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I will add a money saving tip that hasn't been brought up I believe...
For your hot water heater (especially for people in colder climates), I'd purchase a HWH Blanket. The small cost upfront would be paid off rather quickly. Also, check your copper pipes coming out of your HW heater. If any pipes are exposed, I'd purchase some cheap foam insulation from Walmart and cover those pipes.....it definitely will pay off in the long run, and I'm no handyman by any means...just did some research and talked to alot of people about it
And also very important. After insulating, turn down the water temp from 140 (if its that high) to 125-130F...(some have it even lower)...this will def save money.
I agree with bar tending, especially in our bad economy and with a new Historically Elected President, those tips will add up, as consumers wash away their soberness with their credit cards.
Edited to add, these consumers are not the ones who voted for Obama, they are the ones who were paying bills on time, keeping up on their house payment with not equity left...the ones who are now broken and very upset/depressed as Obama takes the realm. No, I am not one of them, but I imagine there are plenty of them out there!~
ETA most are those who will want to drown their emotions?
When 5 people have to eat the bill will be $20. Do that twice a week....$40. Do that every week....$160.
I usually get a chicken sandwich combo or something.
The three kids get happy meals.
The wife will get a fish sandwich combo.
And if we eat in and let the kids play on the playplace they'll eventually start begging for an icecream or apple pie.....
So yeah...it adds up like crazy.
We don't always eat at McD's...sometimes we'll do Pizza or something which isn't much cheaper....and if the wife has to have breadsticks or anything special it's more expensive. Personally I'll just take a little C's hot n ready for $5....but for some that's not good enough.
When 5 people have to eat the bill will be $20. Do that twice a week....$40. Do that every week....$160.
I usually get a chicken sandwich combo or something.
The three kids get happy meals.
The wife will get a fish sandwich combo.
And if we eat in and let the kids play on the playplace they'll eventually start begging for an icecream or apple pie.....
So yeah...it adds up like crazy.
We don't always eat at McD's...sometimes we'll do Pizza or something which isn't much cheaper....and if the wife has to have breadsticks or anything special it's more expensive. Personally I'll just take a little C's hot n ready for $5....but for some that's not good enough.
Just a suggestion. For the kids bring some capri-suns and order them double cheesburgers or mcnuggets off the dollar menu. For yourself and your wife, look at the dollar menu first and share a drink...share a fry.....
That will cut your bill by at least half w/minimal effort.
Yeah but its those darn toys in the happy meals not the food they care about. I stopped going to McD's-more because it is really bad for you. Very rarely do we go, maybe once a month if that!
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And also very important. After insulating, turn down the water temp from 140 (if its that high) to 125-130F...(some have it even lower)...this will def save money.
This may be a silly question but my water heather doesn't have the actual temperature on it, just a range from low to medium. What would 125-130 be on a range?
This may be a silly question but my water heather doesn't have the actual temperature on it, just a range from low to medium. What would 125-130 be on a range?
There are no silly questions. I'm no HVAC guy, I just went on a bunch of money saving sites and did some research on my Hot Water heater.
Every HWH is different. On mine, it has "triangles" for different settings, and the instruction manual tells me what temp each triangle represents. I moved the dial to between the 120 & 130 "triangles".
You need to look at your HWH and hopefully you have the manual that tells you on the dial what the specific temps are. If you don't have the manual, try googling it...you should be able to come up w/somehting...
Some good stuff here, thanks for the replies. Bartending a bit does sound like fun.
It was interesting to read ideas about cutting back the outflow side, rather than focusing on the income side. I'm a little reckless with my cash, so there's room for improvement there.
Some good stuff here, thanks for the replies. Bartending a bit does sound like fun.
It was interesting to read ideas about cutting back the outflow side, rather than focusing on the income side. I'm a little reckless with my cash, so there's room for improvement there.
The reason you get more responses about how to save money than spend it is because a lot of folks out there are discovering that it's a lot easier to save money than it is to make more. (although I've heard some great ideas for how to make some extra money on the side without putting in any serious time commitments...ie plasma donation)
Personally I never have cash on me. I haven't carried cash since I was in high school for my lunch money. When I have cash it jumps out of my wallet very quickly and runs away. Which leads me to rely heavily on buying everything with my debit card. Which can be dangerous if used incorrectly. Wherever I go I always keep in mind that I have the potential to put myself in a bind if I overspend. When I go somewhere like the grocery store or other stores I have in mind how much money I can spend to stay on budget.
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