What did you do today to save money?

[minnieandme]

I brought my own breakfast to work this morning. I bring my lunch as well, so I don't spend anything.

 

[SparkleDust]

Thanks ohiominnie, that's a great idea!

 

[KristinU]

You guys are just so inspiring! I decided to poke around the web for frugal living tips and I came across the idea of line drying our laundry...OK, I know, this is SO not a new concept for a lot of people - it just had never occurred to me Aside from air drying sweaters and hand-washables I throw everything into the dryer. So I plan to give it a shot with the next round of laundry - our basement already has clotheslines strung from the ceiling, so I just need to gather some hangers and clothespins. Any tips? I read to hang t-shirts upside down so you don't get clothespin marks where you can see them, and that dress shirts and blouses can go right on hangers. I've honestly never line dried before so any other technical tips would be appreciated! (I feel like such a loser)

I've also made it a full week on my spending 'fast' that I put myself on. I decided to only buy groceries at least until month end. I'll renew my goal once I make it to the end of January. I'm hoping it just becomes a new habit!

 

[mlwear]

I found a pretty big way to cut our budget. We purchased a secondary dental plan for the family thinking it would pay for itself with some upcoming dental work. In the past, it actually did. I figured the numbers for this past year and we were way in hole.
The secondary plan costs us $82/month. Last year it only paid out $300+.
Our contract is up and we can discontinue this month...
This thread is inspiring and is encouraging me to look hard at our budget. As I wrote before, by bundling our cable, phone and ISP we are saving $70+/month (what a headache getting it set up, though) and now another $82/month. This is adding up!
Now for the cell phone I hardly ever use...my contract is up in April. I pay $40/month and seriously only use about 15 minutes a month. I must switch to pre-paid.

 

[ducklite]

You guys are just so inspiring! I decided to poke around the web for frugal living tips and I came across the idea of line drying our laundry...OK, I know, this is SO not a new concept for a lot of people - it just had never occurred to me Aside from air drying sweaters and hand-washables I throw everything into the dryer. So I plan to give it a shot with the next round of laundry - our basement already has clotheslines strung from the ceiling, so I just need to gather some hangers and clothespins. Any tips? I read to hang t-shirts upside down so you don't get clothespin marks where you can see them, and that dress shirts and blouses can go right on hangers. I've honestly never line dried before so any other technical tips would be appreciated! (I feel like such a loser)

I've also made it a full week on my spending 'fast' that I put myself on. I decided to only buy groceries at least until month end. I'll renew my goal once I make it to the end of January. I'm hoping it just becomes a new habit!

I used to line dry almost everything until it was "almost dry" and then throw it in the dryer to finish it off and fluff it a bit. Can't do it any more because I've got no place to dry them. (no basement) These days 80% of my laundry is dry flat or line dry, and I do have a sweater drying rack and a fold up laundry rack, but I toos jeans and other dryables into the dryer. My dryer is gas and auto senses when things are dry, so no waste and it's pretty inexpensive to get things dry.

Anne

 

[annsteere]

If you hang shirts on padded hangers you won't have the creases at the shoulder.

For me that also means I can carry the hanging stuff upstairs where goes on the shower pole and adds humidity to the living areas. (T shirts, underwear, socks get dried downstairs on the drying rack.)

I got a dozen padded hangers at garage sales and use them to hang my "good stuff" to air dry,

 

[ElizaB39]

We cut our monthly phone bill by $20.

 

[ElizaB39]

I do this too! I have a chart taped to the pantry door on the inside that has the budget amount for each category and just subtract everytime I buy something. That way I know at a glance if I can go to Macaroni Grill or Rosies on the weekend!

I love the idea of this chart! I currently have a notebook that I carry with me but I like the idea of taping it on the inside of the pantry door. Thanks!

 

[KristinU]

I used to line dry almost everything until it was "almost dry" and then throw it in the dryer to finish it off and fluff it a bit. Can't do it any more because I've got no place to dry them. (no basement) These days 80% of my laundry is dry flat or line dry, and I do have a sweater drying rack and a fold up laundry rack, but I toos jeans and other dryables into the dryer. My dryer is gas and auto senses when things are dry, so no waste and it's pretty inexpensive to get things dry.

Anne

If you hang shirts on padded hangers you won't have the creases at the shoulder.

For me that also means I can carry the hanging stuff upstairs where goes on the shower pole and adds humidity to the living areas. (T shirts, underwear, socks get dried downstairs on the drying rack.)

I got a dozen padded hangers at garage sales and use them to hang my "good stuff" to air dry,

Thanks Ducklite and Annsteere! Dare I say it? I'm excited to do my next loads of laundry.

 

[katerkat]

I learned this trick fom a cloth diaper web site, not sure which one).

Probably all of them! I've been using vinegar in a rinse with my cloth diapers forever - it's wonderful on getting rid of the stinky diaper smell.

 

[nzdisneymom]

I love the idea of this chart! I currently have a notebook that I carry with me but I like the idea of taping it on the inside of the pantry door. Thanks!

I keep up with ours in an Excel spreadsheet so I see what I spend each day and then it automatically subtracts so I can see what is left in my budget. I still have $80+ in the grocery budget but just $35 in the dining out (and DH called to tell me that he is driving thru McD's with the kids after getting haircuts tonight, so there goes $6.50). He could just get the 59cent hamburger and 69 cent cheeseburger but they'll go ahead and get the happy meals (which means more junk in my house). It also means we won't get pizza on Tuesday because I know we'll go out on Sunday and that won't leave enough for pizza. I could shuffle the grocery money into dining out to make the ends meet but that kind of defeats the purpose. It also is showing us how much we spend eating out (and how much more we WOULD spend if I didn't have us watching it so closely this month).

 

[UTgirl]

I have 3 CC. I paid one off and transferred the balance of another to this card because it had a lower APR. I then spoke with the other companies and asked if they could lower my APR. THEY DID! I lowered one from 10% to 3.99. One from 14% to 9.99% and the other was a promotional 2.99% until the balance is paid in full! YIPPEEE. Every little bit helps.

I love reading these threads - I've been LOOKING for ways to save money now and really beginning to get proactive about our finances!!

 

[Chickysmom]

Called to make appt for heat pump guys to come and do yearly maintenance and asked if they would honor an expired soupon I had with them....answer...YES!! yea! just saved 18.00

maybe DH will let me put that in the disney jar.....yeah right.

 

[Chickysmom]

oh, and turned heat down to 66 since I will be gone all afternoon....

running to Walmart to pick up items we need and going to look at the fold-up clothes drying racks...

 

[ohiominnie]

I keep up with ours in an Excel spreadsheet so I see what I spend each day and then it automatically subtracts so I can see what is left in my budget.

That's exactly how I do it too. At any given minute I can tell you how much I have left in any category. LOVE THIS!!! Especially for those things like groceries and dining out.....I can always fall back on my spreadsheet and say "I'm sorry, it's not in the budget this month."

 

[ohiominnie]

Went to the grocery store and other than a couple of things that I needed, I stuck COMPLETELY to my grocery game list!!! YEAH!!

I spent $84.47 on $124.30 worth of groceries and stocked up on lots of things!

 

[Tree-via]

because my DH went to college forever, we learned to live cheap, real cheap!
no magazines, no cable, no new anything, every coupon we can find that's worth it, and freebies galore. I have all 3 Tightwad Gazette's practically memorized and talk about some way out there ideas!
We are still paying down the debt of just basic living while he was unemployed.
If anyone has some really different ideas, I'm all ears!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Today my boys and I baked brownies from scratch (we were worried because the batter tasted awful, but the brownies turned out yummy!).

I cut my DS2's hair myself, that was fun , but free, lol.

It's been almost two weeks that I have managed to cut back to only one soda per day (although a couple days I broke down and had two). I've been drinking water instead. I have a notebook next to my fridge so every time I drink or eat something I write it down to help drink more water and eat healthier foods, this way I have to think before I snack.

 

[smiller]

Kept the heat at 60 even though I'm home this afternoon. I'm sure roommie will jack it up to *gasp* maybe 63 when she comes home!

(BTW, I live in a small condo, so 60 + a warm blanket is all I really need if I'm home on the internet!)

 

[minnie1928]

Now for the cell phone I hardly ever use...my contract is up in April. I pay $40/month and seriously only use about 15 minutes a month. I must switch to pre-paid.

You might find this of interest....last xmas I bought a new pre-paid cell phone. I wanted a flip phone and paid about $70 for it, but you could get a regular phone for about $30ish. Anyway, it's through T-mobile. I purchased $100 worth of minutes (1000 minutes) that wouldn't expire for 1 year. By doing that I joined their "Gold" club. Now, fast forward one year, I've used about 350 minutes and I still have 650 left. All I'm required to do is buy additional minutes and since I'm in the Gold club, all my unused minutes rollover. The beauty of it is that I only needed to pay 10 dollars and all my minutes rolled over for another year!

Now that's a cheap plan, $110 for 2 years!