Just so you know frugality doesn’t happen for me in a single day, week or year. It is a lifetime journey that teaches me what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong. Some frugal ideas save money and time, others don’t. Other times it isn’t about saving money and time but peace of mind. It is the guiding hand of someone more experienced or the teaching that comes from life’s mistakes that helps me understand what aspects of frugal living will work for me. Based on all this I want to share what I have learned’¦

Online Bill Paying: I admit, I used about 5-8 stamps a month to mail off bills, I felt this way was better, faster and more secure. But it uses a lot of paper and I’m sick and tired of it. Slowly, I have changed over my billing to online only, but not without frustration.

  • I found out that if you want don’t want to pay monthly fees, you may have to use multiple places to pay your bills.
  • Some credit cards companies like to charge you for EVERYTHING, even to pay a bill. This is where I had to find the best way to pay, either via the mail still or check with my bank.
  • I have all my bills going to one email address that is separate from all my other email address (bills only). The downside was getting used to checking email for new statements’¦ I was late for a couple of bills. A hard lesson to learn.
  • I figured out too late that when you set up accounts, make sure you use the same email address, because getting some accounts changed can be a pain in the neck.

Scratch and Sniff Recliner: After bringing home a recliner (trying to save space), I realized that the previous owner was a smoker, so I tried different ways to get rid of the smoke smell from leather. I have tried Dawn dish-washing liquid, vinegar, baking powder paste, letting it air out, and will soon try a tip from Thriftyfun – Spartan Airlift Smoke & Odor Eliminator. I paid $14.95 (shipping included) for a spray bottle full.

Update: I got the bottle and tried it out on the recliner, it worked very well, and not just covering the odor either. I left the house and came back and there was a noticeable decrease in the amount of smoke smell, so I will spray the recliner again tomorrow. This worked a lot better than the other options I tried.

Self-made Two-for-One: When I first got the entertainment book, it was mostly used for the buy one, get one free offers. But as I have learned to eat smaller and healthier I stopped eating out as much. But when I do eat out I either get an appetizer only or if my spouse and I go, we find a meal to agree on and share it. (But we make sure we still give a wonderful tip. I figure that if you are too cheap to tip, then don’t go out to eat.)

Reduced Air Conditioning: Last year I started seeing how long I could go before using the air conditioning, I didn’t go very long, I believe it was early June when I caved in and turned on the AC. This year it hasn’t been turned on at all yet. Of course most of this is thanks to my spouse who works at home and is making this her own challenge to go as long as possible, and she is in the house more often than I am. It is nice to see someone come along the frugal road, even if it is a slow process.

What small changes are you making this year?

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Dawn C. is site owner of Frugalforlife.com where this is a repost from: Tidbits of Frugality. Dawn is residing in Colorado with her spouse, Teri, of 11 years.