The "Ways To Save Money" Thread

[WilsonFourTwo]

Laundry costs a small fortune, here's a couple of tips.

1. Cold water gets the job done.
2. Chances are you can choose a 75% water level and still do a full load.
3. Wash your clothes "Inside Out". This will dramatically minimize fading. Your jeans/shirts will last WAY longer.
4. Unless you smoke or sweat (etc), chances are you're washing your clothes too often. Get a couple/three wears out of things like slacks and shirts.
5. Cheap laundry detergents are just as effective.......
6. (MY FAV) Use the dryer for to get clothes "Mostly dry", like 75%. Hang them after that.

[Julio]

I'm not sure what the exact name of the thread was, but the 'saving you $ on cell service' thread probably dropped my cell bill about $30 a month from published rates.

[topfiverecords]

I may be wrong, but I think the OP's original intent of the thread was about savings related to your field of work.

[WilsonFourTwo]

^^So none of us can read, big deal.

[Julio]

A CP thread slight derailed? That's unpossible!

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

This is a pretty big year for me financially. I re-finance my mortgage this year, and also have a big trip to Korea to save up for. So I've been looking at ways to save a little extra cash.

Two changes I've made for this year.

1) I used to eat out for lunch every single weekday. They were never expensive meals. Anywhere ranging from $4-$10. This year I've been brown-bagging it 2 days a week, which has saved me about $14/week, or $60/month (I even have a little spreadsheet on my desktop that's been tracking how much I save lol!). By the time December rolls around, I'll have saved $720 this year. $14/week doesn't sound like a lot, but I equate that to a trip to Vegas a year. It really doesn't affect my overall quality of life, so I will probably keep doing this after this year.

2) I started perusing ways to make some extra cash online, and I found a website called elance.com. It's a website where people can hire you for odd-jobs. I've managed to pick up a small article-writing job that pays me $15 per article per week. They're only 200 word articles, so it only takes me about 30mins to an hour to write. $15/ week again doesn't sound like a lot, but it'll eventually add up to another trip to Vegas per year (or just one super-awesome trip to Vegas with 1 and 2 combined!).

[Tinordi]

Find a good ubrew and go there. It's basically half off beer ($1 a beer instead of $2)

There's one where I live that makes very very good quality beer.

[red sky]

And on these said trips to Vegas are you perhaps losing some coin gambling?

[HeartsOfFire]

How HeartsofFire saves money:

Cancel your cable.
Don't buy alcohol.
Don't buy/sell your car. Take transit.
Don't take fancy vacations.
When buying groceries, buy meat that's still good, but only has a shelf life of a couple more days. This meat tends to come with discounts of 30% to 50% at Safeway. Freeze immediately upon arrival at home.

But the best advice I can ever give, don't spend money you don't have.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

I've spent as little as $600 and as much as $1500 on a 3-day trip to Vegas. I guess it depends on the who I'm with and what I'm doing. That being said I guess I don't really gamble that much. My last trip was the most I've ever spent on gambling, which was like $200 heh.

Edit: A bit of a side note, shopping in the States saves me some cash too. Shoes are half price in the States. So I buy some shoes there, wear them until there are pretty much holes in the soles, and then stock up on new shoes in the States(while abandoning my old worn-out shoes in the hotel room heh). It also helps to have my sister down in California to bring stuff up for me when I need it.

[Rathji]

Another thing, albeit a minor thing, look at what you are paying in bank fee's. We went through ours and found out that we were not using out 'unlimited interact purchases' and went down to 10 a month on a couple of our accounts, since we were not even using that much. Then just plan your withdraws etc so you are not wasting money on service charges like $2.50 at the random bank machine at the corner store, or Saddledome etc.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Or bank with PC, and not pay any fees at all!

[Julio]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Another thing, albeit a minor thing, look at what you are paying in bank fee's. We went through ours and found out that we were not using out 'unlimited interact purchases' and went down to 10 a month on a couple of our accounts, since we were not even using that much. Then just plan your withdraws etc so you are not wasting money on service charges like $2.50 at the random bank machine at the corner store, or Saddledome etc.

As an addendum to this, see what kind of 'plan' you can get for free if you have X amount of dollars in the account. For example, my 1% back gold Visa card is free (instead of $100/yr) by keeping a few grand in the bank. Being a 'super duper select' customer can also get you other deals (we had an automatic 'extra' reduction in our interest rate by taking our mortgage to our bank for example.)

[Weiser Wonder]

Originally Posted by HeartsOfFire

How HeartsofFire saves money:

Cancel your cable.
Don't buy alcohol.
Don't buy/sell your car. Take transit.
Don't take fancy vacations.
When buying groceries, buy meat that's still good, but only has a shelf life of a couple more days. This meat tends to come with discounts of 30% to 50% at Safeway. Freeze immediately upon arrival at home.

But the best advice I can ever give, don't spend money you don't have.

-Sell your house or ditch your apartment. Find some boxes in the dumpster of a store. Live in those boxes.
-Be on the outlook for 24 hour indoor ATMs you can sleep in.
-Ask strangers for money.
-Sell any suitcases or bags you might have and find a trash can lined with a bag. Dump the trash out of the bag and use it to carry your possessions. Make sure to search the trash for any valuables.

[calgaryrocks]

^
don't forget, don't buy food, wait behind grocery store dumpsters and eat what is provided there

[Knalus]

Originally Posted by Teh_Bandwagoner

Or bank with PC, and not pay any fees at all!

I know it seems like a good idea, but I would have to say no, it''s not. It's better to have a relationship with a bank that values your business than to deal with a bank that doesn't even realize you are there. Much harder to get credit, financing, mortgages ect. with PC Financial than it is with a good bank, like Royal.

There is such a thing as false savings. Watch out for those.

[burn_this_city]

I heard you can get tim hortons for free by dumpster diving for timbits after midnight.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Knalus

I know it seems like a good idea, but I would have to say no, it''s not. It's better to have a relationship with a bank that values your business than to deal with a bank that doesn't even realize you are there. Much harder to get credit, financing, mortgages ect. with PC Financial than it is with a good bank, like Royal.

The only downfall IMO with PC is the lack of brick and mortar locations, which makes it a pain for some things, like bank drafts. I have an RBC savings account (0 fees, but limited access) in the odd chance I need a bank draft or something else in a hurry.

I've never had a problem getting credit through them. My last car loan was from PC, and it was in my account and wired to the seller in less than two weeks. All (except for signing a paper) from the comfort of home. I never felt like they didn't know I existed any more than any other bank. It's not like the scene from It's A Wonderful Life. Big banks are big banks. I'd rather not pay them a monthly fee to access my money.

Originally Posted by fotze

Like, they will recover 4 years of fees in one shot if you fata up at all. Or basic bank services suck.

You've peaked my interest. Care to elaborate? How do you fata up a bank account?

[Traditional_Ale]

Hungry Knights (C)
by Traddy and Traddy's Roomate

The other night I took my dog for a walk.
Saw a homeless man on a bench in the park.
Reached out my hand to offer him some change,
but he grabbed me by the wrist
and he dragged me away, said:
'Look son it ain't so bad not having a home.
What better place to live than
out front the liquor store?
All of these busy people filled up with greed;
it'd do their souls a world of good
if they just lived like me.'
Lying in my room
his words were running through my head.
So I sold all my possessions
and made a cardboard box my bed.

This is the life out here, living on the streets.
That old man was right he made a new man out of me.
I got so wasted that I pissed myself last night.
I've never felt more alive.

The other night sipping rum out in the park,
my homeless homies came up and started to talk.
'It's a hot and balmy summer night, lets dumpster dive!
We won't find any drumsticks
but we might find chicked thighs!
I got the best job in the world
recycling bottles for cash.
No boss, no wife, no obligations
holding me back.
And I'm not bothered by these flies around my head,
so f***-you, I'll shower when I'm dead.

This is the life for me, living in the park.
I'll give a crazy witch a fix for tricks
turned after dark.
And when the morning breaks
I'll ditch her in leaves.
I've never felt love this free.

Pushing my shopping cart,
down the alley, on the way to my big payday.
Bottles to the sky, and thats when I heard a noise
over my shoulder.
A vagrant with a knife, an evil look in his eyes.
Thats when I called out to my homeless homies,
my ragtag brotherhood of hungry knights.
The vagrant didn't stand a chance,
the knights attacked like picnic ants.
The vagrant ran for his life...

This is the life out here, living on the streets.
Rolling with my shopping cart I've never felt so free.
The old man died peacefully OD'd on Listerine.
Rumour has it that some nasty bitch stole his spleen.
So if your sick of all life's s*** then roll with us.
Trade your Crackberrys for crackpipes
and your suits for a couple rocks.
If you feel alone then come live outside...

[Art Vandelay]

Originally Posted by fotze

I can't remember fully, we overdrafted even though I had the overdraft protection or something like that because they put ahold on a check they said they wouldn't after I phoned. They charged a crapload of NSF fees. They told me to pound sand and said please quit and go elsewhere if unhappy since we are a no fee bank.

I'm still there, but I don't expect anything resembling good service.

I effed up and took too much out if my chequing acct just before my mortgage payment was to come out. I got charged an NSF and a penalty by the mortgage company (also PC). I called up both departments and since it was my first NSF/missed payment, they waived the fees. I think it would have been $80 in total.