Saving $$$

[Tiramisu]

I know we've made lists before of ways to save money, but I'd like to try a consolidation of items that we can add to and keep growing to reference back to.

One of our local TV stations has a Super Saver person who lists savings each day/week. Granted most of them are local, but there are some that others can use, too. Go to www.ktrk.com, scroll to the bottom and click on the Erin's Super Saver picture. I filled in the forms to get all the freebies.

Let's help each other out. We'll cut and paste as things are added, so the most updated list will be towards the end of the thread. Make sense?

COUPONS
www.hotcouponworld.com
www.couponsurfer.com

$$ CUTTERS (Yes, some hurt more than others!)
cancel call waiting
cancel scrapbook club
unplus house nightlights
lower water heater setting
turn off doggie radio/TV
raise or lower A/C-Heat
stop smoking
less alcoholic beverages
no junk food
-------------------------
Erin's favorite sites are: Hot Coupon World and Organic Grocery Deals. She says these sites are more like communities that allow members to search for specific coupons and offer support at the same time. You can also trade coupons at Hot Coupon World or post coupons you are looking for in the "wanted" section. Another site, Coupon Surfer, allows you to print hundreds. Here coupons are in alphabetical order by name brand.

Erin says another way to save using the Internet is to email the manufacturers of products you like or want to try. She said, "They will actually send you coupons, and most of time it's a coupon for a free item."

A third thing Erin suggests is to use the Internet to 'up' your savings on all those store cards. For example, on the CVS website you can use your CVS card to get coupons through email. If you log onto CVS.com with your savings card number, you'll instantly get a $4-off coupon. At Kroger's website you can actually load coupons onto your savings card, pick the ones you want, then go shopping - - no coupon printing required.

[Janet]

Sandy, what a great thread. I don't have time to check things out yet, but I will for sure. The Oprah show last night had some good ideas, but I thought it could have been better. One lady said the only time something is plugged in at her house is if it is in use. Her last bill was only $61.

I'd like to try that one and may if I can talk hubby and son into cooperating. I just think it would be a severe hassle with TV programing, VCR's, always having to reprogam them.

[Tiramisu]

COUPONS
www.hotcouponworld.com
www.couponsurfer.com
www.allfreesamples.com
www.shortcuts.com

$$ CUTTERS (Yes, some hurt more than others!)
unplug electronics (when not in use)
coupon surf
cancel call waiting
cancel scrapbook club
unplus house nightlights
lower water heater setting
turn off doggie radio/TV
raise or lower A/C-Heat
stop smoking
less alcoholic beverages
no junk food

[HALEY]

Here are some things i did this year.

Lowered my min. on my cell phone (saving 45.00 per month)
downgraded my cable tv
only have local calls on my home telephone
downgraded my high speed internet at home at home. (saving 4.99 per month)
turned in my cable boxes only have it on one tv. ( saving 5.99 per month)
don't use credit cards anymore (very hard!!!!) only emergencies... (no interest fees)
turn furnance/a/c down when we go to work.
wash clothes only when we have a full load
cut coupons for everything....
follow my husband around the house shutting of lights !!! pisses me off too... like having another child.....
by clothes when there on sale only...

sorry one thing i can't do right now is stop smoking, you minds well push me off the edge right now... to nervous about the recession....

[Gina]

Sandy thanks for those sites I will check them out when I get a chance. Haley some good tips I am going to look into local calls only from my landline. I am trying not to charge to much either.. Cutting back on buying clothes all the time. I lost a big deal we were closing next week. The buyer couldnt get a mortgage due to the fact he may be losing his job along with losing money from hubby's 401 K , yep we are all feeling it... They say better days will come years from now.. ughhhhhhhhh we are all in this together...

[Shada]

Some great ideas here!

$$ CUTTERS (Yes, some hurt more than others!)
unplug electronics (when not in use)
coupon surf
cancel call waiting
cancel scrapbook club
unplus house nightlights
lower water heater setting
turn off doggie radio/TV
raise or lower A/C-Heat
stop smoking
less alcoholic beverages
no junk food
car pool when you can

__________________

[HALEY]

Sandy thanks for those sites I will check them out when I get a chance. Haley some good tips I am going to look into local calls only from my landline. I am trying not to charge to much either.. Cutting back on buying clothes all the time. I lost a big deal we were closing next week. The buyer couldnt get a mortgage due to the fact he may be losing his job along with losing money from hubby's 401 K , yep we are all feeling it... They say better days will come years from now.. ughhhhhhhhh we are all in this together...

Gina i am actually so sick over this whole thing, My 401K and my husbands are almost down to zero,, we worked years to build that up and for what nothing.. i can't even sleep at night... we were saving up to buy a bigger house in a couple of years i don't even see that happen.. just been sick to my stomach lately .. i'm just depressed... so sad.. what is happening... we might be getting laid off this winter.. all the steel mills are shutting down til the first of the year cause scrap prices dropped so much...

[Tiramisu]

I went through the house unplugging stuff, trying to figure out why some things were there in the first place, like the blinking alarm clock that never gets reset.

Hubby and I work just a couple miles from each other. I carpooled with him while on crutches, but started driving again a couple days ago. The problem is that he was dropping me off about 30 minutes early and 30 minutes late, leaving me in my office for almost 10 hours a day. I think we'll try me dropping him off next week.

Now, I'm going to figure out how kilowatts work and how much things cost to use!

$$ CUTTERS
unplug electronics (when not in use)
coupon surf
cancel call waiting
cancel scrapbook club
unplus house nightlights
lower water heater setting
turn off doggie radio/TV
raise or lower A/C-Heat
stop smoking
less alcoholic beverages
no junk food
car pool when you can

[Tiramisu]

I found some "usage charts", based on average usages. My electric rate is 14 cents per kWh.

coffee maker = 8 kWh per month
dishwasher = 4.3 kWh per month
freezer = 180 kWh per month
microwave = 1 kWh per month
range = 100 kWh per month
refrigerator = 180 kWh per month
toaster = 3.3 kWh per month

clothes dryer = 3 kWh per use
iron (1-1/2 hour per week) = 5 kWh per month
washer (hot wash - cold rinse) = 6.6 kWh per use
washer (cold wash - cold rinse) = .3 kWh per use

water heater (1 person) = 117 kWh per month
water heater (2 persons) = 202 kWh per month

radio (3 hours/day) = 7 kWh per month
TV (3 hours/day) = 33 kWh per month
clock = 1.4 kWh per month
100 watt light bulb = .1 kWh per hour
well pump (1 hp) = 1 kWh per hour

1 ton A/C = 1 kWh per hour
5 ton A/C = 5 kWh per hour

[DianaB]

We are signed up with a credit card that gives points for each dollar spent. We never have a balance carried over on our credit card but always pay it off each month. This year I have enough points that I can give each of my children's family a $100 gift certificate to what I think they'd use. There's a really wide choice on gift certificates available. I don't like that Wal-mart has gone to directly taking out money from our checking account so I've been putting those purchases on my credit card.

I think that this is a cool idea for a thread especially with our economy in turmoil. I also may be making a few gifts this year or cutting way back. We'll see. I'm also planning on selling some things on e-Bay in a couple of weeks. (Hopefully)

[DianaB]

I signed up for some free stuff from Betty Crocker and I got a link for printable coupons. Here they are.....

http://www.bettycrocker.com/coupons-promotions/coupons/default.aspx?WT.mc_id=EMAIL_CONF_BETTYCROCKER

[Marilyn]

This is an awesome thread. We're doing okay here, but hubby's home building business is down. He has one home under construction and two cash customers who say they still want to build. He has one other he thinks may be able to build also, but this is way less than ususal. He will probably lay off his superintendent. Hate to do it, but the business is just not there. Our 401k's and IRA's took quite a hit. I almost threw up a couple of times this week. Retirement plans will probably have to be pushed back. My business is still booming, but I was the one who was planning to retire first. Oh, well.

Love the cost saving ideas. We did the no long distance on our land line a long time ago. Don't even subscribe to a long distance service on it.

Will definitely check this all out and post any additional ideas!!!

Hang in there ladies!!!! We can make it & we are here to help each other.

[DianaB]

My husband said that he won't be selling any grain for a while. The grain markets are taking a plunge too. That always worries us because that is our income.

[gja1000]

My husband said that he won't be selling any grain for a while. The grain markets are taking a plunge too. That always worries us because that is our income.

I completely understand - my mom was the manager of a grain elevator in our little town. I remember when the prices would be so low, it wasn't feasible to sell - it was better to pay storage in the elevator. Of course, many people now have their own storage bins and can wait till the prices come up. I hope the grain prices improve!!!

[HALEY]

This is an awesome thread. We're doing okay here, but hubby's home building business is down. He has one home under construction and two cash customers who say they still want to build. He has one other he thinks may be able to build also, but this is way less than ususal. He will probably lay off his superintendent. Hate to do it, but the business is just not there. Our 401k's and IRA's took quite a hit. I almost threw up a couple of times this week. Retirement plans will probably have to be pushed back. My business is still booming, but I was the one who was planning to retire first. Oh, well.

Love the cost saving ideas. We did the no long distance on our land line a long time ago. Don't even subscribe to a long distance service on it.

Will definitely check this all out and post any additional ideas!!!

Hang in there ladies!!!! We can make it & we are here to help each other.

Marilyn, how is your area doing, i heard the south is doing bad with the economy?
Pa is getting hit pretty bad, around my area. :(

[DianaB]

Here's a site that you can sign up with to get rebates on what you buy. They have a lot of places to choose from.

www.rebateshare.com

[DianaB]

I just ordered gift certificates from using the points off of my credit card. I got 2-$50 certificates from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, 2-$100 gift certificates from Lowe's, and a $75 gift certificate from Sears. My husband is getting the Sears one and my older kids are getting the other gift certificates for Christmas. I'm really pleased.

[DianaB]

JC Penney's is starting a reward program too. I'm not sure exactly what it involves but here's the site for it. It's a free membership.

www.jcprewards.com

[Tiramisu]

I just got inet back up at home and feel like a little kid on sugar! I'll need to mellow out and look at all these ideas tomorrow (at work).

[HALEY]

i also replaced all my light bulbs with the energy ones, i replaced all my storm doors and screen doors with Pella doors, ( plus i'm getting a tax credit for that thise year also) got a new stove and fridge, cause mine were just too old.. and i do mean very old...
Put Micah in daycare! This was very hard for me to do, but he needed to be around other children i found a very nice one with only 6 kids, i at least now will get some of this money back in my taxes this year... cause i couldn't claim private care..

[Marilyn]

Sounds like everyone is working to save!!

Haley, things aren't too bad around here. The housing market is down due to the credit mess, and folks were pinched when the gas prices were so high. Lots of people are conserving because they don't know what the future may hold. Overall, not too many businesses closing. There are still help wanted signs around. Other than the construction industry, I think overall we are still in pretty good shape down here. Everyone is talking about their 401K's and IRA's and hoping for a future recovery.

Diana, I've noticed the grain storage people have in their fields (the big white plastic bags that look like huge catepillars) are still mostly full. I saw one that had been partially emptied on the way to work yesterday. I'll have to ask the farmer's wife I work with what is happening in the grain market around here.

We've thought of putting up storm windows or hurricane shutters to conserve energy.

We are shopping grocery sales and stocking up on meats that are on sale in value packs and repackaging using our Food Saver. I've been disappointed in the pork chops though. The ones on top look nice, meaty and lean, the ones under them are all bone. Disgusting how deceptive grocers have become. The manufacturers are putting less in the packaging also hoping we won't notice that 12 oz has become 10 oz, but the box the same size, just a bit thinner.

[HALEY]

start a college fund for your kids
make sure you have a will
extra life insurance on hubby
extra disability insurance on both of us
pack lunches everyday for work
when we go out to eat i always have coupons
coupons for grocery shopping
sticking to the list only.
shop at gabs for work clothes or wait for sales
pay extra interest on the house payment.
pay off credit cards
dont use credit cards, make a budget and stick to it.. (very hard)
start a savings account for emergency money
color my own hair now (that one hurt) took me two times to find my color my stylist uses!!

[HALEY]

i also donate our old clothes and baby clothes to a church, this is another tax write off at the end of the year.

[HALEY]

JC Penney's is starting a reward program too. I'm not sure exactly what it involves but here's the site for it. It's a free membership.

www.jcprewards.com

Diana be careful, jc penney's just put a charge on my credit card for some kind of reward program - the only reason i caught it cause the card was paid off and there was this charge on it... i made them take it off... read the fine print...

[Tiramisu]

THANKS for all the good ideas.

Check your power provider. Mine (www.reliantenergy.com) has several helpful hints and even a place to key in to see what each appliance costs you. My rate is at $.14/kWh.

Hubby and I agreed that we can not go to the grocery store without a list and we must try to shop only from the list. We have a bad habit of stopping on the way home from work to grab a few things and ending up getting extras. We need to get better about thawing something out for supper. We literally have 4 freezers (1 on the side-by-side in the house, 2 big ones in the garage, and 1 on the extra refrigerator in the garage). I figured that it costs $25/month for each, so we are going to consolidate and hopefully sell one of the freezers. We re-inherited the extra refrigerator and a compact refrigerator from kids college days. Since the storm, we haven't plugged the compact in and will try to sell it. With such a big family, the extra frig comes in handy, so we'll probably keep it.

[HALEY]

Diana be careful, jc penney's just put a charge on my credit card for some kind of reward program - the only reason i caught it cause the card was paid off and there was this charge on it... i made them take it off... read the fine print...

ps. i ordered something from jc penneys online and when i went to check out that's when they signed me up for something, and that's where this charge came from, so be careful when you buy something from them online... it was around 10.00 if i remember right.. i was pissed.....

[HALEY]

THANKS for all the good ideas.

Check your power provider. Mine (www.reliantenergy.com) has several helpful hints and even a place to key in to see what each appliance costs you. My rate is at $.14/kWh.

Hubby and I agreed that we can not go to the grocery store without a list and we must try to shop only from the list. We have a bad habit of stopping on the way home from work to grab a few things and ending up getting extras. We need to get better about thawing something out for supper. We literally have 4 freezers (1 on the side-by-side in the house, 2 big ones in the garage, and 1 on the extra refrigerator in the garage). I figured that it costs $25/month for each, so we are going to consolidate and hopefully sell one of the freezers. We re-inherited the extra refrigerator and a compact refrigerator from kids college days. Since the storm, we haven't plugged the compact in and will try to sell it. With such a big family, the extra frig comes in handy, so we'll probably keep it.

Sandy i bet if i leave my husband home when i go grocery shopping i will save 100.00 everytime he goes he gets big steaks and junk food.... :mad:

[Tiramisu]

Sandy i bet if i leave my husband home when i go grocery shopping i will save 100.00 everytime he goes he gets big steaks and junk food.... :mad:

Well, be thankful that he cares to go with you and remember the way to a man's heart... I'm so glad to hear that your marriage is better!

There are several things I can cut and/or do without to save money, but I'm not ready to give them up and feel that we must REWARD OURSELVES for our hard work. I'm a quality time kinda girl!

[HALEY]

Well, be thankful that he cares to go with you and remember the way to a man's heart... I'm so glad to hear that your marriage is better!

There are several things I can cut and/or do without to save money, but I'm not ready to give them up and feel that we must REWARD OURSELVES for our hard work. I'm a quality time kinda girl!

I wouldn't say better and i wouldn't say its worse, were just trying to survive right now... The only reason he goes, cause he gets stuff for his lunches now, i don't have the time to shop for the house, baby, cleaning stuff and worry about what he wants for his lunch ... so i told him to get his butt off the couch and go with us. :p

[Tiramisu]

I wouldn't say better and i wouldn't say its worse, were just trying to survive right now... The only reason he goes, cause he gets stuff for his lunches now, i don't have the time to shop for the house, baby, cleaning stuff and worry about what he wants for his lunch ... so i told him to get his butt off the couch and go with us. :p

You drive a hard bargain!

[HALEY]

You drive a hard bargain!

I know but i'm tired at night to, i work 8 1/2 hours a day, have to pick up the baby at daycare, go home, feed him, bath him, then about that time Mike is home then we go grocery shopping, shoot by that time i'm ready for bed... and i really don't feel like grocery shopping but you have to do it..

[DianaB]

ps. i ordered something from jc penneys online and when i went to check out that's when they signed me up for something, and that's where this charge came from, so be careful when you buy something from them online... it was around 10.00 if i remember right.. i was pissed.....

Thanks for the update. I'll keep an eye on things. You had to put a credit card in to enroll and I used my Penney's card which I never use so if a charge is put on it I'll definitely know about it. It wouldn't be the first time that Penney's has had a conversation with me. The mail out that I received says right on the front "free membership". We'll see. Thanks again.