DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Let's save money together

I borrow money from my friends and don't pay it back. I'm considering going out in the middle of the night and stealing gas from my neighbors..

Hey Peen, can I borrow 5 bucks?

j/c

Turn lights off. Not sure about flourescents (the time/energy thing, but turning off regular bulbs saves money almost instantly).

Even if you are walking out of a room for 2 minutes, turn the light/lights off. Again, not sure about flourescents.

Thermostats - get the programmable ones. In the winter our house is 68 from 3 pm til 8:30 pm, then it goes down to 62. My wife hates it, but that's tough. My daughter doesn't mind the temps at all. She doesn't wear socks unless she leaves the house.

In the summer, a/c set at 78. On in the morning, turned off when the sun goes down.

Of course, like everyone else, we've altered our driving.

We also try to not use too many applicances at the same time (dishwasher, washer, dryer). Don't know if it's true or not, but I've heard that it can save you money since your energy demand at any given time is less, as opposed to if you would run all 3 at the same time. Like I said, don't know if it's true, but it works for us.

We're probably going to get an outdoor wood furnace. With what we pay yearly for heating, it should pay for itself within 3 years (or 1 1/2 if propane gets as high as I hear it might).

Might want to consider geothermal as well... covers your heating, cooling, and hot water heating. My furnance and AC are probably towards the end of their lives. I'm going to go geothermal when I replace them if I can...

Isn't geothermal super expensive to install though?

I've got 2 acres, plus a pond. I know at least 1 person that uses the pond pretty much exclusively for the geothermal.

I may have to look into it a bit further. I was under the impression that it would cost close to $30 to $35 grand.

Good topic Ballpeen.

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At the house, I have increased the temp on the thermostat a few degrees and bought a couple of old fashioned box fans that I have set in the places I/we sit the most.

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We keep the house at 79 now, but have it drop to 77 at 11:30pm til 5am, I need it cool to sleep. But we do shut it off on a cool morning and open the SGD (Sliding glass doors), and do the same in the evening after a cooling rain. And the thermostat is programmed to go to 84 while we are at work.

I recently bought and installed a timer ($79) for the hot water tank, so it comes on at 5:30am to heat the water for morning showers, then shuts off at 8am until we get home at 6pm, until it shuts off again at 10pm. That means I'm only keeping the water heated like 7 hrs a day. It stays reasonably warm for 12-16 hrs on it's own, so it's not like it's getting cold in there, but the element is going on and off trying to keep the water at our temp when we aren't using it.

We stopped going out to eat as often, and when we do, we usually just have drinks and appetizers. Do this during happy hour and you can walk away after 2-3 hrs with a $20 bar tab for 2. A lot cheaper than a $50-60 dinner and drinks at a restaurant.

My wife and I have been pre-planning our errands for the week over the previous weekend, and take care of them on the way home from work, so we don't need to run out on extra trip on the weekends.

I called the cable company and negotiated "introductory" rates, I am getting all my same channels (basic, digital, sports and HD packages, and internet) for $45 for the next 3 months, then $75 for the 3 months after that, before going back to full rate.

We are considering canceling our home phone, we both have cell phones through work with free calling between each other. 8 out of every 10 calls on the home phone is a solicitor, anyone who knows us and wants to reach us calls our cells.

I have eased up my foot on the gas pedal as well, not always easy when that lil punk in the Honda Civic takes off from the light faster than me, but I know I can take him, so it's ok.

We are watching grocery ads for the buy 1 get 1 deals and other specials, and purchase those items only during those sales. And probably the biggest saving for us has been the vacuum sealer. Chicken and steak and stuff always seem to come in 3 packs, and with only 2 of us it was a waste of a piece. So we buy several of them at once while on sale, and them repackage them with the sealer when we get home, I even throw in some spices and marinades before sealing and freezing, they come out way better than as well.

It is a good topic.

One thing I've been doing with a friend is to set up a Kroger Plus Card account with someone that does not have a car and walks everywhere. There are 2 of us that have access to the card and we use that card whenever we get groceries.. plus whenever someone in line says "I dont have a card, we IMMEDIATELY volunteer our card"

When we reach $550.00 in points ( 1 dollar spent = 1 point) our gasoline at the Kroger pump is 50 cents off on a gallon the next month for the first 4 fill ups. Thats nothing to sneeze at these days..

Good stuff here.

We use the Kroger Plus card for gasoline savings...didn't know about the $550 thing for .50 cents off. Most we've gotten is 30 cents off. Julie uses the gas card savings since she drives so much every day. I coast more these days, too, and have slowed down to around 68mph on the highway. I also use cruise when I can. Combining errands when possible and not going out just to window shop or pick up a pack of gum.

I use a cash back credit card for almost every purchase I make. I get 5% at the pump, 2% at the supermarket, and 1.5% on most everything else. My APR is a bit high on the card...it's fixed for everyone...but it doesn't matter because I make a payment from checking once a week, or so. Never carry a balance. The only other credit cards I have with balances are same as cash cards.

It's time for me to check into lowering my phone and cable bills. Never hurts to ask. Also time to compare car insurance costs.

We had to have a tree cut down in the front yard last month and the living room heats up more quickly now with afternoon and evening sun blaring into the room. I'm trying to find an 8 foot mini blind for the window, but it's been for naught. Might have to go with two four footers and have a slit down the middle of the window. Hate that. Still, two cheap $10 blinds would probably save that much in A/C in a short amount of time.

We also bought a new washer and dryer...and I think I'm in love with them. A full load of clothes is dry in less than 30 minutes...probably closer to 23. Next up is a new refrigerator. Ours is ancient and I know it's not energy star compliant.

Had central air installed this year. We'll see how it plays out over the summer, but our electricity bill was up $20.00 over last June when the window unit and fans were running. $7 of that is the rise in distribution charges. Tough to figure out the rest of the statements.

The best savings of all for us is getting rid of a storage unit. I got it when I brought some of my Dad's things home from Florida last year. We cleaned out our garage and made room for that stuff. HUGE savings.

Just a tip on shading...it always works best if the shading is on the outside. The heat still gets in once it gets past the window,

That is why my pear trees are overgrown in the front....but I have lot's of west facing windows...those trees save me $90 a month in cooling costs....and that is a fact. I trimmed them back and our bill jumped from about $110 in the summer to over $200 until they grew back. The AC never seemed to stop.

If possible, look into awning, or installing the shades on the outside.....but having never seen your home, I realize that might not be the route you want to take.

Another tip.. have the signif other watch a "how to" video / or watch the barber and pick up a pair of scissors and adjustable clippers and save 10 - 15 bucks a haircut. Sometimes the video comes with the clippers package.

I nominate this thread for a sticky.

Oddly, insulate. After a divorce my lawyer and hers left me about $500. I put almost all of it into insulation. It has paid for itself many times over. We try to run only one major appliance at a time. By doing some energy improvements and working with the electric company guidelines, I get some preferential rates in billing breaks. My wife and I are all-electric only and our monthly bill is under $150 a month, and often under $100.
I try to get up early and run the air harder in the morning when nothing else is on; then I dial it up about 5 degrees for the day. Wife has an asthma type issue, so dry air is important. We also are combining trips; try not to go unless we have 3 to 5 errands we can combine. I look forward to reading this one especially. I also landscape on the side; don't just look inside. We planted about 5 trees and it cools the lawn and house. I recommend Black Hills spruce for a wonderful windbreak, and bushes to screen and windblock the heat pump if you have one.

Yes, landscaping can be huge.

The front of our house faces due south, and therefore gets the hot Florida sun hard. My den has a large double window about 5' x 5', as does the dining room, I recently replaced the old windows with insulates low-e glass, and just put a Hibiscus tree in front of the den window (The dining is in an alcove and gets decent protection during the hottest parts of the day).

Hopefully the tree will get large enough to shade the window in the next year or 2, and help that much more.

Next..

Give the dryer a rest.. use a clothesline.

Webbage

Who needs a dryer?
Clotheslines make comeback
Line-drying saves money, energy; some homeowners groups still ban it
Tuesday, July 8, 2008 3:10 AM
By Dean Narciso

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

When Marlene Orloff moved to Worthington nine years ago, she didn't check the community laws that might restrict things such as paint colors, roofing materials or clotheslines.

"That was deliberate," she said. "I wanted to hang my clothes and I was afraid that, if I checked, I wouldn't be permitted."

Her Colonial Hills neighborhood, like her former home in Clintonville, has a Bohemian feel, and it welcomes clotheslines.

Although no Franklin County suburb prohibits residents from hanging clothes outdoors to dry, some homeowners associations, deed restrictions and covenants do.

About one in five U.S. homeowners is governed by an association, most of which prohibit clotheslines, said Frank Rathbun, spokesman for the Virginia-based Community Association Institute.

"It is our opinion that each association should determine the rules in which they live," Rathbun said. "Most restrict clotheslines for a reason. It's an aesthetics issue."

The Landings at Hoover in Westerville and Muirfield Village in Dublin are among the associations that don't allow clotheslines.

"I would venture to say that none of our residents would want that amenity," said Sandy Moreland, secretary of the Muirfield Village Association.

Several national newspapers and Web sites have reported that Columbus' historic districts forbid clotheslines. But that's not true, said Randy Black, the city's historic-preservation officer.

"I have no sense of where that's coming from," said Black, who uses a clothesline himself. "I would argue that clotheslines are a piece of history and there's no rationale in not allowing them."

Inflation and rising energy costs are creating a resurgence in line-drying.

"T" hangers, retractable lines and two styles of clothespins have been selling briskly at Beechwold Hardware in Clintonville. Some items have sold out.

"You have this craze of going green," said owner Malcolm Moore. "It's fresh-smelling, easy to set out, and it doesn't take long to dry," some of his customers tell him. "People are curious about (clotheslines) and special ordering them."

A 40-foot retractable line costs $15. An umbrella-style hanger costs $45.

"I think it's very efficient," Orloff said of line-drying. On a day with breezy, dry air and bright, sunny skies, clothes don't take long to dry, she said. "In about an hour-and-a-half, I come back out and they're finished."

Bills in the General Assembly last year had provisions to prevent communities from outlawing clotheslines, but the wording was dropped in final versions.

Only Colorado, Florida and Utah have clothesline-protection provisions, said Alexander Lee, founder of Project Laundry List, which promotes clotheslines and laws to protect them on the Web at laundrylist.org.

Lee says that homeowner groups should be required to review their restrictions so that they can change with the times. Otherwise, he said, "I don't discourage them from breaking the rules. Climate change and saving money are big issues right now that far surpass aesthetics."

European countries have been line-drying for decades.

"The rest of the world doesn't understand us," Lee said.

"Since 1945, people have been drawn into this myth that if you just buy the latest appliance ... you'll be freed from this drudgery of housework."

Dryers contribute to damp basements, cause house fires and consume almost 6 percent of the electricity used in homes, he said.

Orloff doesn't need to be prodded.

"I think that I'm doing something to help the Earth -- it's environmentally friendly."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

My wife and I looked into that, but we have so much sand and small debris that blows around in the wind around here, don't know if it would work for us, that and the sudden downpours from sunny skies.

But it definitely is a saver if it's practical in someones situation.

Also.. don't forget the obvious and FUN way to save cash.. take showers together

I can't hang clothes in the back...too many birds.

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I can't hang clothes in the back...too many birds.

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During Berrie season, Just tell your firends, Thier tie-dye shirts ......or better yet, hand them out at christmas with Joey Garcia ice cream to all your firends

i'm sorry if someone posted this already...

if you use your outdoor spigot for watering or filling your pool, etc and have to pay city water and sewage charges, get a deduct valve. you won't have to pay the sewage charges on the water.

I don't think it has been mentioned.....a good idea for sure.

This idea won't save you much money, but the point is adding everything up, and it is easy to do.

Have you ever noticed how that bar of soap in a seldom used bathroom or utility sink seems to last for years??

Aside from the fact it does last from not being used often, the soap actually does last longer, as it has dried out.

When you take out your next bar to use in the shower, open a second box and place the bar somewhere in the bathroom. It will dry out, making it last 2-3 x as long as a bar taken directly out of the package.

The dried soap may not smell as nice when you shower up, but it will still clean as well as ever...and an added benefit is the bar sitting out will help deodorize your bathroom as it dries.

If you feel like you want the added perfume when you shower, you can always keep a bottle of shower gel handy and dab a bit of that on after washing up.

When you need to use the bar that was set out, take out another and always keep one sitting on the window sill.

I find that a cheap bag of Schick disposal twin-blade razors last me a long time and Target saving cream is fine for something that just ends up being scrapped off my face. When it comes to Gillette spending their millions re-inventing the wheel and passing along the cost, I'll pass.

See, for me that shaving cream makes a HUGE difference. The razors on the other hand, no big deal.

We have an AC in our place that never gets turned on even though it's been in the 90s here. At night, we open the windows and turn all of the fans on high. In the morning, we close the windows and blinds and turn the fans down to low...some of them just get shut off. It stays a nice cool temperature and never starts getting warm until it's time to re-open the windows.

Some of the things we've done...

I'm the cook so I always cook more food than we need for dinner so I have leftovers for lunch. Beats spending $5-8 on lunch every day.

We stopped buying the individual serving things. Yea, the individual jello's and pudding's and apple sauce things are great and convenient for the kids but they are SOOOO much more expensive than using the big jar of apple sauce or making a bowl of pudding. So you have to put it in a bowl, big deal.

I replaced all of my exterior lights with solar powered lights (well not all but I'm in the process).

We signed up for the "save the change" thing with the bank, any time we use the debit card (debit, not credit) it rounds up and puts the change in the savings account. If something at the store is $12.19 it takes that out of the account, then moves $.81 to your savings. Not only is this building the savings without us really feeling it, it's a heck of a lot easier to keep your checkbook when everything is in even dollars.

I put myself on an allowance (well, my wife sort of did.. ) I only get a certain amount of money each week for lunch and spending, when it's gone, it's gone... which is why I started making my lunch.

I put motion sensor switches on some of the light fixtures in places like closets and storage rooms so the lights cannot be left on for long periods of time. I also dropped the wattage on the lightbulbs in those rooms from what they were (40-60 watts) to 25 watts...

Some of this requires some capital investment, like the light switches and the solar lights and some know-how in how to install them, but I think they are worth it in the long run.

I'm sure there are more that I will think of later... but when this thread gets longer I'm going to print it, some good ideas.

j/c

I buy a half beef every fall, and get all my can good's in bulk.
If im making ,say chilie, I will make a big pot and freeze the rest for a latter time.Have all my window's tinted, and the one's where the sun is most, I have good blind's.
I like the idea of the motion sensor switch
buy all my bath and cleaning need's at the 99cent store, yes im a little tight when it come's to stuff like that

If you have an older toilet, lift the lid to the tank and put a brick in the tank.. voila.. instant low flow toilet. Saves quite a bit on the water bill over a years time.

You know I tried that once but I just couldn't get that Big ole grey thing in there with all of that tubing and stuff

or he could get a waterless urinal.

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or he could get a waterless urinal.

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I have one of those, It's called the Neighbors tree

Why can't you use your own tree?

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If you have an older toilet, lift the lid to the tank and put a brick in the tank.. voila.. instant low flow toilet. Saves quite a bit on the water bill over a years time.


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Never thought about that

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Word of caution, If you do that, put the brick in a sealed plastic sandwich bag, I zip lock it shut after bleeding all the air out. I know a couple guys that had the brick give off a rust color and stained the tank & bowl, and one brick started breaking up and messed up the plastic innerds of the tank.

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Why can't you use your own tree?

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What and kill my trees.....

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What and kill my trees.....

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That Old Mill. is some strong stuff!