Another Frugal Friday and more tips on some things you can do to save:
Do it yourself – my wife and I recently painted a couple rooms ourselves. We could have hired someone, but we’d want to be home when the work was done anyway, and we had the vacation time to use, so we did it just us two. Took us two days, but we had a good time of it, listened to music and enjoyed quiet conversation. In the end, we saved some bucks and had a good sense of accomplishment.
Cut the landline. I understand that getting rid of the cell phone and that $50/mo bill is unthinkable. But hopefully your cell works well in your house and you have no reason not to get rid of the landline. Odds are, you don’t use it much anyway. At least my cell (a Blackberry) has a decent headset, I can use it without tying up my hands while moving around the house.
Declutter your life – for things you haven’t used in some time, hold a garage sale or sell on ebay. It’s better than renting a dumpster, and better than living with the mess. People often accumulate books they’ve read but will never read a second time, along with items that have been replaced, but you’re holding on to the old one “just in case.” Time to clean up and make a few dollars doing it.
End of season sales – as September comes to an end each year, the summer stuff all goes on sale, often as high as 75% off. Right after Christmas, the boxed cards, wrapping paper, etc, quickly go to half price. These are things that don’t spoil, and even if you bought enough to last beyond the next year, you’re still ahead of the game.
Buy a programmable thermostat. Not tough to install, and not very expensive. You can program them to turn the heat down at say 10 or 11PM when you go to bed, and warm the house back up before you get up in the morning. If you have a 9-5 type job, all the better, the heat gets turned down again at 8am when you leave, but back on at 5PM before you get home. You can save enough on your heating bill to pay for the new thermostat the first few months of use.
Enjoy the weekend,
Joe