Finding ways to save money is becoming almost as trendy as the “green” movement. I guess time will tell if we see the Prius driving Hollywood stars trading in their mansions in order to “save money”. While the saving thing is trendy, I don’t think it is that trendy. 
So, anyway, this week’s giveaway is going to be a little bit different. Instead of leaving a comment in the forums to be entered, you can leave your best, most creative, and/or favorite way to save money in the comment section below.
I (and my lovely wife Linda) will be the judges of what the most creative, practical, and easy way to save money is from the comments below.
What will you get out of it?
The winner will get a $40 gift card to Amazon.com. How is that for saving money?
A few of my favorite ways to save money
- Shopping sites like Ebates or Microsoft Cashback should be in every saver’s arsenal. If you use the two sites, you are just about a guaranteed a discount on anything you buy online.
- Shopping around for car insurance is a wonderful idea that will surely save you money. When I did this for the first time, I assumed I was wasting my time, because I had a pretty good rate. I was amazed to find that I could get the same coverage for $500 less than I was spending each year!
- One of the easiest ways to save money is to buy a used car instead of a new one. Most of us know that this is a good idea, but when you really look at how much money you can save on the car’s depreciation, it becomes difficult to buy a new car.
- If you have an emergency fund built up, you can use it to save you money on insurance deductibles. After all, this is what an emergency fund is for – right?
And a few more articles about saving money…
- 16 creative ways to save money
- 100 great tips for those trying to start saving money
- 1001 money saving tips and ideas
- 11 ways to save money this month
- 15 ways to cut expenses
- 10 practical ways to save money and increase your net worth
- 75 painless ways to save money
- 12 simple ways to save money on utilities
Linda and I read over all the savings ideas and picked our favorites and Nikki W’s was on both of our lists. So congrats to Nikki for winning the $40 Amazon.com gift card!! And thanks to everyone for the great money saving ideas!!
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My favorite way to save money is to actually track what we spend. When we realize just how much we’re spending on things we don’t need, it has the effect of giving us a wake-up call, and helping us to cut back – saving us money!
Since you mentioned going green, I keep every electrical appliance (other than major ones) on a power strip. If it’s not being used immediately, I flip the power strip to the off position to eliminate paying for vampire power drains. For example, a TV will pull 100 Watts while in use, but will also pull 25 Watts while in the off position.
This has saved me around 30% on my electric bill after implementing this simple policy.
It’s a bit of a pain since I have to remember flipping the switches on/off, but it quickly becomes a habit once you get the positive reinforcement from the increased savings.
I’ve posted about this, but as far as a creative way to save money – my wife and I are tired of the low interest rates nowadays, so we’re trying a new thing out – we’ll set our own interest rate. Don’t like the 1.5% you’re getting? Change it to 6%, figure out how much that is, and add it to you savings account. Bingo – more money saved.
Easy – the best way to save money is to get real about what you are capable of. People can sacrifice much more than they think they are capable of. For me, I was a TV addict, but through a Netflix subscription and hooking up my laptop to my TV for Hulu and other TV shows, I learned I could live without cable. In fact, I watch much less TV and get a lot more done now. Same goes with groceries: you can learn how to do some basic cooking and save a bundle.
Stop paying for convenience so often and put a little work into it. You’ll save money and be happier.
I have always been thrifty, but this year we are really stepping it up and being extra frugal. It is kind of like a game to my husband and I to see how little money we can spend. That isn’t to say we don’t live a comfortable lifestyle, we totally do!
Some steps we have taken:
1) downsized our family of 4 from a 3 bedroom rental house to a 2 bedroom rental house. This saves us $100 a month in rent and a LOT on utilities.
2) great side effect of the downsize: we had to get rid of lots of stuff (especially toys). We made $400 at our yard sale, woohoo!
3) We moved about 100 yards away from the school where my husband teaches and my children attend. They walk to school/work. Bonus: we use the school playground and field for family fun time since our yard is very small.
4) We are selling one of our 2 cars to become a one car family.
5) I cook vegetarian meals at home, usually one dish meals, or something over rice or pasta.
6) I have a great group of thrifty friends who get together to do swaps. To make it more fun, we do themes. My favorite swap was the women’s clothing swap. I got two laundry baskets full of great looking clothes in my size and in brands I love (Banana Republic, Old Navy, Lucky Brand) for free! And I got rid of a bunch of my old stuff too! Other great themes are “kids toys”, “books” and “kids clothes”.
7) I make my own surface cleaner out of vinegar, water, and essential oil.
8) We cloth diaper. Looking for ways to “reduce” for eco reasons often has an economic benefit (like taking shorter showers= saving on the water bill!)
We use our money that we save to live a debt free life style and work towards our goal of one day owning a home. We also intentionally set money aside for travel each year, since that is one of our values and loves. We make it a priority! That was something that inspired the downsize on the rental house. I want to work for something I love, you know?
My most effective, though not my favorite way to save money is to walk by the pop (soda) machine or the Starbucks, Caribou, or Panera, thinking all the time of how much better off I am with water. Every time I do so, I through the cash saved into my vacation “fun money” bank and know that this too is better for me.
A few things I do to save money are:
I always unplug or shut off the switches that control appliances while i am not at home. I also always shut off lights when I am not in the room or watching TV-do you really need the light on?
I bought a PUR water filter for my faucet so I no longer have to buy bottled water. I also bought a plastic water bottle to take with me after I’ve filled up at home.
For us woman when I am running low on my beauty products and need to save a little cash I make at home treatments such as:
Sugar and water as a scrub
Olive oil for a moisturizer like the famed Sophia Loren does.
Just for two examples.
When items like english muffins are on sale I buy in bulk and freeze them.
When it is nice out I hang my clothes outside to dry to save on my electric bill.
For items such as trash bags, tupperware, snack bags, aluminum foil and so forth I go to my local “dollar tree” store and pay $1 vs dollars and pennies more even at cheap places like Walmart.
I use my microwave instead of my oven whenever possible and save up to 50% in energy costs for cooking.
I installed a flow restricting shower head.
I stick to basic television and any special shows on channels I do not get I watch online with sites like Hulu for free!
Just like tithing, you should save a set amount or percentage of your paycheck before doing any other spending. If you are always tempted to use the money you save, make sure it is in a separate account. If you are still tempted try putting some of it into physical gold and silver, it will be much harder to dip into instantly.
If you make yourself save first, then you spending habits will adjust to the money you have after saving.
The Entertainment Coupon book is amazing. It’s filled with hundreds of 50% off and 2-for-1 discounts for your area including dining, groceries, shopping, services, and attractions. Plus they offer huge discounts on travel, home furnishings and much more.
The 2009 book is currently selling for $9.99 with FREE shipping. Or, you can buy the 2010 book for $25 and receive a copy of 2009 for FREE.
This coupon book is a classic, and is truly worth its weight in gold.
Thanks for your generous giveaway!
You can visit their site here: http://www.entertainment.com/discount/home.shtml
I use tons of coupons along with great sales to get great deals but what I try to do is add up all my savings and then take that total and put it into savings. So if I go to WAl-Mart and use $12 in coupons, then I put that $12 into my savings account.
i will plagiarize Dave Ramsey (who quoted some other dude so this is 3rd-hand now) who said: “I ask each dollar leaving my wallet, ‘WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE AND WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?’”
Sometimes a simple double-check of “Do i really NEED this?” can be the difference between impulse shopping and doing what is right by your family.
Bring a lunch to work.
saves waiting in line and give you time to read blogs while eating.
My favorite way to save money is to get free stuff. I’m a college student, and I’m a big fan of free stuff on campus and at career fairs. I never buy tee shirts, pencils, pens, or post-it notes because I can get them free from companies and my school. I also share textbooks with my roommate to save us both money.
So by getting this free gift card, I would be exercising my favorite way of saving money
We do many of the things that previous commenters have listed, so I won’t repeat those.
My first tip is–stay with me here–to rent a car for road trips. My husband figured that taking a 2000-mile trip in our own car would take at least a year off the life of the car. We rented a car (with a discount code and unlimited miles) for less than we valued that extra year of car-life.
My other car-related tip is to keep up with maintenance. Our car is 12 years old and the mechanic says it’s still going strong. I attribute this to my husband’s diligent attention to maintenance.
Our best, and most inventive, money saving trick was also the one that it took the longest to put in to effect:
My husband and I swapped roles.
I was a terrible housewife: hated cooking, loved gadgets, could always find a more expensive way to do any chore. My husband wasn’t a happy earner either. So I went back to school, became an accountant, and let my husband take a turn at keeping our home. We’ve cut our food budget in half, been able to purchase a home, eliminated our car payment, and gone from a place where we always lived on the edge, or beyond our means, to a place where we’re saving even as eat better, travel more, and enjoy life as much as we ever have.
I like to save money by using every last drop. For example, I cut an empty tube of toothpaste in half and squeeze out the remaining toothpaste. It’s amazing how much can be saved with such a simple action!
Save money on beef by doing a “Cowshare.” That’s where you and a group of friends get together and buy a cow from a local farmer, then split the meat. The auction price of cattle is low right now, so most farmers are willing to give you a good deal. Figure about 400 lbs of meat for every 1000lbs of cow, and you’ll have a good idea of how many people you need to split yours. Not only do you save money by eliminating most middlemen, but the hormones and routine antibiotics that are standard additives to your meat are usually added by feedlots, not farmers, so you will be eating healthier as well as greener. If you don’t know any farmers, a good place to start is eatwild.com or localharvest.org – national directories of farmers who sell locally. Your farmer can probably recommend a slaughterhouse to process your meat, or you can find one in the yellow pages.
Well, mine isn’t creative or even exciting but it’s been true for my life. The best way to spend less is to remain diligent. Any time you set your mind to do something the best you possibly can for an extended period of time it will yield consistent results for you. I’ve been diligent about spending less for a few years. Now it’s easier to do and I’m able to spend far less than I would’ve thought a long time ago. That only comes with steady practice.
Thanks
Where we live in GA it it still cooling down at nights even though it is warm during the day. We shut the cooler off at night and open up our bedroom windows (all on the second floor) and use the ceiling fans. Then as soon as I get up in the morning, around 6:30 I go around and open up all the windows to catch the last of the cool air. My house gets cooled off nicely. Then when my thermostat hits 81 I close all the windows and turn the air on. This usually doesn’t happen till early afternoon. I have no idea how much money I’m saving but I know it’s much better then leaving the house all closed up when there is wonderfully cool air outside!
Buy more expensive food at the grocery store.
If you have food that you really like and are excited to eat, you will not want to eat out and actually be excited about eating in. This is even for if you are going some place “cheap.” A cheap meal eating out is going to line up with an expensive meal from the grocery store.
One more aspect of this is that you will be healhier, and spend less on expensive medical bills and live a more productive life.
One of the best ways to save money is to go solar. If you install solar panels, you will not only save a lot of money, but you will also save the environment. In the summer, it could save about 80% of all your heating and electrical bills.
I save money on baby/kids’ clothes by getting them used. I get hand-me-downs from friends and relatives for free, or buy them at yard sales or consignment/resale stores during their sale days. If I do buy new, I get them on the clearance rack and use a discount coupon for savings up to 80% or more off retail price.
Learn to drive a stick. I’ve been savings tons in gas money just because I manned up and figured out how to master a clutch. I’m able to milk my non-hybrid Civic to over 45 mpg – About 50% better than most automatic Civics …
When I feel the gimmees starting to creep in I like to take a spin around my favorite money blogs for a healthy dose of inspiration. I even set up a folder in my bookmarks where I save the articles I found the most motivating. Never fails to get my eyes back on the prize.
We save money on buying clothes, household items, and toys by belonging to our Local Freecycle.org Network. This is a online email program. You sign up for your local area and other locals also belong. They offer items for FREE or you can request them. When the person who offers the item selects you as a recipient they then will exchange their address so you can go pick up the items.
Also someone needs clothes you ask for them in the specific size and someone will email you and you can go pick them up. You can have several people offer to you.
When cleaning out your household instead of throwing things out you offer them. A lamp, beds, furniture, movies anything at all. These things stay out of land fill you get rid of them and those in need can use them.
How i save money, i save money in every way.
. I save around $500 in rent. I have the entertainment book, so my friend and i take turns to pay when we use Bogo coupons. I rent movies, books and cd’s from the library. I don’t use makeup twice a week, this make help my makeup last long and help my skin at the same time. I shop at thrift stores that are located in the rich neighborhoods, and always find good brands at really low price. Finally that i remember I help a local cafe to take the old newspaper to the recycle, and get free coffee. If i win the amazon gift card, i will save $40.00 dollars by not spending money on father’s day…
First of all i am a full time college, and still live with my parents, and they don’t want me to pay rent
Once a week my sister and I have started a babysitting co-op with each other. I take her kids for a few hours in the morning so she can get some things done faster and after lunch she takes my kids for a few hours. We live close to each other, so it works wells for us. It allows us to get cleaning done faster without kids underfoot or run errands or shopping or whatever.
The best way to save money for me is once you receive your money, set an amount you will be saving and place it in a place where you wont always see it and most likely will be too lazy to look in that place. That way you won’t be looking for it and that amount can be saved until the next time you save your money. Another way is to let someone you really trust hold a certain amount of money you want to save and instruct the person to tell you every time your asking the money that you didn’t give him/her any money. That way you can save a certain amount of money.
Hope I win this contest. Thanks
Set aside money in advance for known expenses that can be paid semi-annually or annually. By paying your car insurance every six or twelve months, instead of monthly, you will usually receive a discount on the total premium as well as not being charged an installment payment fee. The same applies for other insurance premiums, such as term life and many other items as well. For instance, I save by paying for my trash pickup service on an annual basis.
Oh – where do I begin?? My blog is actually one of the many money saving blogs. I’m a big believer in matching coupons with sales and promotions, which typically saves me anywhere from $50 – $100 on groceries!!
I also planted a garden for the first time this year (yay me!!). It has not only saved me on buying fresh produce, but it has also served as a form of entertainment for my 4 year old – we garden together!!
Finally, I LOVE giving photo gifts for all occasions from birthdays to Christmas to Mother’s/Father’s Day. They mean more than your typical store bought gift AND if you watch throughout the year on one of the money saving blogs, there’s always a deal going on – usually for free! I always stock up and save big on gift purchases. I bought several calendars and photo books last year for $7 or less (shipping only) – MUCH cheaper than what I would have spent to go pick up a piece of jewelry or a shirt!
P.S. LOVE Amazon! That’s a great way to save in and of itself!!
One way to save money?
Don’t buy water!
For example, if you’re going to a theme park, instead of buying water there, you could bring your own water. When you buy water, not only do you pay for the water itself, but you also pay for the bottle and the bottle cap. If you brought our own water jugs, you could save money and you could also refill it in water fountains.
I won’t repeat any of the excellent tips already posted. I have found that a complete attitude adjustment, coupled with my “watch” list, works. We take care of our cars and drive them to 300,000, for example, rather than succumb to the advertising lure of “buy me, buy me.” The added benefit is a savings in car insurance, registration, and maintenance. But to do that, you have to be able to focus inwardly, on your values and goals, and not outwardly, comparing yourself with others. The second prong of that is the “watch and wait” list: not deprivation, but patience. If we need something, we make an informed decision and pay cash (including our used cars). The “watch” list lets us acknowledge what we’d like to watch for a good deal on – we don’t buy anything spur of the moment unless it is on the watch list and we agree. Example: our good European solid-as-a-rock car was reaching the end of it’s reliable life. It went on the watch list – we started keeping an eye open for another solid, comfortable car. The watch list had our attributes, and I was actually the one who found it. Not everything on the “watch and wait” list is purchased. My husband wanted a motorcycle (for nostalgia/fun). It went on the watch list, but after a period of time, and riding a couple, he acknowledged that it wasn’t practical for his bad hip. So it came off the list. I wanted a breadmaker, but didn’t want to pay even a sale price. So it went on the W&W list; within 6 months I had found a nearly-new one, still in the box with the warranty card, at the thrift store. (In the meantime, I mixed my bread the regular way and just did twice as much, half as often). It only took me 8 weeks of bread making (after taking the cost of ingredients into account) to break even on the purchase. The “watch and wait” list keeps us from acquiring things just because they are good deals (always a temptation). Even our freecycle things must be something we need and want in the very near future (and have time to incorporate into our household… will DH put up that nice ceiling fan?), to justify acquiring. Knowing our values, and patience…. has saved us money on all the BIG and little purchases.
When I’m in the grocery store, I run past the cokes, and try to ignore them, so when I’m home, I have to drink the filtered water, since there’s nothing else to drink! It saves a fortune in money and calories.
A creative way to save money is to cut out regular dessert and candy buying. I typically only make desserts on birthdays,Thanksgiving and Christmas. Not being in the habit of having to have dessert after every meal (lunch or dinner) saves money on the grocery bill and it saves our waistline. Desserts are plentiful at church functions, friends’ houses, school functions, and social gatherings so it is not inconceivable to cut it out at home except on special occasions. Additionally, when you eat too much sugar, you end up wanting more and more and this can get costly as we attempt to satisfy sugar and food cravings, buy better fitting clothes, and more meds or diet supplements to deal w/consequences of too many sweets.
Saving money became a game to me. A game that I WANTED TO WIN. In every instance that involved spending, I would try to figure out how I could beat the odds. If I had the choice to use cash or credit I would ask for a discount for cash. Many times that amounted to a 2-5% discount. Other times I would visually imagine the item alongside the dollars the itme cost and ask myself which one I would grab for first…realizing that the money meant more. Each year when I got a raise I would attempt to live on the previous year salary since I had been doing so and use the “new money” to “buy” something that would PAY ME. A CD or a stock, etc. I was recently “retired” at the age of 56 against my wishes and I am blessed not to have to work. I thank God for all my blessings and my family for teaching me that you can “eat the eggs but never, never eat the chicken!”
I live in the Texas and keeping the electric bills low in the summer is always a challenge. During the summer months, we stop using our oven and minimize the gas stove. It can be a fun challenge coming up with new recipes that are limited to cooking with the grill, microwave or crockpot to keep from adding to the heat. Plus, it also gets my husband cooking! We also use our dishwasher delay start to run overnight to allow the steam to cool before unloading the dishwasher and further reduce our cooling needs.
Bring lunch at work.
Use any coupon for food, clothes or anything. It will cut the normal prize.
Participate in lucky draw, contest, competition or any you come across in the Internet or Newspaper. You might win something and you surely save some money.
Do you know, with some help with electrician to get some tweak with the electricity. You can cut 50% of charge cost for the electricity and it work for us. You should try to.
Are you using Internet at your home? You need to pay the Internet bill, right? Why dont you find a free Internet access? Or just find a generous neighbor might want to share their Internet?
Our favorite way of saving money is not to get ripped off! Earlier this year, both my husband and I had to visit the ER. (Thankfully, it was only a minor infection & injury.) It was our understanding that the ER visits would be covered 100% by our respective insurance plans. However, in a few days, I got a bill from Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) stating that I owe the hospital $105.50. I fought and after two weeks, BCBS dropped the charge from my account. Then, a few weeks later, my husband got a bill from BCBS stating that he owed them $159! We were so tired of fighting and waiting, but we persevered through it all again. It took TWO months for BCBS to drop the charge from my husband’s account. I cannot imagine how many unsuspecting people are getting ripped off by this kind of ‘intentional mistake’. So all in all, we saved $264.50 from our hospital bills!
One more thing:
Any time you have an arbitrary fee of interest rate, call and ask directly for it to be reduced, coming up with some reason. A lot of companies have built in policies for dealing with customers that have a grievance or special circumstance and are willing to lower the free or interest rate simply because you asked.
My favorite way to save money is to buy only things that are absolute necessities and to enter sweepstakes and giveaways for things I really really want but won’t be so wise to spend money on. I’m having fun and getting stuff for FREE.
Thanks for the interesting contest. I’ve learned a lot from the comments.
Adding those extra cents to the online balance of our Emergency Fund and rounding it up to the next dollar or next ten or next one hundred dollars!
It’s amazing the psychological boost you experience when you see $12,800.00 in your account when the day before it read – $12,721.58.
(And yes, I have been guilty of adding just $1.02 in order to receive that kick!)
I have found the best way to save money is to continually examine how I spend my money and what I spend it on. When I first took on budgeting and began examining where the money went, there were things that I never would have considered giving up that now are no big deal. Over time, I became more willing to examine my spending behaviors and became willing to change them. For example, I use to eat lunch out five days a week. I figured out that if I didn’t, I would have $200 more a month to spend for other things, so I started taking my lunch a couple days a week and now I rarely go out for lunch.
Today, before I spend money, I try to figure out if there is a way I can get what I need without having to. Can I check out this book from the library or maybe borrow a tool from a friend? What can I do differently to save money?
Small adjustments in lifestyle saves a lot; I believe even a penny saved is saving.
Some of the ways I save are:
1) Negotiate (Haggle): don’t feel embarrassed, this saves a lot without needing to modify our daily lifestyles
2) Do proper research before you buy big: you save big on big purchases so it makes even more sense to do a thorough research of the market before you think of that final move. This also helps in “haggling”.
3) Use Coupons, Bag free stuff & Be on the watch for free money deals: I recently got $50 gift card from my Credit Union just for opening a Checking Account with them.
4) A passive source of income: I take paid online surveys. They easily pay off (at least) my Netflix, CreditKeeper bills every month.
5) Prefer cheapest for don’t-care stuffs: If you don’t care about quality an item on your grocery list, buy the cheapest available option.
6) Don’t be loyal to a manufacturer: You won’t be rewarded, believe me! Switch brands if a cheaper brand fulfills your needs and standards.
Ride a bicycle instead of driving a car. This especially works well for college students.
My favorite way to save money is buying most of my family’s clothes at thrift stores. I love looking at name brand clothes in catalogues and on the company website to keep up with styles and trends. I also tend to stick to classic styles and colors for our family. When I go to the thrift stores I keep my eyes open for the things that will work. What I mainly try to do is buy the clothes from the thrift store that are half price. Most of the ways I save money are boring to me: making a grocery list, menus, cooking in bulk, blah, blah blah. When I shop for our clothes I feel like I’m on a treasure hunt. After shopping like this for years I still can’t believe I can get an $85.00 shirt for $2.50! That is why this is my favorite way to save money!
We toss all our spare change and one dollar bills into a jar. I’ve heard that in one year’s time the average family will accumulate about $600. I have to confess that I’ve never made it to a year! But I usually have over $100. When my son was in college, I told him to put all his change in a teacup and roll it when it was full. To his amazement, even a heaping teacup of change yields $30. Try it with your kids. Both of mine still have a teacup and a jar on their dressers, and they’re 23 and 20.
It’s a good way to illustrate the widow’s mite Bible story, too. Even the lowly penny has value.
Driving 55 on the highway gets more 5+ better mpgs than going faster than that and I only lose a couple minutes an hour as opposed to going that faster speed.
Bike to the library to rent books and audiobooks rather than buying them whenever possible. Or also using a book swap site to get a new book in exchange for an old one I no longer want.
Use the thrift store whenever I need clothes or other items I can find there.
Cancel your cable! It will save you hundreds of dollars and free up SO MUCH TIME to do more productive things!
Oh, and stop buying books! The library…you’ve already paid for it!
I control spending by doing calculations on the number of hours of work something costs me… (and I work hard)… My net take home is about $10 per hr. so if I want to…
buy a $5 cup of coffee at Starbucks – it costs me 1/2 hr of work, or take family out for dinner – its equivalent to 3 to 4 hrs of work, or go to a movie costs me 1 hour of work per person just to get in the door and another hour of work per person to go to the concession stand for some really bad popcorn and a soda…. etc..
The question becomes is the value of the item being purchased worth more than the value of the time I invest to earn the money. Most of the time I skip the expense because of the hours it costs me.
Great comments everyone! keep them coming!!
When’ll we hear about the results Bob?
@AG,
I will keep this just like the regular giveaways – so the winner will be announced friday morning in this post as well as in the forums…
@Bob, Hey thanks for replying Bob, meet your new reader trying his luck in first giveaway
Linda and I read over all the savings ideas and picked our favorites and Nikki W’s was on both of our lists. So congrats to Nikki for winning the $40 Amazon.com gift card!!
And thanks to everyone for the great money saving ideas!!
Thank you so much for the gift card. I’ve been doing the “Watch and Wait” list now since 1986, in various forms. Surprisingly, over time, either we “do” eventually get the item, or the items eventually drop off because we found a better way to accomplish something or decided it was no longer a priority. So it is truly not about deprivation – it is about prioritization and patience. Enjoy the tip!
My family only has one income at the moment, (I am desperately searching), so it is my job to watch our spending. I have a garden this summer. I don’t care who you are, if you have an area, make a garden. So far I have managed to can enough food that I honestly believe I will do very little shopping this winter. We purchase and slaughter our own cows and pigs, we usually buy one of each yearly. We use energy saver light bulbs, and make sure we turn the light off whenever we leave the room. With the unemployment rate as high as it is now, it doesn’t look like jobs are going to get better soon. Try to go green, grow as much as you can, and look for coupons and other discounts in as many areas as you can.
I have a super cheap way to drastically reduce the power bill in the summertime.
Go to Aldi or any surplus or wholesale store and gather up large, flat pieces of cardboard. The heavier and thicker, the better. Measure your window panels, and cut the cardboard to fit. Make several layers, and split the seams to overlap. Glue the pieces together in layers (at least three or four thick).
Now, go to any $1 store, and buy a handful of the cheap, tin foil sunshades. Figure our how many you will need to cover one side of the cardboard panels. Glue them on with the silver facing out. Trim the edges. Put a piece of velcro on the top corners, with the opposite side of the velcro on the window pane. Ideally, the silver will touch the glass, rather than be offset with a pocket or air.
Put the panels in place anytime the sun is coming in a window. Most houses have identical windows thoughout, so panels can be moved from room to room as the sun rises and sets.
My power bill dropped more than half during the summer months. The cardboard is free, and it the tin foil is cheap. Of course, if you are industrious, you can buy a better quality roll of bubble wrap-style tin foil in any hardware store, but it’s really not necessary and much more expensive.
The cardboard is free, the tin foil and velcro are super cheap, and everyone has a bottle of glue laying around. (Don’t be stingy with the glue, because the heat takes its toll on the panels.)
I have since started making the panels for my neighbors, friends, and family. I charge a nominal fee, which still yields profit, and apply this to my power bill also.
Hi there,
I just started a Christian money saving blog a few months ago. Im still surfing the sites and waiting for the Lord to inspire me with what to write in regards to articles like yours.
Anyway, I found a great way to save with the Electric Bill about 9 years ago. My electric bill usually ran about 120 dollars year round (I live in Florida with the a.c going all of the time). Then one month I got a bill for 250. I had to sit down and catch my breath but then i thought, let me call up the electric company and talk to someone there.
The people at FPL (Florida Power and Light) put me on the phone with the specialist. We went over everything including me going outside to read the meter 3 times. We went over everything that was being used in the house, tv’s. computer monitors, a/c, ceiling fans, etc.. I thought that running the ceiling fans in all of the rooms ( i have 8 fans) would make the a/c more efficient. It doesnt. It cost 7 dollars a day just to run all of those fans. So I took some of the other suggestions in which I had to remind my kids to do, like turn off the lights when they leave their room, etc.. And keep the a/c around 79. The next month my bill was back down to 120 dollars.
So sometimes it doesnt hurt to call the electric company and talk to their specialist, you be surprised on what good tips they give you.
Im going to tweet and share your article, its excellent.
God’s blessings to you bro!!!
Anne
I just started working at a bank and they have a Christmas club savings acct so i decied to used it for savings bc u can add and add money to it but you cant take it out untill October. This here has helped me out so i cant touch it for a year. I should have done this years ago.
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