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I resolve to save money in 2009. I resolve to shop prices for groceries using coupons. I was amazed recently after scouring each one of our bills, utility bills, phone bills, fios bills, and of course credit card bills.
Start there....Take each one of your bills and look at ways to cut costs. I was shocked that here in Texas a killowatt was costing $12.81 per kwh. I will be on the phone and ask them to audit our electric usage and ask why the kwh is so high.
What the heck is a kilowatt hour?
Before we see how much electricity costs, we have to understand how it's measured. When you buy gas they charge you by the gallon. When you buy electricity they charge you by the kilowatt-hour (kWh). When you use 1000 watts for 1 hour, that's a kilowatt-hour. For example:
Device wattage Device Hours used kWh
1000 watts
medium window-unit AC one hour 1 kWh
24 watts
42" ceiling fan on low speed ten hours 0.24 kWh
100 watts
light bulb 731 hours
(i.e., all month) 73.1 kWh
I found a fantastic website that lists charts and more on saving on your electric bill.
Energy hogs:Energy Hogs
4400 watts
Clothes dryer (electric)
4400 watts
Electric oven
3800 watts
Water heater (electric)
3500 watts
Central Air Conditioner (2.5 tons)
1500 watts
Microwave oven
1500 watts
Toaster (four-slot)
900 watts
Coffee maker
800 watts
Range burner
500-1440 watts
Window unit air conditioner
200-700 watts
Refrigerator
60-100 watts
Light bulb (energy hog because houses have lots of lights, and it's easy to leave them on when they're not being used)
Hopefully this will help to cut your energy costs.
On to cutting cable costs, telephone bills, grocery bills.
We do most of our grocery shopping at Target superstore, they have a "this weeks coupons" on their website, so now we can save even more by printing the coupons from their site. Walmart has the same thing and of course there are many coupon online sites. This week the coupons we printed on items we use will save us $4.95.
Telephone bills, there is Vonage, magic jack, and of course get rid of a landline and use your cell phone.To save on Cell phone costs get a pay-as-you-go cell phone, ours is with tMobile we buy 1000 minutes for $100 and it lasts about 9 months, my husband does the same.
Cable bills, I called Verizon recently and said we were going to swith carriers because their fios BUNDLES cost $159 a month for phone,internet,TV and at&t had same for $99 a month, Verizon graciously gave us the same deal, so now we are saving over $40 for the bundle, renegotiate with your company to get a lower bundle or package.
Hope these hints and tips to save money in 2009 will help you and your family, have a happy and prosperous New Year!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
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4 comments:
Pre-paid phone cards represent telephone time you buy in advance. You pay from $5 to $15 or more up-front for local or long-distance phone time; the amount of time you buy depends on the rate-per-minute you're charged. For many people, pre-paid phone calls offer the ultimate in convenience. The phone time's been paid for in advance; the card can be used from any phone; and there's no need to think about carrying coins or paying a bill later on. First marketed as clever novelties, pre-paid phone cards now are sold at newsstands, post offices, travel agencies, retail stores, and grocery and convenience stores. They are used mostly by travelers, students, people who regularly call overseas, and those who may not have long-distance telephone service. Some pre-paid phone cards can be recharged, usually by billing the additional cost to your credit card. And some cards have advanced features like speed dialing for frequently called numbers and an activity report of called numbers, which may be handy for business purposes. Occasionally, pre-paid phone cards have a hidden cost: because you've paid up-front, you may be out of pocket - and out of luck - if you discover a problem trying to use the card. That's a big difference between pre-paid phone cards and traditional long distance calling cards, where charges don't appear on your bill until after you've made the call. Some issuers provide a replacement number on a separate document when you buy the card. If your card is lost or stolen, give the issuer the number to recover your unused calling time.
Those seem like some good methods to increase personal savings in this tough economy. I wanted to write a follow-up post specifically regarding cellular savings which would be especially relevant for those people dropping their landlines altogether in favor of their cell phones. I actually work for a company called Validas that reduces the average person's cell bill by 22 percent through their website, http://www.fixmycellbill.com. You upload your bill and find out for free if you're one of the eight in ten wireless customers being overcharged, and if so, by how much. If you choose, Validas provides an additional highly detailed and personalized adjustment report that, for five bucks, is emailed to your wireless provider in industry specific format in order to implement Validas's cash saving changes to your plan. If Validas can save you more than $5 on your bill (the average customer currently saves $480 annually through Validas), then this obviously provides a cost effective remedy for reducing cellular expenses.
Validas is becoming known as the preeminent advocate for the wireless consumer. Check out a feature about the company on The Big Idea with CNBC's Donny Deutsch at http://www.cnbc.com/id/22782456/. Validas has also been profiled in the New York Times and Business Week.
Happy holidays, and good luck on trimming down wireless expenses in this tough economy when every dollar put back in your pocket really counts.
Dylan
This was a great post with many wonderful ideas! Thanks!
Have a Safe & Happy New Year!
thats a lot of nice tips. thank you.
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