Share a savings tip (and i'm not talking couponing)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cut your cell phone plan. Many people are paying way too much money for cell phones.

You can get services with limited talk minutes, unlimited text and data access for as little as $35/month. You can get unlimited talk, text, data for even an iPhone for as little as $50/month. Even in a family, you can get 2 phones for $100 or less. I know of plenty of people who are paying $180 or even over $200 for 2 iPhones.

What service had this? I would love to cut my bill.

Not quite as cheap as that, but I have Page Plus Wireless for $55/month. No contract. Uses Verizon network. I bought an iPhone at Walmart and activated it on Page Plus. Works great. I did have to buy the phone, but my monthly savings meant that after 10 months I was even, and every month after I save the difference between $55 and the Verizon price for unlimited monthly.

I have been looking at page plus but thought you had to buy one of their phones. I did not know you could bring your own devise. How did you activate your iphone on page plus?

You don't have to buy one of their phones. They will tell you you need a Verizon contract-ready phone, not a pre-paid phone. But if you google Page Plus and iPhone you will find lots of info on which iPhones work with PagePlus. I bought my iPhone5 almost exactly a year ago, at Walmart, and it was supposed to work on the package they sell (like Straight Talk or something?)
I had a PagePlus account already and just called and said I wanted to activate a new phone. Was asked for the numbers and was done in 5 minutes. Apparently some PagePlus support people will tell you they can't activate an iPhone, so you might have to call back. There are also web services that will do the activation for $5. But as I said, I had no trouble. And it has worked beautifully since. I think there is some visual voicemail that I can't use -- not really sure what it is, but never been an issue.
Again, my advice is google -- lots of good info out there.

[Anonymous]

Programmable thermostat, especially if you WOHM.

Make sure your house is well insulated and you aren't paying to heat/cool the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Get the Learnvest Financial planner. They will make you a complete yearly spending/saving/pay debt/prioritize budget. This thing is saving me a ton. We've paid off $6k in debts, went on vacations using cash, and have a plan for how to save for retirement and emergencies. It has changed us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see why cable can't be on the chopping block. With Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu+, I just don't see why you'd pay for a cable package. Find the online provider who carries the shows you want and use that - $10/month.

What about sports? that's the hook to the cable companies

We don't watch sports, I guess that's why cable seems really pointless to me. The only I've ever had it in a group apartment in NYC - the oldest standing renter insisted on it so she could watch her MTV "reality" shows and she all had to split it as a communal utility. It was just unnecessary noise as far as I was concerned.

But if you're a sports fan and it doesn't drive your spouse up the wall to have that noise on in the background all weekend, then the cable package is probably a better deal than spending all weekend at a sports bar.

[Anonymous]

Lower the cost of the big ticket items in your life. We spend much less than we could afford on our house, cars, childcare. That's 65% of our budget right there. That's what adds up to savings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lower the cost of the big ticket items in your life. We spend much less than we could afford on our house, cars, childcare. That's 65% of our budget right there. That's what adds up to savings.

+ Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see why cable can't be on the chopping block. With Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu+, I just don't see why you'd pay for a cable package. Find the online provider who carries the shows you want and use that - $10/month.

What about sports? that's the hook to the cable companies

Yeah that's what we would miss!

also the current trend is for companies to "bundle" cable and Internet, so you don't always save as much as you think you would by dropping only cable. We're currently on a two year promo through Verizon for cable/Internet/phone, and don't even need the phone, but this was somehow cheaper than just Internet/cable! Go figure. Planning to re-evaluate when the two years is up.

[Anonymous]

What are the best couponing sites? It's all overwhelming to me and I can't figure out what's legit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see why cable can't be on the chopping block. With Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu+, I just don't see why you'd pay for a cable package. Find the online provider who carries the shows you want and use that - $10/month.

What about sports? that's the hook to the cable companies

Yeah that's what we would miss!

also the current trend is for companies to "bundle" cable and Internet, so you don't always save as much as you think you would by dropping only cable. We're currently on a two year promo through Verizon for cable/Internet/phone, and don't even need the phone, but this was somehow cheaper than just Internet/cable! Go figure. Planning to re-evaluate when the two years is up.

We have one TV w/ the lowest cable coverage ($21.04/month) to get the regular tv channels (4, 5, 6, 9, 26, etc.). We just got this in January after about 5-6 years of no TV coverage. We did it finally for the sports reason (DH). It took me a few months to start using it at all, to tell you the truth, b/c I was so out of the habit. I now will watch PBS NewsHour on weeknights at 7pm after putting DD down (I used to just listen to this on the radio, via WAMU). Another weird thing has been: non-"PBSy" shows seem really jangley and hyped up to me, after taking a # of years off from TV. I prefer the calmer format of PBS.

I have a non-smart phone with a similar low, low monthly rate ($29.99/month, I think). DH has a BB and an Ipad through his work.

No internet at home other than the Ipad when DH is home. I get my Internet at work and, occasionally, will run into the library to use it.

[Anonymous]

I have started to looking up online coupons when I'm in certain stores. Example: DD needed something from Michaels for a school project. Looked it up, found a 30% off coupon for the entire order. Did something similar last year at Halloween when buying some decorations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the best couponing sites? It's all overwhelming to me and I can't figure out what's legit.

fatwallet, slickdeals, hotcouponworld, afullcup - all have pretty strict policies

[Anonymous]

I noticed 2 comments suggested not dying your hair or dying your own hair. I respectfully disagree with that suggestion.

At least for those of us in our early 40s, I think that the reality is that, to succeed in the workplace, it's important to invest more in your appearance as you age, and not less.

Many women I know dye their hair, as do I. At least for me, having it done at a salon is an important investment in looking good for work. I have noticed that some women go grey relatively young (as my DH has), and unfortunately it really makes otherwise young-looking people look old.

Back in the 1990s, my MIL (before I knew her) let her hair go grey at 44 years of age. From the photos, she otherwise looked so young (great skin, very fit physique) and yet she always looked so much older even though she was only 44 years old (same age as, for example, Jennifer Anniston and Jennifer Lopez are now.)

At least for women, I think it's important to cover up the grey as long as you're in the workforce and trying to advance in your career. IMHO, having it done at a salon is a worthwhile investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the best couponing sites? It's all overwhelming to me and I can't figure out what's legit.

fatwallet, slickdeals, hotcouponworld, afullcup - all have pretty strict policies

and, if you were asking about printable grocery coupons - stick to the original sources: coupons.com, smartsource.com, redplum.com, mambosprouts.com; Also check company sites and FB company pages for promos

[Anonymous]

My issue with couponing is that you have to print out the coupons, and printer ink is so expensive that I sometimes wonder if I'm even breaking even.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My issue with couponing is that you have to print out the coupons, and printer ink is so expensive that I sometimes wonder if I'm even breaking even.

Can u print them at your work? I try to do this!