The Ultimate Cheap Guy -- Your Frugal Tips?

Fidelity Visa card. 2% cash back on every purchase, if you put it into a Fidelity Cash Management Account.

 

irs takes credit?

 

Save-On Foods (local grocery chain) will give you a 10 pound bag of potatoes for free plus 2000 accumulated "points". Shopping for groceries there, the points accumulate faster than we can eat the potatoes, so basically we've always got free potatoes.

Every so often they put whole pork loins on sale for some ridiculously low price-per-kg, they're about $15~18 CDN, depending on size. That's about 30~33" worth of pork chops.

Somehow an apple tree started growing in our front yard. So now every fall, I just go out and shake the branches every so often, free apples every fall.

Cheap breakfast: rolled-oats porridge. We get the double bag, oversized compared to Save-On, for dirt-cheap at Costco. Cook in some Granny Smith apples or from our yard, plus raisins. The bags last months.

Stay outa restaurants, take-outs, brew your own coffee/tea, what can I say.

 

Every receipt we generate, te wife takes a picture of an uploads it to a website that then every 3 months gives “rebates” back on common expenditures.

Typically about $20-30 each time.

Not bad for a simple activity .

 

Pump your tires up to 42-40, save gas.
Double up your house and car payments, save interest, save money.

 

If the channels you're watching are local, consider a DIY (or store bought) antenna. I put a DIY double-Hoverman on an upstairs wall that just happens to be perpendicular (almost perfectly) to our local transmission mountain, pull in about 1/2 dozen channels. And I believe one channel is coming from out in the valley, roughly 180 degrees away, more good fortune. Good for the news, occasional CBC show or hockey game. As long as the signal is descent strength, it is fantastic, high resolution digital, actually sharper than cable.

Of course my $@#%& internet provider bill has been inexorably climbing, over $90 monthly now. My son keeps goading me, saying phone them up, threaten to switch, they'll give you a cut-rate promo deal. Repeat when that runs out. I never get around to it, don't have the moxie.

 

We're over 40 miles from all the TV towers, so we had to spring for an amplified antenna that I mounted on top of 25 feet of heavy pipe. We get NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, the CW, and a few others. Most of them have secondary channels. Then we have Amazon Prime for the shipping and free videos.

Internet only for about $55/month. No cable and no land line.

Wife is an Olympic caliber coupon user.

 

Never buy Just released new model of expensive electronics like Apple's flagship smartphone. No matter how good they are, in two years they are obsolete. I always shop for refurbished older model or if buying new, only older models just when new model comes out. They are just as functional for my needs and saves hundreds. I also use discount MVNO SIM only. Cost is anywhere from totally FREE to $10 every 3 month.

 

I'm with you on the computers. I always get them from the Apple refurbished store. But the phones last a lot longer than a couple years. People like to upgrade that often because the cell providers have trained them to do that. However, an iPhone 5s will run iOS 12, which just came out and lots of people do that. Even Tim Cook says that replacement cycles are lengthening as the phones get more expensive and more capable. Apple CEO Tim Cook 'The Smartphone Market is Very Healthy' - Mac Rumors My wife is still very happy with her 6s.

+1 on house payments, too. We can't double up, but we're paying an extra $200/month or more. That'll save us several thousand dollars over the course of our 15 year loan. Oh. And 15 year mortgages will save a ton of money compared to 30 year ones and the payment is no where near double.

 

I love my 8 Plus. I sold my 2-year old 6s and got the 8+ before a trip to Africa in January specifically for the cameras. I'm really glad I did it. In fact, the camera is the only reason I upgrade. Eventually, they get so much better, I can't help it.

 

Problem I have with iPhone and many newer power hungry smartphones and for that matter many of tablets and ultrathin laptops are that they can function fine after two years, but in most cases battery do not. I have old Nexus 5x fully capable of running Android 8 and newest apps, but it is over 3 years old (bought it refab). Despite changing the internal battery once, it is now constant need of charge. Fully charged phone will not last a full day on stand-by with minimal background apps running. Compared to that, my main everyday go to phone is 5 years old Lumia 534 running soon to be extinct Windows Phone 8 OS. It gets no new apps or new update, but most of my essential apps are still functional. The best thing is tiny 1800mAh battery last over three days on stand by with my email and phone apps along with weather and news apps running on background. And even if the battery runs out, it is user replaceable on a go. No tools required, just pop oven the cover and insert new battery. I always have a few fully charged battery as spare. I have this phone with H2O pay as you go SIM at $10 recharge every 3 month. And IIRC, I paid less than $100 for this phone 5 years ago.LOL