Loved the list.
Drink cheaper coffee - I already drink cheaper coffee (I don't work outside the home, so while I think I am at least a half a pot a day I'm not ordering double shot grande mocha lattes).
Make your own fast food - Do bologna sandwiches count??? I do cook a lot of meals at home, but then there are 4 of us, eating out is just too expensive, even if we eat off the value menu!
Read a book - Ok, so we have TV & we already cut it back as far as we are willing too, guess it's a luxury expense. But, the kids watch a lot of the educational stuff & if we cut it back to the basics we'd lose dh's hockey!
Get cheaper hobbies, well..... I just don't think so! I sew, dh golfs, the Prince even has clubs... It's not like I spend more than $10 a week over the course of a year... well, dh got new clubs & I got the serger last year (his terms, grrrr), we do watch for coupons for golf & it's not like they go every week. They only went 2x last summer.
Air up your tires - we don't have a vehicle on the road at the moment, not an issue
Use free software - we already use free antivirus & spyware. We did have to buy a spyware when dh's work software got a nasty bug.
Buy in bulk - well I love Sam's Club, I just can't seem to get out of there cheaply... plus as I noticed at the store on the 3rd, sometimes more doesn't mean less$ in fact in most cases it actually cost more. IE sugar, usually I buy 10 pounds at Sam's but we haven't been & I needed it, so I was going to go for the 10 pound bag, it actually cost $0.02/pound MORE than the 5 pound??? go figure
Plan careful road trips - well not having a vehicle of ones own you do that anyways...
Check the library - while I love the library as a resource ours basically stinks, so occaisionally you find what you want, but sometimes it's far less frustrating to go to Amazon.com
Drink lots of water - One I should have put under my health & fitness 2007 goal, I know I need to drink more than I do.
Keep a list of what you spend - don't do this, maybe I should, but then I need to have a notebook & remember to keep it with me & not lose it...
Replace light bulbs with compact fluorescents done! The Finance Journey has a post about these lights & Wal-Mart
Write a grocery list. Usually I do a little beyond that & plan my menu. I got out of the habit, once I stopped shopping sales (Wal-Mart & Aldi have the best general prices & usually less than sales in the other chain grocery stores around here) Now when we were getting coupons in the mail for the new grocery store for free stuff & $5 off any order over $10, well I was all over that, but now I need to get back to it, since our Wal-Mart has started raising prices on some items already.
Invite friedns over - sure, except they are both single guys (at least the friends we get together with) I really don't want to eat anything they cook! So I either cook, or we order out for pizza & wings.
Programmable thermostat was the first real improvement we made to the house! The first winter we had it was nice, I got to see just how cold we really were! Now I'm not so sure it is a relevant piece of electronics! The coal furnace while tied into the thermostat, will not kick down if it's over, the damper will close but if it's windy it will not stop & we will be stripping down to shorts & Ts!
Turn your computer off - well that would make it really hard for dh to work since he's on the puter 3rd shift. We do turn the desktop off, that thing is an energy hog & runs so loudly that it will keep you up if you don't!
The 10 second rule - I guess I do this without thinking. I usually edit the cart before or at the checkout. I can usually pull a couple things out that are just not necessary after I've walked around with them for a while. And when I shop online I have done my research, so I'm not making spontaneous purchases.
According to Trent if you do all of these things you could potentially save $4600 a year, not bad if you have it to put into an account on Dec 31st! Woohoo. Unfortunately that isn't what happens here... I don't get to see the money I save as it all goes into the house or debt reduction, so I can at least feel good about the fact that $4600 of that is from my efforts!!! Gooooo Meeeee!
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