Tips to stretch a dollar.

misty8723

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@Winchester what's keeping Richard from wanting to cancel cable? Sports? ESPN+ should have what he wants. My DD gets it as a package with Hulu and Disney +. Stream Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, National Geographic | Disney+

She doesn't watch sports but she wanted the Hulu and the Disney +. It comes automatically.
But if its local sports, they're blacked out on ESPN+. We had to get what was AT&T streaming and has now changed to DirectV streaming in order to see the Hurricanes games. And not even the cheapest package, but they are the only ones that carry Bally Sports. It stills ends up being a bit cheaper than Google TV, which they stopped providing. If there are certain channels he doesn't want to give up, when I was looking I made a spreadsheet to compare what the various services offered. Weather Channel, which we do watch, was another one that was hard to find.

Also, if you have Roku, there's a lot of free apps out there.
 

misty8723

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I downloaded Netflix, got the best resoution for $19;99 a month. It has everything, t.v. shows, movies, news etc.
I tried a free preview of Netflix and could find nothing to watch. We have a Roku and there are several free apps where you can get tv shows, movies, etc.
 

denice

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It really depends on what you want to watch as to rather you save with streaming. For me it is about the same as the cheapest cable TV package, so I didn't bother with it.
 

susanm9006

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Another thrift lesson from today. Don’t assume that the copays and charges that your medical provider asks you to pay are correct. Checking my insurance explanation of benefits from last month I found two charges totaling over $100 that I paid and that the insurer ALSO paid. Working on getting my refunds tomorrow
 

catapault

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A quick stop at the small grocery store in town today. And at the deli counter bread / rolls bin they had two packages of day-old rolls on sale. I took both. Why? Some slices from the sort of French bread were turned into French toast for my lunch. "Technical" name is pain perdu or lost bread. Have to have older bread for French toast.

Turned the rest of that loaf into breadcrumbs. Some were used as a panade, breadcrumbs and liquid, with the ground meat for meatloaf for our dinner. An enhancer, not an extender. Especially for meatballs a panade makes for a much softer, more delicate texture.

Plus, I like to keep breadcrumbs in the freezer in case I want to make breaded something or other. My favorite recipe for mushroom soup is thickened with a bread panade.

Multiple options for day-old bread that helps stretch a dollar and makes tasty food.
 

Willowy

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I've always bought day-old bread, when available. It's going to be at my house a lot longer than a day! Freshness is not really a factor for me.
 

game misconduct

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:biggrin:i do it the easy way i let gf handle the budget seeing as she has the smarter brain between us two in regards to groceries if its to expensive we just do without and i plan our meals with what we have or get at the same time we are really fotunateduring these hard times she got a promotion along with a big bump in salary soon as she graduated with her doctorate i got an increase in my dissability checks each month so were stable graycies food will be a lil cheaper now to since i kinda suspect tiki free range rabbit is not agreeing with her now
 

LTS3

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Bread and other similar items can be frozen. It only takes a few minutes to thaw at room temperature. Slice the bread first if it's not already so it's easy to take out what you need.

Take a look at any subscriptions you have and see what you can cut. Many are just nice little luxuries to have. Newspaper, magazine, cable TV, etc.

Use the local library for books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and other things. Some even let you borrow things like power tools and hand tools and stand mixers.

Print grocery coupons from online coupon web sites like Coupon Cabin. Take advantage of reward programs at your favorite supermarkets. Some chains have a point system where many items you purchase is worth certain amount of points and when you get at least a 100 points you can redeem them for savings off your next purchase or for a gas purchase (if a gas station is associated with the chain).
 

Elphaba09

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I use a lot of online auctions to get things. I just picked up 75 lbs of food for our ferals for $31.33 (Mostly Kitzy Dry Cat Food by Amazon, Whitefish and Pea Recipe) and 48 lbs of food for our indoor cats (Blue Buffalo Wilderness) for $36.86 yesterday. The deals I get are amazing! My single-serve Keurig was, and I am not joking, $0.31. (It was an open box, unused.) The reusable pods I bought cost more than the machine. I got a stroller for $21and a Honda 21 in. 3-in-1 Variable Speed Gas Walk Behind Self Propelled Lawn Mower with Auto Choke for $69.18 (open box, unused). I sold our old mower for $75. I can go on because w have saved thousands. (My son got the flooring for his large kitchen for less than $100, less than half what he would have spent retail.)

In NE Ohio? Auctions

Columbus area? Zipperbuy

Ohio and some other states in the US? Fast Track It - Bidfta.com

Fast Track It.png Fast Track It2.png
 

LTS3

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A FreeCycle group is great to score free items Some are even brand new or gently used. Items posted are pretty much everything: outgrown gently used baby clothes, furniture, yarn and other arts and crafts items, old computers and parts, bikes, rugs, car accessories / parts, power tools, gardening tools and accessories, unopened unexpired food items, pet supplies and food, etc. Freecycle: Front Door

There may be a similar type of group in your area through FB or other social media.
 

DownTheLane

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Idk if this'll work for anyone else, but this has been my trick so far. Choose a set amount of money to keep on your debit account, I personally have €2.000 because my school costs are a little over a thousand per year, but this can be more or less depending on your lifestyle. Whenever I get money deposited, and the amount reaches above my threshold, I put it into my savings account. If I dip below the €2.000, I try to limit spendings until I reach it again. For me wanting to keep that number at a set amount really helps me to be aware of how much I spend at a time, while putting away any "extra" money for a rainy day.
Besides that, thrift stores/second hand stores are a blessing, so much cute stuff for super cheap, I'm a huge fan of the clothing myself.
And, while I know it isn't the most legal thing, download all the TV shows and movies instead of subscribing to streaming services 😂 that or watching them online works as well. If you count up all the costs of regular tv, Netflix, HBO, Disney +, ect. it really is a ridiculous amount.
I also don't have an internet subscription, to have unlimited data or something. 90% of places I go to have free wifi, so why spend money on that
 
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