a note from Tilly Titewad ...
There's a cajillion hints around about how to save gas by driving carefully.
Probably the best one for me is that my dad taught me to drive as though I had a raw egg between my foot and the gas pedal. Trust me, there will be no gas-burning jack rabbit starts or sudden stops if you do this.
Use the 2-second rule to achieve a safe following distance. That gives you time to adjust your speed without slamming on the brakes or stomping on the gas pedal. If you're new to this concept, just start counting off 2 seconds when the car ahead of you passes some mark on the pavement, like the shadow of a bridge or light post, and if you cross that mark earlier than 2 seconds later, back off a bit and check again at the next marker. You'll soon get used to gauging the distance. This method works at any speed. Larger vehicles, like buses, use a 3-second rule.
I use cruise control on the highway because maintaining a constant speed uses far less fuel.
Remove unnecessary stuff from your car to reduce the weight.
If you can improve your fuel efficiency by 2 mph when you’re now getting 20 mph, that means that every 10th fill-up is free! Sounds pretty good, eh?
When I worked in the city, I used public transportation for my commute. Even though it took more time, it saved money and I could relax enroute. Of course, we didn’t have daycare to deal with; that would have changed the picture entirely.
We drive older cars that get pretty good gas mileage (33 mpg on the sedan, 19 mpg on the SUV which hauls large loads 2-3 times a week) and we don’t owe anything on either one. Once your car is paid off, it won’t be repossessed. Maintaining them, ie, regular oil changes, etc. pays off in the long run.
There's more information at www.fueleconomy.gov and other websites.
Happy driving!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Utilities savings
a note from Tilly Titewad ...
Why spend more than necessary for the basic comforts of life? Here are some ideas that may help you save money - money you didn't even know was leaking out of your wallet. If you multiply the monthly savings by 12, you can really see the benefit of making small changes.
You can save up to 2% of your heating bill for every degree you turn down the thermostat. We ignore the numbers on the thermostat, turning it down at night and in the morning pushing its lever up slowly only until the furnace clicks on. Then if we’re still cold when the furnace turns off, we repeat. I was astounded to find that we’re comfortable when the thermometer shows only 65 ̊. Of course, in the winter I almost always wear a cardigan and warm socks too.
Appliances with a 'stand-by' feature continue to draw electricity whenever they’re plugged in. We put those on surge protector strips so we can ‘unplug’ them by simply turning off the switch on the strip. The TV, computers, printers, coffee maker, toaster, microwave, sewing machine, iron, etc. are all unplugged when not in use. Initially when I heard about doing this I thought it was a bit over the top, but the first month I did it, I changed nothing else about our electricity usage and our kilowatt usage was 11% lower than the same month the year before! How much is 11% of your electricity bill over the course of a year?
We have garbage picked up every other week and recycle extensively. Savings: $13 a month x 12 months = $156 a year.
For us, it made sense to keep the landline phone but we use a phone card for long distance calls because we have only 150 shared minutes for our two cell phones (the cheapest plan available). When we made the switch and cut off long distance from our landline, we saved $20 a month ($240 a year). We watch the minutes on the cell phones and don't use it outside our 'free' calling area. When travelling, we find a landline and use the long distance calling card for calls.
An internet connection at home is a ‘must’ for us. Since we watch free movies online, we have a 3.0Mbps connection. I called our ISP to ask what our level of service was and noted that we were paying more than any of their advertised prices. They readily gave us the lowest price offered to new customers. Our ISP has their own website for testing download speeds but you can also go to www.speakeasy.net to verify your actual speed.
At our house, there is no TV reception without cable or satellite. We recently created a chart to track our TV viewing for a whole month. No, this was not for Nielsen ratings, it was for our own amusement and amazement. We found that we were not watching HBO enough to pay for it separately plus we moved down one notch in the package options after seeing that we don’t watch those extra channels enough to justify the added expense. Monthly savings: $24 ($288 a year, which will pay two months’ electricity bill next summer).
Simple changes - maybe you can use some of them ~
Why spend more than necessary for the basic comforts of life? Here are some ideas that may help you save money - money you didn't even know was leaking out of your wallet. If you multiply the monthly savings by 12, you can really see the benefit of making small changes.
You can save up to 2% of your heating bill for every degree you turn down the thermostat. We ignore the numbers on the thermostat, turning it down at night and in the morning pushing its lever up slowly only until the furnace clicks on. Then if we’re still cold when the furnace turns off, we repeat. I was astounded to find that we’re comfortable when the thermometer shows only 65 ̊. Of course, in the winter I almost always wear a cardigan and warm socks too.
Appliances with a 'stand-by' feature continue to draw electricity whenever they’re plugged in. We put those on surge protector strips so we can ‘unplug’ them by simply turning off the switch on the strip. The TV, computers, printers, coffee maker, toaster, microwave, sewing machine, iron, etc. are all unplugged when not in use. Initially when I heard about doing this I thought it was a bit over the top, but the first month I did it, I changed nothing else about our electricity usage and our kilowatt usage was 11% lower than the same month the year before! How much is 11% of your electricity bill over the course of a year?
We have garbage picked up every other week and recycle extensively. Savings: $13 a month x 12 months = $156 a year.
For us, it made sense to keep the landline phone but we use a phone card for long distance calls because we have only 150 shared minutes for our two cell phones (the cheapest plan available). When we made the switch and cut off long distance from our landline, we saved $20 a month ($240 a year). We watch the minutes on the cell phones and don't use it outside our 'free' calling area. When travelling, we find a landline and use the long distance calling card for calls.
An internet connection at home is a ‘must’ for us. Since we watch free movies online, we have a 3.0Mbps connection. I called our ISP to ask what our level of service was and noted that we were paying more than any of their advertised prices. They readily gave us the lowest price offered to new customers. Our ISP has their own website for testing download speeds but you can also go to www.speakeasy.net to verify your actual speed.
At our house, there is no TV reception without cable or satellite. We recently created a chart to track our TV viewing for a whole month. No, this was not for Nielsen ratings, it was for our own amusement and amazement. We found that we were not watching HBO enough to pay for it separately plus we moved down one notch in the package options after seeing that we don’t watch those extra channels enough to justify the added expense. Monthly savings: $24 ($288 a year, which will pay two months’ electricity bill next summer).
Simple changes - maybe you can use some of them ~
Buying Decisions
a note from Tilly Titewad ...
Now that you've found the book 'No Balance Due' and begun your own spending/saving plan following the author's guidance, you may want to read 'Live Your Life for Half the Price' by Mary Hunt. She reinforces what Lenny Tumbarello spells out in 'No Balance Due' but in a different framework, helping you to figure out how to spend less for what you decide to buy.
First remember to make your buying decisions consciously after determining the REAL value of that expenditure in your life, both for now and in the long run.
You will find you enjoy a very full life when you erase debt. We began the 'No Balance Due' approach a few years ago which is why I recommend it so highly - it works.
Now that you've found the book 'No Balance Due' and begun your own spending/saving plan following the author's guidance, you may want to read 'Live Your Life for Half the Price' by Mary Hunt. She reinforces what Lenny Tumbarello spells out in 'No Balance Due' but in a different framework, helping you to figure out how to spend less for what you decide to buy.
First remember to make your buying decisions consciously after determining the REAL value of that expenditure in your life, both for now and in the long run.
You will find you enjoy a very full life when you erase debt. We began the 'No Balance Due' approach a few years ago which is why I recommend it so highly - it works.
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