Ways to save money

[brunt]

Why not just add more insulation to the outside of our plugged-in freezers? Styrofoam panels could be stuck on the top, sides and front, and part of the back of the freezer, with double-faced tape. Even a couple of thick comforters piled over the top of the freezer would cut down on the number of times the compressor has to cut in to keep the contents frozen.

We do the comforter thing when the power goes out.

One thing to be careful about, you should not put insulation around the coils. These get hot, very hot. This heat is a combination of the heat taken out of the freezer plus the heat created by the motor and such. This metal has to dissipate the heat or you will eventually get a hotter and hotter area, and your freezer will have to work harder.

[Valiant]

Where are the coils, 'brunt'?
I thought the only thing I had to watch out for was the little square opening on the back of my freezer which has humming parts. (I really don't know what a compressor is; I just thought I'd name them that.)
Feeling the sides of my freezer, I know that some parts are icy cold and some parts warmer, so are those warm parts here and there inside the insulated walls of the freezer the coils? If so, I have no idea what I'm doing if I try to cover the freezer when the power is on, that could be trouble if I'm accidentally covering the coils; but if I cover the freezer when the power is off, the coils are inoperative, so no problem; unless the power comes back on, and the coils are still covered and then there's trouble with them over-heating.

Maybe I'll just move to the tundra, dig a hole in the permafrost, and make a cairn over the top as a marker. It's just so much simpler.

[brunt]

Where are the coils, 'brunt'?
I thought the only thing I had to watch out for was the little square opening on the back of my freezer which has humming parts. (I really don't know what a compressor is; I just thought I'd name them that.)
Feeling the sides of my freezer, I know that some parts are icy cold and some parts warmer, so are those warm parts here and there inside the insulated walls of the freezer the coils? If so, I have no idea what I'm doing if I try to cover the freezer when the power is on, that could be trouble if I'm accidentally covering the coils; but if I cover the freezer when the power is off, the coils are inoperative, so no problem; unless the power comes back on, and the coils are still covered and then there's trouble with them over-heating.

Maybe I'll just move to the tundra, dig a hole in the permafrost, and make a cairn over the top as a marker. It's just so much simpler.

The older fridges and freezers used to have the coils exposed. They were usually black, and on the back. They could actually burn your fingers if you touched them at the wrong time.

Due to the dust problem that I mentioned, most manufacturers cover them over now. But unfortunately, this makes it difficult to figure out what you can cover if you want to put some extra insulation on.

My rule of thumb is that it is OK to cover the front, top and two sides with a comforter when the power is off. (Of course you could do this too when the power is on, I just don't think that it is worth the effort).

[Cheap]

This may be a trivial question, but Bell Canada charges money for tone as opposed to pulse dial access on a person's phone bill. I know that it is only a dollar or two each month, but could a person tell Bell that they only want pulse dial tone and then turn the switch on their telephone to tone to access a tone dial tone?

[Valiant]

Thanks for posting all of this freezer info, Brunt. Glad to have you here with your knowledge base.
Knowledge is power; and saving money on power is money, now that I know how and have knowledge from the powers-that-be.
(But can you figure out what I just said???)

[Tatjana]

This may be a trivial question, but Bell Canada charges money for tone as opposed to pulse dial access on a person's phone bill. I know that it is only a dollar or two each month, but could a person tell Bell that they only want pulse dial tone and then turn the switch on their telephone to tone to access a tone dial tone?

is mts the same as bell canada? because we got a new phone (same as the one before) and this one has pulse instead of a dial tone, but i think i just havnt set it to dial yet.

[Prairie girl]

is mts the same as bell canada? because we got a new phone (same as the one before) and this one has pulse instead of a dial tone, but i think i just havnt set it to dial yet.

I've never heard of that or seen such a charge on my phone bill...I've been with MTS since forever.

[scrapbookingoasis]

This may be a trivial question, but Bell Canada charges money for tone as opposed to pulse dial access on a person's phone bill. I know that it is only a dollar or two each month, but could a person tell Bell that they only want pulse dial tone and then turn the switch on their telephone to tone to access a tone dial tone?

my husband's parents have pulse (with regular phones) ...takes forever to dial...if you switch it to 'tone' on the phone you would still have pulse dialing.

[SavingMentor]

I couldn't possibly read the whole thread in one sitting, so hopefully these aren't repeats. I noticed a lot of people talking about phones so I have some suggestions there.

I suggestion getting VoIP somehow at home. Most everybody reading this would already have high speed internet. You should leverage that to decrease your phone bill. The easiest VoIP options are Skype and Google Voice.

First Skype. It costs 2.99 per month for unlimited long distance anywhere in Canada and the USA and you can buy a skype adapter off ebay for about 20 bucks to hook up any regular phone (including a multi-set cordless phone system) to Skype and make all your outgoing calls for almost nothing. Unfortunately they don't offer incoming Canadian numbers yet but you can get an American one if you want so people can still call you using a regular phone. To get around this, I would combine it with a cheap prepaid cell phone with free caller ID and voice mail so you can still receive calls when necessary and call people back when it isn't that important.

Google Voice is a completely free option but I'm not sure if it is 100% available to Canadians yet. They are starting to integrate it into gmail and the computer. You can also use it with your cell phone for unlimited free long distance or with your home phone for unlimited free long distance. I don't think you can currently hook up an adapter to your computer with Google Voice yet to use it all the time.

Services like MagicJack are another option. You pay one time to buy a piece of hardware that you plug into your computer and that includes a phone number and unlimited calling and long distance FOR LIFE. Reasonably priced, easy to use, and I've heard that it works really well.

Finally, there is traditional VoIP. I am much less experienced with this, but I know some people pretty much buy the right kind of adapter, pay a one time fee for a phone number, and then pretty much get an unlimited free phone for life. The other options are so cheap and convenient that it wasn't worth my time to fully understand how it all works.

[brunt]

<snip>
Services like MagicJack are another option. You pay one time to buy a piece of hardware that you plug into your computer and that includes a phone number and unlimited calling and long distance FOR LIFE. Reasonably priced, easy to use, and I've heard that it works really well.
<snip>

I have been a happy customer of MagicJack for about a year now.</snip></snip> $20 for the adapter.<snip><snip> $20 per year for unlimited long distance throughout North America. You can get 5 years for $70.

Another interesting thing is that I was able to choose my area code, so I chose mine to be in Pennsylvania where my co-workers reside. Now, I am a local call from them, and you cannot tell from my number that I am actually located in Canada.

It also works when I am on the road, so my number works wherever I am.

Great quality calls. The only thing that you have to get used to is a slight delay when talking. The first couple of times that you use it, you will find that you and your other party will both be talking at the same time. You get used to it really quickly though.

It is also nice to receive my voice messages in my email so that when I am literally on the road, I can stop in a McDonalds and get my messages.</snip></snip>

[pbieganski]

If you are being charged for having tone dialing instead of pulse aask to be put back to pulse.
Saves you a few bucks a month and the phone company normally 95% of the time would not physically make a change since it would take time and a human to flip the switch to pulse.

Again your milage may vary but I am pretty confident that tone will work on a pulse line.

Peter
Evil Genius
Observe Analyze
Adapt & Evolve

[pankaj]

It will take a little work on your part but those thousands of dollars in savings are what helped us get out of debt earlier, kept us out of debt for several years and will hopefully help us pay off our recent auto loan soon as well.

[pankaj]

because we got a new phone (same as the one before) and this one has pulse instead of a dial tone, but i think i just havnt set it to dial yet.

[drusilla]

i think cutting your hair saves money LOL i recently cut mine and i use hardly any hair products.

[pankaj]

I also started saving a few dollars a week (at least) by hanging smaller items- off the shower, 2 racks across the tub, towel rack, shelves, chairs, stools and doorknobs.. and one towel on top of the vacumn cleane