Comments on: Simple Ways to Save Money

By: Kristy

Kristy — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:10:50 +0000

We have been living simply for almost 2 years now. There are 4 of us left in the house.We moved from a 3,000 sqft home to a 1,600 sqft home. We canceled cable, stopped buying processed foods, and did all that you mentioned. I have to say we are HAPPIER people as a family. We love our library, and I think it is a wonderful responsibility lesson for everyone to make sure they are returned in time, so another card holder can check them out. Our library has up to date movies and books, and I have saved hundreds of dollars. We also homeschool on a budget. As someone who used to live frivolously, I can attest that living simply is just the best! Thank you for the reminder! Oh, and without the cable we play more family games, go on more walks ect…

By: Carmen at Old House Kitchen

Carmen at Old House Kitchen — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:33:00 +0000

I am horrible at remembering to return movies to the library. We only go into town once a week and our library movies can be renewed only once so I pay $1 for a late fee on all the videos we check out. (The way the calendar works out we take them out on a Wed. and with renewal they are due on Tuesdays.) Since our “town” (not even a stoplight!) doesn’t have a library we have to pay to use another. We pay $76 a year for our card. We have netflix, but only the basic subscription of 1 dvd at a time and instant whenever. There are so many educational things (from TLC, Discovery, History channel) to watch on there that the $11-ish a month that we pay is really worth it for us. We have a digital box and don’t have cable. All that to say I’d much rather have netflix than the fee for each movie from the library. Also the library movies are usually scratched up.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:37:59 +0000

There is a great deal of FREE entertainment on the web today. Including legal TV shows at sites like http://www.hulu.com/ and http://www.joost.com/ As well as games at sites like http://disney.go.com/index So you can cancel Cable TV, NetFlix and Xbox and still get many of the same benefits for free online.

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:07:02 +0000

Thanks so much for all of the great tips. My husband and I are really trying to cut back. The prices of everything is getting out of control. I love having a big family and I think cutting back on the little things and in the long run it will help a lot.

By: TheHappyHousewife

TheHappyHousewife — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:44:37 +0000

Diana-
You make some good points about late fees, they are high. But you would have to rack up a lot of late fees every month to compete with the cost of buying books from a store or renting movies. I have a system that we use to keep from paying these late fees that I will try and share in a blog post soon.
Thanks for reminding my readers to return their books and movies on time. It makes little sense to save money at the library only to spend it on late fees!
Toni

By: Diana

Diana — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:38:08 +0000

while the library is a fantastic resource, you gotta be weary of their multi-media freebies. Their fines for being later are astronomical (at least here in so cal they are). It’s .25 cents a day for a late book. Forget that movie? book on tape? Game or the like? It’s a DOLLAR a DAY! Check out more than one and BOOM, your bill can get more than netflix right quick. Be sure to check it out, before you check it out

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:30:38 +0000

I love the idea of teaching children how to save! I never learned that growing up. I had to learn it the hard way!

By: fabricgarden

fabricgarden — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:53:30 +0000

We are trying these types of things, too. Love our library system!
Just put the clothes line out a couple weeks ago.
Also, opted not to get “caller ID” on the home phone – this saves us $100 a year!!
And, got rid of the two cell phone plan of over $100/mo. for a prepaid plan (tracfone) where we spend about $200 for the whole year – savings $1,000 per year!!!
Dave has a great ministry – thanks to him (and God!!)we are debt free except for the house!

By: Audra Krell

Audra Krell — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:32:12 +0000

These are really great tips. It’s nothing short of overwhelming to have so much stuff, it’s such a burden. I’m working on reducing……thanks for the encouragement.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:26:33 +0000

Our latest…switching completely to filtered water and filling our sports/bike bottles before we leave home. Less $$ spent on water bottles and no recycling worries! (Over 80 percent of plastic water bottles are not recycled, isn’t that ridiculous?)