Good Morning. Budgets and cutting them

Jocelyn F.
on 1/7/13 10:45 am - VA
RNY on 07/28/14

This is timely, as I am feeling the crunch pretty hardcore myself. I just cancelled my internet actually (don't have cable TV) and upgraded my cell phone plan to turn my iphone into a mobile hotspot with upgraded data so I can use my laptop and kindle fire off of it. I'm typing off my verizon mobile connection right now. That's only 20 bucks more a month, vs the outrageous 70 comcast was charging me for broadband internet (that includes a 20 bull**** fee for not having cable tv with them as well). They can get away with this crap because I live in an apartment building without a balcony to put a dish on so they are truly the only option here. Not anymore! SUCK IT COMCAST!!

Ahem. So. Ah yes, protein. I've been buying the premier RTD shakes at Costco for months now and really like them. It's $25 for a pack of 18. I drink one almost every day for breakfast. I've been buying vitamins there for awhile... and a few months ago snagged B12 sublinguals and a giant bottle of centrums when they had instant rebates. I just bought a 6 lb bag of Cyto chocolate protein powder there... I think it was $40 or 45? I haven't tried it yet, I hope I like it. I buy meat at Costco too, usually seperate it and stick some chicken in the fridge and the rest in the freezer for later.

I recently joined Vitamin Shoppe's little rewards program. I priced Isopure, which I started drinking last month and plan to continue doing so, and VS had it the cheapest. I buy the sunday paper and use coupons. A lot of the coupons are for food things I don't eat but there are so many other coupons for household things and toiletries, cat food, etc. A 1 dollar coupon for razors, 2 bucks for hair dye, another dollar for cat food, etc etc, it all adds up. Plus there are always coupons for soup and V8 and that's stuff I always buy. I try to grab things when they're on sale though I don't do any serious levels of stocking up because I just don't have the room.

(deactivated member)
on 1/7/13 2:21 pm
RNY on 08/31/12

My daughter doesn't use internet either and uses her phone like you. She just put me on her plan and will put my husband also as it will be cheaper. Will only cost us $30 per month. We gave up Comcast also about one year ago and haven't even looked longingly back. Husband hooked up a nice little blu-ray DVD player that could plan Netflix so he streams movies and documentaries (several doc's I've seen I now use at school). We just added Hulu so he can watch TV shows like Grey's Anatomy. With an antenna, he gets a few PBS stations. He's disabled and at home all the time so he deserves some form distraction in his day. We signed up with a great promotion for internet (14.99 per month) as some of my work at school is taught online so it is a must have.

(deactivated member)
on 1/8/13 6:05 pm

Renegotiate your cable and internet bills !  Even Time Warner is now doing double play (  internet and Tv  ) for 49.99 $  in New York City !   Their competitors are significantly even  cheaper and give comparable service !  Also , shop around for your electric and gas company ...  there IS competition in most areas and some cooperatives particularly have FAR lower rates .

 

Ditto for insurance .. I've found that car insurance is cheaper than ever if you shop around on the internet . 

Appeal your home's taxes ... 

MajorMom
on 1/8/13 6:45 pm - VA

You gave us all some great ideas. Thanks!

-gina

 

5'1" -- HW 195/SW 187/GW 115 July 08/CW 121 Dec 2012
                                 ******GOAL*******

Starting BMI between 35 and 40ish? 
Join us on the
Lightweights Board!
DS on Aug 9, 2007 with Dr. Hazem Elariny

southernlady5464
on 1/8/13 10:03 pm

I suspect you are with USAA...call and ask them if there is anything you can do to lower any of your rates. IF you are like me tho, leaving is not optional as the money I get back at the end of the year is a nice bonus.

But upping deductibles, etc may help.

Duodenal Switch (Lap) 01-24-11 | Surgeon: Stephen Boyce | High weight: 250 in 2002 | Surgery weight: 203 | Lowest weight: 121 | Current weight: 135 | Goal weight: 135






   

MajorMom
on 1/8/13 6:46 pm - VA

Thanks to everyone who gave us your thoughts and ideas. This is great!

5'1" -- HW 195/SW 187/GW 115 July 08/CW 121 Dec 2012
                                 ******GOAL*******

Starting BMI between 35 and 40ish? 
Join us on the
Lightweights Board!
DS on Aug 9, 2007 with Dr. Hazem Elariny

onmom
on 1/9/13 12:09 am

The biggest savers are eat at home, pack food for anytime not able to eat at home and eat everything you buy waste nothing.

Plan outings for the family that are lost cost or free make a game of it.  

Libraries carry lots of books and movies. We stock up on movies by making copies of the kids fav. that they like. Then when they want it we have it. We do games and movie nights at home and the kids can have the snacks they love at home and feel they are having a treat.

 

(deactivated member)
on 1/9/13 10:18 pm

Lately my husband and I have been " dating " and one thing I do before I plan what we should do when we go out is look on  like five different internet sites for whats  free and low cost to do in my city that night .  

We also got student IDS  legally by signing up for an art  workshop ( in his case ) ( in mine i am a full time student ) .  Using the student Id, we have gone to things like the Alvin Ailey Dance theater  whose tickets are normally 75  dollars per person for 15 dollars each .  We go to the Metropolitan Opera, Avery Fisher Hall to hear classical music etc.  Granted, our tickets are usually in the nosebleed seats but so what .. at least we're THERE  and its not killing our budget .  And we're STILL supporting the arts .. and enjoying life ... and when we CAN afford better seats we will appreciate them thoroughly  ....

There are also great coupons on the internet for local restaurants ...  so we usually get a two for one special and eat out  in the twenty - dollar range before the show .  We also make it a point to go for a walk and window shop and enjoy the neighborhood of our event for some time before the show .  

We also love to take advantage  of every museums mandatory  free night !  All you have to do is learn when those nights are ... and you can see an endless variety of wonderful changing curated special exhibitions in addition to the respective museums priceless collections .  

There are also great seat-filler  organizations .. where you can pay a fifty or a hundred dollar fee per year and get one dollar  per person tickets  to  baseball games , broadway and off broadway  shows , concerts etc.   One membership is good for two tickets to each event you select for a year ..  and you can literally choose from thirty events to go out to every night .

Frankly , not spending so much money for everything makes me feel younger and a lot lighter and more carefree .... and it allows us to save money for expensive tickets  for charity events that are worth attending  to us .. like the Mayors Ball  and the Dealers lunch  at the Park avenue Armory antiques show .

 

 

 

 

 

 

VSG on 06/12/13
Tell me more about this seat filler thing! Got any names?

   

Sleeved 6/12/13 - 100 pounds lost to get to goal!

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