Money-Saving Tips from Tibs and Shell

[energizer bunny]

I save money by:

Drinking nothing but tap water almost all of the time.

Same here. And by not having a car. Not having a credit card. Booking flights well in advance. Cooking as oppose to eating out. And by staying healthy. Haven't been to a doctor since 2006 and haven't been to a dentist since 2004. And no, i don't have bad breath.   My teeth and body is healthy.

[account_inactive]

I save money by:

Drinking nothing but tap water almost all of the time.

Same here. And by not having a car. Not having a credit card. Booking flights well in advance. Cooking as oppose to eating out. And by staying healthy. Haven't been to a doctor since 2006 and haven't been to a dentist since 2004. And no, i don't have bad breath.   My teeth and body is healthy.

Um, you should still go for checkups though.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

If your credit is good enough (in the UK) you can actually get zero interest cards on balances up to £5k so long as you repay a minimum amount each year.

I'd never recommend borrowing for borrowin's sake but debt is cheap at the moment, and if you need a new appliance because one has broken or whatever, a zero or even low interest credit card is much, much cheaper than a small loan from a bank or building society. A a hell of a lot cheaper than car finance loans (if you're buying a car, say). I had a zero interest credit card for 3 years on balances up to 5k with M&S / HSBC.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

Pay cash when you can for new automobiles. Paying interest on something that depreciates instantly, do the math.

Another way to look at this: don't buy a car unless it's at least three years old.  It will have lost considerable value within the first three/four years but should still be in good/great shape.  For luxury cars that rule is more like six-to-eight years.

Also... I don't have a budget-- I keep a ledger.  Instead of planning my spending beforehand, I track it as I go.  Looking at my ledger tells me how much I'm actually spending on stuff, including stuff I need (food, mortgage, utilities) and stuff I can do without (entertainment, miscellaneous items).  Knowing where my money is really going is a great help in figuring out where to cut back.

This accountant approves. Never, ever buy new cars. The depreciation in a new vehicle is beyond a joke, far more than almost any other asset I can think of. Second hand is the way to go. You still lose money, but you lose a lot less. And never go for finance if you can afford cash. PCP and HP finance deals are always without exception some of the worst finance rates on the market. If you have to borrow, try a bank first or the credit card thing I mentioned above.

[Joods]

I'm cheap with the heat too. Tibby splurges on that. To be fair, we live in New England. He's not a polar bear yet.

For some reason I thought you guys lived out in Arizona or somewhere like that.

We are frugal on our heat as well. The kids have five blankets each on their beds in the winter and we don't touch the thermostat. It is kept at 67 degrees throughout the year. Rob is a damn oven so he provides all the heat we need lol. Besides, I get hot flashes due to being peri-menopausal since I was 40. I keep a Wind machine running on my side of the bed all year long.

For my savings tips:

Feeding a family of five, we find it cheaper to shop at Sam's club. We also use ebates. I've had an account with them for over five years now. I can shop at Sam's through the ebates button on my browser, have them pull what's on my list for me. All I have to do is go in, pick up the cart and pay. In and out in five to ten minutes and I stick to what's on my list and shop from home. It doesn't cost anything extra for this service either.

There are items I won't buy from there such as cereal because I can get that cheaper at our local grocery outlets here. But for meats, I find their prices to be far better than even Walmart. I use 90% lean ground beef. The local supermarket chain, Giant, sells that for $5.99 per pound. I can get the same 90% lean ground beef at Sam's for $3.99 per pound, saving me $2.00 a pound on the good stuff. Chicken is the same way. I can get the better quality, boneless skinless chicken for $2 & $3 less per pound by getting it at Sam's.

Also, we don't use prepackaged or processed foods. We make 95% of what we need, from scratch. So buying staples such as rice, flour, sugar, spices, butter, eggs, meats, etc in bulk at Sam's saves us money.

Also, because I'm a cosmetology student, knowing what I know about shampoos, conditioners etc, I no longer buy those from the store. I get them from my school's salon. Because a student, I get a 30% discount off all products, which is sweet because I get better quality items for the same price as the cheap crap at Walmart. My bathrooms are stocked with back bar sizes of what the school uses in their dispensary. As long as the school is willing to sell me the larger sizes, and I can useu discount, I'll buy what I need, there.

That said, I can also shop at places the public can't. So I get discounts from places like Salon Centric or Cosmoprof for professional products. Those places always have sales too. I recently got 14 different colors from the Joico Intensity line. Normally, each tube of color would cost $6.85, but they had a sale of 2 for 10. I bought in bulk and saved a ton. I'll make my money back big time.

Each tube can yield me three bowls of color. If I charge for a color service starting at $65, each additional bowl of color needed would be another $20 per bowl. And that's cheap! Consider your typical salon charges out the ass for fashion colors, you could end up spending well over $200 just to have three different colors in your hair.

Keep in mind you aren't just paying for product. You are paying for your stylists time and talent too. Some stylists in New York, for example, charge over $200 an hour for their services, no matter what you want done.

I think I got in the right business. Plus, anything I buy for my trade is tax deductible.

[brewer]

Pay cash when you can for new automobiles. Paying interest on something that depreciates instantly, do the math.

Another way to look at this: don't buy a car unless it's at least three years old.  It will have lost considerable value within the first three/four years but should still be in good/great shape.  For luxury cars that rule is more like six-to-eight years.

Also... I don't have a budget-- I keep a ledger.  Instead of planning my spending beforehand, I track it as I go.  Looking at my ledger tells me how much I'm actually spending on stuff, including stuff I need (food, mortgage, utilities) and stuff I can do without (entertainment, miscellaneous items).  Knowing where my money is really going is a great help in figuring out where to cut back.

When you buy used cars where do you usually buy them from?

[pocaracas]

Thermostats... You guys are funny.
The only thing in my place with a thermostat is the oven.
When it gets cold we wear sweaters and warm robes. When it gets a bit too cold, we turn on a heater in the particular room that we're in... Sucks when you have to go to the bathroom
A heating system that keeps the whole house at a particular temperature seems to be a bit of a waste... But I admit it is comfy. Comfort comes at a cost.

As for cooling off, it can be a pain, but in my place there is a window on the East side and all others are on the West side... Open one in either side and air flows, cooling everywhere it passes. On top of that, we use external blinds that can filter out most sun light and still let air through, helping a bit more in preventing warming up the place.

If you have lots of kids, buy a hair trimmer and do it to them yourself. At 8€ a head, that trimmer pays for itself in less than 4 months. Don't cut your own hair...

Invest in a good set of tools and fix and maintain the stuff around your home. No need to call a plumber to exchange a faucet or just replace a part that is making it leak.
YouTube helps if you're unsure about how things work.

In electronics, research is the main word. But don't overdo it or you'll end up not buying anything, because the next best thing is always just around the corner. I never go for the latest and shiniest gadgets, because you'll be paying a premium for the novelty.
Also, don't go for the cheapest crap. It's not worth the frustration that comes afterward.

My main advice is to look at the expected duration of what you're buying and see if it's worth the price per year.
From light bulbs, to furniture, to clothing.
Some time ago, I bought a pouch for my keys, it cost something like 3€. Lasted 3 years. Then I got a damn good one for 30€... 3 years later, it's still looking like new... But it should last 30 years, if it's going to be worth it. (Of course, the time you spend looking for a replacement should also get factored in). I took a gamble here...but I hope it will pay off.

[Pat Mustard]

Another way to look at this: don't buy a car unless it's at least three years old.  It will have lost considerable value within the first three/four years but should still be in good/great shape.  For luxury cars that rule is more like six-to-eight years.

Also... I don't have a budget-- I keep a ledger.  Instead of planning my spending beforehand, I track it as I go.  Looking at my ledger tells me how much I'm actually spending on stuff, including stuff I need (food, mortgage, utilities) and stuff I can do without (entertainment, miscellaneous items).  Knowing where my money is really going is a great help in figuring out where to cut back.

This accountant approves. Never, ever buy new cars. The depreciation in a new vehicle is beyond a joke, far more than almost any other asset I can think of. Second hand is the way to go. You still lose money, but you lose a lot less. And never go for finance if you can afford cash. PCP and HP finance deals are always without exception some of the worst finance rates on the market. If you have to borrow, try a bank first or the credit card thing I mentioned above.

That depends. I bought a new car this year (for €11,000), and I'm not worried about the depreciation because I'm expecting the next ten years out of it, which will happen if I mind my car and my driving.

A new car is worth it if you expect to keep it.

[Tonus]

When you buy used cars where do you usually buy them from?

The two I bought were from a local dealer in NYC.

[brewer]

When you buy used cars where do you usually buy them from?

The two I bought were from a local dealer in NYC.

Was it from a dealership (i.e. Ford/Chevy/Toyota) or just a used car dealer?