Inconspicuous, Pioneering Money Saving Solutions Part 5

Alas, the time has come! This is my final post for this series. I hope you've all enjoyed the posts, and if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. I'd be glad to answer them!

The last two tips I have for saving money in ways that might not be obvious are both tips that took me a very long time to decide to implement. I wouldn't be offended if you didn't want to put them into action right away; I've had to make a conscious effort to use both of these tips myself!

9) Don't order name-brand ink for your printer. I know, I know: Your printer's manufacturer clearly states in no uncertain terms that you are to use only their brand of ink in the printer. However, this can be extremely costly!

I know these pictures aren't great (I just had my iPhone handy when I started this post, so I took them with that!), but do you see any difference(s) in any of the three ink cartridges (besides color)?

Let me give you a hint: There isn't any! The top cartridge pictured is not manufactured by Epson; the other two are!

We generally purchase ink once every other month or so, depending on what we've been printing and the quantities of what we've printed. At $28.01 per cartridge, and $69.99 for a 4-pack (all the ink my printer takes - black, cyan, magenta and yellow), that can run us between $419.94 and $672.24 per year in ink costs!!!

That was an unacceptable price to me, even purchasing it once every other month.

I talked to my friend Bryce, who is very computer savvy, and knows what you can use and what you can't in nearly any computer-related situation. He advised me to quit buying the name-brand ink immediately, and that there was really no drawback. The computer gives you a warning that leads you to believe you wasted your money when you put generic ink in your printer, but I never experienced lower quality printing, and I will never purchase name-brand ink again.

Instead, I order from inkquik.com. Their customer service is relatively speedy, and I get my ink shipped to me and received within 48 hours.

And I only pay $27.50 for it!!!

That's all 4 ink cartridges - same sizes and colors as the name brand ones are sold in - AND it includes shipping!

I highly recommend that everyone switch to inkquik, and I rarely do that.

10) Don't over-extend yourself. Instant-gratification is the root of 90% of the debt problems people have, in my opinion. Just because your friend wants it, or your parents have it, doesn't mean you have to leap at the opportunity to get something! Be patient; have faith in God to provide, and in His timing, He will bless you abundantly.


Some examples from my life are as follows:

• I really wanted a piano. A real one. Right before Robert and I got married. My dad and I looked and looked, and never found one worth buying. Within 1 month of us moving after we got married, a friend let me give their upright grand a home temporarily. Eventually, that friend turned around and blessed us by saying I could keep the piano! Amazing how God worked that out! My friend was thrilled the piano got a good home and an owner who loves it!
• We had plenty of televisions in our house when we got married. Even though all of our friends and most of our family had brand new, big, flat-panel HD TVs, we were still watching the old RCA box from 1983, and didn't get our next hand-me-down for several months. When we got it, we kept it until we had saved enough for a small (but new), inexpensive television. We found a great one at Wal-Mart (40"!) with a 2-year warranty for a fantastic price, and purchased it as our gift to each other for Christmas 2011.
  
  
  I could go on and on. But I don't need to; I know you all get the point! I am so very thankful that we have all that we do, and I feel 100% confident in our decisions regarding what we have purchased to live with - and even the things we said, "No" to, or even "Not right now." I have learned that patience and preparation are the keys to living beneath our means. It is definitely not always fun! It's really hard sometimes! One instance in particular is saying "no" when everyone else is saying "sure, why not?" That could be anything from having dinner out with friends and or/ family to buying a brand new car! And let me just say that the day-to-day decisions to live and spend frugally are the most trying decisions. But we've seen it pay off! As mentioned previously, we were able to pay for a trip to Las Vegas this year completely off of what we had saved in coupons, sales and discounts!   

I could go on and on. But I don't need to; I know you all get the point! I am so very thankful that we have all that we do, and I feel 100% confident in our decisions regarding what we have purchased to live with - and even the things we said, "No" to, or even "Not right now." I have learned that patience and preparation are the keys to living beneath our means. It is definitely not always fun! It's really hard sometimes! One instance in particular is saying "no" when everyone else is saying "sure, why not?" That could be anything from having dinner out with friends and or/ family to buying a brand new car! And let me just say that the day-to-day decisions to live and spend frugally are the most trying decisions. But we've seen it pay off! As mentioned previously, we were able to pay for a trip to Las Vegas this year completely off of what we had saved in coupons, sales and discounts!

The savings adds up, my friends, when you are careful, purposed and intentional. Always discuss your goals as a couple, pray about it, and above all remember the words of Mark Hall (lead singer for the Casting Crowns): "You'll live what you believe." So, if you go out and spend $500 on food for your family for one week, you must believe that's an acceptable standard of living cost. (That is just an arbitrary number! I know everyone has different budgets, and it's not meant to point any fingers). Contrarily, if you want to spend $500 at the grocery store to feed your family for one week, and you instead only purchase what you need and a couple of extra items, combine it with sales and coupons, and walk out only having spent $50, then you must believe that is an acceptable standard of living cost.

Thank you for the emails you all have sent me regarding how you're doing with your goals, and telling me that you're implementing some of my ideas! I'm so happy for all of you! Feel free to post comments here, too, if you want! :)


Keep saving!! :)

•  

Incospicuous, Pioneering Money Saving Solutions Part 4

Some of us fill up with fuel in our vehicles when we have to, and that's it - you know, when the "E" light blinks at chimes at you unceasingly! Some of us fill up consistently on a particular day of the week, or at least once a week (no particular day).

And then there are people like me - perfectionists - who don't like their tanks to drop below 1/2 tank of gas.

This post is only going to contain two money-saving tips, because I have a little story to go with it. It's taken me a lot of courage to muster up to post this, so please be understanding, as this is a delicate situation to write about.

It's a very harsh reality to face - losing your job. To make a long and painful story short, I had worked for the same company for 7 years, and upon graduating with my bachelor's degree, I requested to be permanent staff with benefits and better pay (I also request a performance review, just so you understand it wasn't just demands I was placing). While the company gave me a shining review and a decent raise, they refused the benefits and permanent staff position. I asked them if they would support me in a job search, in that case, knowing I was looking, but allowing me to keep my job there anyway. We came to a mutual understanding (eventually).

I found a job 5 minutes from my home that would offer benefits and everything - but I would have to take a deep pay cut. This was less than 3 months into our marriage, and after a lot of discussion and prayer, Robert and I decided I should take it, as the work environment I was in currently was quite toxic for me for many reasons.

Less than 6 months into that job, I was told that I was no longer needed. The reason stated was unjust, in my opinion, but it was what it was. I had to deal with it. I think I was only shocked for about a week, numb for a week and a half, and over it by the second week. However, we'd lost a great percentage of our income. Robert was content to work what he was given as far as his hours went, but as soon as I lost my job, he ramped up the shifts he was picking up, worked twice as much as he did before (currently, he works quadruple the hours he did when we were first married), and it was still difficult to make ends meet.

I was granted unemployment after a short battle with the benefits people over it, but I ended up winning. Even with me collecting unemployment, teaching 6 students piano lessons, and nannying as much as I could for the family I was already working for, we still had an extremely tight budget.

Thankfully, less than a month and a half later was tax season, and I picked up still more hours doing that. But money was still tight.

All that to say.....I had to let go of my perfectionist tendencies related to my gas tank. That halfway mark hardly ever meant anything - we got gas when we needed to. For that matter, Robert was forced to learn to drive the Focus better (it's a manual), and leave the Trailblazer at home, since he did far more driving than I did.

And we made it through.

I'm not sorry for the circumstances; I'm grateful. We were taught to rely on the Lord so much more than we ever knew we could. We grew closer together as a married couple. The financial burdens lightened as we trusted the Lord to provide for us (and worked as much as we could!) Despite my expansive and unending quest to find work, I was never able to during the summer of 2011. I finally found part-time work in August, which we decided to settle for, even though I wanted full-time.

Us on Waikiki beach in May 2011. 

We learned through those situations that God had a plan each step of the way. We're starting to see a lot of that now! Because of the generosity of several family members, we were able to take a week-long trip to Honolulu for free, simply because those family members love us and knew we would be greatly blessed by the trip.



















This leads me to my two tips for this post:


7) Fill up with fuel once per week, in the middle of the week. Yep, it's actually proven (by me! haha), that gasoline is cheaper on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays than it is any other day of the week! I can't remember where I first saw that pointed out, but I thought it was bogus.

It's not.


If you don't believe me, do a month-long test and use an app like Gas Buddy to help you price out fuel in your area.


It may not be much - just a few cents here and there - but the prices are legitimately lower by an average of $0.03-$0.10 per gallon on Wednesdays, especially! So, if you have a 12-gallon tank (like one of our vehicles), and you fill up once per week on Fridays or Mondays, the savings for you could be as follows:


Friday/ Monday price: $3.95/ gal. = $47.40/ week = $189.60/ month = $2,275.20/ year
Wednesday price: $3.85/ gal. = $46.20/ week = $184.80/ month = $2,217.60/ year

                                                 Total savings = $57.60/ year!
That may not seem like much, but wouldn't you prefer that $57 and change going into your savings account instead? Imagine the savings on a bigger vehicle! Our Trailblazer's savings (18-gal. tank) is as follows (for the scenario example above): 

Friday/ Monday price: $3.95/gal. = $71.10/ week = $284.40/ month = $3,412.80/ year
Wednesday price: $3.85/gal. = $69.30/ week = $277.20/ month = $3,326.40/ year
                                                                            Total savings = $86.40/ year!


Really and truly, it's worth it to fill up once a week, in the middle of the week for several reasons:

• You save time, only stopping once, as opposed to several times. (And stopping in the evening will save time waiting in line for fuel!) 
• You save money (as outlined above)
• You end up getting more bang for your buck

My last tip for this post is closely related to the first one here:

8) If you own more than one vehicle, drive the one that gets the best gas mileage as much as you can. Pretty self-explanatory. If you drive 8 miles to work and your spouse drives 20, ask your spouse if he or she is willing to take the more economical car. If you're the one doing more driving, step up to the plate and take one for the team! (Remember, if you're married, saving money is a team effort, not a spectator sport!) As you're deciding who drives which vehicle, you may find it helpful to write down all the errands you're doing, and add the mileage together (use Google Maps to help you!)

Let me tell you that my husband did not under any circumstances ever want to drive my car! He completely refused to learn how to drive it for months while we were dating, until I finally convinced him to do what his entire family thought was impossible: TRY to learn how to drive my car. And try he did. Again and again. Popping the clutch, laying rubber on the ground - it was hilarious to watch! My hubby doesn't like to fail in front of people; he's so hard on himself! However, this is what he has to say about our circumstances and having to learn how to drive my car, and how he reflects on the whole situation today:

"I understand and respect my wife's desire to save us as much money as possible, which means making sacrifices here and there. I really don't enjoy driving a manual at all. I don't like having to think about my feet and shifting while driving. I want to get in, turn on the car and drive. Due to the price of gas and the mpg each of our vehicles gets, it's more economical for me to get out of my comfort zone and help my wife save us some money. We coordinate which vehicle each person drives on a given day, based on who is driving the furthest. I appreciate all that Kimi does to help save us as much money as possible."

I'm so thankful that my hubby is willing to work together with me to save us money, even when he may not enjoy it! He is so right when it comes to sacrifices! I prefer getting a Starbucks on my way to work every day, but I refuse to do it - based on the principle that I have to save us money. Now, if you see me with a Starbucks for any reason, you would rightly assume one of two things: 1) It was a gift or gesture of a blessing, or 2) I have a Starbucks gift card I am using to pay for it. Period.

Additionally, the two of us may want to go on vacations and purchase extravagant items, but we're willing to wait on the Lord to see what He has in store for us before we go wasting our money and our time. Because of my determination to save us money using coupons, sales and only spending what we needed to (with a few exceptions, of course), we were able to pay for our trip to Las Vegas in January of this year on the savings I had accumulated - just from coupons and sales, and combining that with self-control!

Las Vegas! New York, New York hotel & casino on January 20, 2012.

Quite honestly, we aren't striving for spending not a penny more than what we are required to in order to live. We are only striving to be the best stewards we can be with what we have!

Getting out of an instant-gratification mindset early is the best way to accomplish our goals, we have found.


If you missed my post about our new couch, be sure to check it out here: The Lord had a plan for us to get a new couch in His timing, and we were patient and waited nearly 2 years to purchase one! Oh, sure, we found several that we liked and wanted. But our self-control and discipline to stick to our budget really and truly paid off!
He blessed us in His own way when we were more willing to wait on His timing for it, rather than force the issue and end up spending money we really couldn't afford to spend on a couch at a time that wasn't convenient for anyone. As it is, our neighborhood garage sales were happening right after we bought the couch, and my family ended up selling the old one at one of theirs less than 3 weeks after we bought the new couch! There's no way we could have timed that better, and we're so thankful it happened the way it did!


I am praying for success for all of you, my dear readers, in your money-saving endeavors! Please let me know how it's going for you! I love reading your comments. :)

Inconspicuous, Pioneering Money Saving Solutions Part 3

This post is going to be a short one, but I believe it's got some tips that anyone can put into practice immediately. :)

5) Be conservative in consumption. That is a really broad statement, I know! Please don't roll your eyes. :) Have you ever taken a few moments to look over your utility bills? It might surprise you if you haven't. Let me give you a few quick go-to pointers to put into use right now if you believe your bills are too high:

• Lights out! Turn them off when you leave a room, unplug any unused lamps, and try investing in some inexpensive solar pathway lights (about $1.99 on a good sale at Fred Meyer) to use for lighting outdoors as opposed to leaving your porch lights on all the time. If you'd really like some higher-quality pathway lights, though, try these:
• Electronics not in use should not remain "on." It does consume a little electricity, even if they are not in use. A good example is our receiver for our surround sound in the family room. We have a tendency to turn off the TV, but forget the surround sound. A friend (who happens to work for our local PUD), suggested to me that I ought to pay more attention to turning that off at night, instead of leaving it on. As a result, I'm currently considering researching just how much that one electronic device saves me when I turn it off at night. I promise to post the results of my findings. :)
  
• Efficiency is everything. I don't mean you ought to run out and purchase brand new appliances. I simply mean for you, my dear readers, to be efficient in everything you do. When I do laundry, being that the laundry room is in an area of our home that doesn't have any windows, I have to use the lights when I do it. Therefore, I try to sort the clothes during the daytime, in the daylight, and change loads as quickly as I can. That doesn't mean I move so fast that I end up mixing colors, forgetting the fabric softener, or spilling the laundry soap everywhere; it means that I try to be intentional and purposed in my actions. The more efficient I am, the more I save - of my time, my resources, and from our family's hard-earned money! The less time I use under the glow of the lights in the laundry room, the more money and time I preserve for other uses. 

 6) Don't buy into bread. Does your family consume a lot of bread? Do you find yourself wishing you could save $5-$20 on your grocery bills? Wonder and wish no more! Shop the 1/2 price bread racks only! You'd be shocked to learn what you can get there - gourmet bagels, specialty breads, and general breads like whole wheat and white. You can also make your own bread at home - there are plenty of recipes online for simple and reasonably-priced homemade breads, and if you have a breadmaker, that will save you time, cleanup and it's amazing what you can do with them!

That's it for today! I hope you can put to use a tip sometime today or tomorrow! :) Let me know how it goes, I'd love to read your comments!