Comments on: 21 Ways to Reduce Your Spending Without Making Your Life Miserable

By: Heather

Heather — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:11:06 +0000

I do nearly all those things already, I still enjoy reading though!
What amazes me if people that are out of work and wont even make laundry soap for pennies when we make it and its by choice and they wont even bother in necessity!

By: Rich

Rich — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:17:30 +0000

I’m a little later than the other posters, but one thing to mention would be hulu and netflix for TV/entertainment. My cable bill ran from $120 per month up to over $200 depending on the movies I ordered. It was just too easy to sit around and hit the buy button and rent a movie for $3.99.

So, I pulled the plug completely on cable. I have the one-DVD at a time plan at Netflix and an account at HULU. Both of those sites have a vast quantity of content you can stream and you can even have it play on your TV.

As an added bonus, miracle of miracles, I discovered I have more time (wow, never expected that). More time during the day to read, work out, follow my favorite blogs, whatever. It’s amazing how much time TV can zap without you knowing it. Cancelling the cable has been a huge help to me on several fronts.

By: Forest

Forest — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:17:56 +0000

I would have to say that exercise is the most fun of all of these, especially if you set a goal and go after it….. the feeling of hitting that goal is just awesome and most exercise that I like has little cost associated with it.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:14:46 +0000

“Replace your light bulbs with CFLs”

No, thanks — I’ll keep my non-poisonous regular bulbs as long as my supply hold out. Why would anyone voluntarily use a product that requires sections of carpet on which it breaks be cut out and disposed of as toxic material according to the EPA?

By: Kim_Mango

Kim_Mango — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:19:43 +0000

Since my job is not location-dependent and I have the luxury of working from home, I’ve decided to move to the beach to see if I like living there year-round. Although the cost of living is more expensive, my new found friends and I spend a lot of time using the beach for entertainment.

Here are some examples:
1. a walk on the beach
2. a glass of wine/beer at the beach
3. lighting a fire at night on the beach
4. camping on the beach
5. surfing
6. swimming
7. picnic
8. volleyball (I don’t have enough friends to do this yet but it looks like fun!)

I believe that if you’re in a position to move, move somewhere that you can be active. Whether that means the mountains, a lake, a beach, etc. There is nothing better than enjoying activities with friends, especially when they are free!

By: Leah

Leah — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:39:23 +0000

should have read more . . .

re: #40, you can get a great device called a “kill-a-watt” that will measure energy use in your devices. I was able to check one out of my local library, so it was extra frugal. A fun fact — I figured out that my particular cell phone charger actually uses no energy when the phone isn’t plugged in (it’s just a circuit board and a teeny LED, so I imagine it uses a few cents of electricity per year). I try to unplug the thing, but I don’t sweat it if I forget.

By: Leah

Leah — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:35:41 +0000

re: #37 and the painting, check out (1) your local reuse center, (2) your local recycling center, (3) your local city government. Different entities do this in different towns, but in most towns there is a place where people can drop off paint cans that are partially used. In Portland, OR, you pay a small fee for a bunch of recycled paint. In my current town in rural Minnesota, the dump has a recycling/toxics room where you can get free stains, paint, spraypaint, etc. It’s awesome!

By: Ken

Ken — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:29:06 +0000

“7. Unplug electronic devices you’re not using.”

That’s a hassle to do continuously – especially if it is plugged in behind furniture. And if it is a hassle, then it will harder to make a habit.

An easier way to to plug groups of items (TV, DVD player… i.e. entertainment center) into a power strip and then turn off the power strip. If you organize the wires properly, you can make the power strip easily accessible so that it is very easy to make this a habit.

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:25:35 +0000

It isn’t that some electronics are hard to unplug, but that all the programming is lost when we unplug the microwave, the coffee machine, the stereo, the TV. I don’t know what I can unplug. Not the computer, right?

By: Debbie

Debbie — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:51:36 +0000

Rewards program – Make sure you are getting rewards from banks and credit cards.You need to track this as it isn’t something they hand to you.
Yesterday I got a $25 gift card through my bank.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:47:31 +0000

I visit a woman in an assisted living facility each week during my lunch hour. I also get her large print books from the library. She appreciates this so much and I can a lot of pleasure and rewards out of doing this.

You can also purchase exercise DVDs for under $25 and get great workouts in your home and avoid gym costs plus the time to get to the gym.

By: Debbie M

Debbie M — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:02:00 +0000

Checking my cupboards and fridge before going to a grocery store? That’s not going to happen. Sometimes I haven’t even decided what I’m cooking for the next week when it’s time to go (I always shop after dance class which is practically next door to the store.) But one idea that does help is that whenever I’m about to run out of something, I add it to my shopping list. I clip a bunch of used envelopes with empty backs onto the fridge for this purpose (you can keep coupons in the envelope, too). So at least I’m keeping stocked up on things and won’t have to make an extra trip. It takes a while to get into this habit, but it’s so nice.

Any hints on figuring out which appliances use energy when not in use? Obviously anything with a clock or other LED is using energy. And I know computers and monitors do. What about a washer and dryer? Coffeepot with no timer?

By: A.J.

A.J. — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:23:14 +0000

Jules (#29) — yeah, I’m in the middle of consolidating my loans right now. Figured I might as well lock in a decent rate of 4% now (since I don’t think it’s ever gonna get any lower)

Of course, the new plan is for 15 years (when I only had 8 or so left on the old one), so I’ll pay triple the total interest if I just make the minimum payments!

My plan right now is to just pay the new minimum on that for now, putting the rest that I *was* paying toward my car loan, which is a closer to 7% than 4%, to save on interest there. Once the car is paid off (I’m 24, and since this is my first car, no savings to start with, hence the loan), I’ll put that money back into the student loans.

By: Tom B

Tom B — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:09:44 +0000

My office has free movie, video game, and book rentals that you can pick on a cool internal website, and they even deliver them to your desk! I have not bought a new videogame in a long while, with few exceptions being items that I play a lot and get a lot of use from.

My job? I make video games!
— Tom

By: leslie

leslie — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:00:43 +0000

I agree with comment #10 from Tahlia42. I am extremely frugal but still have a very active social life. Here’s my own addition to fun things that are cheap:

There are quite a few websites that will list drink specials and free drinking events in your city. MyOpenBar.com is one of them (several cities). MurphGuide.com is another (nyc). And most bar’s websites will list their weekly drink specials as well. A bar around here has $1 mugs of Yeungling and $0.50 slices of pizza on Mondays.

When looking for new furnishings, check Craig’s List or Furniture Trader and keep an open mind. If you like the style of a $10 coffee table but hate the color, buy it and spend a day repainting it (look for paint on Freecycle). It’s a bit of work but is rewarding and can be fun (i love crafts!).

If you live near a university, even if you’re not a student, check the school Calendar of Events (on their website) and check for cheap events on campus. Most activities are free or super cheap and open to the public.

If you’re interested in going to live shows, try Goldstar.com or the plethora of other sites that offer discounted tickets. They even have special priced tickets to the zoo on there!

Sign up for a store and restaurant’s member club. It’s free and they send you coupons and sometimes birthday deals! ColdStone, Sephora, Anthropologie, BananaRepublic, FamousDave’s are just a few of the places I know that gives you free/discounted items for your birthday.

Also, clubs sometimes offer one-time free cover just for signing up on their mailing list (this saved me $25 and I get notified of events early).

Check newyorkology.com or an equivalent for free admission nights to museums.

Invite friends over instead of going out to a bar. Not only is this cheaper but you can actually hear the person you’re talking to. You don’t have to do this all the time, but it does help break up the monotonous bar scene from time to time.

Definitely look up your local parks/trails. If you live near a river or lake, there are usually places where you can rent a canoe/kayak for cheap.

When buying tickets to a concert, if at all possible, PURCHASE TICKETS DIRECTLY AT THE VENUE (not will call) instead of purchasing through ticketmaster. This will save you at least $8 per ticket!!! Last time I bought tickets, the tickets alone were $42 but the total came to $63 with the ticketmaster fees.

There are ALWAYS coupons to theme parks. Check the local grocery store or chamber of commerce. Every six flags has buy one get one free admission coupons floating around in various establishments or you can get half off admission with a coke can.

Check review sites, like yelp.com before trying out a new restaurant. Why waste your money on terrible food and service?

Try to buy tickets ahead of time if you can. I purchased tickets to the statue of liberty online for $15/ticket. When I picked them up, I saw the full price was $20/ticket. That $5 savings adds up per ticket.

Always take per person price into consideration when choosing what to do. If we have a group of 5, it’s cheaper to drive and split tolls than everyone buy a train ticket. It’s cheaper to split the $10/car state park fee, than everyone paying $8/person to get onto the beach.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:46:58 +0000

Be careful with the customer rewards thing. I was at TJ Max the other day and she asked if I wanted to sign up for their rewards card. The first thing I asked was “Does it cost anything?” And, she said no, so I started signing up then saw it asked for my social which I wasn’t going to give them. IT WAS AN APPLICATION FOR A CREDIT CARD!!! She made it totally sound like a CVS card or something… so beware, I think more stores are going to start trying this “trick”.

She was not happy when I took the application off the thing and crumpled it up (and kept it). But, I was not about to sign up for a credit card at that place!!

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:40:15 +0000

I’ve already done the research and T-Mobile has the best plan. I pay $100 for 1000 minutes that are good for a year and get a 15% bonus when I renew plus a free phone at sign up. There are no other fees. Some plans have a daily usage fee or added fee when you use the phone but not T-Mobile. Calls are deducted at ten cents per minute, texts are higher. So far my average usage indicates that I use about 1000 minutes per year so my ANNUAL cell phone bill is $100. Even double that is far cheaper than the $1200 I used to pay. The bottom line is that it’s not about the money. People are suckered into thinking that they have to have the latest and greatest or that they are somehow inferior if they don’t have something. When I was a kid there was no such thing as a cell phone and the world went along just fine. It’s not what we really need, it’s what we think we need. Change your thinking.

By: Tyler@FrugallyGreen

Tyler@FrugallyGreen — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:47:30 +0000

Quick note about unplugging unused electronics:

An easier way to do this is to strategically place power strips around the house that you plug all your infrequently used electronic accessories into. That way, rather than regularly plugging and unplugging 10 things around the house, you only have a couple to worry about.

By: michael bash

michael bash — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:23:07 +0000

Remember most pieces of paper you get have writing on only one side. Keep these and use the other side – an A4 usually torn in half for me – for list making, a wonderful activity (find & read Rob Buckman’s “Listless in Gaza”) the most important of which, besides the basic “To Do” list, is the shopping list. Keep the paper with a magnet on the fridge and write items as they finish when cooking. I know my market well so I can note items geographically, if you get my drift. And never forget the first rule of grocery shopping – never do it when you’re hungry

By: DivaJean

DivaJean — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:17:18 +0000

We use very little Xmas paper anymore in my family. Year ago, we converted to cloth and I made many drawstring type cloth bags out of varying Xmas prints bought on sale. We use these for family presents but Santa does still wrap (as long as kids believe) because it makes for a convoluted tale about how bags get back and forth from us to the North Pole. I’m thinking in 3 or 4 more years, we will be a cloth gift bag only family. (My mother in law converted to cloth for ALL presents, birthdays too.)

Storage of the cloth bags is not any problem- they just go in a Xmas bin and get put up when holidays are over. When I get more into it- birthday and non Xmas bags will go in an under bed storage- we also use paper for friends birthday parties presents— but someday…