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Savings Tips 1-4

September 20th, 2010 at 12:25 am

Here are some savings tips I use. I really like to use tips that help elimate waste of resources. They may be really basic, but they work!

Savings Tips:

1) Don't buy gift bags. I always buy wrapping paper, it lasts much longer and is cheaper. Instead of spending $3-$4 on a GB for one wedding gift, you can buy one roll of wrapping paper for the same amount or cheaper to be used on numerous gifts depending on size. I have had the same wedding wrap for 2-3 years now. For Christmas you can buy a few different kinds of wrap each year when they are on clearance for very cheap, then you never have to buy expensive bags or pay full price for wrap. I have a large gift bag that I save all my wrapping paper scraps in. Lots of pieces that you couldn't use for the gift you have can be saved and work perfect for smaller gifts like DVDs, CDs, books and jewelry. I also save all the gift bags that I get for birthdays and Christmas and keep them all together so if I am in a hurry or a bag will just work better for the gift I do have several to choose from. I also save the tissue paper.

2)Don't spend a lot of money on cards. If you really enjoy cards maybe you disagree with this, but I could not care less about cards with my gift. You read it once, you open your gift.....you go home and throw away the card and never think about it again. So I buy all of my cards at the Dollar Store, 2 for $1. I buy several birthday, wedding, graduation and baby cards at once and keep them with my wrapping supplies so I don't have to make a trip out to buy one card. I just think it is ridiculous to spend $3-$5 on a card that no one will look at again (unless maybe it is a special card for your husband/wife or something that might be saved.) Like I said if you like cards you may feel differently. Or you can always make your own card with a piece of paper folded in half and some crayons or markers.

3) Unplug. We unplug EVERYTHING. There is nothing in our basement that is plugged in right now except the washer and dryer. The TV, all lamps and any electronics are all unplugged. If we happen to spend time in the basement we plug them in while we are down there and then unplug before we go back upstairs. We keep all appliances, can opener, toaster, mixer, and radio in the kitchen unplugged unless in use. Also the laptop, cell phone chargers etc. We have our main TV hooked up to a light switch, so when we hit the switch it turns off the power to the outlet that the TV is connected to, so that is "unplugged" when not in use too. This helps a lot with the electricity bill.

4) Keep the heat/air off as long as you can. Every year when the seasons change we wait as long as we can stand to turn on the heat or air. I live in ND, so that can be a challenge! We are trying to last till October 1st with the heat off this year. It has already snowed here, so it is not easy. But if you wear warm clothes, socks and keep a blanket around if you are laying on the couch you will still be comfy. Open the shades when the sun is out and let it help heat your home. If you made something in the oven leave the oven open after you have removed your food and turned off the over and the heat from it can easily warm a room. Or cuddle! Smile Same goes in the summer, open the windows at night, close the shades, wear layers so you can take some off to stay cool. When we do finally turn it on we still keep it very low, especially in the winter as you can keep yourself warm with clothes and blankets.

10 Responses to “Savings Tips 1-4”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1284940975

    Oh, I so did not want to hear that it has already snowed to the north. Ack!! Good tips.

  2. MonkeyMama Says:
    1284943326

    I don't even buy wrapping paper (most the time), and never cards. I just don't see the point of cards.

  3. HouseHopeful Says:
    1284948024

    I do buy wrapping paper, as well as gift bags. My local dollar store had 3 bags for a dollar & they can be convenient Smile

    I also utilize the dollar store for greeting cards. Once in a while, I use coupons and go to other stores for the cards that play songs or for the Hoops & Yo-yo brand cards. I find that they are very special and worth it for the right person. But there are definitely some fun and useful cards right at the dollar store. I actually picked up 3 Halloween cards & 1 sympathy card there the other day. Cost: $2 Smile

  4. M E 2 Says:
    1284949422


    Gift bags are completely reusable for a good number of times. So, I think wrapping paper is in fact a bigger money waster.

  5. Banker Gurl Says:
    1284950441

    If you get yor giftbag back when you give a gift, then yes, it would be cheaper. But usually when I give a gift I do not get the bag back. Smile

  6. GusitaRenkr Says:
    1284957331

    I'm jealous of your snow. It is still 90+ degrees here in North Carolina. Where is our fall weather?! I firmly agree with wrapping paper over gift bags, MUCH, MUCH cheaper. I do love it when people give me gifts in gift bags though, since DH and I can re-use them.

  7. PatientSaver Says:
    1284986774

    I don't think it's necessary to unplug EVERYTHING if you're concerned about phantom energy use, just those items that have a little box as part of the plug, or those things that have a digital LCD display. these are the things that use up energy when idle.

  8. Ima saver Says:
    1284992833

    I bought a large assortment of gift bags at QVC for about $20 3 years ago for christmas. We reuse the same bags over and over again, since it is just dh and I giving each other gifts for presents. We never use cards or tags on our gifts. I put his on one side of the tree and mine on the other side.

  9. Homebody Says:
    1284998186

    Costco had a box of cards in a nice organizing box, cute 3-D cards for really cheap, like I want to say $4.97 for 30 cards. I have been using them, or I buy from the Dollar Store or I get generic blank cards and write in them, those you can pick up cheap. I generally give cash or gift cards, so I don't wrap that much, but again, if I need something, Dollar Store. (I hate wrapping gifts!)

  10. Jerry Says:
    1285361526

    I am not a fan of gift bags, but my wife likes them a lot - and she recycles them over and over again, too. I would prefer to wrap a gift nicely in some layers of decorated tissue paper or something, which leads to a nice look and is very cheap. However, I don't think that either one is a bank breaker if you get the bags at the dollar store, where you will usually have some insurance of getting them for extremely low prices.
    Jerry

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