[ameeker]

We do so many things to save money I hardly know where to begin. We shut off all the lights - all the time. Our house has fairly light colored walls for just that reason, so the light coming in the windows reflects off the walls keeping the rooms bright enough by day that the lights can be off. Almost all the light bulbs in the house are CF's now, and it's actually is noticeable on the electric bill. We also try to keep things not in use unplugged, and use timers on things like the Christmas tree lights etc.

We've added lots of insulation to the attic, plus we also gutted the house 10 years back and put new insulation EVERYWHERE. That alone cut the winter heat bills by more than half. We're also on the budget plan with the utility companies, so we never get a big fat surprise in the winter. We also have a programmable thermostat and keep this house pretty chilly at night, it also dips below 65 during the afternoon when the baby is napping and it's just me awake and wandering around. I can do 67 no problem, but 65 requires another layer of clothing and a physical activity.

We bought storm windows for all the windows in the house. They were $42 each, but have saved us several times more than that since we installed them. We have a very old house and instead of replacing the windows (a very expensive option) we reconstructed the old ones and put storms on the outside to protect them and keep the cold out better. The storm windows cost about $1,000 give or take. New windows throughout would have been $20,000. We have lots of big windows, and every last one of them would have been custom made.

We only use an interest free credit card. My DH travels for work and sometimes racks up sizable bills with that. At one point we realized that we sometimes ended up paying $100/month in interest for his work related expenses, just because it sometimes take 5-6 weeks to get the reimbursement check. So now we have a 0 interest credit card, when the 0 interest period expires, we cancel it and get a new one. And since he travels for work, he has memberships to Hertz, Marriott Hotels and 2 different Frequent Flyer clubs. That way when he travels we build up points for free flights, free hotel nights and free rental cars. We also are famous for staying with friends and relatives for a night or two, once we reach a destination. That saves a heap of money.

For media/communication we have a bundle package with the cable/phone company. We pay around $100/month for phone, long distance, cable and internet. It might go up as we received a notice that our cable company just filed chapter 11. But we'll have to wait and see on that one. I get my cell phone through DH's office discount, we pay the bill on it, but it's at a 10-15% savings.

We pay an extra $50 each month on our house payment. This will save us 10 years on our mortgage and maybe 20-30K in interest. We also pay our own property taxes (so we earn the interest on it) and made sure we have a 20% downpayment on the house so we don't have to pay PMI, which was $35/month for NOTHING. Same plan going on the student loan, and extra $50/month and refinanced to the lowest possible interest rate.

I do a great deal of cooking. In fact my own personal motto is "cook once, eat twice". So I always overcook, and count on leftovers for at least one day a week (Saturday is usually my day off from the kitchen). Typically I can make all three meals for my family any given day for about $7. I try to keep it at this number (or less), so occasionally if we want to splurge and go out to dinner or buy sirloin, it's not a big problem. I also try very hard not to throw food away. This takes routine inventory of the refrigerator and pantry, but it saves HUGE amounts of money. I HATE cleaning out the frige, but I just keep saying to myself "waste not, want not", which seems to help me.

Currently considering getting rid of curbside garbage pick-up, or sharing a service with the neighbors. We recycle and/or compost almost everything. The only thing going in the curb cart is cellophane wrapping and card board boxes. Our local recycling station doesn't take card board, and we have too much to compost.

We also have a garden in the summer and can/freeze/dry anything that comes out of that dirt. We also have a cow, he name is Cornelia, she's due any minute and ever since she got into the corn last summer I've been shaking my fist at her and threatening to eat either her or her children. I can almost taste that steak now. Currently considering getting a new more efficient deep freeze. The old one works great, but it's small for a family of 5 and is probably not as efficient as some of the newer models. I've been setting money aside each week, and will wait until the model I want and the cash stash are equal before I spring this on the DH. He resists large purchases, it's his nature.

I've also gone to bathing the children (and sometimes myself) every other day. We also wear our pj's two nights instead of one. This saves us on average 1-2 loads of laundry and about 40-50 gallons of water each week. Sounds silly that something so trivial could add up so quickly. In the summer it's a little different, since everybody gets a lot sweatier, but in colder weather it's totally fine. In the summer I just have the kids wash the chlorine off if they've been in the pool all day.

Oh, one other thing, we put the kids savings account money in CD's. That way it earns interest, and when the rollover comes around every 7-8 months or so, we add in whatever they've managed to save in their accounts to the next CD. I can't believe how much they've made just in interest, like $50 for each $500 in the account. It's a bit of a hassle, but well worth it. We do this with our tax return every year too and when it cashes out in December, we use the extra to help cover Christmas. Savings bonds can be good too, but they take a long time to mature, where CD's earn less but turn around faster.

I could go on and on, but it's long and boring enough.