The Money saving tips thread....

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
<p>Per "Cheapest hobby - Looking at open houses and model homes" - you have to pay gas for that.</p>

<p>My cheapest hobby ever was buying a bag of clay for $20, then taking out library books on how to handbuild with it. Clay lasted for 3 months.</p>
 
That library comment reminded me - borrow more books from the library instead of buying them. You can get any library book in the OC system transferred to any library and held for you for 25 cents.
 
Buy the price leaders (ie. the stuff grocery stores lose money on to draw you into the store) at the local grocery store (ex. a whole chicken for 69 cents a pound? Time to stock up, cut them up and skin, and freeze some to cook later). Buy the other groceries at Costco.
 
I don't think Costco specialize in organic foods. If you've never been to Costco, ask a friend, relative, or coworker to take you. Or, ask one of us here to take you in on a weekend. I shop at Costco on regular basis for their meats. The fruit and vegetable selection is limited and not always cheap.





If you take Jeffery rd and drive toward Woodbury community to the north, pass the I-5 entrance, after a few lights you'll see a vegetable and fruit seller place on left side of the street. You could check with them to see if they carry organic produce. Note: I don't mean the fruit seller at corner of Jeffery and Walnut, drive north from there.
 
Minimize driving. Get a wagon to walk to the grocery store with (take the bottle and can returns with you). Plan trips with multiple errands to minimize the amount you have to drive. If you need just a little of something (ex. carton of milk), figure in the cost of gas - it might be cheaper to buy the more expensive carton of milk near your home than driving farther away for cheaper milk.
 
<p>Cook your own meals.</p>

<p>For an astonishing experience in fine dining for rock-bottom prices, find the suppliers of fine and exotic meats that service your local high end restaurants. I am not sure about Irvine, but there is a place near downtown LA that has a huge operation in buffalo steaks, ostrich, elk, etc. 7 exotic meat dinners for two = $70. </p>
 
<p>Broadleaf. It's in Vernon, just south of downtown LA. Individual retail customers are slightly unusual, but accepted there. Call in advance and they will have things ready for you. Otherwise, you stand in the lobby of a refrigerated warehouse in scenic Vernon for 15 min while they get it all. Short business hours.</p>
 
Use ItsDeductible software to help determine the value of your donations for tax deduction purposes. Has helped me increase the amount I would have otherwise claimed as a deduction these past couple of years.
 
<p>Get a microwave cookbook, and use it in the summer. That way you don't </p>

<p>1. generate heat on the stove/oven</p>

<p>2. have to turn the fan on as long </p>

<p>which saves quite a bit on the air conditioning costs</p>
 
Anon,

Doing the electrical 'heavy lifting' in the late evening or early morning is a good idea for several reasons. But to save money, you first need to request time-of-use billing from the power company. SCE has to come out and replace your electic meter with one that is smart enough to know what time of day you use the power. You then can save money if your home is typically empty on weekdays from 10:00AM to 6:00PM and you don't run the air conditioner to cool the empty house. A programmable thermostat can help with that by starting up the A/C a half hour before you expect to arrive home.
 
<p>Also, here is my favorite Xmas cheapie (dunno if it works in SoCal, does in the Pacific Northwest).</p>

<p>1. Go to Christmas tree lot</p>

<p>2. Ask them if you can have the branches people sawed off before stuffing the tree in their car. Usually they say sure, take all you want, we don't want to have to haul them and clean them up.</p>

<p>3. Make wreaths and swags out of the quality pre-washed and preserved greens that you got for free. Lay some branches on the mantle and put some unlit candles among them so it looks nice. Smell of Christmas pine for nothing.</p>
 
gollini,





how much of a difference does the time-of-use rates make? my usage is not very high... maybe ~250 kWh per mo. so my bills are around $25-30/mo. i rarely use a/c or heat. during the summer i take advantage of the discount for allowing sce to shut off my a/c if needed which cuts my bills in the summer to about $10-15. would it be worth the trouble of moving the TOU rates?
 
acpme,

I suspect you are better off in your current plan. I looked into it but I frequently work from home, and need the capability to have my A/C on during the day. So I couldn't use the plan you are on. But SCE posts the rate schedules on their web site. Just go to their main web page and search on "TOU RESIDENTIAL"



From SCE web site:



TOU-D-1 Pricing Option

Southern California Edison's (SCE's) TOU-D-1 pricing option is available to most residential customers. It benefits customers who can avoid using most of their electricity weekdays between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and who use between 400 and 600 kilowatthours (kWh) per month.





TOU-D-2 Pricing Option

Southern California Edison's (SCE's) TOU-D-2 pricing option is available to most residential customers. It benefits customers who can avoid using most of their electricity weekdays between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and who use more than 600 kilowatthours (kWh) per month.
 
Keep a healthy balance between spending and earnings. The reason this blog is in existance is becuase people forgot how to balance their income and spending. Too much of anything is bad for you.
 
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