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Art's Consumer Tips
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 When friends first began suggesting I was a bit tight with a dollar in my early 20's it made me quite proud. I think this began when we went to a strip club for a birthday party and while some of them spent over $100, I spent about $18, which included the cover and two-drink minimum (and I no doubt felt a bit bad about even spending that much). My parents were big believers in thrift, and because of it they never had to take jobs as greeters at Wal-Mart after they retired. Actually we always lived quite comfortably; I could never even figure out where the corners were being cut. I've had friends tell me that despite the fact their parents made $80,000 salaries they had filed for bankruptcy and had $0 in savings! So maybe a few saving tips I picked up from my parents could help these people. - Buy used CD's and DVD's. My great extravagance is that I buy CD's and DVD's almost every week. I'm probably a glutton in this area because I haven't even listened to nearly all I have. However, I seldom ever buy new, therefore I get five or six used CD's for $30, whereas I could only get two for that price if I was buying new, so I can justify this splurge.
- Bring your lunch and snacks to work. For awhile I got off track and started going out for lunch every day, which was costing about $7 for the food, not counting the gas it took to get there. Then I started buying Weight Watchers' Smart Ones meals on the recommendation of a friend and ate them at work. This is not only saving me $4.50 a day but I'm also a few pounds lighter.
Then a co-worker suggested I stop wasting 70 cents in the vending machine every day for a snack and bring those, too. Buy a box of Cheese Nips or animal crackers for $1 and get some sandwich baggies to bring them in so you don't gorge on the whole bag/carton in a single day. And...
- Don't throw out plastic forks, spoons or disposable razors right away. Yes, you can rinse these off and use them a few times before you put them in a garbage dump to decay into the water supply for 1,000 years! Same applies to disposable razors: try getting three shaves out of `em before tossing `em out.
- Try generic and store brands. This is one my parents would never agree with, and therefore it's an area where I'm glad to be pioneering new realms of cheapness. They believed all generics and store brands were garbage and you had to buy name brands. Maybe that was true in the 1950's and `60's but I think store brands have come a long way. Earlier today, for instance, I was enjoying a $2.50 carton of Publix-brand frozen yogurt when the Mayfield box would've been twice as much. And the yogurt was just as good! The Publix strawberry jam is also just as good as the Smucker's. Now I will say that you have to experiment, because the Publix blackberry jam tastes like crap and is certainly no substitute for the Smucker's, which is heavenly. See what works for you.
- Buy rechargeable batteries. As an electric guitar nut I like to buy all sorts of battery-operated outboard equipment. I do not, however, like shelling out $6 for a new pack of batteries all the time. While a pack of rechargeable nickel hydride batteries will cost you more up front, they will pay for themselves in just two or three charges and save you cash from there.
More amazing money-saving ideas you had already thought of coming up later this week. |
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Posted by Art | 1:45 AM EST |
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A great tip is this. Whenever anyone says "Hey Don, what do you want for your birthday/christmas?" i tell them a gift certificate to Amazon.com. I'm STILL working my way thru a $40.00 one I got this past Christmas. I haven't bought a new book in years.