3 cartridges last forever on my uncommonly tough beard + sensitive skin combination. When they're worn they feel and shave like a brand new cheap razor, so I don't change them unless I have some reason to be ridiculously smooth.

Once a week, as a luxury, I shave with a straight razor. Mine has replacable blades, but the old-fashioned kind that you have to strop is certainly a great deal -- it never needs the blade replaced.

These days, I mostly shave with a Braun PocketGo electric. It costs $16 and comes with two AA batteries, which power it for many weeks (of course, I use Ni-Mh rechargables, which also last seemingly forever in it). It has a built-in cover that flips closed to protect the foil, and a little brush stored in it that I never use because I just blow or rinse it. It's totally waterproof. I've been shaving with it on weekdays for at least 6 months and have not had it wear down at all, unlike a $200 Braun rechargable self-cleaning unit I have that needs a new $35 head/foil every six months. Most importantly, it can handle my beard, leaving me smoother than the expensive one. It's the "miracle 100mpg carburetor" of shavers, except it really exists, really works, and is available in your local drug store.

http://a1061.g.akamai.net/7/1061/5412/home/www.walgreens.com/dbimagecache/322767.jpg

[bowtieguy]

I've also switched to the generic 3-blade disposables for shaving now, do just as good of a job and for a lot less. I tend to use them until it hurts or the little lubrication strip falls off. :D

i use slim twin. if you clean and dry, even a disposable, it will last for many extra shaves.

got that tip from a Clark Howard listener.

[Snax]

I actually don't 'shave' my head with a blade, but just go as short as my $15 clippers allow. I use the same clippers for my beard 90% of the time.

[bodhi_tree777]

I actually don't 'shave' my head with a blade, but just go as short as my $15 clippers allow. I use the same clippers for my beard 90% of the time.

the beard is a good point. I grew one for the first time this past year as a New Years's resolution :D ..I hate shaving anyway, and with the beard I went a good 4 months without needing razors. It got a bit too warm come the spring so I shaved it off, but I think I'm gonna grow a winter beard every year from now on.

Plus, it makes my l'il daughter giggle when I tickle her feet with it. Added bonus :)

[bowtieguy]

just found out my youngest child has been "hypermiling" in the shower by using shampoo and conditioner together.:thumbup:

the middle one, some time ago, put a grill block on her Bratz doll car.

and my oldest is doing a paper on fuel efficient cars.

with three girls, some might consider me a breeder, but at least my litter is conservation aware!

[MiddleMike]

Besides the greenie-weenie stuff I've listed in another thread, well...

I buy the highest quality product I can reasonably afford for items that I know I want to keep long term. The up front cost may seem to make me a big spender, but in the long term I save money because I do not need to replace a cheaper lower quality piece of Chinese crap on a fairly regular basis.

I have overpaid montly on my fixed rate mortgage for so long that I can now reasonably pay off my house even though it still has another 17 years left on the note (it started as a 30 note). The wife and I are contemplating this at the current moment.

Invested like a mofo from the time I was in my mid-20's and couldn't afford it, but did it anyway. Not technically stretching a dollar, but my pool of dollars, while stretched, is a lot larger than my neighbors' so economic downturns don't affect us as much as them.

Use coupons whenever possible. Excepting emergency purchases, which don't happen often if you're aware of the condition of your "things", we try to only buy things when they are on sale and only after thoroughly researching the market. Yes, in fact we do in fact do charts and spreadsheets on major purchases, why do you ask? :)

Only buy what I can afford, and avoid using credit. While I will use a credit card, the balance is paid off when the bill arrives, which keeps me from paying interest. With money-back cards it comes out to be something of a modest return that actually ends up lowering the cost of the product(s) I purchased on them.

Re-prioritized our lives and learned that what we *want* is not necessarily what we *need*. This is a big one and goes a long way towards ensuring economic security. This isn't to say we don't buy nice things from time to time, however, we are not active participants in the "buy the latest and greatest, keep up with the Joneses" game. If our television works fine we don't rush out to buy the large screen flat television of our dreams even if we have spare cash laying around. If our appliances work fine we don't replace them until they break (our washer/dryer combo has been chugging along quite well for 15 years now for example, and our stove is only one year younger than that).

Purchased a home we could afford and approached it as buying a home to live in instead of as an "investment". Homes as "investments" is a horrible arrangement if you live in one longer than 5 or 10 years. If you're not in and out in a year or two you're not going to make money, so don't be sold on the "approach your home as an investment!" scam if you're going to live in it long term. Anywho, since we purchased a home under our own guidelines of what we wanted, and not under the running theory of "this is how much you can afford!" that the home lenders tried to con us into, we could easily afford to pay down on the home principal on a regular basis, and we never had to stretch our dollar in order to be able to make a house payment. Sounds like common sense, but as the housing "crisis" is demonstrating, it's something that wasn't quite so common the last 20 years or so.

Folks just starting out down the path, take my advice and follow the lead here, these kinds of steps have kept us from having to worry about detailing the minute details of life in order to keep from going in hock. Most of it is common sense, it just requires discipline. On this site however, willpower amongst the membership shouldn't be an issue. :)

For the record my wife and I both came from families that would be classified as lower middle class to working poor. I was solidly middle class until my parents divorced when I was 9 or so, she was the granddaughter of poor German immigrant farmers eking out a living working in dirt. Point being there is no reason anybody planning a life together has to settle for their lot simply because they came from modest means. Plan it out and acquire discipline early and you'll not have to worry about economic downturns as much as folks who don't.

[bowtieguy]

just found out my youngest child has been "hypermiling" in the shower by using shampoo and conditioner together.:thumbup:

the middle one, some time ago, put a grill block on her Bratz doll car.

and my oldest is doing a paper on fuel efficient cars.

with three girls, some might consider me a breeder, but at least my litter is conservation aware!

and just like their grandfather did to me, they will have to finance their own car when the time comes, if they choose to have one. they better be good at hypermiling!