Money Saving Tips

Not all my posts will be financial in nature, but since I just posted that I had dug myself out of quite a bit of debt, I thought I’d share a few things I did to make that happen.

1-  Clip Coupons.  Most people say that clipping coupons is worthless because usually the store brands are cheaper even with a coupon.  Yes, this is often times true (which I have no issue with because I buy store brand everything with my Kroger employee discount).  However, if you pair manufacturer coupons WITH store ads (find the week that Crest is on sale, and use the coupon THAT week) you will usually reach a price that is cheaper than store brand.  That being said- Kroger brand products are amazing, and sometimes are even made by the same manufacturers who supply National Brand products, so if you’re national brand loyal, you might want to give a store brand product a try.

2-  After having my phone repaired 3 times in the first year, I finally came to the end of my 1 yr. warranty (on a 2 year plan- this is an awful way to do business) so it came time I either had to ditch AT&T and pay a $250 cancellation fee, or pay $500-ish bucks for a phone that functioned.  I chose the first of the 2 options.

Kyle told me about a super cheap cell phone plan that uses Wi-Fi to make calls.  I looked into it, and low and behold I was able to get the same level of service I had with my AT&T plan for $28 a month (after taxes), which is a $60 dollar cost savings PER MONTH.  The company that offers this service is called Republic Wireless.  You have to purchase one of their phones (they have 2 options, both are Samsung Smart Phones, I opted for the cheaper of the 2 phones which cost about $130).  If you’re used to operating a Droid, this will be a very familiar.  I have unlimited talk, text, and 3G data, and I can change my plan up to 2 times a month.  Every time I make a phone call it picks up a wireless network- but if one is not available (like in my car, or on a sidewalk) it uses a nearby cell tower.  I’ve had a couple dropped calls, occasionally when I leave a WiFi spot, it takes a minute to pick up a network so I can make a call, but for a cost savings of $600/year- it’s totally worth it.  Even after having to pay for the device up front, and paying the cancellation fee from AT&T, I’m still saving $300 this year alone.  Great decision, big cost savings.  Look into it if you’re trying to save a buck!  They have a 30 day money back guarantee, and it’s a zero contract service :)

3-   We purchased 2 Roku’s.  These cost about $100 a piece, but allow you to access Netflix & Hulu Plus, and if you’re a Time Warner subscriber, you can also use the Time Warner app to watch live television.  We were paying at least $12/each for additional basic cable boxes for the 2 additional TV’s in our home.  Even though this was a $200 expense upfront, we will break even for what we would have paid in rentals after about 8 months.  We still have an HD DVR box in our living room (I watch way too much TV to ditch cable entirely), but now have Roku’s up and downstairs.  Totally worth it!  These things are great.  (Even if you don’t have Time Warner, you can still use the Roku to access Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Hulu Plus, Pandora, Red Box, etc.)  We have the Roku 3 (fast streaming) but you can get the most basic Roku for $39.99 (they are currently running a promo for $10 off and free shipping,) otherwise its $49.99.

4-   I purchased a refurbished Kindle on eBay.  It was $49 dollars, and I use it often because I’m now in a real, functioning book club (hello being 29 yrs. old!).  Books are slightly cheaper through amazon than they are in a traditional book store- but really this is a time/gas savings.  I do have a library card, but let’s be real- there is a 300+ person wait list for each book that most book clubs read, because we’re always picking the most popular ones!  So for now, I’ll just chalk this up as not having to run out to the store each month to pick up a paper copy.

5-  I ask for discounts.  (Kyle never does this and it drives me crazy).  Case and Point.  Recently I purchased 2 white cabinets to put in our laundry room.  One of them had a dark black smudge on it.  This could have been easily cleaned off or even painted over.  I was polite and asked for a discount and the Home Depot employee instantly took off 20% or $20.  A week later I was at Lowe’s purchasing tiles for our kitchen backsplash.  They had faint pink marks on them (we were told these were likely markings from the tile cutting machine).  These wiped right off, but I asked for a discount for our trouble, and voila- 20% off- or a savings of $40.   It pays to be polite and ask.  The worst that can happen is someone will say no.

6- Price Matching.  After our wedding I purchased our remaining plates/bowls/silverware from Crate & Barrel.  About 3 weeks after I purchased everything I was surfing their website to see how I was going to spend a remaining balance on a gift card when I realized that all of the place settings were on sale, 20% off!  I called the store, asked if they would honor a price match, and sure enough, I came in to get a gift card for about $100 which I was able to put towards some other remaining items on the registry. 

A picture of the cabinets, with a little bit of paint.  Good as new once I was finished touching up those black smudges.

I’ll share more money saving tips when I think of them.  Happy Tuesday!