Residual drains from everything. How many clocks do you have? Wall, VCR, Oven, Microwave etc etc. How about little crap that stays on etc etc.
Residual drains from everything. How many clocks do you have? Wall, VCR, Oven, Microwave etc etc. How about little crap that stays on etc etc.
- Dec 18, 2001
- 24,036
- 21
- 81
When we had our apartment it was just $30 per month on electric, the only difference now is that we have a washer and dryer, and they're new Kenmore, very efficient. Actually the hot water tank is also larger - maybe it is a combo of running a washer and having to reheat the water.
ViRGE
Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
- Oct 9, 1999
- 31,516
- 167
- 106
I don't mean to start a religious war, so I'm going to make this short and sweet: what the hell are you giving the church 10% for!? If you're obviously hurting this much for cash, you need the money more than they do, plain and simple.
Zebo
Elite Member
- Jul 29, 2001
- 39,398
- 19
- 81
Cancel everything. All phones but one land line, cable, eating out, and all other non-essential services. Take cold showers and wear sweaters. Limit bathroom use to 2x a day and try and do #1 and #2 with same flush and try and pee in shower. Pull the breaker on HVAC system and hot water heater and install 40 watt bulbs. Eat foods which require little refrigeration. Put TV and all elcetronics including computer in garage and think about how to make more money?
Damn thats hardcore!!
I'd just get another job, or face the fact I cant afford everything in life I may want.
Damn...what kind of debts do you have??? On 2 incomes and only a 57000 mortgage(it seems like that'd be about 450 a month tops), it doens't seem like you'd have to make very much unless you have heavy student loans or something. I mean, even with 2 grocery store 10 dollar an hour incomes at 40 hours a week it seems like you'd be living pretty alright. I agree with the church thing...give 5% to church and you'd be way better off.
I guess I'm really lucky..got out of college debt free with a huge chunk of money in the stock market, in savings, and in a roth IRA, a 4 year old car w/ less than 50,000 miles on it that was all payed off and very very helpful parents in trying to get me into a home ASAP. I've never really been in debt with credit cards or car payments or having to pay off student loans.
Oh yeah, if you have multiple cell phones and a land line just don't have a land line assuming your cell phone works at home>=/
I guess I'm really lucky..got out of college debt free with a huge chunk of money in the stock market, in savings, and in a roth IRA, a 4 year old car w/ less than 50,000 miles on it that was all payed off and very very helpful parents in trying to get me into a home ASAP. I've never really been in debt with credit cards or car payments or having to pay off student loans.
Oh yeah, if you have multiple cell phones and a land line just don't have a land line assuming your cell phone works at home>=/
- Dec 18, 2001
- 24,036
- 21
- 81
Let me state again, we are NOT hurting for cash. And giving to my local church is not just a "charity"... :disgust:
Compared to the majority of adults out there, my wife and I at a very young are already beyond most people. This isn't a matter of pulling ourselves out of the gutter just to afford food at the end of the month... we just want to accelerate our debt payments.
- Dec 18, 2001
- 24,036
- 21
- 81
To tell you the truth, if our mortage & escrow was the ONLY thing we had to pay for each month, it would be paid off in a year.
Yea I was thinking we'd cut back on the offering for awhile. I just picked 10% as a magic number but I'm not Catholic and don't feel obligated to "tithe".
We just feel we are where we are today so quickly because we got a ROI through blessings. Did you buy the car or boat mentioned in this link?
I've NEVER purchased a new car in my life. I find that helps immensely with keeping a budget within our means. Most people know that a boat is a hole in the water, into which you throw money.
Screw the church. Most of the money you give them is wasted on their buildings and upkeep of those buildings. The balance is for the pastor, priest or minister to avoid getting a real job. Give a fraction of that 10% directly to people who really need it, if you feel you must.
I've NEVER purchased a new car in my life. I find that helps immensely with keeping a budget within our means. Most people know that a boat is a hole in the water, into which you throw money.
Screw the church. Most of the money you give them is wasted on their buildings and upkeep of those buildings. The balance is for the pastor, priest or minister to avoid getting a real job. Give a fraction of that 10% directly to people who really need it, if you feel you must.
- Dec 18, 2001
- 24,036
- 21
- 81
Nope, no car for me.
:| We only have about 40 people attendance, it's a very small church. It is heated one day out of the week, is completely paid for, not taxed. The Pastor does have a real full time job as well, his wife has a parttime 3rd shift job and both daughters are now in college. He has taken voluntarily pay cuts just to keep the church open during hard times. We're not some catholic or episcopal church with a huge beurocracy of multitiered governing bodies - one man, one congregation, one building.
I appreciate your comments but please don't start a bashing session on a subtopic.
Jeez, seems like a real contradiction - reading that old thread from back in late-July ... and now reading about trying to create a tight budget.
- Dec 18, 2001
- 24,036
- 21
- 81
Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech
Jeez, seems like a real contradiction - reading that old thread from back in late-July ... and now reading about trying to create a tight budget.
My wife is getting frustrated that the debt isn't getting paid off fast enough so I'm just trying to accelerate it. And I never intended on buying a new car right away.
One thing to keep in mind. Hard switchs are no longer put into appliances. What this means is that efficient washer and dryer are always on sucking current. What you need to do to track what appliances are sucking is to unplug everything and plug each item back in individually and check your power meter. You can also use the circuit breakers to shut power off to all but each switch then find the appliances causing the drain. You may find that unplugging the coffee pot when not in use saves you $15 a year.
Originally posted by: SagaLore
Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech
Jeez, seems like a real contradiction - reading that old thread from back in late-July ... and now reading about trying to create a tight budget.
My wife is getting frustrated that the debt isn't getting paid off fast enough so I'm just trying to accelerate it. And I never intended on buying a new car right away.
If you don't mind me asking waht kind and how much debt do you have and how much of it each month are you paying off?
Freejack2
Diamond Member
- Dec 31, 2000
- 7,751
- 8
- 91
Up your insurance deductibles. If your deductible is $250, upping it to $500 can save a chunk of change. Don't shut off than 2nd freezer. If you find a nice deal on meats at the supermarket you can stock up and save.
More long term is, drive your cars as long as you can. Buy used low mileage domestics cars. A domestic loses a lot of value in the first couple of years, sucks for the new car buyer but GREAT for someone buying it used. A 2001 Honda Accord LX is $14,731 at the dealer, a 2001 Chevy Malibu LS is $8,593 at the dealer. There is no way a domestic is going to need $6,138 more in repairs than an import.
More long term is, drive your cars as long as you can. Buy used low mileage domestics cars. A domestic loses a lot of value in the first couple of years, sucks for the new car buyer but GREAT for someone buying it used. A 2001 Honda Accord LX is $14,731 at the dealer, a 2001 Chevy Malibu LS is $8,593 at the dealer. There is no way a domestic is going to need $6,138 more in repairs than an import.
StageLeft
No Lifer
- Sep 29, 2000
- 70,150
- 5
- 0
My bills that are at all changable are:
water
-Water you can not water lawn, take less showers, etc.
power
-fish tank light is almost useless, but less lighting overall, computer off at night (save very little though), but a big thing is use less heating/cooling
phone
-go with minimum plan. We have minimum plus caller ID. For long distance use bigzoo.com
internet
-I'm on bigzoo.net for dialup right now. $9/month (less if you buy in chunks), vs. $40 or more for highspeed
gasoline
-drive less and drive your cheaper car when available. If certain gas stations have cheapd days (one by me has premium at midgrade prices twice a week), buy then
food
-potential for biggest savings. You can save a ton by buying cheaper stuff. Stop buying orange juice for instance (it's pricey!), buy cheaper meat, buy your pop/soda in bulk when available (I buy multiple cases of pepsi products at $1.99/case when brunos has them at that price)
Stop going to movies. Stop going out to eat. Buy less new clothes. Stop buying DVDs,etc.
water
-Water you can not water lawn, take less showers, etc.
power
-fish tank light is almost useless, but less lighting overall, computer off at night (save very little though), but a big thing is use less heating/cooling
phone
-go with minimum plan. We have minimum plus caller ID. For long distance use bigzoo.com
internet
-I'm on bigzoo.net for dialup right now. $9/month (less if you buy in chunks), vs. $40 or more for highspeed
gasoline
-drive less and drive your cheaper car when available. If certain gas stations have cheapd days (one by me has premium at midgrade prices twice a week), buy then
food
-potential for biggest savings. You can save a ton by buying cheaper stuff. Stop buying orange juice for instance (it's pricey!), buy cheaper meat, buy your pop/soda in bulk when available (I buy multiple cases of pepsi products at $1.99/case when brunos has them at that price)
Stop going to movies. Stop going out to eat. Buy less new clothes. Stop buying DVDs,etc.
You're debt is not being paid off as quickly as you want. In this case, reduce your current spending. Changing lightbulbs isn't going to cut down your expenses like you want. I bet you spend more on the bulbs than you benefit from them over 2 years.
You mentioned how well off you guys were, but something seems fishy about that. Dropping your cable interent will do more than anything you mentioned in the first post. Drop your basic cable with it, and your are looking at $45/month or $540/year. You can use the library or your office for computer work?
Someone suggested before, and I agree that you need to see someone about your finances. Sure, you may know a lot, but there are professionals that can help you. Living with debt isn't a bad thing if you have planned for it and have it incorporated in your future plans. If you can consolidate CC debt from card to card every six months to get an introductory 0.0% rate, then do it. At the same time, you have money in funds or cd earning interest. So, during that time, it would be stupid to pay more because you are just loosing out on interest. People can help. You don't have to be poor for help. You don't have to be near homeless for money help to benefit you.
You mentioned how well off you guys were, but something seems fishy about that. Dropping your cable interent will do more than anything you mentioned in the first post. Drop your basic cable with it, and your are looking at $45/month or $540/year. You can use the library or your office for computer work?
Someone suggested before, and I agree that you need to see someone about your finances. Sure, you may know a lot, but there are professionals that can help you. Living with debt isn't a bad thing if you have planned for it and have it incorporated in your future plans. If you can consolidate CC debt from card to card every six months to get an introductory 0.0% rate, then do it. At the same time, you have money in funds or cd earning interest. So, during that time, it would be stupid to pay more because you are just loosing out on interest. People can help. You don't have to be poor for help. You don't have to be near homeless for money help to benefit you.
StageLeft
No Lifer
- Sep 29, 2000
- 70,150
- 5
- 0
I drink diet
I'm really happy with it. For their email - dunno, I've never used, and never will use an ISP-based email address! Busy signals I can't say I've ever received one. Connection speed other than the rare 26.6 or so (and after a few seconds it will drop you) is always 50.6 or 53.3. I have yet to have a single drop in the 200+ hours I've used since signing up.
The only single issue I have is that sometimes, especially during peak hours, when you try and connect it may take 2-3 tries because the first one just kind of times out. But this has never persisted for more than about two minutes worth of wait, and regardless of time once you're on there you won't be dropped.
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 24K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
-
Facebook
Twitter