Tips on Frugal Living

[kimshaw1106]

Originally Posted by jojoshort

Ok, kinda crazy, but I read somewhere earlier on this post about saving on shaving cream by using conditioner.

Soooo, tonight I took the challenge! On the right leg, used that really nice Skintimate cream. On the left leg, a bit of Tressame conditioner.

Both legs were shaved using the new Schick Quattro razor (awesome razor).

The result?

NO DIFFERENCE!

The only thing I suggest is that you really rinse the conditioner off well.

OK, I'm a human guinea pig ! Guess I'll be saving my pennies by not paying for shave cream (unless I feel a splurge coming on--I do like that Skintimate)

Walgreens has them on sale for 1.99 with 1.00RR and there is a coupon for them cause I got the edge one for 1.99 got the 1 RR and Had a $1 q...

So I had 2 q's so I got two of them...Had my daughter get one seems she uses it too..

[kimshaw1106]

OMG I got the light bill in it was over 100. I told hubby once again we are going to make sure things are unplugged when not being used. He doesnt still see how things plugged in when off still uses the electricity. I said cause something is still in it so it isnt showing a way to stop the juice. Instead of uplugging the chargers from the powerstrips I just turned them off. I cant go and unplug all those surge boxes so I can at least do that..if that is going to work..I guess I am going to have to go back and read my frugal sites and find more ways.....OH BOY....

[jojoshort]

I feel your pain. DD is home from college, and so I seem to be the only one in the household really concerned with shutting everything off. Came home the othe day to all the cellar lights on, warm sunny day and all the windows closed, TV not turned off at the power strip...arrrgh

[kimshaw1106]

well as I sit right now. WE have the tv and system on course we are watching a movie, the fan,a fan in my room,the celing fan in kitchen and another fan. OF course the puters. But no lights on. I started shutting the powerstrips off. Instead of unplugging them I just flick the switch. Is that going to work a bit better? I hope so. I am even thinking of unplugging the washer when not in use and the microwave. Toaster and coffee pot unplugged. Heck maybe I should unplug the dryer that way dd wont use it when she does laundry lol.

[janniwanni54]

I do a lot of the same things everyone else has already mentioned.

I work outside the home, so one thing I always do is pack a lunch. I heard somewhere that packing a lunch every day instead of eating out can save you $2000.00 a year. Plus I think it's healthier for you.

Since I work in a larger city than where I live, I try to combine some of my errands that I need to do there, after work to save on gas. I always buy my gas at Kroger's because I get a 20 cent per gallon discount for every $50 I spend there, so we usually always get the discount.

If I need something, I try to borrow it first. If no one else has one, I'll try a thrift store, then a rental store, and last I'll buy it but only if I really need it. And then I'll wait for a sale if I can. Also, Freecycle is a great asset for finding things you need, or getting rid of things you don't.

[jmitteer]

Our goal for the last year has been trying to reduce our gas, electric and water bill. Every little thing adds up. Considering the electric has been going up, our electric bill is still lower than last year. Our electric bill is around $40 and the average in our area is three times that. We have changed ALL of our light bulbs in the house. We changed all the windows. We bought an attic fan so we do not have to run the air conditioner much in the summer. That has already paid for itself. We bought a tankless water heater. You have to make sure you get the right size. This has been working out great. We bought a front loader washer. You immediately see a decrease in your water bill. We are looking at buying a new fridge. If I remember this correctly, if your fridge is 95' or older it is not very energy efficient. I know ours is not that energy efficient.
This week we are at looking at getting solar. There are many rebates out there right now. We would like to get solar before the energy bill gets out of hand.
I am also a big recycle freak. I recycle about anything that can be recycled. I have a can in the garage that I put any metal that can not be recycled. We take that to a scrap yard. They then can recycle it. There is never enough to get any money for. There is also this website I use that tells you were you can recycle stuff in your area. The website is Earth911.com. I found the other day where you can send your old VHS tapes. The company employs people with disabilities and they send you a receipt.
There were many other ideas that I did not think about that previous people mentioned. Thanks for the ideas!!!!

[kimshaw1106]

I like that link earth911 I booked marked it great site. Anyway a friend of dh's came over and said that unplugging things is a bunch of bull as far as saving money on lights. He says get the bulbs which helps. I agree with that but I told him about unplugging and he goes NOPE. So guess what. Hubby goes I TOLD YOU SO..I said ok well then stop complaining about the light bill...WHY ARE THEY SO STUBBORN?

[mnm'z]

Ironically Kim, Oprah had a woman on her show a while back and her electric bill was cut by more than half because of her unplugging anything not in use. Does this friend of DH have a degree in electrical savings? How does he know it doesn't work? Yes, I have my sarcasm hat on (not to you Kim )

I do not do this with everything. I like that my microwave has the clock on it and I like to see it when I walk into the kitchen. I like that my alarm clock doesn't have to be reset every day, I like my Glade plug-ins plugged in. And, most important, I like that my Bunn coffee maker is plugged in and has hot water for me when I want my coffee in 3 minutes. I know that this is not being very green, but I am doing other things. I do cut down on anything and everything I possibly can, but I'll go so far with it.

[clp8904]

We changes all our bulbs to the energy efficient ones, and I started unplugged things we did not use on a daily basis. I do unplug my microwave after every use but I have a clock on my stove and I don't unplug that. I also started turning off ceiling fans if we are not in the room. I did not see a drastic drop but here is an example.
I live in Florida, temps are getting into the 90's already. My friend at work got her bill and it had went up $90, mine went down $11. Another thing adding to her higher bill is they do not change their a/c filters monthly. And unplugging things in Florida will not only help your bill, but will save them during our thunderstorms if you have a power surge. Which is very likely here...........

[jmitteer]

There is a savings when you unplug everything that you can. Especially, they say if you plug your computer up to a power switch and turn it off that way. And the same with your entertainment center. A lot of things are still on even if you turn them off. Especially, when you change to enery efficient appliances.