Painlessly cut $1300 from the annual budget.

[homewithtwins]

I was looking to cut some budget items the other day and found $1300.

First, I called the cable company and told them I wanted to reduce my service to the lowest level. They counter offered with a reduction in my cable bill by $23 a month at the current service level. It is a temporary saving for six months but that is still a savings. I will just do the same in six months and if they don't offer a deal I will lower the service level.

The phone company was next on my hit list. We had been hanging on to the home phone just to keep the number. I found out that the portability law applies to most home numbers as well as wireless numbers. So, I switched my home number to my cell phone, eliminating $85 a month. I combined our wireless phones onto a family share plan saving a few more bucks a month and got two new phones for $19 on top of the other savings.

I also cancelled Netflix. Saving $18 a month. The public library has started carrying DVD's and they have an endless supply of kid's VHS. No charge for a one week check-out. the selection isn't as good nor is it as easy as Netflix but with two toddlers we were not watching that many movies anyway.

Now, if I can figure out how to sqeeze the gas, electric, and water companies for a few bucks.

[tt3]

We don't get great cell reception here, so we kept the land line, but dropped everything but the regular service. Went from 80$ bills to 20$, including long distance.
Our local electric company will send out a person to walk through the house with you to help find places to conserve energy, hence money. Check with yours too.
Thing is, the guy didn't think the kegerator was a very good idea from an energy standpoint. pshaw :lol:

[Jackson's Dad]

He just wanted an excuse to help you drain it.

[Awwc]

Amazing what taking some time out to looking at your lifestyle (and the associated alternatives) can do to free up some cash.

Simple thing like evaluating your TV viewing habits.

Me: HBO sucks now. Carnivale is horrible. The Sopranos is on like once every two years. Curb Your Enthusiasm is easily found on the internet (cough) and all of the good boxing matches end up on PPV.

Wife: Sex n the City is gone. Six feet under isn't coming back until later this year. We can get it back anytime we want. No cancellation fee.

Me: Done. It's gone. What about Directv anyway? Football is over...Sunday Ticket is getting too expensive...the only thing I need is the Daily Show (again...internet)...

Wife: Basic cable package? Done!


**Whoopie? what is this the Newlywed Game?** :wink:

[Erik]

The only thing bad about getting rid of the line phone is "911". depending on where you live calling 911 on the cell or VOIP does not call your local 911 center. Make sure everyone knows to say the address or location when calling 911 on a cell phone or VOIP phone.

[DarthDaddy]

I also cancelled Netflix. Saving $18 a month. The public library has started carrying DVD's and they have an endless supply of kid's VHS. No charge for a one week check-out. the selection isn't as good nor is it as easy as Netflix but with two toddlers we were not watching that many movies anyway.

I have borrowed movies from the Library for almost two years now. You should also look into the other Libraries in your area. My actual library 2 years ago had no movies, but the nice new one in the next town over did. Once you are signed up at "YOUR" library you can sign up at any as well as request any item from any library in the area. I have my library card with additional barcodes on the back for other libraries. The one I really like is less the 1 mile further the my library. I really wanted to watch "THE STAND" miniseries again and my library did not have it. I put in a request and less then a week later I had the NEW DVD editon ready for pick up.

People might ask well the selection is probably bad. Actually they have great selections and some suprising titles. (Harold and Kumar go to White Castle) The older movies are just starting to show up, but every new release is coming in.

The other cool thing is the one library has an online account where you can check the due dates on the borrowed items, renew items and request HOLDS on items. The "New Release" Items can not be held, but everything else can be.

Well in the last 2 years I have saved probably around $500 borrowing rather then renting.

[DarthDaddy]

Oh...and another thenig to help save money. (Posted this somewhere else here, but forgot where)

When times were tight I created a spreadsheet in excel that had EVERY item we would buy from the grocery store/walmart... I took the prices from about 3 weeks and did an average and used that price in the spreadsheet. I would then use it as an inventory of the items in the house prior to going shopping. I could come in right on budget every week because I knew what I needed and then figured out where I could cut on any given week. I would input how many I was planning to purchase and it would figure out the prices.

This was also a help to truly find the good sale prices. I shop at MEIJER which is like a walmart superstore and the daily price there was typically lower then the grocery chains...

[WriterDad]

The only thing bad about getting rid of the line phone is "911". depending on where you live calling 911 on the cell or VOIP does not call your local 911 center. Make sure everyone knows to say the address or location when calling 911 on a cell phone or VOIP phone.

If you've got Broadband internet access, dropping the phone and going with Lingo or Vonich makes for some good budget cutting.

Lose the phone and extra phone line if you're on dial-up, that affords the Broadband which beat Dial-up with ease. Then Lingo costs us like $25 a month and covers all long distance and we could do $50-80 on long distance alone.

Really adds up.

[Neophyte]

Wow, I'm excited that there's a forum to which a newbie like me can contribute. Trying to get home fuel companies to lower your bills will probably be fruitless. Some companies will offer you better rates in exchange for things like having regularly scheduled deliveries, or paying in advance, or direct draft for payment, etc, but that will mostly not save you a whole lot. One of the simplest things I know of to cut some energy costs is to simply turn down the thermostat on your water-heater. This can save you hundreds of dollars a year and it has the added benefit of being safer for households with small children. I set mine to the absolute lowest, which is like 90 degrees. I find it's warm enough for a comfortable shower, but would be practically impossible to scald anyone. People have given me some silly objections over this, probably because they don't get how a water-heater works. The main thing I hear is that hot water will run out. The temperature that you set your water heater to has nothing to do with how much hot water you'll have available. The water is heated (in most units) in a tank. Your supply depends on how big the tank is, not the temperature the unit holds the water in it to. Another idea is to go with flourescent light-bulbs. They make them to fit into any light fixture these days and, as a former despiser of flourescent light, I have to say you get accustomed to it. I can't say for sure how much this saves you, but I would guess it might shave $5 or more a month from your electric bill. I'll try to post in the future on other conservation methods, but for now I hope these suggestions help.

[seattle]

Lots of great ideas you all have. I turned off most of my computers and saved about $200 a month on Electricity. We have basic cable and my wife likes all the phone options so we keep them. We have two smaller cars and then get good mileage.

[JimP]

As the father of five (with 1 income of less than 50K) saving money is a necessity. Canceling cable altogether was a no brainer. The only people in the house that watched much tv were the 3 older kids, and the slack-jawed stupor induced by such gems as" That's so Raven" and" Dave the Barbarian" caused me to dub the Television "The Idiot Box". I showed my kids pictures of themselves watching TV--- slack-jawed vacant stares at a fuzzy screen-- and the popularity of the Idiot Box plummeted. Then Spring arrived and with DI, soccer , 4-H, and softball, we don't have time for the Idiot Box anyway.
We don't eat Out much anymore. I've learned to cook--- really cook, not just reheat canned stuff. Covenience foods are expensive, but I have time to cook the Real Deal. Buy staples in bulk when they're on sale. Buy your meat direct from farmers. Clip coupons. Recycle. Hunt. Fish. Gather.
Do whatever it takes. BE THERE. PROVIDE. GUIDE.

[seattle]

Good advice JimP and welcome to the forum! How old are your kids?

[Joey G]

I've been contemplating ditching our digital cable package to just the basic cable to save about $35 a month. I'm not going to do it right away -- my plan is to tape as many kids shows off Sprout and Noggin and the OnDemand as possible so we'd have them available for the kids to watch if needed (though I'd love for less TV viewing, probably an issue for another topic).

We have HBO and Encore, plus IFC and Sundance, but I don't really have time to watch whole movies anyway. VH1 Classic is playing less videos than ever (today, they aired the MC Hammer biopic -- why?) and I fear it's a matter of time before it goes the way of MTV2 and becomes a music video channel that doesn't play videos. (I have a gazillion vidoes on tape anyway, plus a lot of classic videos are popping up on youtube). ESPN Classic is airing too much poker, I forget that all the extra History Channels even exist, and why does Fox have a whole network for soccer? And I already have a lot of DVD viewing to catch up on (audio commentary rocks :) So we might cut back.

My only concern on the downsizing -- we'll lose Sci-Fi Channel, and I know I'll miss Battlestar Galactica. However, Sci-Fi's Web site will sometimes run their shows in their entirety, plus you can buy episodes on iTunes at $1.99. So, 13 episodes when the next season starts is $26, much less than three months at $35 per month just to get one station.

JG

[Jackson's Dad]

My only concern on the downsizing -- we'll lose Sci-Fi Channel, and I know I'll miss Battlestar Galactica. However, Sci-Fi's Web site will sometimes run their shows in their entirety, plus you can buy episodes on iTunes at $1.99. So, 13 episodes when the next season starts is $26, much less than three months at $35 per month just to get one station.


Or if you are willing to be a season off, you can wait for the DVDs. We just went through the whole Firefly season on DVD... such a good show. And nice to watch it at our own pace!