Festival of Frugality

I live in an older house that is rather drafty, especially in the winter.  While we’ve taken many measures to make the house more efficient, it still does not retain heat as well as we would like.  Therefore, our natural gas bills in the winter are on the higher side.

My spouse has a much lower tolerance for cold than I do, so our programmable thermostat is a lifesaver.  Instead of keeping the house super warm all night long just so it will be warm when he gets up for work, the thermostat starts gradually warming the house right before he gets up.  Then, once he leaves, it turns down again to the temperature I can tolerate (which, by the way, is 65 F).  The same thing occurs when he gets home from work, and we don’t have to remember to do it ourselves.

Although our winter heating bills may still be high, they’re much lower than the first winter we owned the house.  And getting lower by the day, as I acclimate my spouse to lower temperatures…  :)

A timer is a common household item – it makes sure you don’t burn dinner, after all. But there are more uses for that timer than you may think.

From timing computer use (for adults too, not just kids) to motivating one to tackle put-off tasks (you can do it until the timer goes off, you can do it!), a timer can help you use your time wisely, motivate you, and keep you on track.

And who couldn’t use a little help being on track? I know I can.

It might be the last place you think you need it, but a calculator is one of the handiest tools you can have at the grocery store. From calculating unit cost to comparing apples to oranges (literally), a calculator really helps determine the best bang for your buck.

Divide the total price by the number of ounces to compare different dry goods and brands of the same cereal. Easily add up the number of sheets of different paper towels or toilet paper (don’t forget the ply!). The list goes on and on.

So slip a calculator inside your reusable shopping bag today, and never be without it at the grocery store. One of my bags even has a little zipper pouch to keep it in.

Flexible Spending Accounts, also known as FSAs, are a very useful thing to have.  Through a plan at your workplace, you can put money away each pay period, tax free, towards medical (and dependent care) expenses.  Then when you have an expense, you can pay it out of that fund or get reimbursed for it.

If you have an FSA, make sure you know what’s going on with it.  What dates is it valid for?  Most are Jan 1st to Dec 31st, but plans vary.  How much is left in it?  Do you have a plan for using it up?  These are use it or lose it plans, so if you let the money sit, you’ll lose it – defeating the purpose of the plan.

So make sure you stay aware, stay on top of things, and stay in control – use that FSA the right way!

Or spin, or run, or play, or…

The point is – most of us need to exercise.  So instead of signing up for the nearest gym then guilting yourself into going, find a form of exercise you enjoy.  Spending your money wisely is one of the tenets of frugality.  Maybe you’re interested in the martial arts.  Maybe running is your thing.  Maybe you enjoy kicking the ball around.  Whatever it is, look for opportunities that capture that, instead of signing up for something you hate.

Exercise comes in many forms, after all.  There’s something for everyone!

This week, we are traveling for work (well, my spouse’s work, the kids and I are just tagalongs!) and while my spouse is at his conference all day, the rest of us have been exploring.  While there are many tips related to vacations to be found, I thought of one today while at the Aquarium.  We take vacations so seldomly that I don’t feel bad buying a little something to remind us of our travels, and I had decided on a t-shirt for each of my kids.

But I didn’t have to pay crazy souvenir prices for them.  In fact, the t-shirts were not really much more expensive than one I’d buy new at Target (if I was so inclined).  For I bought two clearance t-shirts from last year’s stock instead of the brand new ones.  It isn’t like my kids know the difference, and even if they did – why would they care?  They didn’t have a date or anything like that on them.

So if what you are looking for is something to commemorate where you’ve been, see if there are some items on clearance.  They still have the same info, just a little older model.

If you use liquid laundry detergent, you might be using too much. The inside of most caps is tricky – the line you are actually supposed to use is hidden amongst a multitude of lines here, there, and everywhere. And the amount of detergent that is recommended to use doesn’t really correlate, in most cases, to the size of the cap itself.

So make sure you read the bottle, find the right line, and use that line. You might even need a little less than that line – but you most likely don’t need any more. Just blindly filling the cap doesn’t save you anything.

As flu season hurtles towards us, I was given a harsh reminder of that fact when my five year old woke up this morning not feeling well.  A visit to the pediatrician later, he was diagnosed with strep throat and has a course of antibiotics and rest ahead of him.  He’s not often sick, and I know that some illness is to be expected in a lifetime, but as I try to keep the rest of the family from catching what he’s got, I’m reminded of the simple things:

Wash your hands.

Brush your teeth.

Get annual checkups.

Be aware.  Pay attention.

Preventative maintenance is not just good for your automobile, it is good for you as well.  And with that, I should answer the postcard I got in the mail last week from my OB/GYN…  :)

Paidtwice has two young children and a whole lot of germs to abolish.

Washing your clothing in hot water is overrated.  there are times where it may need to be done, but for most situations, cold does just as good of a job.  If you have a washing machine, slip that cycle over to cold/cold right now.  Give it a chance, and it might change your heating bill for the better.

While you are doing that, consider your dryer.  Can you line dry some things?  Can you dry for a shorter time, monitoring how much drying is needed, as opposed to just running through a complete cycle?  the dryer is the least cost-efficient appliance you own, more than likely.  Start limiting its use today.

Libraries have long been known as a frugal place to go, but do you know all of the options your library may have for you? From borrowing a book (of course!) to borrowing a movie, there is even more to be found at many local libraries. There can be kids activities, fairs, book swaps, and much more!

So walk, bike, or even drive to your library tomorrow and see what it has to offer. Because you never know what you might find, and it could be a great surprise.