tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post3179304951189175629..comments2024-03-28T21:23:54.204-04:00Comments on DON'T READ THIS; IT'S BORING!: Crunching Numbers.....Part Twoslugmamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12728856166374248591noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-50778382239865683062015-02-22T15:54:35.090-05:002015-02-22T15:54:35.090-05:00See previous... Gasoline consumption isn't ver...See previous... Gasoline consumption isn't very high. I hardly go anywhere, but my wife travels quite a bit to get from one job to another. Luckily, we live at the half-way point between them in a very rural area, but right on the highway. We do maintain two cars. We call one of them a spare. They are both around 15 years old, and I think they have quite a bit of life left in them. They are only insured for liability, and we both have excellent driving records. I shop around for a lower rate practically every time the policy comes up for renewal. We think we are doing well, and I can't think of anything that we need to change right now. I hope you meant it when you asked! There's probably more that I analyze, but this is all I can think of right now. I enjoy your blog and watching how you save money, even if we don't have the same expenses or shop for the same things as you do. There is a little thread, though.rushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01384758362254647340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-8420806483418252482015-02-22T15:54:13.069-05:002015-02-22T15:54:13.069-05:00I make mental notes about how our expenses change ...I make mental notes about how our expenses change from month to month. We pay most everything through our credit card. We pay it off every month AND get points for our purchases. I can compare a years worth of expense using one of the website's features. One thing we have done to lower our grocery bill was to cut out soda. I did for about a month, then I rethought that, and now I allow myself one a day for a treat, usually in the evening while watching TV. One thing we are doing right now is eating from the freezer. There is so much stuff in there and in the pantry. We will be purchasing fresh fruit, milk and other staples as we run out, but meat will come from the freezer. We won't be taking advantage of any sales for the most part. We don't want to stock up on anything right now. We need to use what we have. Water started out at about $20/month. It inched up to about $28, then $37. The price of water didn't go up, and we had two issues fixed. If it isn't back down by the next bill, we have to investigate further. One variable we have is that we have cats, and most of them are around 15 years old. Sometimes, they need to go to the vet, and one had to have (surprise!) dental work to the tune of $350. Another has an allergy to flea dirt, so we have to treat everyone for fleas year around (including the neighbors 3 outdoor kitties that we bring in when the temperatures are extreme). We are using a CareCredit credit card for that. It is so-many-months/same-as-cash, so it will be paid in full before we incur interest or finance charges. It is a handy card for us. We also use it for eye and dental expenses for ourselves. We pay it off in full before incurring charges. Credit cards are great for us because, A) we get points, and B) we use someone else's money for free (because we pay them off). As far as health insurance goes, we have opted to pay the penalty if necessary. It is less than paying for the insurance and the few doctor visits. Luckily, my wife and I are healthy. I have Medicare, so I don't qualify anyway. We don't have renter's insurance, which bothers me slightly. It's expensive, and it has tripled in the last year or two. We have so many things in the house that we will be getting rid of, so it doesn't make sense to insure them. We think we could probably start again for about $10,000 if there were a total loss, and we have that amount in the bank. When it comes to cable/telephone/internet, we aren't lucky enough to have a choice as to a provider. Recently, the cable was acting up, and by the time the problem was fixed, we had full-blown cable! It originally just made the signal better for about 10 channels. We won't be telling them, and it would probably be a blessing when they cut us off! My wife has a PAYG cell phone which she doesn't use often, so the expense there is negligible. The propane bill is huge chunks at a time, but we pay it and get it over with. Electric bounces around with the weather. It surprised us when it went below $70 and wish we knew what we did to deserve that! Air conditioning is necessary in southeastern NC, but we hold out as long as we can. I didn't realize there was a character limit. To be continued...rushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01384758362254647340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-84106539085584819432015-02-22T00:41:55.887-05:002015-02-22T00:41:55.887-05:00Dens been drinking Dragons milk. WAY EXPENSIVE!!!!...Dens been drinking Dragons milk. WAY EXPENSIVE!!!! So we should keep out drunk husbands apart or our bills would go way up!Sonya Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01985227040902078422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-14405923201522771722015-02-21T08:46:04.359-05:002015-02-21T08:46:04.359-05:00Ouch, my head hurts!Ouch, my head hurts!Lorrainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15328674280714013955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-14483845139625934102015-02-20T20:37:04.426-05:002015-02-20T20:37:04.426-05:00I never add it up - too many flashbacks to mom whe...I never add it up - too many flashbacks to mom when I was growing up.Travelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07787024407420088973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-15587689880026140942015-02-20T16:10:36.273-05:002015-02-20T16:10:36.273-05:00Have you ever shown your notebook/ budgeting syste...Have you ever shown your notebook/ budgeting system? I am sure I could learn a lot!Angelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16170218700397945765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-51525392376364762262015-02-20T14:49:11.485-05:002015-02-20T14:49:11.485-05:00Get MagicJack! It is about $65/year. Check it out ...Get MagicJack! It is about $65/year. Check it out to make sure you understand what it entails. My home phone went from $27/month to something like $2.33/month. You won't need to increase cell minutes. You can keep your home phone number.<br /><br />Please tell me what kind of indoor antenna you got for your tv.<br /><br />My internet is something like $45/month and I can drop it anytime. However, I am going to get a booster so I can receive the library signal and the city signal in the park. Both are three blocks from me.Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14991571309786149363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-20037968956263221602015-02-20T12:01:10.282-05:002015-02-20T12:01:10.282-05:00My largest bill used to be to Rogers: home phone, ...My largest bill used to be to Rogers: home phone, internet and cable. It was up over $200 so I got rid of the landline and cable and now that bill is $80 per month just for internet. My monthly bills only come to $868 excluding savings, gas, food and misc. I give myself so much a week for the variable categories so that I don't run out of $$ by the end of the month. So far it's working well.Janehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02803104035204416080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-36548646000774570402015-02-20T11:13:43.828-05:002015-02-20T11:13:43.828-05:00I look at our liquor bill as entertainment :) but ...I look at our liquor bill as entertainment :) but it was higher than I thought, last year was the first year I kept track of that. Our electric bill was higher but overall electricity costs went up here. Hopefully I can bring it down this year as we are back to only 2 in the household (heat/light). Cheapchickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15158208632054014311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-3578867241514202522015-02-20T11:08:34.547-05:002015-02-20T11:08:34.547-05:00I guess I am more of a geek than you Gill! lolzI guess I am more of a geek than you Gill! lolzslugmamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12728856166374248591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1611711622146875201.post-36175595000309788632015-02-20T10:56:13.496-05:002015-02-20T10:56:13.496-05:00I am impressed at how organized you are with all y...I am impressed at how organized you are with all your figures. I am no where near as organized. You put me to shame!!!Gill - That British Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17456247587052149765noreply@blogger.com