One of the fastest ways to save money is to call up your phone/cable/internet/cell phone providers and see if there’s any promotions going on. If you have them all grouped together you usually get a bundling discount but you can still qualify for other deals. It usually just takes a few minutes, and can save you anywhere from 10-100$ a month! 🙂 And don’t be discouraged if there’s nothing today, try again another day, or ask to speak to customer loyalty. I’ve had pretty good luck doing this, and it’s usually for anywhere from 3 months to 1 year of savings depending on the promotion.
If you can’t get a deal, get them to look over your services, maybe there’s a better plan for your cell phone, or some tv channels you just never watch that you can get rid of!
Check out the Manitoba Hydro website – there are a lot of special programs and rebates that you might qualify for. If you’re in another province, check out your local company’s site.
Also, for those who love to rent movies, check out the library’s site to see if the movies you want are there – if it’s a family movie it’s free, and a grownup movie it’s under 2$, you’ll be surprised at the selection and can’t beat those prices! 🙂
What are your quick ways to save some $$$?
For our family we changed the light bulbs that are on alot to Eco / power savers it cost up front but our power bill has gone down.
I was really surprised at the difference that it made too! 🙂
Water saver shower heads/faucet aerators make a significant difference, as does washing clothing in cold (or lukewarm) water.
Having a programmable thermostat for the furnace/AC is a huge money saver, as well as not cooling or heating to a perfect 21 degrees. In winter, when we’re home the temp is set at about 19-20, and drops to 16 when we’re sleeping or out. In summer it’s set to about 22-23 degrees, and goes up to 25 when we’re not in. We can always add a sweater or slippers if cold in winter, and in summer are generally wearing less clothing, so it’s not overly hot inside, and there’s less of a temperature shock when we go out in hot weather. Spring and fall we can often make do with thermal heating from the sunshine, and open windows if it gets too warm.
I’d like to get a rain barrel for outdoor watering, but haven’t yet figured out where to put it. My yard’s pretty small.