View Full Version : Ways I found to Save $800 in 2013!!!!!
I took a look at my budget, category by category and I actually found savnigs that I thought could not be found!
I thought I had this thing widdled down but it turns out I do not!
It pays to critical think on each and every item!
This is what I found so far: (amounts per year)
1. Transportation - Switching to my employers before-tax program (even if it is a little complicated). Saves me $100.
2. Phone/Internet - Switched the landline to "metered" service (because I hardly ever talk on the phone). Switching Internet to another provider. Roughly Saves me $200 roughly.
3.Gym - Canceled it. Saves me $400
4. Body - Switched to a bidet. No more TP! Saves me $40 (in future years. first year pays for the bidet)
5. House - Switched to vinegar and water for cleaning. Saves me $10
6. Hair - Shopped around for haircuts. Saves me $8. (hey, why not?)
7. Home Insurance - Shopped around. Saves me $50
TOTAL: $808 !!!!!!!! (THIS IS FROM STUFF I THOUGHT I HAD SQUEEZED DRY! WOW OH WOW. AND I DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE MY LIFE ALL THAT MUCH AT ALL.)
Ok, gotta know. With the bidet, do you drip dry?
I pm'd you with that "sensative" infos. hehe
awakenedsoul
10-31-12, 10:12pm
That's great. It's an empowering feeling to cut your expenses. I cut mine by $10,000 a year when I retired. It's amazing how the little things add up.
Great thread....I know I have done so many in the last years...will need make a list!!
fidgiegirl
10-31-12, 10:47pm
But the haircuts will save you even more, because presumably you get more than one per year - so $8 every time! Yippee, heydude!
Great work, heydude! That's a great argument I can use for bargaining for a bidet if we ever buy our own place..."but DH, think of all the money we'll save on toilet paper!" :)
rosarugosa
11-1-12, 7:42am
HeyDude: I love the idea of going through the budget item by item and challenging everything. Last year, we increased our HO deductible and saved a little there, but I suspect we can find other ways to save. I think stuff like this is so much fun; but when I say something like that to DH, he says I am a crazy person with a bizarre idea of fun! :laff:
Great job, heydude! Just goes to show we can almost always eek a little more out of our budgets. :) You've definitely inspired me to go through my budget again item by item. I am working less now and know we can do better. Especially with haircuts--my stylist now charges $35 for a cut! I've been paying it because she's a childhood friend and I like her, but...that is way too much.
Thanks for sharing your ideas! :-)
try2bfrugal
11-1-12, 10:45am
Good work. We are doing the same line by line exercise with our budget. We had the Kill a Watt out last night looking for energy sapping appliances.
Gardenarian
11-1-12, 2:34pm
I also need to go through our budget (but first I actually have to make a budget.) I've been working on the simple "spend as little as possible" theory; I'm sure there are places to trim that I have missed.
Thanks for the nudge!
Saving $8 a year on haircuts. ($2 each time). WHY NOT? hehe.
The key is to actually Question everything. EVEN THINGS YOU THINK ARE SOLID. Ask, "what would I do if I didn't have the money for it"
then see if you can actually do that. if not, don't worry. but come at everything from all sides. it is so fun.
Also, I do want to put out, that you need to give yourself a lot of money for the things that you do like. Or at least how to figure out how to do them less expensively. Never gut out your life purpose if you need money to do it.
Saving $8 a year on haircuts. ($2 each time). WHY NOT? hehe.
The key is to actually Question everything. EVEN THINGS YOU THINK ARE SOLID. Ask, "what would I do if I didn't have the money for it"
then see if you can actually do that. if not, don't worry. but come at everything from all sides. it is so fun.
Also, I do want to put out, that you need to give yourself a lot of money for the things that you do like. Or at least how to figure out how to do them less expensively. Never gut out your life purpose if you need money to do it.
Well, to each his own. I have saved $70/month by chopping off my dyed blonde hair and letting it grow back natural (grey) and when it eventually gets long enough, I will cut it myself using instructions from U-Tube.
However, me and the kiddos have a $5/month toilet paper habit from Aldis. I'm cool with that. :|(
Blackdog Lin
11-3-12, 7:45am
I LOVE reading threads like this. I get complacent with our budgeting, and sometimes need the nudge to go back over all our expenses and see where trimming can be done without lifestyle changes.
Congrats, and thanks for the reminder.
Heydude, I've been in the same mode lately too, questioning everything thing I "think" I need and deciding what I really "do" need and making sure my quality of life doesn't suffer. It's all about creative frugality. I know there is more I can cut back on if I really want to. For now, saving $100 a month is the goal. Though I think that TP is definitely going to stay on the grocery list :)
update: the bidet leaked. i had to get a pumber to restore my toilet back. all in all, i am out nearly 100 bucks. thrift wisely!
I'll also need to sit down and figure out a new budget. I expect my monthly outflow to be less once I move into the new, paid for house that I am buying with my sister since we'll be spliting all the housing expenses. She also wants some things that I don't have like home internet and landline. Neither of us watches much TV so don't need cable as we can use an anntenna where we'll be living. Utilities should be very low - everything less than $100/month ($50 each) I imagine and prop. taxes and insurance will be around $3,000/year ($1500 each/year or approx. $150/month).
So I am calculating approx. $200/month for utilities, taxes and insurance. Another $200/month for food and pet food and sundries. $50 for phone and internet. $50 for car insurance. Gas for the gas guzzling truck (am looking to get a compact car soon) will probably add an addition $100/month and I will be able to bike alot. Other things like entertainment, clothes, house maintenance, vet visits, etc... will be highly variable but probably be another $100 - $400/month.
So I am projecting that I'll probably spend approx. $500/month for basics and another $300 - $500/month for everything else. Sis and I cut each others long straight hair and I don't do expensive clothes or grooming stuff. Don't eat out often and then it's usually very casual and inexpensive. Most of my hobbies are free or low cost or already paid for any equiptment I use like bikesm skies, etc.. So I'm hoping to keep things under $1000/month or less.
Well I thought about it some more and I probaly will have some other expenses - those "extras" they tack onto your prop tax bill each year for various things like trash, sewer, vector control. schools, etc.. So that will probably add another $500/year ($250 each or approx. $25/month). Also I'll be buying a new gym membership at 24 Hour Fitness which will cost $350 for a 2 - year membership. So that will add approx. $12/month - not too shabby and worth it as I use it almost everyday and often shower there so save money on water and heating the water costs. I'll also have a seperate budget for long-term travel related stuff since that is too variable to include in a regular monthly budget. That will probably add an addition $5,000/year as I seem to spend between $1,000 - $1,500 for each month long trip and do maybe 4 to 5 a year.
awakenedsoul
11-9-12, 2:44pm
My dad and I were talking about property taxes in CA the other day. He reminded me that the first year they are more expensive. I'd forgotten about that. Then they drop down and can only go up 2% a year. I kind of wish I had a gym membership right now that my bathtub and shower are out of commission. Maybe I can get a trial somewhere until the remodeling is done. It's so interesting to me to hear about other people's monthly expenses. I'm lucky that mine are so low. Right now I'm getting a real charge from spending on home repair. I didn't realize how that kind of stuff was weighing me down, subconsciously.
flowerseverywhere
11-9-12, 3:40pm
I got one of those clippers and do DH's hair. My son does his own and has for years. His wife just trims his neck for him. the initial investment of $80 paid for itself in less than a year, now it is free haircuts. Plus the time you spend getting to the hair place and waiting- plus gas to get there. All in all a win.
Another thing is we routinely look at car and house insurance and get quotes. If you stay with one company it can creep up and it pays to shop around. We saved MIL a lot of money by this suggestion- she stayed with the same company for years and that was how they rewarded her loyalty, her premiums were 30% higher than when she shopped around for similar coverage.
Another thing with an energy bill, I have access to a pool and shower room for no extra charge. I rarely take a shower at home anymore, I swim and shower and rinse my suit. Also we hang our swim and at home towels and every Sunday I throw them in the wash the line dry.
My dad and I were talking about property taxes in CA the other day. He reminded me that the first year they are more expensive. I'd forgotten about that. Then they drop down and can only go up 2% a year. I kind of wish I had a gym membership right now that my bathtub and shower are out of commission. Maybe I can get a trial somewhere until the remodeling is done. It's so interesting to me to hear about other people's monthly expenses. I'm lucky that mine are so low. Right now I'm getting a real charge from spending on home repair. I didn't realize how that kind of stuff was weighing me down, subconsciously.
I'm getting my gym membership via Costco. Two years unlimited access to any 24 Hour Fitness club for $350. There are around 5 24 Hour Fitnes gyms near the new digs - one just a mile away - so will use it alot. My sister, a gym rat, already has one that she's had for many years and it only costs her $50/year now. We always joke that all we need to survive is our trucks (both have trucks with shells on them) to sleep/live in and a gym membership to shower and use the bathroom and "hang out" in. Probably the most practical anti-homeless things we can have in a disaster.
And the other expense I'll have is a new Calif State Park Pass. Went up from $125/year to $195. YIKES. But worth it as I'll use it alot.
1tolivesimply
11-9-12, 11:09pm
4. Body - Switched to a bidet. No more TP! Saves me $40 (in future years. first year pays for the bidet)
Wasn't it cheaper/easier to get a toilet sprayer?
the bidet was 40 bucks, so not really.
Tussiemussies
11-12-12, 4:09am
Heydude, that is fantastic savings, glad for you!!!:)
Yes that is awesome! I'm a lurker when it comes to information like that. I found out that our older washing machine (top loader) uses up a lot more kW/year than the newer front loader that use between 17 and 25 kW/year, so now I'm saving and doing overtime to get me one of those (wondering how much that is going to save). Good luck! :)
SteveinMN
11-12-12, 8:40am
I found out that our older washing machine (top loader) uses up a lot more kW/year than the newer front loader that use between 17 and 25 kW/year, so now I'm saving and doing overtime to get me one of those
Juicifer, if you pay for water, you'll find the front-loader will use 1/3 to 1/2 the water of your top-loader and a corresponding lower amount of detergent -- more savings!
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