Do you have any good money saving household, frugal living?

[peas in a pod]

tips that you think are unique?Thanks for the ideas.

 

[Walter shumate]

First change all Standard light bulbs to the CFL's .Unplug as many unused electric app as you can . New energy efficient appliances do help with electric costs .These aren't to unique but if we all did them they would change a lot of energy consumption

 

[Kelly]

We shop thrift stores. Every week we sit down and make a budget and don't spend any more than that. We have cut out eating out. Also, instead of buying bottled water, buy a filter for your tap. They even make ones that will flavor your H2O. They cost about $25 but this will save in the long run. Lastly, stay away from the inner aisles of your grocery store. That is where the most expensive and unhealthy food is. Believe it or not fresh is cheaper. I have cut my grocery bill by $30 a week by doing this.

 

[segerfanbigtimeaimcom]

i am attempting to help you even though i do not know what frugal means.tips on saving,, i can suggest but they may not be unique. first of all, recycle all you can. this will help on your trash pick up bill (if you have one). if you want to cut back on electricity bills, buy those flourescent bulbs that are 60 watts, but use 15 watts of power.also, instead of using your dryer all the time, hang your jeans, sweat clothes, (heavy clothing) to dry and fluff them for 10 min in dryer. it helps a lot on our bill. such as your computer, i have a habit of turning off anything that uses elect. such as, cable box, lights in rooms that are unattended, i use lamps instead of our overhead light fixtures which uses 4 bulbs instead of 1 lamp bulb. hot water will also use run bill up. save as much as possible there. phone bill? i had all the features such as call waiting, three way calling, caller id, forwarding, etc. and we never used it. cancel any of these you do not use. i kept caller id. helped on our ph. bill. we also cut back our cable bill, to the one where my son can watch Disney,, cartoons, etc. we save money there. i have more tips, but these are not unusual. i was raised to make use of everything,, i dust with old socks,,, so i think i do pretty good on saving. if you want more tips, you can e mail me. good luck.

 

[The simplest answer]

If not in use, shut it off completely(including the computer). Mine is on and used for 4 hours max total in a day. Why should it run the rest of the time? > That would be comparable to leaving the car running in the driveway <. Yes I "might" go out and I might not.Turn the heat off during the day. You are dressed anyways and probably out in the garden or shopping in the thrift stores or scrounging up bottles or metal or checking out yard sales. No reason to heat the house. Have the windows open so the air is refreshed inside the house. Buy basic foods(not prepared meals in boxes) It is amazing how many different flavours they can make sawdust taste like.). No-name brands is a name by itself called "Noname". It is usually cheaper and tastes basically the same as established companies such as Campbells or Kelloggs. Shop only in the outer isle of the store - which is veges, bread, dairy, meat,. The only thing you need from the centre of the store is the spices. Ever notice, that most stores have sales on the pre-packaged pre-made goods rather than on the basics? Maybe because it is not really food? You don't need the latest and greatest in computers to talk on Yahoo or surf the net. Mine are over 15 years old. Nor do I need a wide screen color TV. I have a life with living actively. Car is older too...works 100 percent just not "New". There is alot you can do using your own labor and effort. The internet will provide you with answers to many problems if you look in the right places. If something breaks, don't just throw it away immediately. Many times it will occur to you later on how to fix it or you could use parts of it for something else. Sounds a little "clepto" but really it isn't. Keeps you imagination going. So you too could stand a chance to be on "Survivor"

 

[golgafrincham]

Make sure your water heater is turned down to 120 degrees F (that is still hot enought to scald). Drain a couple gallons from drain valve on water heater to get sediment out. If you live in hard water area, you may want to do this every few months, otherwise once a year. If your water heater is more than 10 years old, buy a water heater blanket, a 3" thick blanket (tops $30) will pay itself off in one month. Note, this won't make a significant difference on newer water heaters.Take shorter showers, or if that isn't realistic, then turn the water off while soaping up and shampooing. There are showerheads that do this for you. If you have a water waster showerhead, upgrade to a 2.5GPM unit. There are also 1.5GPM showerheads. Less water also means less water heating, so savings on there, too.Caulk around the floor and ceiling of all exterior walls. A lot of temperature escape/infiltration gets through here, and caulking is a very cheap fix!Keep your refrigerator full, it runs more efficiently when full. Keep extra bottles of water for when the groceries run low, just to keep it full. Clean the coils under or behind the refrigerator regularly (monthly or quarterly). If the coils are on the back, then make sure the unit is 2 or 3 inches from the wall to provide proper airflow over the coils.Crawl under your house or up in attic, wherever your heating/cooling ducts are and make sure they are air tight and not heating or cooling the rest of the world (you might be surprised at how much leakage you have). Fix with proper fasteners, glue, and caulking, do not rely on duct tape. Spend some money to wrap the ducting in insulation, *especially* attic ducting.Does you garbage pickup service charge by the size of container you use? Can you get away with a smaller container? Recycling is not only "earth friendly" but can cut your waste volume in half. Collapse and/or shred boxes, flatten milk cartons -- don't pay to throw away the empty space inside those containers!Any car can get significantly better gas mileage by simply driving more casually, no jackrabbit starts or hard braking. These habits also prolong the life of brakes and other components. Make sure you use the *lowest* octane you can, high octane fuel has less energy, thus will lower your MPG (while costing extra at the pump). Change oil with the lowest number oils your car allows (i.e. 5w30 is better than 10w40) will save gas (if you have an older car, you have to balance that with the possibility of burning more oil). Stick to conventional oil, unless you live in extreme cold areas of the country. Keep your tires properly inflated, underinflation robs MPG. Overinflated means extra wear on the tires, while not providing significant MPG improvement. If you have several small trips to take, combine them, and if possible drive the longest leg first to warm up the engine; or arrange them in the shortest overall driving route.Do you have a few friends you see regularly? Start having potluck dinners, sharing both food and company, and use less electricity than watching 2, 3 or 4 TVs after dinner. Play games and use no electricity (or waste your brain) on the TV (or computer).Did you buy any LED Christmas ropes last year? Use them as your outdoor lighting, you will likely find the lighting more pleasant than single glaring lamps, and uses even less electricity than a CFL lightbulb.