Ways to save money

[alajen]

Only if you meet him taking the bus because his other car is "in the shop".

Do the rich guys with real BMWs get this credit too?

[Young_Freebie]

Some of the Sobeys have new containers for the deli. They can be reused a few times before being thrown out... just a warning though... NOT dishwasher safe.

If you need to save money on software, then PMing me might be a wise move. I've found lots of free software, the only free thing I haven't found yet... is burning software.

Speaking of software, sometimes companies that sell PCs will also sell the OEMs or the CDs used to put the programs on the machines. While they may not have as many features as a full priced edition, it still saves you money if it has the features you need!

This isn't a new one, but go to yard sales and flea markets, they often have items that work and are willing to haggle with prices as they are trying to get rid of things. A word to the anime fans though: Don't expect people to be as willing, anime is harder to come by then most other types of entertainment. If buying CDs or DVDs or even game disks, make sure they aren't scratched to heck and back, as these too are common.

[IreneWpg]

Dollarama.....Everything in there is $1. I love that place. You can find great bargains there, like picture frames for $1.

[Prue]

Thanks for all the great tips everyone. The only one I have is that I reuse little bottles like the ones from the Mario Badescu by transfering products from larger bottles into them for when I'm on the go. They are a great size to just throw in your purse rather than carrying around a bottle of lotion!

[bcteagirl]

Good tip!

[Glo_Majada]

This might sound silly but it happends to people..

Completly undestanding your bank account.. when and what you charged for, in the month cycle.

Paying bills on time. Oh-man I can't stand paying late charges.


This is kind of a way to make money.. Every year I have 2 yard sales in the summer, and spring. The summer is a big 50 mile yardsale event. That money pays for my summer vacation. You would be surprised at the junk you have at home that people are wiling to pay for. I put clothing in a bag and mark the size and sell the whole garbage bag for $ 10. Last year I made $500 from the first yard-sale.

[Kate]

Following the lines of knowing your bank account...

- If you are a full-time college/university student you can get large discounts on your bank fees. The plan I'm with at TD is normally $8.95 and since I'm a student it only costs me $3.45.

- If you are going to use your bank account a lot upgrade your banking plan. It's better to pay $12.95 in bank fees for an unlimited account, then to pay like $20 in transaction charges.

[Boo Radley]

Following the lines of knowing your bank account...

- If you are a full-time college/university student you can get large discounts on your bank fees. The plan I'm with at TD is normally $8.95 and since I'm a student it only costs me $3.45.

- If you are going to use your bank account a lot upgrade your banking plan. It's better to pay $12.95 in bank fees for an unlimited account, then to pay like $20 in transaction charges.

or use PC Financial and pay $0 in banking fees

[blistex]

Following the lines of knowing your bank account...

- If you are a full-time college/university student you can get large discounts on your bank fees. The plan I'm with at TD is normally $8.95 and since I'm a student it only costs me $3.45.

- If you are going to use your bank account a lot upgrade your banking plan. It's better to pay $12.95 in bank fees for an unlimited account, then to pay like $20 in transaction charges.

yah PC is the wayy to go unless your TD bank can offer you something else!

[Kate]

yah PC is the wayy to go unless your TD bank can offer you something else!

Yeah, I get a real bank (brick and mortar) with TD. I like having a person to talk to if I need to.

[Boo Radley]

Yeah, I get a real bank (brick and mortar) with TD. I like having a person to talk to if I need to.

would have to agree on this one too

[Young_Freebie]

Sometimes there are free SEALED samples at musuems >.> My mom got three free samples of ABC Detergent (we use it normally) at the Musuem of Natural History in Nova Scotia.

[docbosh]

Some of those are some really great ideas. Though I have to check in on the turn the heat down to ten at night, it's the super heating before hand that might be a problem. It is possible while you think you are saving here bcteagirl, I'm not sure you are.

Californians had the same thing when they did these rolling brown outs to save electricity. The trouble was that everybody started recharging all their rechargeable devices before the brown out. The spike before the power being off negated the supposed savings on use.

And your home is not insulated from itself, so heat from other rooms leaks in, while cooler air moves out. I have been assured by an electrician that it is most energy efficient to maintain a fairly even temperature, wild swings in home temperature, causes a see-saw effect. It is especially bad when electric heaters first go on, there is a spike there. Suffice to say, most electric companies in Canada have programs to replace standard thermostats with electronic ones, they say you can save %15 off your heating bill.

The factory setting on most electric water tanks is 140 F by default, not only is that dangerous, it can cause burns in as little as 5 seconds, but it is really a waste of electricity 120 F is perfectly good. Most tanks have 2 thermostats that would require being, lower, you can do it yourself, with a couple of screw drivers, turn off the breakers first. Water heating accounts for 30% of your electricity.

If you are luck enough to have a natural gas line in your house, you could try switching to a gas heated tankless water on demand system. Water on demand is awesome, but not so much with electricity. Electric versions run at 22kwh, where as your regular water tank consumer about the same over a one day period, net savings are negligible if any. It will depend on water usage in your home.

I'm also not certain what you save buying meat fresh on sale to store it in a freezer. It might work so long as you don't over store it, as at some point the cost to keep it frozen will surpass the savings you made purchasing it on sale. I'm not suggesting that you end up at the super market everyday; it's not a problem for me, since I'm 200m from one. I'd try and menu plan around items on sale that week. Short term freezing is OK, and you don't need to own a behemoth freezer taking up valuable floor space in your home.

I've also heard some people suggest once a week buying paper plates and throwing them out to avoid using the dish washer every day. I'm not sure what paper plates you can use that cost on 37 cents, but that is the average cost to run a load...

Here are a few more ... Purloined from some other blog. There are some funny misconceptions about energy use.

· Light bulbs are relatively cheap. Run a 22-watt fluorescent bulb all day and it'll cost you 6 cents. A 100-watt incandescent bulb costs 29 cents for the whole day.

· Heat up the home with a central furnace for 10 hours. In the San Francisco Bay Area that would run you $12.29

· Likewise, want to cool the house during summer? Run a central air-conditioner 4-ton unit and it'll cost you 66 cents for an hour. Or use the ceiling fan instead for five days continuously at the same cost.

· Do a load of laundry with a gas-heated water, wash and rinse on cold - 5 cents a load. Use a warm/cold wash -- 9 cents a load. Hot/warm water -- 20 cents per load. Gas is cheaper than electric-heated water.

· Clean the dishes. Run the dishwasher with electric heated water - 37 cents. Gas heated water --16 cents. Run the cycle with "energy saver" -- save 2 cents in both cases.

· Make yourself a cup of Joe -- 2 cents to run the coffee maker.

· Have some waffles -- 5 cents for the toaster.

· 15-cubic-foot refrigerator, pre-1992 model -- $19.50 a month. Post-1992 model -- $11.70 a month.

· Heat leftovers for 10 minutes in the microwave -- 3 pennies.

· Entertainment is cheap. Watch 10 hours of television, on a 27-inch set, for 11 cents. Ten hours of movie watching on the VCR will only set you back 2 cents. Listen to the stereo for 10 hours -- 6 cents.

· Blow your hair dry. That'll cost you a nickel. A dime to vacuum the house.

· More good news -- a computer is about a penny an hour. The printer -- in use -- is around 2 cents for the hour.

Buy items on sale, but only items that you need. It's nice to buy a big bag of chips for a buck, but if you didn't need them, then haven't you wasted a buck.

[docbosh]

I try to pay the least I can to banks and credit card companies.

If the bank offers free banking if you maintain a minimum daily balance, try to take advantage of it, if possible... AT CIBC it's $1,500... If you can't then purchase package of transactions, buy for the amount of use you have, they often have many packages to chose from. In some cases you can do a blend of a minimum daily balance and package, it will depend on your bank, I am unaware if the CIBC offers this.

Once again, try to pay off your credit cards in full every month, as tempting as it is, paying just the mimimum will have you paying the most to service the debt. There is also carry over onto your next balance for the whole amount of your previous balance, not just the amount that remains unpaid. If you do pay it off every month, then get yourself a fidelity card, that doesn't have a fee, and take advantage of the points that can be exchanged for goods.

If you can get a PLC (personal line of creidt) they offer some of the best rates for borrowing, better than the credit card rates, if need be transfer funds from your PLC to pay your credit card, it will cost less to finance.

Here was a little trick I came up with. After my daughter was born, we set up an account, all large sums of money we receive for her go in there, including the family allowance from the Feds. It has grown to have more funds than I have. My wife wanted to max out her RRSP contiribution, rather taking out an RRSP loan that she'd pay back after her tax return from a financial institution, she took out a loan from our daugthers account, and she paid back to account the same she would have to the bank, only it goes into our daughters funds. That one takes a bit of discipline, it could be to easy not to pay everything back or not pay any interest on the amount borrowed.

Also don't take books back to the library late, don't return videos to the video store late. Late fees can be small but it you do it all the time it begins to add up.

[bcteagirl]

Great tips! I just have the smaller sized deep freeze, not a big huge one.. no real control over what is used to heat the place, since I live in an apt...so electric.. does allow me to turn off heat in any rooms I am not in. I only 'superheat' when it is really cold, usually just turn off otherwise.. and by superheat I mean 22C (since I usually heat to about 18 lol ).