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By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
Per Southern California Gas Company, home heating is 65% of a residential gas bill during the winter months. (That’s what it said in my bill insert this month.) Wow! If that is true in Southern California, what is it in actual cold parts of the country?
With so much of your utility budget going toward keeping your home warm, anything that you can do to retain heat in your home or keep the heat from leaving is a money saver. Here are 5 tips that will help you to lower your heating bill:
Sweet, sweet rebate check! Credit: Rick/Flickr
Longtime reader Glenn shared his discovery of a money-saving website.
Hey, Julia. Do you know about this site?
I spent about 2hrs rifling through all their free sample offers, printable mail-in rebate forms and coupons. Just click on the link and see for yourself.
http://mail-in-rebate-forms.blogspot.com/
Score,
Glenn
This site, MommySavesBig.com, has a neat and tidy listing of dozens of rebate offers. So if you recently bought something and want to check if there is a rebate for it, or misplaced your rebate paperwork, this site will really come in handy!
It also has plenty of printable and online coupons, freebies, and stuff that you can find many places online.
Got a hot tip or big score? Email me.
Wanted to share this video from Daily Finance (AOL) on how to find leaks that are making your heating bill higher than it needs to be, and fixes that cost as little as a few bucks.
Even if your utility company doesn’t provide a free energy audit to find leaks, the video has a secret to doing it yourself! I really need to make time for this stuff!
My weatherizing to do list:
- Check if my utility offers free energy audits
- Finish insulating basement pipes with foam insulation that we have laying around!
- Caulk leaky windows
- Buy and install insulation strip for drafty front door
What weatherizing projects are you not looking forward to doing?
Behold, the gyrobowl! Credit: BuyGyrobowl.com
I have lost the right to call myself the Bargain Babe.
To my horror, an item on my baby registry is being sold in a catalog I recently ridiculed for it’s high prices and absurd products – SkyMall!
How did this happen? At Babies R Us, my husband caught sight of the Gyrobowl, a small dish kept in balance by a gyroscope. In theory, the tot eating from it never spills her
Survey says...get paid for your opinion! Credit: dno1967b/Flickr
I’ve been getting a bunch of offers to make money and earn rewards by taking online surveys, being a mystery shopper, and reviewing products. I know readers have asked for more ideas about making money online, so here you go!
Note, I have not used any of these companies so make sure you know what you are signing up for. Do NOT register if it requires sharing your credit card info or paying for anything. Legit survey and mystery shopping companies are free to join. Get the low down on mystery shopping from my expert Nicole of Nicole’s Nickels.
eric731 / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Just in time for the holidays, stores are promoting layway plans. I summarized the policies at 10 major retailers, and shared tips for saving money using layaway. All layaway purchases must be paid for in full before you can take them home.
Sears – This store offers two layaway plans.
KB35/Flickr
This post is brought to you by AmeriLoanSearch offering no credit check loans with instant approval.
There are 11 common mistakes people make when buying or selling a used car, according to the October 2011 issue of ShopSmart, published by Consumer Reports. All of them add up to lost money. Summarized below. About to buy a new car? Here’s how to negotiate a good price and the three steps of haggling. Did you know you can save a lot of money buying car parts from a junk yard? Make sure to check this car recall site before you pay for any repairs.
Seller mistakes
1. Settling on price. Trading in your car is quicker and easier than selling it yourself, but the dealer price will be lower than if you sell it on AutoTrader.com, Cars.com, or Ebay.
2. Risking your privacy. Don’t list your address or full name or you may attract unwanted visitors. It’s a good idea to meet potential buyers in a public place, instead of your driveway.
3. Combining buying and selling. Trading in your car and buying one at the dealer is a super
Comment to win this book!
Discovering secret credit cards, unpaid bills, and debt is a blow many couples cannot survive. In fact, money is the number one cause of breakups, says the married authors of “First Comes Love, Then Comes Money: A Couple’s Guide to Financial Communication.” Comment below to win my review copy.
Unlike most personal finance books, this one is not going to teach you to balance your budget or live debt free:
Why? Because without healthy financial communication, without a commitment to putting an end to financial infidelity, none of that stuff works. After more than thirty-five years of combined experience as financial advisers, we’ve learned that if you don’t know how to talk about money with your partner, if you don’t know how to keep financial infidelity from destroying your relationship, budgets and plans and payments won’t mean squat.
© Pavel Losevsky - Fotolia.com
A list from the used car listing site web2carz of the best used cars costing less than $10,000 intrigued me. The used car market is hot right now because so few people are willing to shell out cash for a brand new one. I’m a big fan of used cars, and my husband and I are toying with the idea of getting rid of our two cars for one family car. Convincing him to buy used is not a given but would save us thousands. I summarized the web2carz list below.
Fuel Efficient – 2004 Toyota Prius
Used fuel-efficient cars are in growing demand. Even the newest hybrid technologies can be found used. A 2004 Toyota Prius is a great buy if you are looking to save money at the pump, but you will certainly pay for it in the pedal. A used 2004 Prius will average you 48mpg-city/45mpg-hwy.
Luxury Cars – 2003 Lexus ES300
Used luxury cars retain their value more than their
Even the doggie is mad at Netflix. Credit: _tar0_/Flickr
Angry comments. Ticked off customers. Skyrocketing bills. There’s been a lot of nasty fallout from the Netflix price hike scandal (in case you missed it, bills are increasing 60%). Time for good news: I found five options for movies that are cheaper than Netflix!
1. Get a $5 credit on Amazon Instant Video
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This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Weeks before graduation, I received a letter from my bank telling me I would no longer qualify for a student account and that I needed an average daily balance of $1,500. Boo!
With my student account I managed to avoid bank fees as long as I never stepped in to the bank and only used the ATM for my transactions. According to the bank’s letter, the fees would kick in on or after June 4. I prepared by transferring money from my savings account on June 1.
A couple days later, I was slapped with a $8.75 fee. What?!?! I couldn’t believe it. I immediately called my bank.
“Hi. I’d like to know why I was charged a fee when I met the average daily balance for my account.”
“Sure, let me check our records,” said the bank teller.
Turns out I
How are you going to pay for college? Credit: Sean MacEntee/Flickr
A 529 plan is a college savings plan with tax benefits. They have been around for 15 years, but there are still many misconceptions. I summarized these four tips from Marina Goodman, an investment strategist at Brinton Eaton in New Jersey.
1. Not realizing you can sign up for a 529 plan in any state. Just because you don’t live in Idaho doesn’t mean you can’t join that state’s 529 plan. While you can get lower state taxes for joining your home state’s plan, each state sets its own
Broken Piggy Bank / Flickr
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
CCN Money made a list of the 9 most annoying bank fees and included information as to why banks charge the exorbitant fees. Here are the nine pesky bank fees and my suggestions to avoiding them.
- Forgetting to update your address – If you are moving, make it your top priority to call your bank and change your mailing address to avoid this fee. I have a post office box where I have important mail delivered for security reasons and to avoid having to deal with address changes.
- Cashing in your coins – Coin-counting fees at many banks run at 5% or more. In my post about gift cards with perks, I shared that Coinstar no longer
It’s easy to start saving energy and stop wasting money on your energy bills, and if you follow these simple tips you can start today. One of the best ways to reduce the amount of money you spend is by switching your electricity and gas supplier. Have a look at the many comparison websites in existence and you’ll be sure to find yourself the best deal. This may save you a little extra cash, but it’s also important that you actually cut down on the amount of energy you use. Here are five quick and easy tips to help you do just that.
Don’t be on standby
Appliances left on standby make up a huge amount of the energy wasted by homes, so this is one of the quickest and easiest ways to cut down on wasted energy. All it takes is to remember to turn the TV off properly when you go up to bed and before you know it you’ll be cutting down on the energy you waste.
Turn off your clothes dryer
Household appliances that give off heat – such as clothes dryers – use huge amounts of electricity. To cut down on this you should always try and hang your clothes out to dry whenever you can. Simply turning off the dryer and drying clothes outside is a 100% energy saving solution.
Get energy efficient lighting
In most homes, lighting accounts for 10 to 15% of the electricity bill. There is such a quick and easy solution to this – simply replace these with low energy and energy saving light bulbs. You’ll be amazed at the amount of energy you’ll be saving. In most instances this can be as much as 80% of the energy of normal bulbs. If you’re cutting the amount of energy used by this much, just think what this will do for your bills.
Start thinking of jobs at home
One of the most frustrating and messy jobs at home is defrosting your refrigerator and freezer, but it’s also one of the best things to do to save money in your home. Doing this regularly will mean that your appliances aren’t working overtime and are just using the right amount of energy to do their jobs. You can also purchase a special plug which will help the appliances run more economically by adjusting the electricity supply according to the motor’s needs. This will also mean that they become kinder to the environment.
Heat water on the stove
When boiling water it’s more energy efficient to heat it on the stove than using a kettle. This may sound like too much hassle, but often it’s actually quicker to do this than to use a kettle. So get rid of energy zapping appliances and get back to basics and you’ll be sure to notice a change.
Have you already implemented these energy saving strategies?
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This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
While grabbing dinner with friends, we began to talk about relationships and money. My six friends and I, all in our mid-20s, agreed it was important to be on the same page when it comes to money before getting married or moving in together, but on the subject of joint bank accounts, we were divided.
Half said they wanted a joint bank account, while the other half wanted to maintain separate accounts. I prefer a combination because I want to be in control. But that was not my only reasoning.
