Welcome
Welcome to HouseholdSavingsNut.com,™ a site dedicated to providing money saving advice,
tips and ideas on how to be frugal, spend less and save more on your household expenses
to live more cheaply. Tips on how to save on groceries, cooking, clothing, home
decor, home entertainment, home care & maintenance, and pet care. Start reducing
your household costs by reviewing the tips presented below. For hundreds more tips,
advice and savings, click on the navigation buttons on the left. Tell your friends
and family about HouseholdSavingsNut.com so they can start saving too, and feel free
to add a link on your web site.
Groceries - When shopping for groceries and sundries, always look at price per unit,
which is displayed on pricing labels on the product shelf. Bigger packages of the
same product are not always the least expensive per unit. This is a common practice,
particularly when the smaller size is on sale and the larger size is not. So, always
check unit prices for the same exact product, as well as for competing brands and
store brands.
Cooking on a Budget - When making a favorite meal, make a large batch and create
“frozen dinners” for you and your family. Since you are already cooking, the amount
of extra work and energy cost is minimal. Or if you like, set aside a “cooking day”
once a month and prepare many kinds of meals for future use. All you need are some
freezer containers for the types of portions you prefer, enough freezer capacity
and a little organization. Most any kind of meal will freeze well, even breakfast
items.
Clothing - Establish a budget for clothing, jewelry and toys and stick to it. Actually,
since most people do restrict spending on these items somewhat, they have already
established a budget. It just is not very defined or constrained. The trick is
to sit down, decide how much money is enough for these items during the course of
a year, pace yourself during the year and make sure to follow one rule: “”Do not
go over budget.” Also, make sure your kids, when old enough, also have a budget
they need to follow. When they understand that those $150 athletic shoes will prevent
them from having something else, often the $30 shoes will do just fine.
Home Decor - Furniture is a major investment, so do not try to furnish your home
all at once, or as quickly as possible. While it is nice to have all of your furniture
in place so you can enjoy your home, rushing to furnish will almost always lead to
less than optimal furnishings and higher overall costs. So, except for some necessities
like beds and a table and chairs, take your time to make sure you get what you need
and want, while staying within your budget.
Home Entertainment - Just because it may be easy to rent movies or buy special events
from your cable or satellite provider, are they really worth the cost? With all
the channels included without extra charge, isn’t there something you could watch
and enjoy without paying extra? Or maybe just do something other than watching TV.
If you do like to watch a lot of TV, consider buying or renting a digital video
recorder (DVR) from your cable or satellite company. It will cost about $5-$10 per
month, but it will give you a tremendous amount of flexibility to record shows for
later viewing. Instead of relying on premium channels, or on-demand or DVD movie
rentals, you can record several hours of free programming (including great movies
you have never seen) to provide you with video entertainment whenever you like.
Interior Home Care - When spot cleaning carpets is no longer enough, and a general
cleaning is required, many people will either buy a carpet cleaning machine, or borrow
or rent a machine. When you figure in the cost of the machine and shampoo, this
is not necessarily the most economical way to go or provide the best cleaning. It
can also cause mold and mildew problems because of the excess water left in the carpet.
Consider hiring a professional carpet cleaning service that has one of those large,
truck mounted steam cleaners. They will clean your carpets better, leave less water
in the carpet, and it will be less work for you. They will even move your furniture
for you (although you will most likely need to move it back once the carpets dry).
And, most importantly, professional carpet cleaning can be relatively inexpensive;
often under $100. Look around for the best price, they vary greatly. But make sure
they use the large truck mounted steam cleaner, not just a hand unit.
HVAC/Electrical/Plumbing - Many people believe an annual service contract with an
air conditioning/heating repair company is a good idea, as is having an annual inspection
of your system. Most heating/air conditioning companies like to sell these contracts
because they are very lucrative. However, if your system is all electric (i.e., air
conditioner and/or heat pump) these systems are designed to operate without annual
maintenance. Clean the air filter and that is about it. At some time in the future,
if you have a problem, just call a heating/air conditioner contractor for service.
Keep in mind, an annual service agreement is essentially an insurance policy. The
only real benefit is if something goes wrong you will usually receive a discount
(perhaps up to 100% depending on the type of contract) from the normal repair cost.
So, like other insurance, if you have a lot of problems with your system it can
work out to be a good deal. But, since the air conditioning and heating contractors
make a lot of money on these contracts, in general they are not a good deal. You
end up paying for an annual system inspection you probably do not need, and for the
privilege of getting a repair discount on repairs you probably will not need, at
least not to the degree that you will recoup the cost of the service agreement.
Outdoor Maintenance - Whenever your beds need mulching, either for weed control or
simply for looks, just buy and spread some mulch an inch or two deep. But if you
have large bed areas and require a lot of mulch, do not buy mulch in bags. There
will be one or more companies in your area that sell all different types of mulch
in bulk and deliver it by truck. Just measure the square footage of the areas you
want to mulch and the depth you want to apply the mulch (usually about 2 inches)
and figure out how many square yards of mulch you need. Just have the company dump
the mulch in an area that will allow you to take your time to place it in your beds.
It’s a bit of work, but your beds will look great and you will save some money.
To save even further, join with one or more neighbors to buy mulch at the same time
and save on delivery fees. Some mulch companies even have trucks that can deliver
different quantities to different homes at the same time, so splitting up the pile
of mulch with the neighbors is not a problem.
Pets - Choosing a pet has a major impact on how much you will enjoy your pet over
the years, as well as how much you will spend to both acquire the pet and care for
the pet. A lot of factors enter into the decision, with personal preferences perhaps
the most obvious. But many factors are important. Think ahead and try not to make
an emotional decision. Remember, the amount of time you have available to care for
the pet, as well as how much time you want to spend with the pet, is key to help
determine what kind of pet is best. Goldfish require a lot less time and dedication
than a dog. Cats, of course, require somewhat less time than a dog, etc. Some pets
only survive a few months or a couple of years. Other pets will need care and attention
for well over ten years.
Thanks for visiting HouseholdSavingsNut.com™ and we hope the ideas and tips for saving
money on your household expenses will make life just a little bit better for you
and your family.
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