Tag: Saving Money

First I want to mention I am not being paid or reimbursed by the website. This is a review with all my own opinion. I truly enjoyed the site and savings so I had to share with my readers.

I needed three textbooks for my Spring college classes. These books were not cheap even if I rented them at my local stores and many online sites. When I came across BookRenter.com, I was excited at the prices I was given for my three books. The most expensive book was well over $100 to buy, but still would have cost me well over $60 to rent. I was given the same price for a digital rental. The Bookrenter.com price was $30 for the semester! That was a 50% savings. One textbook was only $3 cheaper. The last book I needed, I couldn’t even buy at many stores as they were sold out. Their price was $27! Again that is a 50% savings.

My total for all three books was $94 with tax. Shipping is free both ways. You can upgrade your shipping to express for $20-40 depending on the weight. I ordered them a couple of days ago and will receive them by Tuesday. It took less than a week with free shipping. They shipped them the next business day after purchasing. I also went through Ebates (double money offer) and received $8 in cash back. I paid less than $90 for all three textbooks which is a huge savings. If I rented them at any of my local rental stores, then I would have paid close to $200 with tax. I saved almost $100 on my books. I can definitely use that money in my pocket.

If you refer 5 people to rent their books within 5 days of your purchase date, then you will receive your order for free! That is a great incentive. I’m still more than thrilled with my savings. If you or your child want to save more money on renting their textbooks, then please go check out Bookrenter.com! I also saw they will buy back textbooks. I don’t know much about the program as I prefer to rent my textbooks. I did buy one textbook last year for Dreamweaver. I got it at Amazon for $50 used. It was in excellent condition.

Today’s thrifty living tip is to use baby wipes to spot clean your clothes. I know they have the Tide fabric wipes, but baby wipes do the same job and cost less to buy. Baby wipes are very effective at cleaning up spilled food or drink. I keep a small pack of wipes in my purse. They have the hard case or you can buy the small pack of samples. I also receive free wipe samples from time to time in the mail. My little one is a tween, but I still keep a box of baby wipes in my house to use for many things as they are so versatile. You can even use them as makeup remover especially for your eyes.

First I have to comment I never post two frugal living tips in a week so consider this a nice bonus for the end of 2011. I don’t have any pictures to show for this daily tip so I apologize for cleaning it so quickly.

Today’s thrifty living tip is to clean or fix appliances before replacing. I know this seems pretty logical, but many people get discouraged by older appliances and distracted by new shiny ones. My Kenmore gas dryer is 14 years old. I already replaced the washing machine a couple of years ago with a front loader. That was a great decision which has saved me money in water and electricity. I just want to say it wasn’t worth fixing so it was time to replace. The dryer works great, and works less as my clothes are drier when they come out the washing machine. I do like to line dry which also helps extend the life of the dryer.

Lately it’s too cold and rainy to put it on the line. I’ve been a little too busy to keep up with laundry because of the holidays. We noticed all these scuff marks inside the dryer while doing laundry this past weekend. It wasn’t getting on the clothes so I wasn’t too concerned. Hubby mentioned maybe it was time to replace it with our income tax refund next year. He tried to clean it but said the marks weren’t coming out.

I looked at it again today as I needed to do laundry. I pulled out my Mr. Clean magic eraser, and viola! The marks were coming out quite easily. I did take a wet dish towel to wipe it out a couple of times to make sure no residue is left. I wiped it with a dry towel afterwards, and over 90% of the marks are gone. I’m not sure what caused them, but now they are all gone. I have dried a load of towels and all looks good. No marks on the towels or the dryer. I will keep an eye on the dryer, but I’m hopeful I can get a few more years of service. I will also start a new appliance fund just to be on the safe side.

Today’s thrifty living tip is to save money by coloring your own hair. I usually get 2 boxes of hair color for $5 after sale and coupons.Do not be intimated by using a coloring hair at home kit. Many of the do it yourself home kits are super easy to use with great instructions.

My stylist charges me $35 so I was going every 3 months. I was spending $140 yearly not including tip so around $150+ with tip. I can color my hair every 8 weeks which costs me $30 a year. I am saving over $100 each year. It might not seem like much, but it does add up.

I use Garnier hair color, and I have used all of them. I prefer the ultra color as I find it covers the gray well and the color lasts. I have become a bit of an expert on coloring my own hair. I don’t do streaks or frosts. I just want to cover those stubborn grays. I’m much too young to have gray hair. I love the dark auburn color as it is closest to my natural color. I love how the red looks when I’m outside in the sun. I get lots of compliments on my color so I must be doing something right.

Do you color your own hair at home or do you prefer to have a professional color your hair?

Budgeting is something a lot of us would like to be better at. But the thing is, successful budgeting isn’t actually that hard – you’ve just got to go about it in the right way.

So, what should you do to create a successful budget?

Well, first of all, it’s important to understand what budgeting is all about.

It’s about having full understanding and control of your finances – your income (the money you earn) and your expenditure (the money you spend).

To create your budget, start with writing down absolutely everything you earn each month (that includes your wages, any benefits you receive, child maintenance payments, etc.).

Once you’ve got this written down, you need to move onto your expenditure. You should write down everything your household is spending each month. Start with your priority debts (your mortgage/rent, secured loans, utility bills, etc.), and your everyday expenses (food, transport costs, etc.).

At this stage, you shouldn’t include your non-priority debts (credit cards, unsecured loans, etc.) – as you’ll account for these later on.

Once you’re happy that you’ve written everything down, you should subtract your essential expenditure from your income – this will leave you with what’s known as your disposable income.

Your disposable incomeis basically the money you have available to pay towards your unsecured debts each month – as well as saving and spending on non-essential/luxury items.

Working with your disposable income
Now you know how much your disposable income is, you need to figure out if it is enough to cover your monthly unsecured debt repayments.

To do this, simply subtract the amount you spend on debt repayments each month from your disposable income…

If your disposable income is more than enough to cover the cost of your debts, did you know you could save yourself a lot of money in interest if you paid more towards your debts each month? So, if you’ve got spare money left over after covering the required monthly payments, you should consider overpaying your debts. Just find out if you’ll be hit with any ‘early repayment charges’ for doing this.

For advice on how to make the most of your income, you could read some of the budgeting, debt and money saving guides on this website.

If your disposable income isn’t enough to cover the cost of your unsecured debts, you should take action straight away. You need to contact your creditors and explain your situation, and it might also be a good idea to seek professional debt advice.

The right advice can help you improve your situation – you might get a few tips on how to tighten up your budget, for example, freeing up the money you need every month.