Better Product/Better for the Environment

A few weeks ago, I read an article about disposable razors and how much waste they generate. I had been using them forever because they were cheap, and never really thought about the waste. "Hmm...isn't real-life frugality about saving the environment AND saving money?" I asked myself. Well, yes it is!! So, I switched to a system where you only toss the blade, and I feel much more environmentally-friendly. In addition to generating less waste, the blades actually last for more than just one shave.

If any of you are interested, I'm now using the Venus Divine by Gillette. The cartridges are not terribly cheap, but I do make sure to only buy them when they are on sale and/or I have a coupon. While doing some web research for this post, I came across a host of articles on the topic. Just go out and type "disposable razor landfill" into Bing! or Google and you'll see what I mean. One of the most interesting articles I found was this one, which tells you how to sharpen your razor blades on the leg of your jeans. I am so gonna try this one, but maybe I will use an old pair of jeans that I don't care much about. I'm also thinking that it would be best to do this with regular denim, not stretch denim like most women's jeans are made of.

Home Haircuts

My husband has always had his mom cut his hair, aside from when he was away at college and on his LDS mission. But, his mom is getting older and hubby wanted to relieve her of that particular duty. But, he didn't want to go to the barbershop. So, he bought a set of hair clippers from amazon.com, and decided to do it himself. The set was about $45 and paid for itself after just one haircut for all three of the males in the household. Now, mind you, none of them have really difficult hair styles. Both boys, being swimmers, keep their hair pretty short all over. Hubby likes his hair short, too. For our family, this was a wise investment.

Home haircutting is not for everyone. If it were up to me to do the barbering, we'd still be trotting down to our local barber shop for $15 haircuts. I just don't have the knack for it. My husband, on the other hand, truly does. He does a better job on his own hair than I could ever do on his hair (we know this through trial and error).

So, my point?? Give it a try. Or, find someone who knows how to do it and have them teach you. Over the years, this will be something that really pays off.

Airfare Deals

I just hate trying to figure out when to buy airfare. It seems like the minute I buy a plane ticket, the rates go down. The last time I had to book air travel, I used Bing's travel alerts. Just go to bing.com, select Travel, and set up a Travel Account. Once you have a travel account, you can set up a fare alert by specifying your departure and destination airports and the dates of travel. Bing will track the fares, using data from all the major travel websites, and send you alerts as the fares go up and down. Bing will also tell you when it is recommended that you buy, based on those trends.

This is a great time-saver, not to mention a money-saver.

Blinded by the Price

The pull cord on the honeycomb room-darkening blinds in my son's room broke--again. In the 14 years we've had these particular blinds, I've probably had to have them restrung three or four times. This was not a problem in the past; I took them down to my local 3 Day Blinds store (where we originally purchased them), and had the blinds restrung for about $15. This time, I called the showroom to be sure they were open today, and it's a good thing I called before taking the blinds down. Turns out they have changed their business model and the showrooms now no longer do repairs. I was told I could send them to Irvine, CA, or have someone come fix them in my house for $125. Well, I told the operator (who, even though I had called a local phone number, worked in the call center in Irvine) that I'd be taking my blind business elsewhere!

I called The Blind Alley, which did the blinds for our living room and dining room. They can't restring a competitor's product (no surprise). So, I decided to order a new blind. I knew it would be more expensive, but I also knew it would be a name brand product, and that The Blind Alley will be able to service this blind in the future. The Hunter-Douglas Applause blind I ordered has a 7-year warranty on all parts--including pull cords.

I expect the new blind to last longer with fewer problems. Sometimes it's not all about price.

Cashing In Rewards Points

A month or so ago, I decided to cash in our 400 Chase Freedom reward points for $500 in cash. I usually cash our points in whenever we get 400 (about once a year), and use the cash for some of the extras that would stretch our budget otherwise.

This year we are using the extra money to pay for letterman jacket patches for our oldest son, who is a very accomplished swimmer. I tell ya, I wish I knew how to make these patches! They charge by the letter. I spent about $375 to have two patches made, and that doesn't count getting them attached to the jacket.

Maybe my biggest problem is having a son who needs things like the following on his jacket:

1ST TEAM ALL KINGCO
DISTRICT III CHAMPS
1ST PLACE 200 MED REL, 400 FREE REL, 200 IM
2A STATE 2ND PLACE
2ND PLACE 200 MR, 400 FR
4TH PLACE 100 BACK, 200 IM
etc.

Do you think I should tell him to stop swimming so fast? Nah, this may just pay for college!

An Ounce of Prevention

At the end of April, we had to have the inducer motor replaced on our furnace (yes, we are one of those unfortunate families who lives in a climate where the furnace is needed about 9 months out of the year). It was whining something fierce because the bearings were wearing down after 12 years. It cost $440 (including installation), but it sure beats having to get a new furnace at 10 times that or more.

One other thing we do with our furnace is have it serviced every year. It costs about $150, but we get a new industrial strength filter, and get it cleaned and inspected. Little problems--like the inducer motor--can be caught and fixed before they become big problems that decrease the life of the furnace.

Our furnace tech said that with continued annual maintenance, there's no reason we can't expect this furnace to go on for 20 more years.

Borders Rewards Perks

I don't shop very often at Borders Books, but if you do, I hope you are taking advantage of their Rewards Perks program. You can get all sorts of discounts at various retailers (not just Borders) along with alerts so you don’t miss any deals. Membership is free. Can't beat that!

My friend who told me about this program forwarded on an example of a week's worth of deals, and they were pretty exciting:

• 25% off at Macy's
• Up to 70% off at Home Depot
• Up to 50% off hotels at priceline.com
• 20% off Blue Nile Jewelry
• 25% off kids Converse sneakers
• 15% off sitewide at The Children's Place
• $25 off $125 at White House Black Market
• 30% off + free shipping at Nine West
• Up to 90% off at Spiegel
• 30% off all cashmere plus free shipping & gift wrap at Inhabit.
  

For what it's worth: try it; looks like it would be pretty good!