Here are a few ways to cut back on your electric bill:

*If you have old, outdated appliances like refrigerators, get newer ones. Yes, this will cost more to start out with, but you will recoup your investment and everything after that is savings. Old appliances use a LOT more energy than new appliances. If you have a ten year old refrigerator, washer, or dryer, get rid of it and get a new one. With new technology it uses a lot less energy and they will last you for many years. You will notice cheaper electric bills. It may take you a year and a half to recoup your investment but everything after that is savings. If the appliance lasts you 15 years, then that’s 13 and 1/2 years of savings.

*Turn the thermostat to 76 degrees. Then use big fans to cool the rooms you are using. Ceiling fans are great for making the room feel cooler, but if you don’t have a ceiling fan, stick to regular fans.

*Turn off your computer at night. Some people think it saves energy just to keep it on all the time, but that’s not true. If there will be say, 10 hours you are not going to use your computer, then turn it off and save electricity.

If you really want to save money, try cutting back. Cutting back on certain things can save hundreds or possibly even thousands of dollars a year. Here are some ways to cut back and keep more of your money:

1) Cancel your satellite or cable- *Gasp* I know some people are simply addicted to their favorite TV shows and might not even cancel all those channels if their life depended on it. However, if you decide there are better things to spend money on than hundreds of TV channels, you can save a lot of money by turning it off. Try watching less TV and rent movies free from the library. You can also watch movies and TV shows for free on various websites. If you spend $50 a month for all those channels, that would be a savings of $600 a year.

2) Get a less expensive phone plan. If you have a monthly phone plan that costs a lot, get a cheaper plan. If you talk a lot on the phone, most companies offer free nights and weekends so you can plan to do more of your talking on nights and weekends. If you get a plan that costs $20 less a month, that’s a savings of $240 a year.

3) Cut back on eating out. If you eat out a lot, cut back to one time a week. Eating at restaurants is nice because you don’t have to cook or do dishes, but it can add up. Unless you are eating off the dollar menu everytime and that can’t be healthy.

4) Don’t pay retail for clothes. Look at thrift stores for clothes. You can find some good clothes at good prices if you find the right store. Also check yard sales or ebay. Shop at the big stores when they have big sales. Pay attention to your junk mail to see when the stores in the mall are having clearance sales.

5) Pack your lunch to work instead of eating out. If you work and regularly eat out for lunch, packing your lunch can save you a lot of money.

6) Find free or cheap entertainment. If you spend a lot of money on entertainment like going to the movies, look for alternative entertainment. Invite friends over on Friday nights for snacks, games, and chatting. Go on a picnic, ride bikes, hike, play family games or take up a sport or hobby.

With food prices having gone up faster than anyone can remember, more and more families are looking for low cost meals.

A common meal for poor families in the country was pinto beans and cornbread. Before food stamps, many poor rural people grew up on pinto beans and corn bread because it was cheap and filling.

Cutting back on meats and eating more pastas and beans will save on your grocery bill. Ramen noodles are cheap, but it doesn’t take long to get sick of them.

Noodles, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese are low cost meals or sides. With creativity, you can still eat good and cut back on your grocery bill.

Everyone who drives must have car insurance. It’s the law and you don’t want to drive without insurance and get pulled over the the police. Then, you’d be in some big trouble and face mandatory huge fines.

The problem with car insurance is it can eat up a lot of money. Of course it depends on age, driving record, type of car, and other factors.

It never hurts to check around and see if you can get a better deal. A lot of people have been with the same insurance company for a long time and haven’t even considered changing. However, they may find another company can offer them a lower rate and save a few hundred dollars a year.

So this is just a reminder for people like that. Call around to different car insurance companies, be sure to tell them you already have insurance but are seeing if you can get a better deal. They want your business, so they will give you the best deal they can.

Sometimes change is good. You may find yourself saving a few hundred dollars a year on your car insurance. Especially if you have a good driving record.

In January I bought a Christmas dress for my baby girl. When I went to the store I certainly wasn’t planning on buying a Christmas dress. Christmas is 11 months away. But I saved by taking advantage of a clearance sale for leftover Christmas items the store is trying to get rid of.

You can save big by buying items leftover after any holiday. Stores want to get rid of their holiday items to make room for the next holiday so they slash the prices off of their leftover inventory 50-75%.

Their was a rack of cute Christmas dresses for little girls marked way down at only $6. These are really cute dresses and it’s certainly not everday you can find such a cute dress for only $6.

If I waited until around Christmas time when the Christmas stuff came out to by my baby girl a dress, I imagine it would cost around $20-$25. But now I already have her dress ready for when Christmas comes around and when I see the price tags on the dresses come Christmas time I will be smiling thinking of how much I saved.

I just get a thrill on huge savings!  I find it fun to see how much I can save.

Now Valentines day is coming up and the stores have all of their Valentines stuff out. I will wait until February 15th to see what I can find for 50-75% off.

I wanted to buy some toys for my kids and with my frugal mindset, the prices for the toys at Wal-Mart just seemed ridiculous. It’s mainly the name brand licensed toys like Disney and Sesame Street. I don’t want to pay five dollars for some little die cast car just because it is from the Disney movie “Cars” for example. I knew I could find much better deals online. At ebay I can find a huge variety of toys, cheaper prices, in like new condition, and stuff you can’t ever find at stores. Plus I’m mad at Wal-Mart for having a whopping 2 lanes open when I went there and two very long lines of angry customers who spent the loooong wait in line griping about how Wal-Mart is too cheap to open up a few more lanes, so I would rather spend my money where I don’t have to wait in line forever.

So I was browsing around ebay looking for toys to buy and I found some really good deals, but when I looked at the shipping price I went, “Whoa!”. There was an auction for a lot of care bear toys and the price for the toys themselves was good, but when I saw the shipping cost was $30, I kept on looking. Adding in the shipping cost, it’s no longer a bargain.

If you are a collector looking for a specific item, that’s something else, but if you are looking for a bargain to get the most bang out of your buck then you really have to pay attention to shipping costs.

I did find some good deals on toys with fair shipping costs, but I had to skip over a few auctions that had really high shipping costs. Sometimes the size and/or weight of items makes shipping expensive and then there are a few people who try to make a little profit from shipping costs but adding several dollars to the actual shipping cost.

Now is the best time to buy Christmas stuff like wrapping paper and candy, if you haven’t had your fill of sweets already.

Now Christmas is over the stores want to get rid of their Christmas inventory so they are slashing prices, 50-75% off the before Christmas price.

At Wal-Mart prices for Christmas items will be 50% off and anything left over the weekend will be 75% off.

This is the best time to grab that wrapping paper at deep discounts and store them in a closet for next Christmas. As fast as time flies, next Christmas will be here before you believe it.

If you love sweets, now is the time to grab that Christmas candy. Of course you can’t store it until next Christmas because it won’t be any good then, but if you like to eat sweets, get Christmas candy for rock bottom prices for your desserts.

When you go to stores, look at the Christmas items they are offering for 50-75% off and if there is anything you will use next Christmas, grab it up and save.

I was at the store yesterday looking for Christmas cards for a few people. I noticed on average the cards were close to $4 a piece. I would rather spend the money on the person’s actual gift than a card because most people don’t save their cards and end up tossing them out.

There are a few ways to save on Christmas cards.

1) Make Your Own Cards. I know a lady who is retired and to keep her busy she makes every single one of her cards herself. They are really beautiful cards and she gets the material from old cards. She simply buys a big pack of stock paper and glues pictures on them from other cards. Then she writes her messages on them. She’s crafty and makes them look really nice. You don’t have to be artsy or crafty to make your own cards though. You can get a big pack of stock paper for around $5. Just fold the paper in half and decorate it. It takes time, but it will save a lot of money compared to buying cards individually.

2) Buy cards in bulk. You can also get a bulk package of cards with a wintry scene on them but they don’t necessarily have to be for Christmas. They are blank inside and you can write whatever message you want to.

This is a really simple frugal idea. When you buy dryer sheets, cut all of the sheets in half and use one half sheet with every load you dry. That is like getting a free box of dryer sheets every time you buy one.

You’re not still using those energy wasting old fashioned light bulbs are you? If so, then it’s time to change.

They are called compact fluorescent light bulbs and they use about 75% less energy AND last 10 times longer. You can find them at any store that sells light bulbs. There really is no excuse not to be using these lightbulbs. You will be using less energy and won’t have to change the light bulbs so often.

The estimated savings according to Energy Star is $30 or more during the lightbulb’s lifetime. It’s all benefits and no downside to using the CFL’s.

Pay attention to the box of the lightbulbs, so you buy the right kind. CFI’s don’t go by watts, they go by lumens, but the box will tell you the equivalent in watts.  For example, 800 lumens would be 60 watts. You may want a 100 watt equivalent for your ceiling lights but a 40 watt equivalent for lamps.

Count how many lightbulbs you need in your home and then get to the store. Change each and every one of your old fashioned lightbulbs to the energy saving CFL.

If you have any relatives who still use the old fashioned lightbulbs, CFL’s will be a practical and money saving Christmas gift. Be sure to tell them how much energy and money they will be saving by replacing their light bulbs.