Yeah.. that's the issue. I can't just work and sit at home.. I'll go crazy! I don't even care about cable or anything silly like that. I just need to be able to get around by car and pay my health insurance really. But I'm just coming up way too short each month.
Oh, the paper route is a good idea since you have a car. My dad used to make an extra $300 bucks a week doing it. He worked for a the main city paper, had three routes. But he liked it. He woke up at 1am, did his routes, and was back home by 4 or 5. It's nice for a little extra cash. And during the holidays he always got major tips. If I had a car, I'd be doing it. They're always looking for help.
our uni offered free dialup, and we took it. That saved us $20/mo. (they don't now, so we're shelling out $60 for dsl so we don't tie up the phone line).
the car insurance company forgot to take one of his tickets off our policy after the three years, so we saved a few dollars there when we reminded them. They also offered crappy roadside assistance (repair a flat, but no towing) which was pretty much worthless to us since we can repair a flat, so that saved us something like $14 every 6 months.
The night stockers at the grocery store are the ones who put things in the dented can bin, so selection is best early in the morning. The cheapest gas in town is at the grocery store, so we try to make our big grocery trip when the car needs filled up.
figure out which appliances you have with standby mode (basically, anything with a remote), plug them into a power strip, and turn the power strip off when you're not using them.
I was just thinking about the powerstrip idea yesterday as I stared at my vcr and dvd player and my cd player which were all just sitting there showing the time. Seemed like a waste of a few cents to me!
Good idea about not paying for the useless extras on car insurance. yeah that's the problem about dial-up too. It means you've got to have a phone line too, but that's still cheaper than a cell and DSL.
here that's bn.com, it'll give you a good description and an isbn. I'd suggest checking them out of the library. If you must own the books, get them from half.com or some other cheap place. There are three separate editions, but there's a combined volume too. Sometimes they're cheaper separately, sometimes together.
It very much depends on where you live. Not just on the part of the country, but on how far you have to travel to get to things.
Even if we had our mortgage all paid off, hell no, we couldn't do it. We're int he country and getting to things, whether job or entertainment, takes time and money.
You might look for a blog or mailing list that lists free or cheap things to do in your area. My (nearest) city sponsors free plays in the park and occasional free outdoor movie nights; does such a thing exist where you are?
Also--what do you consider "on your own"? Have you considered a roommate?
Yep I search craigslist daily. Looking for roommates, most of them in my area (Twin Cities, MN) are looking for $400 on the east side of the cities. They're cheaper on the southwest side but I work and attend school in the northwest side. Good idea about looking for ways to find free entertainment. I always drive myself nuts with that sort of thing. I find out about the free event ALWAYS a week AFTER it happened. lol
I'd like to email you or IM you to ask you about something. Can you comment with an IM screen name, or email me? mirokufangirl at hotmail dot com. (I signed up for that email as a joke and then it became permanent. Doh!)
for money i have 2 jobs as well as various ebay, dj-ing and art/design side projects. my 2 jobs pay much less than $10...not quite minumum wage, but still sucky. no benefits.
same rent and internet costs as you noted above, no mobile phone, local phone only (cheap calling card for long distance)...my car insurance is $28.00 a month but my car is 22 years old. i have old credit card bills and student loans in apparently permanent deferrment.
with this basic breakdown - no, i cannot get health insurance and technically it is surviving - but it's certainly not ok to do this forever. saving is pretty impossible. previously, when i had made $11/hr i could not afford insurance either.
Right, and see I'd LOVE to go without health insurance, but I can't. I have a disability which pretty much makes it impossible for me to NOT have insurance. I need medications monthly, checkups frequently, and new prosthesis every 3-4 years which cost $15,000 without insurance. Maybe I should cell my '99 Malibou and replace it for an '80 junker.
Re: my 2¢nymphatacitaOctober 23 2006, 07:33:29 UTC
is there something in your health insurance package you can cut out (that will actually lower your cost) because you don't use it and/or it doesn't save you money? Maybe you pay $100/yr for a vision plan that you don't get $100 worth from, because you have good vision, and a yearly checkup at your opt's office only costs you $50....
When the boy was getting insurance, we figured vision would only pay for itself if he replaced his glasses AND contacts yearly.
Comments 68
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
our uni offered free dialup, and we took it. That saved us $20/mo. (they don't now, so we're shelling out $60 for dsl so we don't tie up the phone line).
the car insurance company forgot to take one of his tickets off our policy after the three years, so we saved a few dollars there when we reminded them. They also offered crappy roadside assistance (repair a flat, but no towing) which was pretty much worthless to us since we can repair a flat, so that saved us something like $14 every 6 months.
The night stockers at the grocery store are the ones who put things in the dented can bin, so selection is best early in the morning. The cheapest gas in town is at the grocery store, so we try to make our big grocery trip when the car needs filled up.
figure out which appliances you have with standby mode (basically, anything with a remote), plug them into a power strip, and turn the power strip off when you're not using them.
And read the tightwad gazette.
Just find every little thing you can...
Reply
Good idea about not paying for the useless extras on car insurance.
yeah that's the problem about dial-up too. It means you've got to have a phone line too, but that's still cheaper than a cell and DSL.
Tightwad Gazette? Must look for that.
Reply
that's bn.com, it'll give you a good description and an isbn. I'd suggest checking them out of the library. If you must own the books, get them from half.com or some other cheap place. There are three separate editions, but there's a combined volume too. Sometimes they're cheaper separately, sometimes together.
Reply
Reply
Even if we had our mortgage all paid off, hell no, we couldn't do it. We're int he country and getting to things, whether job or entertainment, takes time and money.
You might look for a blog or mailing list that lists free or cheap things to do in your area. My (nearest) city sponsors free plays in the park and occasional free outdoor movie nights; does such a thing exist where you are?
Also--what do you consider "on your own"? Have you considered a roommate?
Reply
Good idea about looking for ways to find free entertainment. I always drive myself nuts with that sort of thing. I find out about the free event ALWAYS a week AFTER it happened. lol
Reply
Reply
same rent and internet costs as you noted above, no mobile phone, local phone only (cheap calling card for long distance)...my car insurance is $28.00 a month but my car is 22 years old. i have old credit card bills and student loans in apparently permanent deferrment.
with this basic breakdown - no, i cannot get health insurance and technically it is surviving - but it's certainly not ok to do this forever. saving is pretty impossible. previously, when i had made $11/hr i could not afford insurance either.
good luck.
Reply
Maybe I should cell my '99 Malibou and replace it for an '80 junker.
Reply
Reply
Maybe you pay $100/yr for a vision plan that you don't get $100 worth from, because you have good vision, and a yearly checkup at your opt's office only costs you $50....
When the boy was getting insurance, we figured vision would only pay for itself if he replaced his glasses AND contacts yearly.
Reply
Leave a comment