I do my own hair. I have been cutting my own hair for about 15 years now. A saving of about $600 a year. I used to color it myself, saving another $40 every six weeks. Now that I have enough gray to make it interesting, I stopped dying it, so I save even more every month.
I also am overly frugal about clothes. Especially underwear. But this came to bite me in the a** this weekend when I was hospitalized with an acute intestinal infection and had to have my daughter put a bag together for me...all of my underwear, white cotton to begin with, is discolored from washing with reds and blues; has holes...and then my nightgowns were both like over ten years old and nasty (I usually sleep in a t-spirt, night gowns are for when I sick). It was a real eye-opener. I am being overly frugal on my wardrobe.
I love to cook and do a decent job, but I am tired after a day at work. I am still getting use to working outside of the house and there is such temptation to go out for dinner, but with three kids it adds up way too quickly (especially since two are teen boys!). So I have started to just start something........anything for dinner when I get home. That way I am offering them dinner and we don't spend money at the nearby Sports bar. We eat better and we don't spend as much doing so. Even the most mindless meals are still better than we would eat if we went out. This evening my 6 year old will asked, "So how much was This dinner?"
I'm loving the tips we're getting from you guys - thanks so much for contributing! I'm wondering about the unplugging appliances - does that save much in the long run?
I've recently cut my electricity bill by doing bigger loads of laundry more infrequently (and only after 7PM) and wearing sweaters rather thank turning on the heater. I used to pay about $30 a month in electricity, but I'm down to $11 right now. We'll see if I last the winter, though!
Great tip about the cotton balls! I'm going to try that - it's not just the expense, but the annoyance of having to buy cotton balls every month or so.
I am a little nuts about unplugging appliances when they are not in use - to save the trickle of power that goes into them whether they are being used or not. I know this can't possibly save me much money, but I try to tread as lightly on the planet as I can. If I walk into the kitchen and the microwave clock is lit up, I take it as a personal failure! :P
You're all right. I've typically been a fan of the see-touch-smell experience of shopping in stores, but I guess I'm going to have to succumb to ordering more on-line.
And Happy Columbus Day / Thanksgiving to you Andrea, and to everybody!
I also noticed the high cost of shipping, but decided that - maybe for Christmas? - if I wanted to order a bunch as gifts, that the cost of shipping would be at least a teensy bit offset.
It may still be a good deal if the case is of good quality, but it's annoying that they jack up the shipping. I know it's kind of silly on my part, but I'd almost rather the item were $5.99 and shipping their regular cost of $4.00. It just seems wrong to double the shipping price.
I think my obsession is getting every last particle of product or food out of a container. I cut open the end of toothpaste containers and scrape out what's left when I can't squeeze out any more... I must have 5 or 6 rubber spatulas in the kitchen to get that last morsel of peanut butter or cake batter... Swishing water in almost-empty shampoo or conditioner containers.. You get the picture.
Change - every penny and even the ones I find on the ground, in the washing machine and in my husband's car. I NEVER spend change. I'm obsessed with finding and saving change. If I have change in my wallet I will still break a dollar and pocket the change. If a cashier asks if I have the needed change to make the transaction simpler, I always say "no" even if I do have it. I take my husband's change every night. A couple of times a month I take all my coin rolls to the bank and then transfer it to my ING account (high interest rates!!). Over the course of several years I have managed to save thousands - that continue to earn a decent interest rate (over 4%!).
One of my friends had a patient who owns a convenience store. He told my friend that they sell gasoline and cost just so they can get people inside to buy the overpriced food.
I read your article on Socially Responsible Investing and appreciate the information on the different companys that meet this criteria. I'll be sure to bookmark your blog for future reference! Randall Wiley, find lifestyle.
When Yahoo shut down their photo site not long ago (no, not Flickr; the other one), they arranged for their users to automatically transfer their photos to one of four alternatives. I chose Shutterfly, for reasons I don't remember (mostly having to do with not wanting to cough up cash for a Flickr pro account).
Probably these people didn't have the money left over at the end to do something like that.
Literally! Once I have some change in my purse, it goes into my "weekend beach trip" fund. I don't use it no matter what...if a purchase totals $2.01, I will pay with three dollar bills. At the end of the week, I dump the change in the jar. The same thing goes for any unexpected money.
I try to always wash the foil lining of pans when I do the dishes, It usally can be used at least one more time.
Also I wash the plastic silverware my husband brings home from work, I guess I'll have enough for our daughters graduation party in June LOL
But unlike the above poster, I don't mind paying for soda in a restaurant, especially since they usually let me read my book and use my laptop while enjoying free refills.
My soda fixation is finding which diet soda (I'm a Type I diabetic) is cheapest. A 2-liter bottle may be 1.8 cents per ounce, while the cans are 2.2 cents per ounce. No matter where I'm shopping I can never stop looking at the little "cents per ounce" label hiding under the big "2 for $5.99!!" sign. :)
Just now I poked around on the web to see if anyone had studied the income profiles of lottery players. It turns out to be a question that can be answered however you like, if you get to decide just what the question is, but one Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy study does have this to say:
... average sales do not vary systematically by income. That is, taking averages over all adults, both players and nonplayers, those in lower income brackets tend to spend roughly the same number of dollars a year as those in middle and upper income brackets
but also have this to say:
... in virtually every case we have examined, one conclusion is constant: lower-income individuals spend a higher percentage of their income than those in middle and upper income brackets.
So, it seems pretty clear that people in lower socio-economic classes suffer more from lotteries, in the sense that they can ill afford to lose even a few dollars a week.
All the more reason to generate your own windfall.
I tear cotton balls into two – sometimes three – separate, smaller cotton balls. My mother taught me to do this when I was a very young girl, and it's become a habit I can't break! Even though a bag of cotton balls is only about 99 cents, I figure every little bit counts! ;-)
I doubt it is phishing. Now that I've done some more research, it seems that I remember Picturebug being a real photo developer. They are a company of Digibug Express. I won't name drop, but I have seen their website, and the websites of their marketing and developing companies. It looked like they just weren't too succesful at what they were doing and went out of business.
I do my own hair. I have been cutting my own hair for about 15 years now. A saving of about $600 a year. I used to color it myself, saving another $40 every six weeks. Now that I have enough gray to make it interesting, I stopped dying it, so I save even more every month.
I also am overly frugal about clothes. Especially underwear. But this came to bite me in the a** this weekend when I was hospitalized with an acute intestinal infection and had to have my daughter put a bag together for me...all of my underwear, white cotton to begin with, is discolored from washing with reds and blues; has holes...and then my nightgowns were both like over ten years old and nasty (I usually sleep in a t-spirt, night gowns are for when I sick). It was a real eye-opener. I am being overly frugal on my wardrobe.
Julie, I really love these tips! I was just contemplating my investment options, so this came at the perfect time!
I love to cook and do a decent job, but I am tired after a day at work. I am still getting use to working outside of the house and there is such temptation to go out for dinner, but with three kids it adds up way too quickly (especially since two are teen boys!). So I have started to just start something........anything for dinner when I get home. That way I am offering them dinner and we don't spend money at the nearby Sports bar. We eat better and we don't spend as much doing so. Even the most mindless meals are still better than we would eat if we went out. This evening my 6 year old will asked, "So how much was This dinner?"
Great suggestions!
I'm loving the tips we're getting from you guys - thanks so much for contributing! I'm wondering about the unplugging appliances - does that save much in the long run?
I've recently cut my electricity bill by doing bigger loads of laundry more infrequently (and only after 7PM) and wearing sweaters rather thank turning on the heater. I used to pay about $30 a month in electricity, but I'm down to $11 right now. We'll see if I last the winter, though!
Great tip about the cotton balls! I'm going to try that - it's not just the expense, but the annoyance of having to buy cotton balls every month or so.
I am a little nuts about unplugging appliances when they are not in use - to save the trickle of power that goes into them whether they are being used or not. I know this can't possibly save me much money, but I try to tread as lightly on the planet as I can. If I walk into the kitchen and the microwave clock is lit up, I take it as a personal failure! :P
Well researched, Julie, and great information too.
Thank you!
You're all right. I've typically been a fan of the see-touch-smell experience of shopping in stores, but I guess I'm going to have to succumb to ordering more on-line.
And Happy Columbus Day / Thanksgiving to you Andrea, and to everybody!
I also noticed the high cost of shipping, but decided that - maybe for Christmas? - if I wanted to order a bunch as gifts, that the cost of shipping would be at least a teensy bit offset.
It may still be a good deal if the case is of good quality, but it's annoying that they jack up the shipping. I know it's kind of silly on my part, but I'd almost rather the item were $5.99 and shipping their regular cost of $4.00. It just seems wrong to double the shipping price.
I think my obsession is getting every last particle of product or food out of a container. I cut open the end of toothpaste containers and scrape out what's left when I can't squeeze out any more... I must have 5 or 6 rubber spatulas in the kitchen to get that last morsel of peanut butter or cake batter... Swishing water in almost-empty shampoo or conditioner containers.. You get the picture.
Change - every penny and even the ones I find on the ground, in the washing machine and in my husband's car. I NEVER spend change. I'm obsessed with finding and saving change. If I have change in my wallet I will still break a dollar and pocket the change. If a cashier asks if I have the needed change to make the transaction simpler, I always say "no" even if I do have it. I take my husband's change every night. A couple of times a month I take all my coin rolls to the bank and then transfer it to my ING account (high interest rates!!). Over the course of several years I have managed to save thousands - that continue to earn a decent interest rate (over 4%!).
One of my friends had a patient who owns a convenience store. He told my friend that they sell gasoline and cost just so they can get people inside to buy the overpriced food.
I read your article on Socially Responsible Investing and appreciate the information on the different companys that meet this criteria. I'll be sure to bookmark your blog for future reference! Randall Wiley, find lifestyle.
When Yahoo shut down their photo site not long ago (no, not Flickr; the other one), they arranged for their users to automatically transfer their photos to one of four alternatives. I chose Shutterfly, for reasons I don't remember (mostly having to do with not wanting to cough up cash for a Flickr pro account).
Probably these people didn't have the money left over at the end to do something like that.
Literally! Once I have some change in my purse, it goes into my "weekend beach trip" fund. I don't use it no matter what...if a purchase totals $2.01, I will pay with three dollar bills. At the end of the week, I dump the change in the jar. The same thing goes for any unexpected money.
I try to always wash the foil lining of pans when I do the dishes, It usally can be used at least one more time.
Also I wash the plastic silverware my husband brings home from work, I guess I'll have enough for our daughters graduation party in June LOL
But unlike the above poster, I don't mind paying for soda in a restaurant, especially since they usually let me read my book and use my laptop while enjoying free refills.
My soda fixation is finding which diet soda (I'm a Type I diabetic) is cheapest. A 2-liter bottle may be 1.8 cents per ounce, while the cans are 2.2 cents per ounce. No matter where I'm shopping I can never stop looking at the little "cents per ounce" label hiding under the big "2 for $5.99!!" sign. :)
Just now I poked around on the web to see if anyone had studied the income profiles of lottery players. It turns out to be a question that can be answered however you like, if you get to decide just what the question is, but one Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy study does have this to say:
but also have this to say:
So, it seems pretty clear that people in lower socio-economic classes suffer more from lotteries, in the sense that they can ill afford to lose even a few dollars a week.
All the more reason to generate your own windfall.
I love to freecycle! :)
Why can't they just login and download all their pictures?
I tear cotton balls into two – sometimes three – separate, smaller cotton balls. My mother taught me to do this when I was a very young girl, and it's become a habit I can't break! Even though a bag of cotton balls is only about 99 cents, I figure every little bit counts! ;-)
I doubt it is phishing. Now that I've done some more research, it seems that I remember Picturebug being a real photo developer. They are a company of Digibug Express. I won't name drop, but I have seen their website, and the websites of their marketing and developing companies. It looked like they just weren't too succesful at what they were doing and went out of business.
Too bad for their customers.
Can you say scam?
Why not just go barefoot?
Why not just go barefoot?