Money-saving tips!

[Wishes]

This is the first time I ever owned. Really I would have been better in a condo vs a house. But I have pets (just one old kitty right now) and I was tired of trying to find a place that took my cats. I plan to sell this place in about 5 years, rent for a year or two and then buy a little place in a 55 and older mobile park. Down sizing like that will be financially good for me. And while I will never have a good retirement plan I think I'll be fine. Just not rich.

When my little old girl is gone (I hate the thought) I plan to do some traveling then before I get more kitties.

[serious crayons]

Oh I'm so sorry to hear this. I peeked and saw you are in Chicago. The housing market is slumping and I feel bad for those who bought at the height of the market and now are facing equity loss. I have much less sympathy for those who refinanced the heck out of their house and spent the money on unneeded things.

Thank you, Wishes. What makes it worse is that we bought our new house before selling our old one, thinking the old one would sell fast (back when it wasn't yet clear that the market had shifted). Then our old one DIDN'T sell for months, forcing us to get a mortgage for our new house on really bad terms -- paying about $1,000 a month more than we would with a decent mortgage -- in order to pay for it (we actually tried to back out of the deal on this one, but the previous owner threatened to sue!  ). We had to commit to that bad mortgage for a year. Now the year is long over, and we have to refinance or sell. We don't want to refinance, because we don't want to stay here long enough to make it financially viable. So we're selling -- or at least, we're trying to! I guess I should say we're selling, but so far nobody's buying! 

OK, end of rant. Because the fact is, as I said, we more than doubled our investment in our previous house. You win some, you lose some! 

[Kerry]

If you have a front loader washing machine, use the powder for top loader washing machines, instead of the front loader powder recommended by the manufacturer.

Why, you ask? They're both the same price, so what's the difference?

Well, the top loader powder is stronger (produces more suds) than the front loader powder, so you only use half as much of the top loader powder in front loader machines.

This means you can get twice as many washes from the same amount of wash powder.

I've been doing this ever since getting my front loader machine and it works brilliantly. And my washing is as clean as clean can be! 

Only a modest saving, but every penny counts! 

[Kerry]

Don't use toll roads. You already pay your taxes, so why should you pay more? 

Leave home a little earlier and use the non-toll roads. It takes longer, but if you depart earlier, you will get to your destination at the same time.

For example, I live on the south (city) side of Sydney Harbour but work on the north side. The easiest way for me to get to and from work each day is via the Sydney Harbour Bridge. However, there is a toll on the SHB for all traffic travelling southward (not northward). So when I travel northward to work in the morning, I take the SHB (no toll) and coming back home, southward, in the evening, I travel by the non-toll Gladesville Bridge. It's a slightly longer journey, but I avoid the toll.

I know what you're thinking - I pay just as much on extra petrol for the longer journey as I would on the bridge toll. Well, no, I don't. Though it is slightly longer to drive via the Gladesville Bridge, at least the traffic is moving smoothly all the way, with no stop-start driving, as opposed to the SHB, which is constant stop-start, high petrol consuming driving all the way. And I drive a very fuel-efficient, small car.

By doing this, I save the $3 daily bridge toll! Not a lot, you say? Well, that $3 adds up to a saving of $15 a week and $780 a year! 

For the 14 years I've been living at my present address, that's $10,920!!!  
   

[Kerry]

If your employer offers a salary packaging scheme, I strongly recommend that you contribute to it.

Salary packaging allows me to receive $9,095 of my salary tax free, by associating it with any one of a range of fringe benefits. The fringe benefits may be one's home mortgage or rental payments, private travel, insurance premiums, local government rates, water rates, gas electricity and phone bills, personal loan and credit card payments, school fees and a number of other items.

The benefit to someone participating in a salary packaging scheme is that one's taxable income is reduced, which means you pay less tax.

I contribute to the salary packaging scheme offered by my employer, resulting in an extra $2,500 in my pocket each year! 

[serious crayons]

Salary packaging allows me to receive $9,095 of my salary tax free, by associating it with any one of a range of fringe benefits. The fringe benefits may be one's home mortgage or rental payments, private travel, insurance premiums, local government rates, water rates, gas electricity and phone bills, personal loan and credit card payments, school fees and a number of other items.

Kerry, in the U.S. we have something like that for health care and child care and maybe one or two other things, but I don't think we can apply it to as wide a range of expenses as you've listed here. That sounds nice!

[Penthesilea]

If you have a front loader washing machine, use the powder for top loader washing machines, instead of the front loader powder recommended by the manufacturer.

You have different wash powders for top loaders and front loaders  ? I've never heard of that before.
How about other countries? Americans? Great Britain? Mel?

I always use 3/4 of the amount of powder that is recommended on the package. Laundry gets clean and I produce less pollution for the environment. And like Kerry pointed out, I save some pennies (although that's not the reason why I do it).

[shortfiction]

If you have So Cal Edison, call them and ask for the level pay plan.  You will pay a lot less per month on your energy bill this way.  The catch is that you must let them attach a box to your a/c unit and if there is a flex alert and your household is on the list for that day, they may turn the a/c off for about an hour, but no more than that.   Other states may have something similar.

Get a new fridge that is an Energy Saver.    Get rid of the second fridge and any older appliances.

Shop at Trader Joe's if there are any near you.   They have much better prices on basics like milk, eggs, and cereal than the supermarkets do.

 

[serious crayons]

You have different wash powders for top loaders and front loaders  ? I've never heard of that before.
How about other countries? Americans? Great Britain? Mel?

I always use 3/4 of the amount of powder that is recommended on the package. Laundry gets clean and I produce less pollution for the environment. And like Kerry pointed out, I save some pennies (although that's not the reason why I do it).

I'm not familiar with that, either. Also, I don't recall having even seen a front-loader washing machine. Not that I'm any expert. 

I always use less detergent than recommended, too, both in the laundry and in the dishwasher. I figure the manufacturers want you to use a lot. But I think the amount they call for is hard on the clothes, dishes, environment and wallet.

[Penthesilea]

I'm not familiar with that, either.

I'm relieved to hear that. I began to think I'm living under a rock 

Also, I don't recall having even seen a front-loader washing machine. Not that I'm any expert. 

Front-leaders are far more common in Germany than top-loaders. Mostly people with little space buy the latter, because they're more narrow than front-loaders.



But I still don't see why it should make any difference in regard to the detergent?


Oh, this reminds me of something absolutely bizarre and tasteless, but funny: ever heard of a washing machine cover?