Paying attention has proven to be the key for many of us on the "Spending Less, Living Well" Facebook page.
Consumption can be a thief. So I have decided to mark the date of purchase on most consumables in the house (peanut butter to mouthwash) with a Sharpie. This works on two levels to stem use.
For one, it shouts "I WAS BOUGHT ON JANUARY 1. USE SPARINGLY".
Secondly, it gives me a more accurate picture of how long it takes to use something up, preventing over buying and cluttering.
Efficiency is the rule of the day. Write on!
Just doing the math for the week, I saved our family $830 for the coming year so far!
Cell Phone Charges Corrected $130.00
Making Ice Cubes vs. buy $245.00
The rest of the savings comes from not buying bottled water. Our home uses well water, and I don't feel completely comfortable using it for drinking it straight, so I've always bought purified drinking water.
I decided to take a gamble and purchased a Pur water pitcher and filter. Since it seems to satisfy taste and purity wise, our savings over the next year will be $455.00, and that includes purchasing replacement filter cartridges.
Awesome.
Simple little changes add up!
I've mentioned the Facebook Group I joined to spend less and live well. By way of accountability, I have created a post-it not sticky screen wall that has all my spending categorized which I see it every time I log on the computer.
Inspiration struck again to put the date of purchase on all my non-edible consumables (shampoo, detergents, shower gel, etc.) My intention is to keep a list of those things, tracking how long it took to use it up.
Progress will be made if I can make them last longer the next time purchased. It makes projecting spending easier too, so I don't purchase items unneeded and that take up space.
Good luck to me and those who choose to take this challenge on!
Yesterday, I saved $130 on my cell phone bill.
Here's the story....
The most boring thing I have ever done is try to analyze my cell phone bill! My eyes glaze over immediately.
However, when the amount was much higher than I anticipated since I terminated my contract for a phone when the contract expired, I knew something was wrong and set out to examine the statement.
My statements are online, which I learned from the customer service representative, looks nothing like a paper, snail mail copy. That's problem number one. Online statements are condensed and eliminate much verbiage, for example, the words TERMINATION FEE are no where to be found in the online statement. I decided to call for help.
This venture took almost 90 minutes!
Who, in real life, has 90 minutes (15 on hold, security screening, computer screen loading, checking current and past statements, getting permission from a manager to give me credit for the termination fee because it is such a "high" amount ($89), my additional inquiry as to if any other fees were incurred due to the new billing system believing I had terminated my contract early, lo and behold there were other incorrect charges ($47.40),(IF YOU DON'T ASK THEY WON'T TELL!!!), more permission sought for more refund, time to calculate the new amount due, getting name of representative in case of a problem since the company won't send out CORRECTED statements)?
All this left me wondering how often in my busy life I just paid bills without closely EXAMINING them.
Do I want to spend 90 minutes of my life doing this? No, but I don't want to be ripped off either.
Look over your statements and call if you are confused by them. It is the customer service reps job to help you understand them and get you answers. It isn't always the reps fault when something goes wrong, just document who you spoke to, the date and time as well, for c.y.a. purposes.
Whew. The holidays, freezing cold and snow have taken it out of me! My son has missed 5.5 of the past 8 school days due to the weather and related issues. Hopefully routine will return soon!
On January 1, I joined a group on Facebook, which challenged people to have a "no extra" spending month. I love the opportunity to save money and learn the habits and challenges of others.
I began to consider even if what I was buying was a "need" was I really getting the best value and keeping a handle on usage?
Inspired to dissect my receipts, I created the following categories:
*Food(basics like fruit/veggies, meat, pantry, etc)
*Health (medications and personal care)
*Home (cleaning supplies, repair items, domestics)
*Clothing
*Pets
*Cars
*School
*Beauty
*Entertainment
*Date Nights (I separate them in the budget to make sure we have funds specifically for this important time!)
*Fun Food (convenience foods;frozen pizza, chips)
Now that I am tracking these items, with the help of computer screen post-it notes, (which I highly recommend because every time you are on the computer you face your spending!) my goal is to research the internet to see if I can find any savings. I will pass on whatever I learn to you!
I love my home. The view is priceless. My biggest complaint is the lack of counter space for food prep. We determined a kitchen island would be an awesome solution. I, like Alton Brown, cannot abide a "uni-tasker" in my kitchen. Whatever we chose would also have to do double duty and work as an eating space too.
After scouring the internet and "shopping" for these islands, $1000 was the common price. CRAZY!!!! No flipping way am I spending that amount of money.
Hubby and I brainstormed, deciding to hack our own, rather than buy. Our landlord has an old, ancient, mint green dresser in our garage. It currently houses electrical extension cords, charcoal briquettes and the like. After measuring, it is three feet tall, perfect counter height.
Inquiring what the landlord's price for the dresser would be, he informed us this was a beast of an item no one wanted and we were welcome to it for free. Awesome!
Often you can acquire things at a cheap price or for free, if you just ask. People love to unload their "junk", but if you have an eye for the "hack", you will come up a winner!
So, we are now on the lookout for the 8 foot piece of butcher block wood. We estimate we will spend around $250 for a very nice piece, but we will explore every option before spending this amount too.
Happy hacking!
Receipts. I hate paper receipts. I save them, just in case, of course, but I hate them.
Sometimes there is a treasure to be found there. I file my receipts monthly and recently discovered, just doing basic grocery shopping, I earned $4 off a meat purchase. That is at least 1 if not 4 pounds of meat, (yes, you can find meat less than a dollar a pound).
Check those annoying pieces of paper out so savings aren't tossed in the trash.
