What are you doing to save money in New York City these days? (home, buying)
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With the economy like it is, we can all use some tips to save a little money.
I called Time Warner Cable company and asked if they had a better deal for the same things we were getting/no changes in services. They called a week later and said we qualified for a reduction in our cable bill by $40 a month going forward plus cut $40 off my current bill. It took 5 minutes and will save me $480 over the next year.
I called the New York Times and asked them if they would give me the same deal they were giving new customers at 50% off for the weekend subscription. They took off $12.50 a month for the next 3 months and said I could call again in 3 months. It took 2 minutes and saved me $37.
$500 plus isn't bad for less than 7 minutes work with no change to what I've been getting. What are some things you would suggest?
Has anyone been to the new Costco in Harlem? If so, was it worth the fee and savings?
Last edited by texan2yankee; 12-02-2009 at 05:35 PM..
Reason: add costco question
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I called IDT (tel. company) and they gave me for 6 months the original monthly rate that I started out with them a few years ago (instead of what I am paying now).
We order from Fresh Direct every few weeks and cook most of our meals at home, too, run. I like to cook so we've always eaten at home most nights. We rarely order in or eat out. We also entertain our friends at home. We can make a wonderful meal and serve excellent wine for 1/2 the cost of a restaurant tab plus it is more fun.
I go to the library now and check out books instead of buying books at B & N.
I bought a little water bottle, keep it in the freezer and take it with me instead of buying bottled water when we go out.
Last edited by texan2yankee; 12-03-2009 at 06:56 AM..
I think a big reason people have an urge to eat out is because of the ethnic food u find and change from plain food at home. I started looking up exotic recipes and making them at home, that saves money, they cost no more than typical American dishes to make. More healthy to. I have a cousin that died from some stomach cancer, I don't know the exact cause but she was traveling the world and constantly eating out. When u cook your own food ur fully conscious of what u consume and don't want to consume.
I wish I knew more about ethnic cooking, unless you consider southern cooking ethnic, as I know nothing about spices other than Tex Mex spices. I would love to take a cooking class on cooking with different spices around the world.
Agree that eating home cooking is much healthier as well as less expensive.
Last edited by texan2yankee; 12-03-2009 at 09:30 AM..
It can be any food. I'm a young guy and I recently learned that cooking isn't as complicated as people make it. If u get a recipe and instructions, get the right ingredients, after a couple attempts u would have it down perfect. Think of your favorite food that u order in restaurants and just make it urself.
While we have always eaten at home more than eating out for the health factor we are trying to get better of using all of the ingredients we buy. Sometimes we can be a little wasteful in cooking all sorts of different meals and not eating the leftovers. We're really trying not to let anything go to waste and plan our meals accordingly. In the past couple of months we have cut our grocery bill in about half.
You can also prepare "slow" meals on a weekend that make tasty leftovers that you can freeze and microwave later in the week, when you are tempted to just order takeout because it's quicker and easier than cooking after a long day at work. Lasagna, Chili and Roast Beef are good examples.
And yes, cooking is not complicated. It's just following directions. But some dishes are very difficult to prepare at home. I've tried to do Pad Thai two or three times and gave up. Mine always comes out bland and sticky.
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