Gails Blog

Everyone is looking for ways to save money. As we become more committed to living debt free, saving, and having a great life too, we all know that the key is to not waste ANYTHING. So people come up with some really creative ways of spending less, making things last longer, or eliminating spending completely.

Websites abound. With the huge increase in gas prices, GasBuddy.com can help you find cheap gas prices in your city. Since prices can vary as much as 20% within only a few blocks, GasBuddy let’s motorists share information about low priced fuel with others. Hulu.com let’s you watch TV shows and movies on the internet for free, as long as you have high-speed access.

PJ, my producer, arrived on set with a refillable water bottle and announced she was out of the plastic-water-bottles-business. I subsequently saw an add on TV with a very clear message about water bottles and the environment, and decided we were getting out of the water bottle business too. (Who says TV is bad for you?) It’s going fine so far, and I find I’m actually drinking more water because I always have it nice and cold in the fridge.

We first started to buy bottled water when we were packing a bag for the kids. It was convenient, a case lasted a whole month, and, hey, it wasn’t an awful environmental thing, just a neat convenience. I’ve never gone in for all that fancy watch stuff because I just couldn’t see the point. But when it came to grabbing a bottle I could shove in a bag for the kids, I did. The next thing I knew we were up to a case a week. Insidious. Unconscious. Wasteful. That ad combined with PJ’s stand really opened my eyes.

I find my consciousness rising generally. When we moved out to the country five years ago, I decided to go with a front-load washer because it used far less water. We NEVER water our grass. And we are conscious about our water usage in generally because we live on a well.

Our home takes advantage of passive solar heating. The back of our house faces south and is full of windows, bringing the light and heat into the house in those cold months. And I’m considering getting my heat from the ground the next time my furnace must be replaced.

I also tend to turn my oven off early, when I’m cooking, and let the food finish cooking in the heat of the closed oven, saving a bit of energy. I started doing this to reduce the amount of heat in my kitchen in the summer and it worked so well I just kept it up. I always turn off the “heated dry” cycle on my dishwasher, and I load my washing machine to the hilt and then split the load in the dryer to save energy and drying time.

A friend of mine just sent me an email with this tip:

Using Swiffer wet replacement towels can get expensive so I decided to try using my old flannel pajamas cut to size and dampened with a cleaning solution of about 2 tbsp. Murphy’s oil soap to 2 litres water.  Works great on my hardwood. Try it.

So I’m gonna. Since the cloths can be washed and reused over and over and the cleaning solution will cost just pennies compared to what I was spending, I’m thinking this could be a keeper.

For years my husband has bought socks all of the same colour and style and I do that with my son’s socks too. That way when one goes missing, it’s no big deal. I never had a problem with Alex’s socks because until she was 12 she purposely wore her socks miss-matched!

Speaking of Alex, she refuses to use anything but rechargeable batteries because she considers it a waste of her money. Funny how when you give a kid her own money, she becomes very careful about what she’s prepared to spend it on, eh?

Okay, it’s your turn. What are your favorite money saving tips?

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