What Have You Bought That Saves You Money?

[shengmei]

High-efficiency lightbulbs definitely saved a lot of $$$, about $20 a year. Not only that, everytime you burn out a lightbulb....GE replaces it for free.

A calculator saves me money.

Computer.

Lots of scissors for coupon cutting.

Coupon organizer.

Several dressers for organizing.

A giant tupperware container as litterbox. The bigger the container is, the less litter I change out. All the pee soaks into the bottom layer of the litter and gets trapped there.

Beauty products (this may seem counterintuitive, but I never pay for haircut, dye-job facials, waxing, or manicures and pedicures. I like to do my beauty treatments at home.)

[vishenda]

a coffee maker

[lynclarke]

I can't believe no one has said the freezer and a foodsaver. I can't tell you how much I save because 1. nothing is EVER thrown out and 2. I buy huge quantities when I find a terrific prices. Several times I have found meat at Sam's discounted, for example 90% lean hamburg for 99¢/lb, sirloin steak $1.99/lb, sausage links for 39¢/lb etc. I never pay more than 39¢/lb for chicken legs. I will buy 30 pounds when they are on sale 3 10lb bags for $10. I cook them all and freeze them in dinner size packages. We fish and foodsaver our catch in dinner size packages- infact that is what we are having for dinner, tonight.

Tracfone and Net10 phones. My Tracfone costs roughly $10/mo. Net10 should cost $25 the first year to cover the costs of the phone. The next year the cost will drop.

Kitchen towels- usually found on clearance for less than 50¢ a piece. We use no paper towels in the house- OK I am lying, I buy one multi-pack per year. My husband uses 5.5 rolls, I use .5 roll.

Individual coolers and reusable ice packs for the car. We NEVER stop at fast food places or convenience stores. I always have soda and snacks in my bag- not for my kids but for my husband!!! When he is hungry, it is NOW. I carry pretzels, jerky, and no fat cookies at all times.

We built a new deck last year. I sealed it with PROTECT immediately. I did not subscribe to the "let it weather" theory. I think I will extend its life and I should only have to re-cost every 5 years. I guess time will tell on this one.

Shegmei- GE replaces burnt out high-efficiency bulbs? I didn't know that. Do other makers do the same? I bought the bulbs that Lowe's just had on refund. That would be a huge kick if these free bulbs were also replacable!

[threebeansalad]

A thermos- so I can bring coffee with me to work (or on long car trips). I actually wrote about the thermos as my Anti-latte factor: http://threebeansalad.savingadvice.c...-factor_20767/

[jodi]

Just thought of a simple one at lunchtime - a good rubber spatula. I can't tell you the number of times I have gotten just one more cookie, pancake, or cup of soup from a bowl just by scraping down the sides well. Bonus: cleaner dishes are easier to wash!

[LuxLiving]

My reusable wire mesh coffee filter bought maybe 8 or 9 years ago - cost $2.75 vs. $1.00 a sack for the paper ones. I wash in the dishwasher so am not wastefully running water over it.

[Duchesse]

The Tightwad Gazette, toaster, freezer, cast iron skillet (prevents anemia), internet (freebies, savingadvice.com and other frugal ideas).

[disneysteve]

I don't think anyone has mentioned a subscription to the Sunday paper. Using just two coupons covers the cost of the paper. Three coupons and we're ahead of the game. Five or six and we've made a nice profit. Plus, we've gotten the news and our TV guide for the week.

[Coleroo]

dry milk.. we never have fresh milk in the house unless its on deeeeeep discount sale (we through too much down the drain our first month of married life!).. i use it for everything - cereal, milkshakes, baking (does GREAT in food!), etc. I get the huge boxes at aldi's for only about 6 bucks (makes around 4 to 6 gallons depending on how much you use in the water). It tastes ok too - nothing like i remember dry milk from when i was a kid (yuck!). Savings = $2 for every gallon we use (since 2% milk goes for about 3.20 here!). Our dry milk is also non-fat so its even healthier.

Our 2006 Chevy Aveo - it cut our insurance down tremendously (hubby was paying 90 bucks a month to drive his mom's old clunker through nationwide ins).. We now pay only 700 every six months for BOTH mine (i have a 2004 SUV) and his combined (and we have full coverave on both). The double car discount at altel brought my premiums way down. It also saves us well over 100$ in gas (the old car was a gas HOG). It's also way safer than the other car, only had 2k miles on it when we bought it, and "saves" me from worrying about him on the highway each morning.

Our big toaster oven - what a great little machine! I can cook anything in it (cept for a huge bird.. which i mistakenly tried once..haha). It saves loads on electricity (I cook homemade dinner every night) because I dont have to use a large range stove.

Entertainment book - I love to eat sub sandwhiches (a guilty pleasure) and there are tons of coupons in there with buy one get one free subs.. I like to go to the movies a few times a year just for the thrill of seeing the "big screen" and for the "dating" high it gives me - and there are a few free movie coupons in there plus discounted ones (usally more than 3$ savings on each ticket). Theres also good coupons for 5 to 10% off certain grocery stores also.

[Coleroo]

Originally Posted by LuxLiving

My reusable wire mesh coffee filter bought maybe 8 or 9 years ago - cost $2.75 vs. $1.00 a sack for the paper ones. I wash in the dishwasher so am not wastefully running water over it.

How awesome - i never thought of the fact one of those may exist! I hate dealing with the paper filters and it always just seems like such a waste to me. I'm going to have to find us one of those! Thanks for sharing!

[ozzy gurl]

Hmmm. Well, most recently...a 6 cup coffee maker. I would blow through $20-$30 a week at Starbucks. I found a coffee maker on sale for $13, and I had a gift card from Christmas, so really it cost me nothing. And now I'm not wasting so much money on overpriced lattes. I am allowing myself one a month as a treat, though.

[Snoopy2645]

The biggest thing to save us money this year was our new dryer which BTW was long overdue. The small thing is my blinder but I see the savings big time with that for all of us to go to Dairy queen is over $10 for me to make smoothies or something in the blender is around $2 which we do about 3 or 4 times a week so big savings with small item.

Hopefully this year we will reside & put new windows in I know that will save a ton.

Oh ya about 2yrs ago we put in a new central air unit saved us a ton again long overdue we had a small 30yr old system the new one is huge & actually cools the house down for half the price I am an idiot because I should have replaced it 8yrs ago when I bought this house!!!

[usnavy_233]

Toyota Yaris: 40MPG saves me allot of money on gas

9mm handguns: 9mm is much cheaper than .45

Sunday paper: The coupons far outweigh the cost of the subscription

New dryer: The old one was wasting ALLOT of time and energy cost