Penny Pincher Journal

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Tip 15: Credit card points

Credit cards are expensive if you carry a balance and pay high interest rates. But you can get some great points and rewards if you use a credit card and pay off the balance every month.

I have my credit card reward points linked to my Amazon account. I can use my credit card points to buy anything on Amazon. Since I have Amazon Prime, I also get free 2-day shipping. The credit card points work to save money buying electronics and gift items.

Using a credit card is convenient compared with using cash or checks. I like to use a credit card rather than my debit card that is linked to my checking account. Credit card companies are better at refunding money if a card is stolen. If I am using a credit card anyway, I might as well get points that I can use to save money.

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Tip 16: Avoid dry cleaning

One thing that drives me nuts is paying for dry cleaning. For most of my clothes, the cost of dry cleaning would be almost as much as the cost of the clothing. When buying clothes, I check the care instructions and avoid buying most things if dry cleaning is required.

For clothes I do own that require dry cleaning, if the item was not expensive, I ignore the instructions and wash it anyway. This can cause problems over time- I had a pair of dry-clean only pants that I washed for about 20 years. Eventually all of the wool was gone leaving only the polyester. The pants were almost transparent and I finally threw them out (after my wife insisted...) I don't know if the same thing would have happened if I would have dry cleaned them, but can you imagine how much dry cleaning pants for 20 years would have cost? Probably much more than the cost of a pair of pants!

Dry cleaning is a tough, competitive business and many dry cleaners offer coupons for 20% off, etc. If you do have dry cleaning, see if you can find a coupon and save as much as you can on your dry cleaning bill.

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Tip 17: A Subway $5 footlong is a good deal

I generally don't like fast food- it is expensive and not very healthy. As far as fast food goes, Subway is healthy, fast, and inexpensive. You can get a $5 footlong sub loaded with vegetables on a nice footlong whole grain loaf for $5. That is a deal that is hard to beat. If you do forget to pack your own lunch and need to buy something, you can't go too far wrong at Subway.

A while back, stories came out that Subway footlong subs were really only about 11 inches long. Lately, I have noticed that the nearby Subway store has added a ruler right on the counter where they add the meat and cheese so you can see exactly the length of your sub.

If you are not too hungry, you can get a $5 footlong, load it with toppings, and eat half for lunch and the other half for diner. That is a pretty good deal for two meals.

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Tip 18: Use energy efficient lighting

I have recently gotten excited about LED lighting. I needed to find some light bulbs to use in a closet that were cool to the touch. I tried compact fluorescent, but actually burned my hand on a compact fluorescent bulb and dropped it. LED bulbs are cool to the touch and use very little electricity. I have started gradually replacing my incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs with LED bulbs.

Another benefit of LED bulbs is that I use my lights more. With incandescent bulbs, I would hesitate to turn on lights and would turn them off right away when leaving a room since they use so much electricity. A number of times, I accidently turned off lights when someone was still in the room in my efforts to avoid wasting energy. LED bulbs are much more efficient and I am more relaxed about using lights occasionally.
I often use a flashlight at night to avoid turning on lights. When it is dark and your eyes are adjusted, a little light goes a long way. I use an LED flashlight that I got from my kids for Christmas. LED lighting is very efficient, and batteries last a long time in an LED flashlight. Using a flashlight at night instead of turning on lights can save money on your electric bill.

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Tip 19: Improve home insulation

Improving your home's insulation is a way to save money almost every day through lower utility bills. Once you install insulation, it keeps providing energy savings for years and years. By adding insulation, you save money on heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer. Some insulation projects are easy to do yourself and also add to the resale value of your home. I have added insulation in the attic, walls, and under the floors of my house. I could actually feel my house warm up as insulation was blown into the walls.
An easier project than adding insulation that can also save a lot of money is installing plastic window insulation film. If you have single pane glass windows or older windows that are drafty, installing plastic film can reduce heat loss through windows. The window film can be easily installed from inside using adhesive tape.

I have covered exterior doors with Styrofoam panels during winter to cut down on drafts and energy costs. Some people stack bales of straw around the foundation of their house to keep drafts from blowing in. Be creative in finding ways to reduce your heating bill by cutting down on drafts and heat loss in your home.

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Tip 20: Reduce your house payments with a mortgage re-fi

If you own a home and plan to stay for awhile, refinancing your mortgage- known as a "re-fi"- may be a good way to save money. Refinancing can allow you to get a lower interest rate and save money through lower mortgage payments over time. There are closing costs to get a new mortgage, so refinancing only saves money if the interest rate is lower and you will be in your house for a few years. Here is a link to a mortgage refinance calculator that I made so you can see if a re-fi would save you money.

Part of the challenge of knowing whether to refinance is that the future is hard to predict. It is hard to know whether you will stay in the same house for a long time. If you refinance and then move within a couple years, you will likely lose money on the refinance due to the closing costs being more than you will save on lower payments due to a better interest rate. Interest rates change all the time, so you could refinance at a bad time only to have rates drop later.

House payments are one of the biggest bills that most people face. See if reducing your bill for housing every month by refinancing makes sense for you.

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Tip 21: Buy used items and save

Some items are very cheap to buy used. You can get used exercise equipment, books, and CD's for only a few dollars. Why pay for new items when you can get high quality used items for a fraction of the price? Even though prices are low, make sure to buy only items that you will actually use.

Back in college, I found a nice trench coat at a thrift shop for only a few dollars that I wore for years. A new trench coat would have cost at least $100, this one was well under $20.

I picked up a nice Crossbow exercise machine for only a few dollars at a garage sale that I have used for years and just moved upstairs- this is the third house we have had the Crossbow in.

One of my favorite used items I bought was a 1983 Schwinn Caliente that I got for $28 that was for sale chained to someone's front porch. I rode this bike for about 5 years, keeping at work for several summers. I needed more room in the garage since we moved, so I sold it for $36 a few weeks ago. I bought an old Huffy Prairie mountain bike at an auction about 15 years ago for $7.50 that still rides great and has only needed an inner tube replacement.

I found a nice electric weed eater for $5 at a yard sale. It is an old Craftsman and still works fine. I have replaced the cable spool a few times, and it always works great. It is lightweight and has plenty of power.
Not every used item you find is a good deal- some used items don’t even work anymore. Look used items over carefully and try them out before buying if possible.

Even if the item is really cheap, if it isn’t something you will use, you are better off not buying it. You’ll go through the trouble of taking something home and having it take up for space for years, and then go through the trouble of selling it or throwing it away eventually.

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Penny Pincher Journal

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Tip 15: Credit card points

Tip 16: Avoid dry cleaning

Tip 17: A Subway $5 footlong is a good deal

Tip 18: Use energy efficient lighting

Tip 19: Improve home insulation

Tip 20: Reduce your house payments with a mortgage re-fi

Tip 21: Buy used items and save

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