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Not having a car has saved us tons of money, even after factoring in rental cars when needed.
Smaller, but still helpful (and healthier!), has been cooking more from scratch. We were already vegetarian, but even just cooking up a big batch of dried beans both tastes better and saves money. We've switched to mostly organic (including milk), but even despite that the cooking from scratch, smart couponing, and buying in-season has saved us money.
We also reevaluated our insurance. We no longer have earthquake insurance, which we decided wasn't worth it (we are renters, not owners, and while we'd take a hit if our stuff was destroyed in an earthquake, we decided we'd still be better off just putting the money into our savings account. We still have our regular renters' insurance. We also switched to the HMO option through work. It's a bigger hassle than the PPO, but the savings are worth it, and has given us much more room in our budget.
Renting has also saved us a lot of money. I know that's not right for everyone, but it's the right fiscal call for us at this point in time. We also recently moved, and were lucky to land a very affordable (for the area) apartment. We looked at nicer, more expensive places, but when we thought about the annual price difference decided that the more expensive places weren't THAT much nicer. (for us, it helped a lot to think about the price as a yearly total, and not just monthly -- $100 or $200 difference didn't seem like a big deal when looking at monthly rent, but we could think of a lot of better uses for that extra money when thinking of it as a big lump sum.)
1. I have roommates. With the cost of rent in my area, it saves me about $400-500/month over renting a studio apartment on my own.
2. I don't have a car. My job offers either a parking space or metro money so I took the metro money. My commuting costs to/from work are 0. Every once in a while I'll rent a car to go out of town for the weekend and I have a zipcar membership and use it to rent a car for short trips to to stock up on groceries and household supplies about once a month.
3. I get my books at the library. I read about 1-2 books a month. I used to go to the bookstore but they cost about $13 each, then I started ordering used books on Amazon for about half that price and now I just check them out at my local library for free. I inevitably pay a few dollars in late fees a year but it's much cheaper and I don't have the hassle of trying to sell, give away or store my used books.
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, Marc Eisenson's The Banker's Secret, Andrew Tobias's The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need, and Stanley & Danko's The Millionaire Next Door all have great advice.
And then there's my plan, which I call The 6 Dont's:
Don't Smoke Don't Drink
Don't Do Drugs
Don't Gamble
Don't Borrow Money And perhaps most important of all: Don't Drive More Than 6,000 Miles a Year!
I drink occasionally.. and I drive about 10,000 miles a year (unavoidable here in S. California.) But those miles I drive aren't gonna break my bank anyways since I drive a fuel efficient beater.
im really wasteful with electricity, heating/cooling, and water so i found an apartment that includes it all in the rent so i dont have to worry about it.
We switched insurance companies and saved $600. a year on Homeowner's.
We switched from AT&T cellular to Consumer Cellular and expect to save $100 a month. The catch is they use
AT&T towers, so if that doesn't work for you it's not a good option.
I cook in bulk and freeze meals. Saves money and time.
I bought a NOOK. I don't buy books anymore and I had stopped going to the library because I kept forgetting to return the books on time. Now I just download library books for free. There are thousands of pages of books that are free. It also makes me happy to not have to carry books around with me.
I learned to shop at the Hispanic grocery stores. They are much cheaper than the regular stores and the produce is a lot better. I also buy in bulk. When skinless, boneless chicken goes on sale for .59/lb, I will buy 20 pounds and freeze it. My first stop is the 99centsOnly Store, then usually El Super, and last, the regular store.
I put in solar hot water. We have lots of free sun here! It works great. I also never use my dryer, the clothes are hung on hangers to dry. In the summer, even jeans dry in 30 minutes.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Frugal Trick that Reaps Big (or Noticeable) $$$
That "Trick" would have to be along the lines of folks that tap into their neighbor's water or electric meter, or the farmers that set up induction coils under power lines.
My frugality is pretty short on tricks... 50mpg since 1976, no OPEC or Dinosaurs required. Usually get these rigs for under $100 and they are DIRT cheap to fix and insure. I find them for free hiding in the brier patches (where you should always look for Rabbits...). Get tires for $5 at junk yard (often complete near NEW in sets). Have a couple MC that get over 80 mpg. I live in the boonies and drive ~ 30,000 mile+ / yr. Some years well over 60k.
$3 / day for food, same as 30+ yrs ago, and what I raised my family on. (stick $100 in an envelope at first of month. When empty, quit eating... great incentive to 'conserve'.)
Heat with wood, (grown at home), No AC required
Get fresh Salmon for $3/# from nearby Indian fishermen.
Health INSURANCE and property taxes are the KILLERS (@$1200/month EACH).
Health operations and dental and eye glasses I get when traveling overseas. (~1/3rd to 1/10th USA prices).
Red, if you like to watch movies check online for codes for free DVD rental from Redbox or Blockbuster. I know one of them just bought out the other but can't remember which. lol
Ditching cable was a money-saver for me, because I was paying for high speed internet and for cable. We have a digital antenna to get the local channels, and I pay $10/month for Netflix.
Grocery shopping is my big money-saving area right now...I make menus and do grocery shopping for a month at a time. It costs me about $350 to feed a family of four for a month. I was spending $600 a month when I shopped every week. My $350 includes paper goods and toiletries too.
I also learned to cut my husband's hair. He was getting it cut every week for $15 (yes, it does grow that fast). So we've saved $60 a month, for the last 12 or 13 years.
Quitting smoking...if you're a smoker and you quit, you can see the difference in your wallet every day, right away. We quit five years ago and hubby and I were both pack a day smokers. If you figure $5 per pack times two people times 365 days, in the last five years, we have saved $18,250 by not smoking.
I am always amazed when a family of 4 can eat for 350.00 How do you do it?? I really want to know. I am a single person and I spend that and sometimes more for me and my 2 cats, toiletries, bird seed etc.
My monthly income is decreasing by 300.00 (due to shift change at work) and I can only see decreasing my grocery bill. I'm really frugal otherwise and can't see cutting anywhere else.
I would love to know what you eat and meals you make!!! Thanks!
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