Small, Practical Ways to Save

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floridacatlover
Posts: 8056
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:21 am

Re: Small, Practical Ways to Save

Post by floridacatlover »

Mrscreative wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 5:34 pm We turn our heat down when we’re all out of the house and also at bedtime. We prefer a cooler temperature at night anyway. We do the same with air conditioning and keep it at 78 degrees when at home, crank it up to 83 when all out of the house.

I find growing fresh herbs saves me a ton of money as I love the taste, and they can turn almost any dish into gourmet. I freeze what we can’t eat over the summer. I also freeze rhubarb. I plant a very small veggie garden- not sure I really save a lot, but I do know it’s organic and fresh.

I have my photos processed when you can get free, unlimited prints.

I take advantage of any double your points or spend your points promotions. I charge everything on my credit cards for their perks, but always pay them off in full. All bills are either pain online or through telephone banking, saving the cost of postage and envelopes.

I have started having pen pals again (throw back to my teens) as I find it so much fun to receive some “happy mail “. I have found thrift stores to be an excellent source of inexpensive stationery and greeting cards. I prefer snail mail sometimes as you have the benefit of slipping in some tea, embellishments, etc to brighten someone’s day. I think this is a pretty inexpensive source of entertainment and am corresponding with a Filipino woman who married a man in the Faroe Islands, which is an autonomous region of Denmark. I purposely select women who are culturally different from myself. I have a Latino pen pal who lives in Las Vegas as well, so do have some American ones as well as other international countries. I do not have any male pen pals and no desire to, not appropriate when you’re married IMHO.

We do a lot of DIY. Dh changes the winter tires to the summer tires and we store them in our garage. We do almost all of any painting required ( NOT the second floor windows on the outside though), trim our own shrubs and any required branches from the trees if feasible, lawn maintenance, snow removal, etc.

We have a very good rapport with one neighbour so if we ever are all away on a holiday, they will feed the cat, scoop her box, cut grass, water pots, check on house and collect mail. We do the same for them in return.

That’s about all I can think of for now.

Creative
Right now I have the a/c at mom’s house set at 80 F. (turned it down to 78 F. when the neighbor visited today) but I think last year I kept it at 82 F. Next time I’m over there I’ll turn it up. Thanks for the reminder.

What fun having pen pals!
floridacatlover
Posts: 8056
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:21 am

Re: Small, Practical Ways to Save

Post by floridacatlover »

HappyDaze wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 5:57 pm I honestly haven't made many changes because I was already in "miserly mode" and remain so. Oh I just thought of something - I have stopped turning on lights when I get up in the morning.

I enjoy making and drinking my coffee by candle light. I did that "sometimes" before - now doing it every day. By the time I'm ready to get in the shower it's daylight so no light needed in the bathroom.

I am driving to work on Mondays and Fridays, walking on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Cars need to be driven and not just sit there.
That is a nice compromise with your new car. Enjoy it!
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MackerelCat
Posts: 7257
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:44 pm

Re: Small, Practical Ways to Save

Post by MackerelCat »

I think there are levels of frugality. If a person does not cook or works a very demanding job and does not have time to cook, then packing a lunch of a bought frozen meal is definitely cheaper than eating out. Even buying a hearty salad at the supermarket deli is cheaper than fast food.

One thing that has saved me a lot of money this year has been to buy a $50 annual membership with the Brooklyn, NY public library. I used to budget $25 a month to buy books because I've always lived places where the library was just not very good. That added up to $300 a year. I have bought only $21 worth of books this year, all cookbooks printed several years ago and bought used. Everything else I've read on my library membership, which works out to a cost of less than $4 a month.
Last edited by MackerelCat on Mon May 23, 2022 8:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mackie
snowangel729
Posts: 348
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 9:19 am

Re: Small, Practical Ways to Save

Post by snowangel729 »

I think its best to cut corners where you can. For example, I have set it up to cancel my kindle membership before June 25th, when it is due to renew because I haven't really used it. I have a few free books on my kindle to read and I review books for my favorite author so I get those for free.

We do have Hulu live plus Disney and ESPN. We did the bundle due to DH wanting to be able to watch the news. He watches everyday so I find it is justified for the cost. DH also gets a 15 dollar spend on his video games and I take a 9.00 spend on siriusxm. However since I will not be driving as much I an considering cancelling. We also have Amazon prime but due to a promo we are getting it for 6.50 a month currently so between ordering on amazon and watching on there we are using the 6.50 a month. I got a promo on Paramount + which allowed me to pay 70 cents for a year and a half of service which is super cheap.
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MackerelCat
Posts: 7257
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:44 pm

Re: Small, Practical Ways to Save

Post by MackerelCat »

Snowangel, getting deals like that and bei g aware of what subscriptions have value for you is smart frugal thinking.
Mackie
frugalmom
Posts: 1710
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:52 pm

Re: Small, Practical Ways to Save

Post by frugalmom »

MackerelCat wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 3:18 pm I think there are levels of frugality. If a person does not cook or works a very demanding job and does not have time to cook, then packing a lunch of a bought frozen meal is definitely cheaper than eating out. Even buying a hearty salad at the supermarket deli is cheaper than fast food.

One thing that has saved me a lot of money this year has been to buy a $50 annual membership with the Brooklyn, NY public library. I used to budget $25 a month to buy books because I've always lived places where the library was just not very good. That added up to $300 a year. I have bought only $21 worth of books this year, all cookbooks printed several years ago and bought used. Everything else I've read on my library membership, which works out to a cost of less than $4 a month.
They charge you for a library card membership now!? Wow! Ours is still free-at least the last time I checked and got my card! NO notice sent out yet about charging! I hope they don't do that here! That would be a total bummer-I love the library!
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