Ways to Save

These types of posts are coming in especially helpful to me right now, as we need to be saving all the money we can! As you may remember, hubs was offered a job a few weeks ago making twice what he is now. We agreed at that time, since I had just quit my job, that I would continue to be a full time homemaker, so I wasn't really looking for any work. Also remember that the job hubs was offered was on the road for the first year. Well, last week, hubs took a week long motorcycle trip with his uncles (they do this annually) and when he got home he informed me that he was no longer going to take the new job because he couldn't stand being away from home for pleasure, so he could never do it for work! This is, of course, perfectly acceptable by me, meaning we won't have to be away from each other. However, it does mean the bigger income is no longer a go. Which means I need to find a job, fast! Because things are gonna be tight on just the one income at this wage. Things are tight. So I've been researching ways to save all week in between job searches and mailing of resumes, and here are some of what I've come up with this week...

...Don't be afraid to make a call! In attempt to lower some bills, I called our cable company wanting to cancel, and they informed me that I am in a 2 year contract and will owe x amount of money for each month left in said contract. So cancelling was out. I explained our situation, and they were very understanding and did a little clicking and were able to reduce our bill by $8 a month. Not a lot, but every little bit helps! I then made the short trip to our cell phone providor uptown, and again explained our situation. After analyzing our bill, they were able to take $32 off our bill monthy, plus they discovered that we were being overcharged by $6 each month...so a total of $38 saved just at the cell phone providor! A total of $46 shaved off our monthly expenses just for asking!

...If you regularly straighten or curl your hair, consider cutting back. Heating appliances (any kind. bathroom, kitchen, etc.) all use a lot of electricity to heat up. On days when I know I won't be leaving the house, I just give my hair a good brusing, and then turn my head upside down and brush from underneath. It gives my hair good volume and looks great, with no electricity needed! Or, if you use the next tip, only straighten your hair every other day, and then use this tip to give your hair the extra volume on day two!

...Your hair doesn't need washed everyday! Now, before you all run in disgust and remove me from your reader lists, hear me out. My hairdresser herself informed me that it is unhealthy for hair to be washed every. single. day. Instead, she suggested to wash it only every other day, this way the essential oils your hair needs to be healthy aren't being stripped from your scalp as often. Not only will this save you trips to the hairdresser as a result of healthier hair, but it will also lengthen the life of your shampoo bottle!

...Turn off your water heater? I read this tip on New Life on a Homestead this week, and she had learned it from some older women who are well seasoned in money saving methods. It was suggested that she turn the water heater off except for an hour or two at a time. During this time do all of your hot water tasks (bathing, showering, laundry, dish washing, etc.) and then turn it back off. This will save you energy from having to pay to keep a tank full of hot water 24/7. I haven't tried this yet, but am eager to pitch the idea to hubs.

...Do all of your running at once. This is one of the oldest tips in the book, but once I tried implementing it I realized how hard it is! I do all of my deal shopping in the city about an hour away, so it's of course easy for me to do all of that running in one day each week. But the little trips around town (post office, library, grocery store, etc.) are the ones that are hard to stop! It seems that every day I have to run off somewhere, be it for a gallon of milk at the store (we go through milk like crazy), a quick trip to the bank, or to mail something at the post office. I have thus begun my running list. Unless there are 5 things or more on the list, I don't go! And if it's something urgent, I see if I can't walk or ride my bike to do them (post office and bank are both within walking distance). This is a huge gas saver, as we all know that stop and go driving and short trips are the biggest guzzlers out there!

Happy Saving!

For more great money saving tips and tricks, check out Frugal Friday over at Life as Mom!