How do you reduce your bills?

Make your own brown bag lunches.

 

Here's one that works. Save more than you spend.

 

Drive the Prius, saves 125 - 150 per month. Most of the lighting in the house is cfl, slowly changing over to leds. Brown bag it to work, do a lot of walking, rather than taking the car. Use coupons, and try to buy generic brands when I can.

DBCassidy

 

Paying cash for my Boy's Community College until I know for sure he can/will get with the program. Only then send him to the higher cost University after two years.

 

• Use coupons
• Never let credit card debt accumulate
• Refi the house
• Consider 2nd-hand merchadise
• Bargain for a better deal

 

The LEDs are still enough expensive I use them when I can tell they are better than CFLs.

My wife dislikes the color of CFLs when doing makeup and cooking, so those areas are LED, Showers/Stairwells are tough to replace bulbs, so those are LED. I have some less than one watt LED night lights.

As my wife remodels the house, (she is an architect and will never be done) I buy the things she wants in the most energy efficient model. HVAC is SEER 21, Clothes washer is Energy Star, instant on Water heater, Cool roof shingles with Hybrid Attic vents, triple pane inert gas windows and doors,

GAF | MasterFlow Green Machine Dual (Solar) Powered Roof Exhaust Vent
GAF | Timberline Cool Series Shingle Features
EcoSmart 6 in. 9.5-Watt (65W) Soft White (2700K) LED Downlight (E)*-ECO-575L at The Home Depot
RL94i Tankless Water Heater | Rinnai

 

The credit card industry has a term for those who faithfully pay their statement balance in full, avoiding interest charges:

dead beats

 

****Ask for a discount**** Just dropped my internet bill with Comcast from $72 down to $20. That's $600 for the year. If you are good customer with your credit card, ask for a promotional period to be applied to lower your interest rate. Best buy will price match Amazon if its sold and fulfilled by Amazon.

I'm one of those "queens of cheap", I save money every way I can think of...

 

And its not like they are losing money on us 'dead beats'. The merchant fees should still be enough to give them some profit. Just not as much as they want.

 

The easiest way to save is to stop spending! Convenience/fast foods is just one thing that sucks the life out of any budget.

 

....and if you do get married, don't spend a million bucks doing it! Let's face it, almost everyone invited to an over-the-top wedding are thinking "I wonder how long this will last" and "should I waste my money on an expensive gift?". Another way to save money - don't attend your friend's wedding! LOL

 

We had his and her weddings. (One in Nevada and one in Mississippi) At my wedding, I specifically informed guests that I had to move anything they gave me, do not give a present. (And only got one)

For her wedding, she warned her guests that we were merging two households, so we did not need 3 of everything. She got a few odd items they thought neither one of us would have already.