Cheap Alternatives for the Must Haves in your Life Pt. 3 of 3

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Here’s the 3rd and final installation of Cheap Alternatives for the Must Haves in your Life. You can find part 1 and 2 here and here. Enjoy!

Hotel Stays

• House Swap
  • Folks sometimes advertise their digs hopes of an exchange. What kind of exchange? You let me stay at your place and I’ll let you stay at mine. Check it out here.
• Couch Surfing
• Sign up for price alerts via SpiritAir because they are famous for their $9 fare club airfare specials and with that savings you can totally afford to stay at a hotel. We took advantage of this and were able purchase airline tickets to Miami last Spring for $90-total for 2 people.

Gym Membership

Here are a few alternatives to that pricey gym membership:

Do it yourself! Yes I said it!

• Calisthenics
  • The primary calisthenic exercises are:

• Sit-ups/crunches

• Push-ups

• Pull-ups

• Squats

• Calf-raises

• Running at local park or around the neighborhood with a partner
• Workout at company gym
• Workout with exercise programs on demand and record them via Tivo
• Purchase small space saving gym equipment on Craigslist and Ebay
  • Air Stepper
  • Dumbells
  • Ab Lounge

Electricity/Gas

The bane of my existence in the dead of winter and the middle of summer. It’s no news that heating and gas prices have shot through the proof but I am determined to keep my bills to the minimum. By employing these practices in our home we expect to save roughly 30% on our heating and gas bills.

• Buy an automatic thermostat and set the heat to come on at 5am and 6pm or whenever you rise and go to sleep/get home.

• Wear warmer clothes such as a sweater and thick socks and lower the thermostat.

• Heart of the Earth also recommends:
  • Use compact fluorescent bulbs. They last 10 times as long as standard incandescent bulbs and use only one-fourth of the energy to produce the same amount of light. Even with the higher purchase price, they save over $40 per bulb over their lifetime.
  • Air leaks around doors, attic openings, outlets and windows in the typical American home are the equivalent of leaving an average-size window open all the time. Close them with weather stripping for a cost of less than $2.00 for one door or two windows. Hardware stores also sell pre-cut outlet insulators. If you can see daylight around your door, attic hatch or window, it needs weather-stripping or caulking. Reducing small air leaks in your home can save 10 percent or more on your energy bill.

    Get rid of halogen torchieres. They can add $100 or more to your electric bill per year (and are a fire hazard).

    Use only the amount of light needed, and turn lights out when you leave a room. Turning them on again, even after a few minutes, uses less energy than leaving them on (even with fluorescents).

    • Web sites for more information

      • http://www.ase.org/powersmart/fbulbs.html

      • http://www.ase.org/powersmart/lightup.html

Personal Finance Software

Stop paying for Quicken and Microsoft Money, Mint.com is free, easy to use, integrates accounts and allows for seamless expense tracking. Best of all? Its FREE!

There you have it! There are things we can all stand to cut back in so that we can save more money. Try just a few of them and see how the savings rack up! Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments!