Frugal Living Ideas

Harro said:
Does your tap at home or workplace not function? You are already paying for water through your rates. And, yes we do not need more plastic in the environment. Drink from a glass not a plastic bottle.
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We have a function on our fridge for water dispensing (via the kitchen sink water supply).

This is pretty much the only water we drink; fill up bottles to take with us in the car, walks etc.

Only ongoing cost for it is a new replacement filter on the line every year for about $70. :eek:
 
BayView said:
We have a function on our fridge for water dispensing (via the kitchen sink water supply).

This is pretty much the only water we drink; fill up bottles to take with us in the car, walks etc.

Only ongoing cost for it is a new replacement filter on the line every year for about $70. :eek:
Click to expand...

I think at $6 a month BayView that is quite sustainable. Last time while fuelling up I noticed our local servo had a special on : 2 bottles of water for $6. What's special about that? What a gimmick!
 
MTR said:
If you can't beat them join them:)

We spend $800 bi-monthly just on our electricity bill because we use aircon reverse cycle 24/7, heating/cooling.

MTR:)
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Do you adjust the thermostat ? You can save heaps by having it cooler in winter and putting on a jumper/pullover and then in summer have it warmer so that you don't freeze when you come inside.

Last business we had, we used to set our AC at 23 in summer and heating at 19 in winter, our customers loved it, just dress for the season and your power usage will drop dramatically.
 
BayView said:
We have a function on our fridge for water dispensing (via the kitchen sink water supply).

This is pretty much the only water we drink; fill up bottles to take with us in the car, walks etc.

Only ongoing cost for it is a new replacement filter on the line every year for about $70. :eek:
Click to expand...

We have this too and find it has an added benefit of the kids not opening the fridge every 3 seconds to get cold water out. It is slowly dying (leaky pipes/tubes) though and I'm considering perhaps getting a normal fridge in the new house and one of those Zip instant hot water/filtered cold water. Would you believe you can now get a Zip which does boiling water, filtered cold water AND filtered cold SPARKLING water. Phwoar!!
 
west minutes said:
Would you believe you can now get a Zip which does boiling water, filtered cold water AND filtered cold SPARKLING water. Phwoar!!
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Seriously? How do they make it sparkle? CO2?

I will add another cost saver: work nights and share a one bedroom flat. Better still have two flatmates and hot bed it in 3 shifts.
 
TMNT said:
funny!


yes Im an walking environmental polluter but opening a new bottle of water to drink is one of the most satisfying aspects of paying for water
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No option here, tap water is so bad that even after filtering, it still causes stomach upsets for many new residents in the area.

Late at night it reeks of chemicals ugh!!
 
MarkB said:
False economy (the thought that living near a supposedly excellent public school wont cost more anyway)

or

Why are you even counting the cost on your kids education - it is an investment in their future.

Take your pick.
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.... Because private education costs xx it needs to be placed in the family budget if you go this way, unfortunately no one is going to give you a free ride for this one.

My children have gone to both so I have an opinion on both, there is a thread somewhere else on this ... I think public vs private, you will see not everyone shares the same opinion.

Cheers
MTR:)
 
Yes we've all heard about the millions you can save growing your own vegetables. Ha. The fact is vegetable purchase is not where most people's money goes. I just bought 3 packed bags of veggies for 18 bucks . It will last me a couple of weeks. Then I go to the supermarket to buy the meats and cheeses and spend 40 bucks on 3 items. Shame we can't grow cows and cheese in our veggie patch.
But this is a great topic because I've been doing a number of things for years mainly to prevent impulse buying (which is really where the dollars get sucked up)
My first trick if you like is say I see something that I think I need/want is to write it down in a little book I carry around. It gets entered in what I call my 30 day list. What it means is that in 30 days If I still believe I need/want this item I may buy it. There have been times that the item is still important to me but you can imagine how many never get thought of again.

Secondly I apply the question 'Will this purchase add to the quality of my life?' If you apply this question to every possible purchase you will find the answer is usually no. If it's no then I don't buy it. Example I see a nice dress and apply the question and guess what? Because I have many dresses in my wardrobe hardly worn I realise having another will certainly not improve my life. On the other hand because I'm constantly carrying wood in for my fire when applied to buying a wood carrier the answer is a definite yes. Apply it to junk food and to healthy food purchases. The answers are obvious.

Thirdly considering every dollar spent is represented by time at work and therefore your own life then impulse and unnecessary purchases become a lot less attractive. Example if I buy this dress I will have to work an extra day at some point in my life or better if I don't buy this dress I can retire a day earlier.

Fourth is imagining the item in an Op shop or stored in your garage unused in 3 years time. It won't look so pretty then will it? Have you ever considered all that 'junk' in Op shops represents people's hard earned cash which represents their work and therefore parts of their lives they've given up?

Fifthly we can do little to get out of paying bills and so on. Each year I pay 4 lots of rates, insurance, water and maintenance on 4 houses however never do I pay a bill without asking for a re assessment or a discount. I never mind asking for a reduction in anything and you know usually I get it.

Brits
 
Brits said:
Yes we've all heard about the millions you can save growing your own vegetables. Ha. The fact is vegetable purchase is not where most people's money goes. I just bought 3 packed bags of veggies for 18 bucks . It will last me a couple of weeks. Then I go to the supermarket to buy the meats and cheeses and spend 40 bucks on 3 items. Shame we can't grow cows and cheese in our veggie patch.
But this is a great topic because I've been doing a number of things for years mainly to prevent impulse buying (which is really where the dollars get sucked up)
My first trick if you like is say I see something that I think I need/want is to write it down in a little book I carry around. It gets entered in what I call my 30 day list. What it means is that in 30 days If I still believe I need/want this item I may buy it. There have been times that the item is still important to me but you can imagine how many never get thought of again.

Secondly I apply the question 'Will this purchase add to the quality of my life?' If you apply this question to every possible purchase you will find the answer is usually no. If it's no then I don't buy it. Example I see a nice dress and apply the question and guess what? Because I have many dresses in my wardrobe hardly worn I realise having another will certainly not improve my life. On the other hand because I'm constantly carrying wood in for my fire when applied to buying a wood carrier the answer is a definite yes. Apply it to junk food and to healthy food purchases. The answers are obvious.

Thirdly considering every dollar spent is represented by time at work and therefore your own life then impulse and unnecessary purchases become a lot less attractive. Example if I buy this dress I will have to work an extra day at some point in my life or better if I don't buy this dress I can retire a day earlier.

Fourth is imagining the item in an Op shop or stored in your garage unused in 3 years time. It won't look so pretty then will it? Have you ever considered all that 'junk' in Op shops represents people's hard earned cash which represents their work and therefore parts of their lives they've given up?

Fifthly we can do little to get out of paying bills and so on. Each year I pay 4 lots of rates, insurance, water and maintenance on 4 houses however never do I pay a bill without asking for a re assessment or a discount. I never mind asking for a reduction in anything and you know usually I get it.

Brits
Click to expand...

I like a lot of these - if more people thought this way, you'd have a lot less crap being thrown out on verge cleanups etc.

Question about your last point though - how on earth do you negotiate cheaper rates?? Aren't these fixed? Unless you could argue financial hardship - but I don't think frugality counts...

I definitely try to negotiate everything else though - it's the the old saying, 'don't ask, don't get'. But surely you can't get a discount off your rates?
 
Last year I called the council and said I don't believe my properties are worth what they valued them at (except for the one they undervalued of course). I was told to apply to have the values looked at again and sure enough all three props I applied for were valued at a lesser figure. It is so easy to prove because there will be places around you that do not sell for high figures and you can use those to show evidence. I got quite a bit off my rates this way and intend to do the same this year.
With my insurance each time I renew, I say I would like them to give me the best rate they can. They type a whole lot of figures into something and always come up with a better rate. Remember they want to keep you and if you ask they realise you're probably someone who is savvy and is looking at competitors' rates.
When I got my first land tax bill last year I called and said Is there anyway I can not pay this or reduce it. He asked why and I said because I don't want to pay it. Well that one didn't work did it? We both had a good laugh though.
Brits
 
Macca said:
Do you adjust the thermostat ? You can save heaps by having it cooler in winter and putting on a jumper/pullover and then in summer have it warmer so that you don't freeze when you come inside.

Last business we had, we used to set our AC at 23 in summer and heating at 19 in winter, our customers loved it, just dress for the season and your power usage will drop dramatically.
Click to expand...

Too right!

Recent trip to Melb saw us freezing outside only to have to derobe a couple layers when going into shops etc. Bit inconvenient when going in and out of many shops on a regular Melb winter day.

But then, we could take a cup of cement and harden up, first world prob and all.:D

Nothing wrong with 19-23 deg all year round when inside. Good strategy Macca.
 
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