Home ownership/living expenses: Where do you cut corners or lower costs?

[Blood on Blood]

HE furnace / ac
HE light bulbs
Fiber w/ Amazon Prime, Directv Online, Nexflix streaming (free)
HE shower heads and faucet inserts
HE washer / dryer
Keep house warmer in summer, cooler in winter
Most windows are HE
40 mpg daily driver (Hyundai - drive 35k miles per year)


No more condoms

 

[willizm]

Ditched cable and we never eat out primarily because 2 babies doesn’t make for a fun dinner outing. We also eat only meat, eggs, and vegetables, no processed crap.

 

[musclemerc]

Buy bulk for household needs

Paper plates, toilet tissue, soap, paper towels, detergent, cleaners, etc...

 

[MrDragster1970]

Stopped buying fast food/eating out at restaurants.

That's easily a couple hundred bucks per month.

Exactly, that is a huge cost for me.
Now that I'm on a diet, I spend under $200 a month, usually under $150 and I'm not eating all the crap I was.

I also have a habit of flipping off lights as I come & go and sit in the dark if not doing paper work while I watch TV.

I do keep the houses too warm in winter and too cold in summer, so I try to save on lights!!!
I did the LED switch also.

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[Frostopsy]

I started filling the car with E85 and I have a transit card from work to take the train for free. Otherwise, I eat in/drink in when I can, which I don’t do enough.

Brought a coffee maker to work so I wouldn’t have to buy a cup or two every day. I also pack a lunch when I can.

 

[MrDragster1970]

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Gasbuddy is frigging awesome.
I just bought $300 worth Friday, and it was ~15c cheaper than everyone else.
They must have forgot to raise it, but I took advantage of having 148 gallon capacity so my gain.

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[Nccstud]

The nest or any WiFi thermostat pays for itself. You can change and monitor things on the fly. We love ours. Being able to see how much and when your stuff is running during the day is really nice

I need to get a nest. I have 6 wifi thermostats already(yay electric heat lol), but need one for my AC now.

 

[Flyn]

I put my paychecks in Amy's account. She's a saver I'm a spender. I hold a little back for cigars and alcohol.

I rarely buy any large ticket items new. Discovered the local auction near me and get deals like paying $100 for a barely used $1100 stove.

I pay cash for cars which keeps me from buying anything new. When repair bills start to climb, I sell that car for close to what I paid for it and get another a couple years newer.

 

[Bruce Jibboo]

soooo your not going to buy a newer mustang and mod the hell out of it [MENTION=4746]Flyn[/MENTION]?

 

[Flyn]

Only if I can pay cash for it. I'd probably buy something like a V-8 Genesis since it has power and I can also use it for work.

 

[Stink Star]

40 mpg daily driver (Hyundai - drive 35k miles per year)

Yea getting ~250 mpg in the daily driver definetly helps on the budget. And since electricity is so damn cheap in this part of the country, it really doesn’t raise your electric bill that much

 

[Dasfinc]

We need to eat out less desperately, but outside of that LED everything, smart home (Nest/Wink/Ring/Etc) has helped a lot of various things.

A/C compressor is brand new HE, all appliances are new HE.

Regular filter replacement on the 5 year old furnace to nurse some better efficiency out of it.

I had a thread on DD MPG a while back, and my commute is too low to care, and when I travel lately for work with the Burb they are paying mileage anyways.

 

[MrDragster1970]

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The station I just bought $300 of fuel for $2.79 is now $3.07, so finally one of my gambles paid off!!!
Now if my Ford & GE stock would explode, I'll be all set.

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