BACK TO SCHOOL
School supplies are so incredibly cheap at the moment. Now is the time to buy enough supplies for the entire year! Many stores also price match, so you don't have to spend extra money driving from one place to other.
Think about home and work as well, and buy what supplies you may need for the next year.
If you don't have kids or grands, don't need supplies for home or office, PLEASE take $5 or $10 and buy supplies and donate them to the local school. Not all kids will be able to afford supplies even at the cheap prices.
School clothes are also on sale now. Most retail stores are having clearances on summer items. August is also vision month for kids and many eye clinics are having back to school specials.
KEEPING THE HOUSE COOL
Most people don't realize how much heat light bulbs put out. ONE 65 Watt light bulb gets to about 170*!! Now stop and think about those chandeliers in the house - that's a lot of heat. Change bulbs to the new fluorescent ones - they are much cooler. Better yet, keep all lights off. I can't remember the last time I turned on a light - these long summer days really come in handy for light.
Keep the water heater turned down to 120* or lower. Anything higher is really a waste and is dangerous.
Use a dehumidifier in your basements/house even if you have AC. You will be amazed at how much more water a dehumidifier takes out of the air.
Keep your shades and blinds closed on the sunny side of the house. You may have to alternate opening and closing blinds for best effect. Keeping the sun out of the house, keeps the house cooler.
Make sure you keep your AC unit clean. Hose down the outside unit regularly. Make sure the filter is nice and clean as well. Everything works so much more efficiently when clean.
Utilize ceiling fans if you have them. They keep the air moving.
GAS SAVINGS
Those who have Kroger or affiliate grocery chains in their town, know that using your Kroger reward card gives you cents off at the gas pump. Most of the summer, they were doubling points on weekends. That has ended, at least here in Indiana. Kroger is now also offering .03/per gallon discount with the reward card. That is .03 per gallon any day of the week, whether you have made Kroger purchases or not. So just for having the card, you can SAVE when purchasing gas at their stations.
FARM MARKETS
Farmer markets are going full blast now just about everywhere around the country. If you are not growing your own produce, I sure hope you are utilizing the markets for fresh goods. One hint I like to pass along, is to shop close to the end of the day. Yes, there may not be as many items to pick from, but odds are what you DO get will be cheaper. Most vendors don't want to have to pack up supplies, so they often let you dicker on price, just to get rid of produce. It can't hurt to ask!!!!
Get as much fresh produce this summer as possible, whether it be from growing, barter, or buying. Can or freeze for the future. Home grown is so much better for you and your family. You will be mighty happy to eat those wonderful goodies this winter, when all good freshness is gone!
Hope this helps you save a few dollars somewhere along the line!
It's kind of funny but we were in Menards the other day (surprise :) ) and I bought a calculator for $1.49 and it contained the same functions as the first calculator I ever bought and it cost around $150. I assume you mean to change your lightbulbs to either an LED or a compact fluorescent bulb since incandescent are the ones that are hot.
ReplyDeleteYes Neal that's what I meant about the bulbs. Thanks, I changed it. I know it is funny on calculators. They used to be so expensive. So many things like that now. I remember G talking about the first VCR he bought - big bucks! Now they are basically throw away.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLovin your blog! So glad you did this.
ReplyDeleteMe too, thanks again Cheryl!
DeleteMaking a donation to the art department is always welcome too. I like to donate to our private schools that don’t’ get federal funding. Or even the inner city public schools where the average classroom expenditure can be as much as $75K less than a suburban privileged public school.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter used to do this when she was in high school, reclaim lost pencils. My other daughter wouldn’t do it though as she is a germaphobe! I am always amazed at the office supplies I find laying on the ground here on campus…and in the trash bins…I do save those pencils and pens and notebooks, and am now looking for page dividers for a Burn Book. Not that kind that was on Mean Girls, but the kind that is used for my descendants when I die, you know, the one with all the account information and titles and insurances and other documents.
The Good Man and I have been working over our budget every week or so. I did some pie charting using Excel (and wow is Excel nice at doing graphical representations of budgets!), and we are ready to add in our retirement accounts and savings, to help us in making the financial decisions ahead of us now that I am within five years of retirement. I wish I’d had the sense to do this thirty years earlier, but ah well, no time like the present to get a good grip on things.
But I digress, Pinterest again is a nice place to see how others have set up their finances. A burn book will be tailored of course to our needs, but examples are aplenty and I’ve tagged about three to follow that I will work on this week and next with TGMan.
You reminded me to get our A/C units we are not using anymore (past menopause now, ahhhhhh!) up onto Craig’s List. August is a good month for getting a used but still good air conditioning unit. We can’t afford to run one but many still can. Don’t let me deprive them of creature comforts!
My biggest success this month is to finally get cleared for plasma donation at our local BioLife facility. It will mean an extra $50 a week, and that is our grocery bill! I have to be careful to keep up my health and liquids, but I think it will be a good thing to do for a couple years. The limit on donating is up to 69 years old.
Thanks for the tip on farmers market shopping. I heard that bakeries often discount at day’s end also. That reminds me, to dumpster dive for the bread at one bakery I know dumps their bread every Tuesday morning….hmmm…if I bake it at 350F for five minutes is that enough time to kill off any pathogens? Will I really do this? ! ??
Thank you gals - so sweet of you to say!
DeleteEllen, we have a friend that gives plasma every week and it really does help him financially.
Funny on dumpster diving - I don't know that I could do actual dumpster dive unless I was real hungry!
On that subject - back when we first got married G worked down the street from grocery and his good buddy managed it. When they got ready to 'throw out' bread, donuts, cookies, cake, etc. he called and the guys from G's work went with p/u trucks and got it all and separated between them.
We didn't buy any of that stuff for many years - it was all free. It was a real shocker when I had to first buy it again! LOL
Pick-Up Trucks!
Deleteyes, baked goods are $$$.
The Good Man relies on my baking but I think he needs to take a turn too just in case I am no longer able!
Heck yeah he does. It's so not hard - all he has to do is follow directions. Tell him to give it a try!
Delete