Queen of the Discount

 Summer Travel Season is almost here-and no, this is not a post about how to find the best travel deals. :)  I'll share my thoughts on that later.  Instead, this is a post about how you can save $$ when you are on those awesome trips-and possibly every day you're at home as well! I have a checklist of things I do before travel, and want to share that list with you.  Everything on this list is meant to reduce my energy consumption while we travel.  I'll provide a few details on each item to help explain.. Stop ice in Freezer Increase Fridge temp to 43 degrees Turn on Vacation Mode for Rinnai Turn on Vacation mode for HVAC Unplug TV, Bed, Alarm Clock, CPAP, Coffee Maker Turn off Roomba schedule Stop Ice in Freezer :  No need to make ice if we're not home to consume it!  It's a small item, but without the icemaker continuing to make ice, we probably save a few pennies every trip. Increase Fridge temp to 43 degrees :  While we're gone, the f...

 Like most of us, I like to put my recurring bills (Utilities in particular) on autopay if I can.  I don't want to take another moment of my time paying a bill if I don't have to. ...and that's all well and good until something isn't right.  So, even if you have everything on autopay, NEVER Stop Paying Attention!  Autopay does not mean ignoring reality. Just this past week, a $20 credit to my monthly mobile bill just 'disappeared' for quite literally, no good reason.  So, when I saw my monthly bill suddenly spike by $20, I dug in to see what was going on-and when I saw the credit no longer on my account, I called immediately and had it reinstated.   The call took me less than 10 minutes, and it will save me $160 for the balance of the year.  A pretty good 'hourly rate' I think! So please NEVER Stop Paying Attention to your Bills!  You never know what you might find that will save you some $$.

 Even The Queen learns something new these days! ...and the lesson for me this week is the wonderful world of Online Auctions (and as a relevant side-bar...Charity Silent Auctions...). I live in a city that has a plethora of Auction companies-mostly online-in which shoppers can truly find some *amazing* deals if  they know how to play the game.  Like...90%+ off retail kind of amazing deals.  But, as the saying goes, if it's too good to be true...(you know the rest). So, in the course of researching this topic over the past few weeks-and playing around with several online and charity auction websites, I've come to quickly see what the 'gotchas' are, and wanted to share some of my learnings to save everyone from making the same mistakes I have.   Without stating the obvious, make sure the Auction site is a reputable company.  I know that sounds basic, but it's worth stating, as I have seen reviews from some sites that are truly abysmal and would make me ...

Yesterday, I was talking to a couple of neighbors about streaming shows we were watching and liking, and in the course of speaking with the husband and wife, as they started talking, the husband started listing programs, and the wife would say, 'Wait-what app is that on?'...and the husband would tell her, and then she'd say, 'Oh. I didn't know we had that app.' After a few minutes of the back and forth listing shows, and the wife asking what streaming app this show was on, it became apparent that the couple probably had at least 10+ *paid* streaming services. And, I wasn't the only one that had done that mental math.  At some point in the conversation, the wife asked the husband how much they were spending on monthly streaming, and he replied, 'About $350.'  At which point, she lost it...and while I kept my mouth shut (a major miracle for me!), I realized there was a massive savings lesson born right in front of my eyes-and this post practically wrot...

 As I (and probably everyone) lives more of my life digitally-email, social media, photos, documents-I've come to realize that 15 years with the same/only email account isn't sustainable when it comes to the *free* storage limits set by the service provider-think Gmail, Hotmail, etc...and have noticed that these free storage limits are also decreasing over time, which compounds the issue.  These two things combined mean that just *one* free email account (for my *entire* life) isn't going to work for the duration of my life-never mind with (hopefully!) 30-40 years still to go.   But, being the ever-frugal person that I am, I finally realized a few months ago that there's an easy way out of the death spiral of save email/documents, receive warning that you're over the limit, delete documents/email you want to keep to get your storage limit back below the free threshold, and lather/rinse/repeat ad infinitum.   What is the easy way out?  Have multiple ema...

 Gamification:  Definition:  "adding game mechanics into non-game environments, like a website, online community, learning management system or business' intranet to increase participation." ...or in my case, "adding game mechanics into not-game environments like saving money....to increase participation." Yesterday, while reading the monthly email that my thermostat brand sends me to tell me that I am thiiiis close being considered (amongst their customers in the area I live) the 'most efficient user' of energy, I started to think about what I could do to 'win' by moving the proverbial needle further along the spectrum to 'most efficient user.'  Needles to say, I bumped the thermostat down another degree (from 61 at night to 60) to see if that does the trick.   In the 12 hours since that email, I've further realized over the course of just a half-dozen-ish blog posts that I regularly use the words 'play' or 'game' whe...