Thursday, August 28, 2008

Living Life Richly on the Cheap #10

#10 Drive the Speed limit.

55mph v 65mph debate
With the high price of gas much has been said about getting better fuel economy. Many people advocate driving 55 instead of 65. On my recent trip to Michigan we drove about 93 miles where the speed limit was 65. If I had slowed to 55 it would have taken 16 more minutes and would have saved me about $1.25 in gas. In other words if I would have driven 55mph I value my time at about than $4.50 per hour. Had the speed limit been 75 I would have saved 27 minutes at a cost of $2.50 or $5.65 an hour. Unless you have time to waist I recommend driving the speed limit. Your time is worth more than you would pay for the extra gas.
Don't drive (Much) Over the speed limit
Most people drive just over the speed limit, and thus if you drive at the speed limit you will have less people to pass and a less stressful drive. If the police catch you speeding you have to pay for the ticket and pay higher car insurance rate.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Living Life Richly on the Cheap #9

#9 Free Mini-Golf Coupons.

Young's our local mini-golf and ice cream activity center has an amazing coupon deal. In the spring Mountain Due cans come with a coupon with a free game of mini-golf at Young's. (Limit one free game per person per day) So, each spring I buy about 48 cans of Mountain Due. We bring along friends and go to Young's often. Young's also has the best homemade ice cream around. Also, the score card get's you a free waffle cone upgrade a $.99 savings. If you get a whole in one on the last hole your ice cream code only costs $1.00

Total Cost for two: About $10 (2 single scoop ice cream waffle cones [$3.29 each] and about one gallon of gas to get there and back - the free waffle cone. The Mountain Due cans costs about 35 cents each.)
Total Savings for two:
$11.49 Mini-Golf is $5.25 for adults and $4.25 for kids, and don't forget about the free waffle cone upgrade. Using the Mountain Due Cans would make a cheap family outing.
Catch: We don't like Mountain Due at all, so we have to find people to drink it, which is not really all that hard. Young's Employees gladly accept full cans as well.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Living Life Richly on the Cheap #8

Living Life Richly on the Cheap #8
Amazon.com

From time to time I'll write about where I like to shop. This time Amazon.com blew me away with their customer service.

Recently, my wife Danielle and I bought a DVD from Amazon.com for my Sister-in-Law's birthday. As it turned out that we bought the same DVD that her boyfriend gave her. So, we had a DVD that we needed to sell or return. I was really impressed with Amazon.com. They far exceeded my expectations on returns. Not only did they refund 100% my money, they also let me print a postage paid label. I didn't even have to pay to ship it back. All I had to do was package it up and walk it to my mail box.

On a side note I really like Amazon's reviewing feature. This feature allows you to see what other people think about the product.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Living Life Richly on the Cheap #7

#7 Google for discount codes.

My wife, Danielle thought of this one. Most online e-commerce web sites have mysterious discount codes boxes. As it turns out, you can use Google to find legitimate code for most websites. Danielle recently bought sheets on clearance for a quilt project from JCPenny.com and saved $10. Typically, she can find codes to cover to shipping costs.

Total Savings: $10.65 Including Ohio sales tax.
Extra Hassle:
A few extra minutes using Google
Catch:
You might have to spend more that you want to get the discount.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

No Trays at Chuck's

In an effort to *Go Green* the cafeteria at the university were I work has eliminated trays at the cafeteria. It will be interesting to see what the reactions are from the students when they return in a week and a half.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Living Life Richly on the Cheap #0

#0 $1000 Emergency fund.

I cannot stress enough how important having a $1000 emergency fund is. I numbered this one #0 because without it, I could not live as "richly on the cheap" as I do. My friend Brian blogged about this one as well. Read his post. He basically said everything I wanted to say. In a nut shell, if you don't have a $1000, find a way to get it asap.

Living Life Richly on the Cheap # 6

#6 Taking advantage of good deals on top of good deals.

I received a gift card to Cold Stone as a thank you gift for working in Awana at our church. This is a great gift because Danielle and I can enjoy about 5 trips to Cold Stone on a single gift card. Cold Stone makes just about the best ice cream around. So tonight we took Lily (our 13 month old daughter) and headed to Cold Stone at The Greene. The Greene is the local upscale shopping "city" in the area. On Monday's Cold Stone runs a deal: buy one medium ice cream creation get a kids size free. We got the ice cream to go (tax free in Ohio) and sat outside by The Greene's fountian and enjoyed the beautiful summer evening. Also, Lily really enjoys playing in the fountian and The Greene provides free towels to dry off with.

Since this item was not a necessity there are no savings just a total cost
Total Cost: About $2.5o in gas. (9.4 miles, 25MGP $3.479 per gallon) (The icecream would have costed $4.69)
Extra Bonus: I got to read a good book while Danielle did some shopping.
Extra Hassle: Waiting for the right day to get the extra deal.
Catch: Might become addited to Cold Stone Icecream.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Pictures!

It's been a good week, full a new things for Lily. She was able to play in our backyard with the sprinkler, which she really enjoyed. Thursday was Cedarville's Faculty Staff picnic. Lily and I got the play on the huge inflatable slide. On Friday, I was able to go to the Greene County Fair and enjoy the demolition derby. Enjoy the pictures.

Summer 08