I am not ashamed to say I am frugal. I am not frugal because we don’t have enough money to afford things, or I am just being a cheap bitch. I grew up on the foundation of beliefs don’t take more than you can use. Try to reuse the items you have. Waste not, Want not.
Examples include saving glass jars to put used olive oil in to put in trash, we recycle all our plastic, we give our gently used items to the Goodwill (nice tax write off), I carry my own bags to the store ( in Podunk town,I get looks and the cashiers don’t quite like it but who cares.) Even, the leftover vegetables we eat during the week go in the freezer and come winter we have a hell of a good soup with the canned tomatoes from granny’s house.
I think it is excellent to look over your bills every month, and truly reevaluate them around 6 months.
1. I looked at my cable bill. I had been seeing advertising and getting tons of mailers of advertising cheaper prices. I noticed we were not in a contract any more. Our cable bill was running around 65 a month and we did not even subscribe to premium channels or HD. I called them up. I got a nice representative online, and asked if they have any current specials. I told her about the mailers and lower prices and I was thinking about going somewhere else. She looked over my bill, offered me a cheaper package , and I was happy! Lots of companies have customer loyalty programs and “customer save” programs. You should check them out.
2. Finding a new auto insurance quote is a big deal. You don’t realize how much cheaper some insurance companies are! I used to be with this hometown biog national brand company. I thought they were the best, because I could just walk in, pay my bill. When I had issues, I could talk to them face to face! When my hubby and I got married, I switched over to his because it was so much cheaper! So shop around for insurances of any type before you settle.
3. The phone bill is one that gets a lot of people. I dont know many people that still use their home phone. Have you realized how many features you may have and all you are using is the dsl? They always say packages save you money. Sometimes this is true, sometimes it is not. Take a minute to look at your phone bill and see if their is anything you don’t use anymore. Do you really need that line maintenance for an extra 5 bucks a month?
These are just a few ways to help cut costs and save yourself some money and resources for our environment!
Great Blog! I love your work!!!