The only other beverages I have is a gulp of OJ now and then and perhaps a glass of iced tea each day. Breaking free from coffee is tough though - I suffered a five week migraine before I was able to free myself from the caffeine addiction but found I sleep so much better now without it and my wallet thanks me.
Here's the Pur dispenser that works best for me on the top shelf of the fridge: Amazon
Keep the little pieces of bath soap. When you get enough, put them in a small pot and melt them on low heat. Use aluminum foil as a mold. when the soap is melted, pour into the mold. When it hardens, peel off the mold. It is never-ending but still. It saves on bath soap.
Don’t buy anything without first checking:
1. Slickdeals.net - search for the product to find the best advertised price to give you a benchmark, then...
2. Go check ebay and Craigslist to find out if you can find it from a private seller for less. If not...
3. Monitor slickdeals.net for a good deal, BUT - before buying anything - go to retailmenot.com to check for a coupon code that can actually get the item for LESS
Links to previous money saving threads:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2132670/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2948036/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1990507/posts
Shop around for car insurance. We recently got a new car and our rates went up by $30 a month. So, we shopped around and found BETTER coverage for $20 less than what we were paying for the old car.
I usually switch up my car insurance every 5 years or so. There’s always a better deal to be had somewhere. Heck, I once switched the week after my wife had an at-fault fender bender, and I STILL ended up getting a better rate.
You can go online and get a rate quote in a few minutes. Easily worth your time.
For cheaper cell phones with Page Plus, try this, but avoid the “broken,” “poor condition” and “for parts” phones.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sop=15&_nkw=page+plus+cell+phones&LH_BIN=1
Set “Sort:” to
Price + Shipping: lowest first
Then, in the left column of the page, click on “Buy It Now” under “Format” (only if you want to avoid bidding on the phones).
Hope that helps. The first few links are only for Page Plus activations—not the phones. Scroll past those and any ads for broken phones. Have fun. And no, I don’t get anything out of this and am not advertising for any gain of my own. I don’t sell anything through eBay. Just did it for you.
Good post, RKBA Democrat. Well worth it. Thanks.
I live in a big commercial building and have absolutely zero lawn so I made up some earth buckets and built myself some carts. I wheel my tomatoes out on the sidewalk during the day and wheel them back in at night. I got peppers and cucumbers growing in the windows and I found if put your celery and lettuce stalks into a bit of water they will start regrowing and you can plant them in some soil in a large butter tub and they grow back very fast.
BTW, Amazon Prime is a great deal, for about $79 per year, you get 2nd day free shipping on many purchases + free streaming video = > Netflix for an entire year, also free kindle book library access.
The Advantage over 55 lb pack contains 6 each 4.0 ml tubes. The dosage rates for both dogs and cats can be found online. What I do is pour a tube in a small test tube with a rubber cap. These are available at vet and farm supply stores. Then I use a 1 ml syringe (with needle) to draw the amount required (for a 12 lb dog, 0.6 ml works great) from the test/blood sample tube through the rubber top (without opening the tube) and squeeze out the liquid as recommended behind their shoulders.
This does two things, if you purchase prepackaged treatment for 10 - 20 lb dog, you'll get a tube with 1.0 ml. This is too much flea control for a 12 lb dog (remember only 0.6 for 12 lb dog). By drawing only what is needed for a particular size of dog, you prevent both waste and overdosing.
The package size above, contains 24 ml of treatment. This is enough for treating a small 12 lb dog for 40 months, and in the winter you can skip several months.
If you buy the package for 11-20 lb dogs, you get only 6 - 1.0 ml tubes, the price is quite high at $51.66 and only contains enough treatment for 6 months.
Btw, Purchasing from Amazon will save you about half the cost of either size verses buying from a vet's office.
If this tip saves you money, please consider donating a few extra bucks to FreeRepublic.Com will ya??? ;)
For those of you living in colder climates and fairly good with basic electrical work (including safety practices), small structural building and plumbing projects, the following projects will pay for themselves in a relatively short time.
$1000 Solar Water Heater
http://www.builditsolar.com/Experimental/PEXColDHW/Overview.htm
$2K Solar Space + Water Heating — One Simple DIY System
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/DHWplusSpace/Main.htm
I had to replace a ten year old cell phone. I selected a refurbished flip phone. My daughter calls it a “dump phone”, comparing it to friends smart phones.
But it was free with the renewal of my contract, no one is going to steal it for resale and I won’t freak out if my young son accidentally breaks this one.
A good source of frugal living tips: dollarstretcher.com
For those of you inclined to doing auto repairs, research safety practices for doing repairs first (examples: always use jack stands beyond needed capacities instead of using concrete blocks or other brittle materials, pull wrenches toward you instead of pushing away whenever possible, while avoiding pulling toward face or head, use two hands whenever possible, torque to specified torque specs for whatever fasteners torque specs can be found for, etc.).
Research the Web—mostly discussion boards—for common parts failures and repair procedures for your particular vehicle. Bookmark pages of particular interest. And yes, we are capable of replacing vehicle computers when needed and so on. And no, computers aren’t needed for repairs. There are diagnostic routines that require nothing more sophisticated than a VOM (volt-ohm meter, analog’s fine, or even a cheap digital in most cases). Be careful around fuels. Read all about safety that you can find. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of the do-it-yourself grease monkeys using the discussion boards, and be humble.
Arguably not legal, but big savings.
My skin medication went from $4 at Walmart to $94 overnight. No idea why.
Banged around on the internet a while and found an Indian pharmacy that had (supposedly) same thing for $8. I had a prescription but they never asked me to provide it, which means I could have skipped the doctor visit, too. Stuff seems to work ok.
WARNING: Buying drugs on the grey/black market from overseas is a risky thing to do. You’re probably unlikely to get prosecuted, but there isn’t a great deal of assurance that what you order is what you will actually get, either. Drugs can be contaminated or dosages off, etc. I’d be very careful using this method for anything really critical, like heart medication, etc. In my case, only thing likely to happen is for psoriasis to get a little worse.
Very much at your own risk.
Find ways to avoid driving or using machines much. Research fuel preservation on the Net. Gasoline can be extended for up to 3 years (2 for most folks), and diesel, up to ten (five for most folks) with enough proper measures taken. Propane will last indefinitely, but be sure to see cautions on using propane in extremely cold weather (stops producing enough when temps are low enough, especially for engines).
Here are a few tips for those of you looking to finance a house purchase or refi. Costco has a financing service where they compete your mortgage amongst various lenders. They’re also kind enough to list them:
https://costcofinance.com/AboutOurLenders.aspx
Lending tree is also kind enough to provide ratings of their best lenders as well as lots of other lenders, including most of those used by costco:
https://www.lendingtree.com/mortgage-lenders
You can use the ratings and feedback to pick some lenders who look good to you (you should check BBB too) and compete your mortgage by contacting the lenders directly. No need for an intermediary.
This Guy Used Only a Plastic Bottle and Water to Create Light Like That of a 60-Watt Bulb
I never buy anything online without checking for a RetailMeNot.com coupon, one from FatWallet.com, Ebates.com or Slickdeals.com. You can often buy coupons on eBay for a couple of dollars to get $25-50 or more off in places like Staples.
Don't forget to check out Overstock.com for home improvement things from light fixtures (they have ones you don't see elsewhere and good prices) to tiles, hardware, etc. Their clothes are yuck, but they also have great deals on cat and dog beds and toys, etc. and other stuff.
SierraTradingPost.com has great prices on hiking gear, camping gear, and excellent quality clothing for the whole family.
Orvis has excellent quality clothing which is very expensive, so I wait and check out their Tent Sale, where they count down the price every week at a lower and lower price.
Amazon.com usually has the best prices on most things, I have found. They will also price match if you're a good customer and you call up and ask.
I don't own a TV, so I don't have to pay for cable. I don't have a fancy cell phone either, just your basic $20 call and text model with Page Plus unlimited service.
When I buy a new computer, I don't buy the accompanying monitor or speakers, since my monitor and speakers still work.
I still have a film SLR camera because it still works perfectly and I don't feel like spending $500-800 for the new Canon digital SLR replacement.
I belong to BJs Warehouse Club, which is the same as Costco or Sam's Club. They have much cheaper prices on stuff such as Lactaid milk, cat litter, water, yogurt, etc.
Angieslist.com is good to belong to. I have found some fabulous tradesmen such as electricians, stonemasons, handymen (only for projects I can't do myself--fortunately, I am very handy and can fix most stuff around my home myself), roofers, mechanics, doctors/dentists/vets, etc. AND, Angieslist sends you coupons just about every day for significant savings on services from tradesmen praised by their members.
I always try to buy good quality clothing when it's on sale rather than cheap clothing at low quality stores, and then take good care of it.
If you are remodeling, use resources such as New York's GreenDemolitions.com. They get donations from toney homes of kitchen cabinets and other artifacts and then sell them in their retail stores for like pennies on the dollar. The proceeds go to an alcoholics rehab center, so everyone wins. I got some plywood box high quality kitchen cabinets for my kitchen when I remodeled, with high end features such as pull out shelves, solid raised oak exteriors, etc. They also sell new and used toilets, bathroom vanities, architectural things like mantles, windows, etc. I saved thousands of dollars and my cabinets didn't look used at all.
Don't forget Craigslist.com to get stuff. I got some great furniture from Craigslist which had been well taken care of and was hardly distinguishable from brand new. I got a brand new bathroom vanity still in the box from a retired contractor from there, for a tiny fraction of what it would cost new.
eBay is a great place to acquire stuff. I got so many beautiful things there when remodeling my home, and lots of other times when I needed something and didn't feel like paying retail. Of course, you have to know your prices because not everything on eBay is a good deal (far from it for the unwary!), but if you know your prices and do research on completed sales of that item, you will know how much to bid and may well prosper. I've also gotten a lot of exquisite handmade artisan items for my home from craftsmen on eBay. My bathroom sports a solid oak custom-made-to-my-design bathroom cabinet/medicine cabinet. I paid about 1/3 of what it would cost here, including shipping. I designed a wrought iron plant hook because I couldn't find one long enough locally for my big spider plant, then found a young blacksmith in WV from eBay to fabricate it for me, at a very reasonable price. My cats' bowls rest in a beautiful solid oak platform which I designed and an eBay craftsman built for me. A little ol' lady in SC makes beautiful braided stair tread covers and matching braided rugs. She will make them for you in your choice of colors. They really add a homey touch vs. the usual narrow carpeting up the stairs. eBay rocks!
And finally, step up and use Freecycle.com. There are local chapters in hundreds of cities. People list stuff they don't need anymore and everything is totally free. You can post for things you WANT or post for things you are OFFERING. Some of the stuff is junk, sure, but for example, I got a brand new UV light for one of my reptile tanks, still in the box. That bulb goes for $19-24.
It's such a pleasure when folks come over to visit, see my home for the first time and exclaim, "It looks like a magazine!" I've gotten this or similar comments from every single friend or visitor who's ever come over, and I did it on a shoestring by using the places I listed here.
Good luck in your shopping pursuits! Awaken the predator within!