Money saving...

I just recently read a couple of "Money Saver Tips" blogs to see about shaving off some more dollars that we spend.

HOWEVER, I was truly disappointed that none of the tips I read sparked an "Oh wow, that's a great idea!" fire. Why? Because we already do most of what is on there. I'll go through some of what we do that I saw as a "tip".

Cut cable: we've been cable/dish free for a year now. We subscribe to Netflix (streaming only now, since that ridiculous price increase for DVDs). Do we miss it? Not really. Because just about everything is on the internet nowadays. We do have basic cable, but that's free with the digital antenna. I sometimes go days without watching something I like. And often, we'll go an entire day or longer on the weekend without the TV on, and enjoy each other as a family: reading, playing, going out to a park, window shopping, etc. I mean, TV is still a fairly recent invention over the history of modern humans. I don't recall reading anything about our ancestors dying of boredom. There's other things to do, you just have to think on your own!

Bring your lunch: I'd say a good 3 out of 4 weeks at work, I bring my lunch. Paydays, I'll buy something, and then there are days where it was too hectic the night before or morning of to toss something together. This also keeps that thing called "trying to eat healthy" in check. Because I'll admit, while I'm trying to be healthy, I don't make a healthy choice when I purchase lunch. It's just delicious that way.

Switch to "CFL" bulbs: we've been using these light bulbs for at least 5 years now. It was one of the first things Don did to our house when we first moved in: replaced all the bulbs with those energy efficient ones. We moved in just over 3 years ago, and JUST NOW had to replace ONE. I honestly can't say what difference this makes in the electric bill, as we never had a bill for a house full of regular bulbs. But given that I remember changing out light bulbs a bit in the pre-energy efficient bulb days, I'd say we've saved some money not having to buy bulbs every few months. We also shut off a light whenever we leave the room, and use as much daylight as possible before turning on a light in the house.

The All Important Smartphone: I did have a Sprint Crackberry and paid $70/mo for unlimited data, text and 450 minutes. I then switched to Virgin mobile and pay $25/mo for pretty much the same carrier (Virgin works off Spring network). I only get 300 minutes, but I don't talk on the phone that much. I text more than talk, and I get unlimited texts and data. Even still, their unlimited talk/everything plan is $55/mo. $45/mo for 1200 minutes. Yes, their phone selection is limited, but when it comes to saving money, or having the hottest new phone, I'll save the money.

Laundry soap: We have a front load washer, so we save some water money there. But I also make my own laundry soap. 1 cup of borax ($4ish a box, which holds more than a few cups), 1 cup of washing soda (a few bucks as well, multiple cups), and a shredded bar of Fals-Naptha soap ($1.09, I believe). Mix well. It lasts a few months of at least 3 loads of laundry a week (that's an estimate of loads). We were just using this soap for our son's laundry, until Don bought some soap he started itching horribly from, so all loads get the homemade soap. It works just fine in the front load washer. I also make cloth diaper soap with 1 cup each of borax, washing soda and oxyclean. They don't smell like diapers when they're done!

Rechargeable Batteries: Ever since I lived with Don, any purchased battery has been a rechargeable. It's not even thought of as a "money saver" in our house, it's just a fact. We maybe replace SOME of them once a year. It's a nice thing to not have to always be thinking about regular batteries, if we need to buy some.

"All in the pot" dinners: This refers to halfway to the next grocery shopping trip, but I don't see an obvious meal from these food items left in my fridge/pantry dilemma. Don's creative with this one. Instead of going out to buy something on a whim for dinner, he'll look at the leftover rice/potatoes/veggies/etc in a new light and do a combo of things that will go bad in the next couple days, and things that have been sitting in the pantry that needs to be rotated out. It saves money from those between grocery trip shops, AND saves on food waste. We hate tossing food, and always try to keep a good rotation in our fridge and pantry, no matter what dish may come of it.

Those were just a few of some things we do to save money. For the most part, we are pretty good at being conservative, money-wise. We're always looking at ways to cut some cost somewhere, and really do try to think out bigger purchases before making them. I do feel lucky that 99% of the time, our marriage is free of the money issues, because we're on the same page, and don't live beyond our means.

I do owe an update on some things, but that'll be this weekend. Had an exhausting last couple of weekends, that I just didn't get a chance to really reflect on here.

Til next time!