Ways to save money that you know.

[standupright]

You could just not wipe?


Toilet paper in general is very wasteful, expensive, and unclean. I often wonder why America hasn't started using bidets (sp?).

nothing says clean bottom like plain old water.....i mean really, if you were to get **** on your arm, you wouldn't just wash it off with water, or just use a paper towel and go on about your day......

EVERYONE SHOULD USE A COUPLE OF THE POST DEUCE SESSION

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[BobXboB]

Neal Boortz, the radio personality, has a plan where you don't spend your dollars. Use cash more and cards less, and then don't spend any dollar bills. Always use 5's and up. Then put those dollar bills away, and don't touch them. I'm going to be trying this plan.

That's the poor mans saving plan, let your money devalue and not earn interest and not use it to pay off any debt you currently have.

Not using plastic is good advice, the action of actually spending cash money forces us to consider what we're doing more carefully. Many studies have shown putting a purchase on a card makes it easier to spend much more since the physical action is the same regardless of the price and cards are perceived as unlimited.

 

[MatticusMania]

Bottled water is usually more expensive than soda, I have a Brita water filter in the fridge and a few refillable bottles. That knocked off about $700 a year from when I used to drink sodas and has stopped thousands of bottles and cups from going into a landfill.

Likewise, I've been using the same bottle for the last 2 months. I fill it up at work, drink from it during the day, fill it up before I leave and drink it in the car wherever Im going.

 

[BobXboB]

Not to flame you or anything, because this is sound advice, but you must admit the impracticality of the issue. How many people can save up 5k-8k (going low end here) to drop on a decent used car? It would take a LONG time for me to be able to save up that cash, I can only speak for myself.

Again, not disagreeing with ya, if I could I'd pay for my car in cash, forget the personal check! Same applies to a house as well.

If you set your standards to pay 3 or 4k for a used Honda it's easier to reach. Also there is a myth that new cars are cheaper that dealers like to tell.

When buying a new car you should add up all the interest + the extra premiums on your insurance since you have to have comprehensive as part of the loan terms. Then take the amount you take home from your paycheck, not what you earn but what you actually get, and see how many months or years you are working just to pay for that car. That can be startling.

Over insuring things is also a chumps game. Insurance works by charging you much more than the average person would spend to replace what you're insuring. If you can afford to replace something don't insure it. If you mix this with the car advice you can buy and maintain cars for what some people pay just to insure their new expensive cars.

I think we waste so much on cars alone that if we just get that into shape it will outweigh the total of all the little things we can do to save money.

 

[BobXboB]

Likewise, I've been using the same bottle for the last 2 months. I fill it up at work, drink from it during the day, fill it up before I leave and drink it in the car wherever Im going.

That works great too. Those bottles will last months and they're free in any office

We don't tend to think of beverages when we look at how many calories we're eating or how much we're spending. Soda's can be near half the expense of a drive through meal and a good chunk at real restaurants. It's also a large profit margin for restaurants so if we all stop drinking sodas the food price will go up. So encourage your friends to drink them

 

[standupright]

another great way to save money.....if it hasn't already been said.

learn to cook your own meals, stop eating out.

example. i can buy 1 whole chicken instead of buying chicken breasts for around 3 dollars. quarter it when it's raw,, and freeze the quarters individually and have enough for 4 single meals for 1. want chicken and pasta with a nice fra diavola? the pasta + homemade sauce for 4 single meals will run you about 3 dollars. that's six dollars for four single meals. almost a weeks worth of dinners.

 

[-Kramer-]

Not to flame you or anything, because this is sound advice, but you must admit the impracticality of the issue. How many people can save up 5k-8k (going low end here) to drop on a decent used car? It would take a LONG time for me to be able to save up that cash, I can only speak for myself.

Again, not disagreeing with ya, if I could I'd pay for my car in cash, forget the personal check! Same applies to a house as well.

I agree 100% with you, but think about this, if you can live with your old car for a while, take the amount you would be paying for a car payment on a new car and put it in savings (try HSBC.com savings for 3.5-4%) you will save up the money faster than you think.

Of course this does not work if you car breaks down and you have to buy a new one, but if you have been saving money for a new car when your old one breaks down you will probably have a very nice down payment which will save you some money as well.

 

[standupright]

Not to flame you or anything, because this is sound advice, but you must admit the impracticality of the issue. How many people can save up 5k-8k (going low end here) to drop on a decent used car? It would take a LONG time for me to be able to save up that cash, I can only speak for myself.

Again, not disagreeing with ya, if I could I'd pay for my car in cash, forget the personal check! Same applies to a house as well.

after i paid off my last car, i continued to put the car payment away until it was time to buy a new a car. i invested it in low risk mutual funds, and when my car took it's last breath, i had enough to buy a brand new car (14k) outright with a little left over. it's not hard, it just takes time and discipline. could i be driving a mercedes? sure. do i enjoy not having a car payment instead? damn straight.

 

[MatticusMania]

I agree 100% with you, but think about this, if you can live with your old car for a while, take the amount you would be paying for a car payment on a new car and put it in savings (try HSBC.com savings for 3.5-4%) you will save up the money faster than you think.

Of course this does not work if you car breaks down and you have to buy a new one, but if you have been saving money for a new car when your old one breaks down you will probably have a very nice down payment which will save you some money as well.

Yeah for sure, the problem is paying off the car I have now. I'd have an extra $215 a month if I didnt have to buy a new car after my wreck last summer. I have unfortunately not yet been in the position to be driving a car that was fully paid off.

Here's a tip though, when possible, go short term on your loans, you may pay a little more per month, but you save out on a lot of interest.

 

[Bassic83]

On the house note thing- I pay bi-weekly, and I added a little more on top of it. Say you have a payment of 1000. Instead of paying it once a month on a 30-year note, see if you can get into a 15-year note, with bi-weekly payments. Then, your payment should drop a little. So, we'll say 465 every two weeks. Add on the 35 extra, that's an extra 70 a month. Apply that to principal, and see your final house note in around 8 years.

I wish there were more places that would agree to weekly payments. Take that 465 every two, divide in half, and you get 232.50. Knock it up to 250, and that's an extra 17.50 a week, or 70 a month, for an extra 140 off your principal each month. Over the course of a year, you've put an additional 140x 12 months, plus two whole payments of 1000, for a grand total of 3680 in principal. Remember that interest is constantly declining as the principal balance decreases, and you save thousands of dollars, sometimes tens of thousands, over the lifetime of your mortgage. Going weekly could possibly save you 50% of your total interest or more. Not too shabby, and you haven't spent a dime more than that monthly grand you were going to be stuck with for 30 years, except now you pay off your house in 6-7 years!


Edit: Incidentally, that method works for car notes as well- I've been overpaying on my truck note for 8 months, and recently lost some income from Ike. Since I had a spotless (over)payment record, my truck note was able to be put off for a month, giving us the extra little cushion that we needed, and I'm STILL up by two payments!


The mortgage company would not work with us to move ONE payment to the end of the loan, so I am going to cheat them out of interest money by accelerating my mortgage payments on them, and I'll also try to go weekly for even more gain. That one payment that they refused to work with us on, and earn interest on, will cost them dearly now. Revenge can be sweet, especially when you use their own rules against them!

 

[BobXboB]

Going weekly could possibly save you 50% of your total interest or more. Not too shabby, and you haven't spent a dime more than that monthly grand you were going to be stuck with for 30 years, except now you pay off your house in 6-7 years!

So paying the same amount each month I can pay for only 20% as long? You may want to run the math on that again.

 

[standupright]

Yeah for sure, the problem is paying off the car I have now. I'd have an extra $215 a month if I didnt have to buy a new car after my wreck last summer. I have unfortunately not yet been in the position to be driving a car that was fully paid off.

Here's a tip though, when possible, go short term on your loans, you may pay a little more per month, but you save out on a lot of interest.

depends on the loan type really

pre-calculated loan...this doesn't work

interest bearing...yes

 

[standupright]

On the house note thing- I pay bi-weekly, and I added a little more on top of it. Say you have a payment of 1000. Instead of paying it once a month on a 30-year note, see if you can get into a 15-year note, with bi-weekly payments. Then, your payment should drop a little. So, we'll say 465 every two weeks. Add on the 35 extra, that's an extra 70 a month. Apply that to principal, and see your final house note in around 8 years.

I wish there were more places that would agree to weekly payments. Take that 465 every two, divide in half, and you get 232.50. Knock it up to 250, and that's an extra 17.50 a week, or 70 a month, for an extra 140 off your principal each month. Over the course of a year, you've put an additional 140x 12 months, plus two whole payments of 1000, for a grand total of 3680 in principal. Remember that interest is constantly declining as the principal balance decreases, and you save thousands of dollars, sometimes tens of thousands, over the lifetime of your mortgage. Going weekly could possibly save you 50% of your total interest or more. Not too shabby, and you haven't spent a dime more than that monthly grand you were going to be stuck with for 30 years, except now you pay off your house in 6-7 years!


Edit: Incidentally, that method works for car notes as well- I've been overpaying on my truck note for 8 months, and recently lost some income from Ike. Since I had a spotless (over)payment record, my truck note was able to be put off for a month, giving us the extra little cushion that we needed, and I'm STILL up by two payments!


The mortgage company would not work with us to move ONE payment to the end of the loan, so I am going to cheat them out of interest money by accelerating my mortgage payments on them, and I'll also try to go weekly for even more gain. That one payment that they refused to work with us on, and earn interest on, will cost them dearly now. Revenge can be sweet, especially when you use their own rules against them!

i did an analysis on this....and what i found is that if you go with a standard 30 years note, and pay 1/5 more each month, plus an additional 2 extra payments per year, you end up saving exponentially on interest, and pay it off at around the time as an accelerated loan (15 as compared to 30)

 

[standupright]

So paying the same amount each month I can pay for only 20% as long? You may want to run the math on that again.

not sure about his math....but weekly = 52 ....and montly equals 12

if you pay every month then you miss out on 4 payments that go directly to principle.

 

[Bassic83]

My original mortgage was a 30-yr. I refi'd it to a 15 year, my payments (and interest rate) went down. Instead of taking the difference, I applied it to my note, paying extra, and set it up bi-weekly. My bank will not allow weekly payments, it eats into their profits too much, and they know this. I took the approximately 200 difference per month and split it. Now I pay the same as before, but on a shorter term, plus prepaying the principal. Less principal=less interest, plus I'm pre-paying, thus reducing my term. So by adding another 50 per payment, I will be cutting the bank's meat and they'll make substantially less on the life of the loan. Had they acquiesced to my request of a 1-month forbearance, they would have made interest on that single month's payment every month, not just the principal. But they said no to a disaster victim (me), so they must be punished. It's the only way they'll understand and learn from their mistakes. It'll hurt them more than it hurts me . BTW, the way I'm set up on my mortgage now, I'll be paid off in 10 years, 8 months on my 15 year note. That's only 9 years, 2 months away now. If I add an extra 50 per payment, that will shave an additional 1 year, 5 months off.

 

[Bassic83]

There are tons of calculators online to demonstrate the savings going bi-weekly, and even bi-weekly with extra payments. I'm kind of extrapolating on the fly, as I am not a Java programmer, but the rates remain the same, dependent on the amount of mortgage, interest, and term. A quick perusal of Mortgage-X dot com should give you an idea of what is possible on a bi-weekly, 15-year, or 10-year, plus additional payments once a month (to reduce principle on which the interest is charged). Happy saving!

 

[Bassic83]

depends on the loan type really

pre-calculated loan...this doesn't work

interest bearing...yes

I think you're thinking "Simple -Interest Loan", which is common for "we-tote-the-note" used car lots. The scourge of simple-interest real-estate loans has not hit the market yet, though nothing would really surprise me at this point, considering the world's economy and the greed of banks.

 

[steve21]

only eat people you kill yourself.

 

[Bassic83]

Oh, and cheat on your taxes. They'll never know.

 

[Stumbo]

Cars/trucks that require premium gas can usually run on mid-priced (not regular).
Check your car manual or call a dealer to verify your car's requirements.
YMMV