Monday, November 17, 2008

Save Yourself Some BIG Bucks

Accountant Yup, I don't have anything to sell but I thought I'd tell you how I managed to save a little money.
I saved $1784 a year on my phone bill. (sounds like one of those email scams, right?) Here's what I did... I called the phone company and cancelled the "special plan" that gave me Caller ID and other features that I never used. I liked Caller ID but I have an answering machine and if anyone wants me to know they called, they can leave their name and number. Then I cancelled Inside Repairs...which I've NEVER used, EVER! I also cancelled Long distance. After all I talk to my kids and my grandkids all the time on IM and by email and we share tons of pictures. My monthly bill went from $91.20 a month to $28.03 .

BTW, I do still have long distance, I went to Google and typed in the words "cheap long distance" and found a service for $ 0.02 a minute. This month's bill was $6. Last month's bill was $2.50.
To sign up for my old land line long distance I had to pay a montly fee to get $0.05 cents a minute so I had an additional monthly fee tacked onto the bill. This new service doesn't have a monthly fee, just plain old long distance, I dial a number (1-area code and number) just like I used to and get who I want to talk to. BTW, the prices I paid for LD included tax.

Second thing I did was fill my SUV's tires with Nitrogen. Now my tire pressure stays the same whether its cold outside or hot outside, always the same pressure. If you have an accident that causes a fire, Nitrogen won't burn like oxygen does (so the car guy told me). If I get a flat I can fill the tire with air until I can get back to the Nitrogen guy. If its just a little low, a little bit of air won't hurt. My gas mileage went from 19.5 MPG to 21 MPG. I know exactly how much my MPG is because my car has a button I can push to see it. Fabulous!!!!

I got rid of that extra stuff on my cell phone and now I have a basic plan. I loved to surf the net while I was sitting in a dentist office waiting but its not worth the cost. My cell phone bill went from $90-to $100+ a month to $39.00 a month. $1080 saved (@$90 a month) now $468 a year.

Since I live alone, I don't got to the store if I run out of milk. I wait till I have an appointment or more than 1 thing to do in town and do my shopping. I keep a growing grocery list on the counter and grab it as I go out the door. Everything gets done all at once. Bonus is, I have more time to stay home and play with my knitting machines AND I've saved myself some gas.

If you have some ideas on how to save money, send me a comment so everyone can share it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Get rid of Netflix and Blockbuster. Go to your public library and you can rent movies and all sorts of stuff for free!