Category Archives: utilities

Saving/Creating Money While Reducing E-Waste

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I don’t know if you’ve seen the art exhibit about e-waste recently, but it’s shocking how many electronic gadgets we “consume” worldwide in the form of mobile phones, batteries, cameras, etc. Some of these have lived beyond their usefulness. I have on my desk, and old mobile phone/PDA and a digital camera that no longer works, and I went looking for a savvy way to recycle them.

I found Gazelle, which will PAY ME for the gadgets, and also, they’ll manage the shipping, and even send me a box. (So I do NOTHING, Literally).

Oh, and I get $53 (varies depending on the make/model of your equipment. Give it a try–the link is below.


Get Cash For Your Gadgets at gazelle.com!

Day 14: Spend Less Than You Make

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Are you spending less than you make? Are you sure? Better double-check, just in case.

I’m getting ready for the Town Hall for Hope on Thursday and thinking about what are the true, simple and basic facts about personal finance. The bottom line really is that you must spend less than you make.

The origins of PennyWise Family are pretty sad. I started this blog the day after I was laid off from my “secure” job in hopes of helping other families adjust for layoffs. We had to slash our household budget immediately and needed to figure out how.
I’ve posted tips here ever since then, but thought maybe it was time for some more frugal living tips. Hands-down, the biggest hit so far has been the home-made laundry detergent. I’ve converted many friends to making their own, and we love it. To find other savings tips use my “Ligit” search bar and enter the subject of how you want to save money and it should direct you to the right posts.

I posted earlier about how we found we had cut $1500 a month from our household budget with ordinary and small cost-cutting.

Today I’m featuring a reader’s tips. These come from Abby S., in Washington State, who used to teach school in Alaska. A lot of necessities are expensive there, so she learned some spiffy ways to cut corners. Here are a few of her list:
  • Cut dryer sheets in half to make them last longer.

  • Use dehydrated eggs for cooking sweets (I use dehydrated milk for baking Abby, but I’ve never seen dehydrated eggs).

  • Make bread from scratch

  • Make milk from powdered milk and mask the flavor with chocolate powder or syrup.

  • Buy milk in bulk and freeze it.

  • Make home-made deodorant (if it works, please send us the recipe Abby… if it doesn’t, please warn us ).

  • Learn to can/preserve and freeze.

I’m also learning about making my own dishwasher detergent, but I want to experiment with my dishes before I post a recipe here. I’d hate to etch or damage someone’s dishes with a bad one, so when I’ve got it perfected I shall let everyone know.

Thanks Abby for sharing your tips!

This is day 14 of 30 in a series for April, which is “Financial Literacy Month”

Day 13: Saving Money on Energy Use

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Let’s face it, much of the energy that is consumed and paid for in your house is likely for things you haven’t noticed. Phone charger left plugged in so you don’t have to climb behind the TV every day to plug it in, etc.

Well, my Twitter friends tell me it’s Earth Week, and they wanted to know what I’m doing about it. I’m doing a few things, but not because it’s Earth Week. Doing something different that I could do every day just because it’s the right thing to do. That’s dumb. If it’s the right thing to do, I’m going to do it every day. I hope you do too.

However, I could stand to learn a little bit more about energy-efficiency, so I imagine that’s why they have the “week” and I think the timing is nice that it falls within Financial Literacy Month.

Let’s find the crossover between the two and tackle away!

I visited The US EPA’s Web site for energy efficiency today and found it very helpful!

I know I have a leaky door–there’s quite a draft in the winter, and in the summer, we’re thankful for the cooling breeze…but needless to say, we need to tackle that energy sucker. I was relieved to find that the Web site has tips on what weatherstripping to choose and how to install it! Score!

It also explains that leaving our cell phone chargers plugged in when they’re not plugged in to a phone will deplete energy as well. YIKES! I’ve got at least 8 chargers hanging around the house plugged in with nothing attached to them. I had no idea.

Take a quick spin around the US EPA’s Web site and see if you can save a few bucks on your utility bills!

This is the 13th in a series of 30 post for April, specific to financial literacy. Today is a short distraction for financial/ecological instruction.

Living great, despite the layoff

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Try it Now! Join Lending Club.We’ve now reached the point (just a few months in) where I’ve completely replaced my previous work-outside-the-home income with my mobile notary business and my freelance writing. By implementing the tips I’ve been outlining here–even post-layoff our family is coming out ahead of where we were six months ago financially, as well as in peace of mind.

Here’s a brief list of what we’ve done so far, and where it’s getting us. Remember, my layoff was December 7th, and today is April 2nd.

  • Called all lenders and negotiated lower interest rates. Followed up by shredding all credit cards. Value: Priceless!
  • Learned to cost-cut around the house: home-made laundry detergent. Saves $7/mo.
  • Budget and track all expenses with Mint.com.
  • Renegotiated and repriced insurance, dropped the gap coverage on our paid-off/high-mileage cars. Saves $4/mo.
  • Used the library more. Estimated savings $20/mo
  • Developed passive income streams (adding advertising on this web site and others, as well as Lending Club interest). Earns $1.10/mo.
  • Rolled-over my fee-intensive 401K into a more affordable IRA Savings TBD
  • Found tax advantages to starting my mobile-notary and freelance writing business.
  • “Re bundled” our cable-TV package to the same service and same company at a lower introductory price. Saves $25/mo.
  • Received our tax refund and paid off an adoption loan ($150/mo, a credit card $100/mo and a student loan $110/mo). We have just one credit card left. Saves $360/mo in debt payments.
  • Refinanced our 30-year fixed mortgage, and rolled in our home equity loan ($329/mo). We put both into a 15-year fixed mortgage and will be paying just $89 more than we were paying on our old mortgage payment. (We used Smarthippo.com to find a better rate). Saves $240 per month and 15 years off the life of our mortgage.
  • Testing out some meat-free recipes for dinner. Last night the kids loved eggplant parmesan (they thought it was pizza!). Saves $24/mo.
  • Renegotiated cell-phone plan (due to new business). Saves $100/mo.
  • The layoff reduced our household’s commuting cost. Saves $200/mo in fuel.

    These tricks save us $981.10 per month, but we’ve noticed that now that all expenses are tracked, our household expenses have been reduced by about $1300 per month.

Here’s a few things that we’re not doing.

  • Working more than 45-50 hours per week.
  • Missing out on time with our kids.
  • Cutting our daughter’s preschool (we may do this to ‘snowball’ an extra $660 per month, but she’s having so much fun, we’re having her stay for now).
  • Clipping coupons.
  • Stuffing envelopes or participating in “get rich quick schemes” and “pyramid sales.”

Another home-made cleaner recipe

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I haven’t tried this one yet, but I’m going to. I’m actually going to copy-and-paste the whole message here, because it’s from my grammy. Yes, I don’t care how old I am, she’s still always going to be my Grammy! (She’s also test-driving the home-made laundry detergent with me–so far I’m happy with it at my house).

**************************
Dear Jessie,

Got our utility bill today, and in it was a recipe for a cleaning liquid you might be interested in.

Mix the following ingredients in a bowl or bucket:

1/4 c. baking soda
1/2 c. borax
1/2 c. vinegar
1 gallon of water

Stir vigorously to dissolve the baking soda and borax. To make a spray cleaner, recuce the recipe and fully dissolve the ingredients to avoid clogging the spray bottle This recipe works great on countertops, floors and walls. Use with a mop, reusable sponge or rag.

I hope it will work out serendipitiously. (Sp.!!!) whew! Big word!
Lots of love, Gram xoxoxoxoxoxo
**************************************

Hope my gram decides to post again sometime. I wish my great-grandmother was still around, she had some amazing thrifty tips that I still use today. She would also be a great contributor here. For instance, speaking of utility bills–I save the carrier envelopes that my bills come in and I write my grocery lists on the outside and stick the coupons inside.

On the subject of washing and saving money…

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Yesterday’s post was on the subject of saving money on laundry detergent. Today that got me thinking about an older, smarter choice we made on the subject of wash that has saved (and cost) our family a lot.

When we first bought our home five years ago, it had a five-year-old washer and dryer. Within a few months of moving in we discovered a wood rot problem that meant we had to replace an entire bathroom–right down to the studs in our 2nd floor condominium. It was heartbreaking, costly, and not covered by insurance.

Just a few months later, as we were leaving on vacation, the washing machine made a terrible noise. We called in a repairman and he gave us the news. “It’s dead.”

That is really the short story of what started our debt journey. An unexpected/unplanned bathroom repair after sinking EVERYTHING into the purchase of our home and an unexpected failure of a major appliance.

We had to replace the appliance. A busy family of three working all the time–and the nearest laundrymat is quite far. We bought a washer on a credit card, and delivery of the new one, and disposal of the old one.

One year later, as we sit down to dinner, black smoke rolled out of our laundryroom. Fire in the washer–of all places. The motor burned out.

We called a repairman who has a one-hour minimum charge of $150. Within minutes he’d told us that the machine had been damaged beyond repair.

My husband was especially resourcful in how he tackled this news.

“You’ve got to charge me for an hour right?” he asked the repairman.
“Yep.”

Rob made him a cup of coffee, pulled out the laptop at the kitchen table and had the repairman buy third washing machine. Without regards to price, but finding us something that we will never have to fix again.

This wonderful repairman navigated us to the best vendor, the best machine and told us what to look for if we didn’t choose that machine. We “comp shopped” around to other vendors, and he was right. (Who would know a washer better than he?).

We’ve now had the “new” machine two years and we love it. It runs smoothly, cleans well, and saves us a fortune on detergent and water because it’s a front-loader. Our energy bills are smaller too.

That’s not all–the repairman took a look at our dryer and told us what parts would wear out next and told us how much they would cost to fix. It turns out the main belt in the dryer was just about to go (hence the squeaking). The cost of another service call and the belt would have been the same as “adding on” a dryer to our planned order for the replacement washer.

Rob also got opinions on the dishwasher we knew was on borrowed time. We saved up another year and bought the recommended Bosch dishwasher and couldn’t be happier.

Three new appliances, and one consultation with a professional.

By the way–none of the three new appliances have ever required repairs. All came with excellent warantees, and all are kid-friendly.

A Reader’s Cost-Savings Tip!

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I love it when people read my blog, and even more if it helps them in some way. Today I got a great tip from my friend Julie. Here’s how Julie’s family saved on their electric bill. What cost-savings tips have you implemented in your house?

I had read that for every degree you turn down your thermostat you save 3% off your total bill. We tried it this winter (last years Dec/Jan power bill was through the roof) Turned down our thermostat from 70 to 65 during the day and from 65 down to 60 @ night. We just got our power bill last this week and saved a total of 15% compared to our last year Dec/Jan bill.

Julie–what are you going to do with your savings? Way to go–helping your budget and the environment!

Our five FREE steps to financial Freedom

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I’ve been trying to make the best of the permanent layoff that came my way in early December. I started a business, I’m also writing and blogging. Without commute time I find myself with a lot of free time. I’m definitely enjoying the flexible lifestyle.

One of the things I’ve decided to tackle is households’ financial situation. This was especially critical now in the face of my less-than-reliable income and a new business startup. As an “under-30” family of four, we have some debt. A couple of college educations, a mortgage, two adoptions that zapped our finances but filled our hearts. We were not in financial peril, but we sure could have been uncomfortable if we had not been paying attention when the layoff hit.

The surprise in this project was how we were able to cut our household expenditures by one-third without really trying (or even noticing, for that matter).

Armed with this new information (and cash as a result!), we rushed forth and started getting out of debt. Using only free resources from the Web and strict budgeting, we’ve paid off two of three credit cards, one adoption loan and all of the college loan. Woot! Not bad for three months, huh?

Recognizing that not everyone was so lucky as I to be laid off, I thought I’d share some time-saving and free tips to financial freedom. No scams, no catches, no hidden spam-engine. And you don’t have to download my free e-book. I don’t even have one.

Have fun, save money, spend less, retire early, and get out of debt. It’s working for us. Unless you email me, you’ll never even hear from me again. (Unless we’re friends or family of course). For the sake of easy reading, I’m breaking this into several posts. Follow the hyperlinks for a free and easy journey to financial freedom.

But please do me one favor. If you like this list, please pass it on.

Now, my family’s first five free steps to financial freedom.
1. Expense tracking
2. Budgeting/Cost cutting
3. Saving
4. Alternative Investements
5. Paying down debt (fast!)

Part 2 of 5: Budgeting and cost-cutting.

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Don’t move to this step until you’ve completed step one. I mean it. Scroll back and download your transactions you lazy Mary! Just put your grown-up panties on and face it! Now, use Mint.com’s cool features to compare what you’re’ spending to others in your area (bottom half of the trends page). This is how I learned where my family was out of line.

I pulled out our bills for the past month and put the fixed ones in there. And I started from there. I also set up text message alerts for each time we went over budget. Yikes! Talk about accountability. My cell phone started blowing up–harassing me for a stop at Starbucks. But I saved more than $100 a month this way (I don’t want to confess to exactly *how* much more).

Some specific places to cut costs:

A. Stick to one grocery trip per week, for real. And re-evaluate your favorite grocery store. It turns out that Winco is about $80/week for our family of four. Safeway or Kroger is closer to $100-$130. Oh, and cook healthier food. It’s cheaper than prepared freezer-box meals and eating out! (Tonight, leftover roast and lentils in the crock pot for dinner. The kids’ favorite—really–and just $3.00).

B. Call every credit card (or any creditor for that matter) and ask for a lower rate, or to move your balance to an introductory rate. Worked wonders for us (learn more here)

C. Our power bill went up 30% since adding our newly-adopted toddler. Why? I think too many lights left on. In the most frequently forgotten rooms (kids’ bathroom and bedroom) I’m unscrewing a light bulb.

D. Cable was $130 a month. We called Comcast and asked for a smaller package. Instead they “rebundled” our same package into another promo package and we have the same internet/phone/cable package now for $100 a month. (Read more here).

E. Coffee: brew it at home. Nuff said? If you want to further slash costs ($16-$30/mo at our house—heavy coffee drinkers) try roasting your own coffee. We buy green coffee beans at the local African grocery for $2.50 a pound. I roast them at home on the stove, and the quality is excellent. If you want directions, email me

F. Shop around for everything. I went out last week for a bike trailer to take my toddler cycling with the family. Looked at four stores. Ended up saving $250.

The bottom line? These changes alone are saving us more than $500 a month, or close to a week of work in my 9-5 job. This is how I can run my own business and still have enough time to blog. Turns out it’s cheaper when you’re paying attention to what’s going on.

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Saving a few bucks from the cable company

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Until September of 07, we’ve never paid for cable. NEVER. We’re not big TV watchers, even still, but I missed seeing the hockey games and the football games. Our antenna was only reliable if the cloud cover was “just right.” Additionally we love some of the eduucational programs that come on the History Channel and Discovery Networks for Destiny.

We gave in and shopped around and bought a cable package from Comcast that gets us a fair price on our Internet, Telephone (free nationwide long distance) and Cable with an “on demand” feature. (This means our preschooler can see Barney anytime, 24-7).

We’ve been glad to watch the games and such but as we’re exploring ways to cut costs, my husband called Comcast this morning and asked outright for a lower bill. They sort of chuckled ands said “well, your current package costs what it costs, and that’s kind of how it is.” He agreed and said that in that case, he would like to reduce our cable package. The result? Instant backpedaling!

The very helpful billing person suggested that a better program would be to look for a “repackage” of our current deal–and sure enough, there was one, at a rate $25/mo lower. Thanks Rob! Now we’re saving another $300/year!

Now we’re talking! I’m thinking about calling the garbage company and seeing if they offer any similar “repackaging” deals.

Give it a try! Saving you $.02 today.