Archive for March, 2009

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Going To Start Hauling My Own Trash To The Landfill To Save Money.

*Update – I talked to the people at the landfill, and the price is actually $.35 for every 20 pounds of trash you bring in. That would be way less than $5 a month for us, which makes it even more of a deal. When we first moved into this new house, I automatically signed up for trash pickup because, well…it’s what you do here. At least that is what I thought, until I was having a conversation with a local about the landfill allowing people to haul their own trash for $5 instead of paying Waste Management to do it for them. I guess I can see the draw of having a truck come around and pick up your trash for you, but we put out about 1 bag of trash a week, and realistically that truck would not have to stop at my house but once a month to get it all. However, because he comes by my driveway every Monday morning, I always put the bin out with a single bag of trash in it. Seems kind of dumb, but what seems even dumber is that I pay $27 a month for this service and I could have been doing it myself all this time for only $5 a month.

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Frugal
12
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2009 Individual Stimulus Money Worth More Than Last Year’s Package.

Good idea or not, President Obama’s individual economic stimulus package is worth more to each person than the last one was that was done under President Bush. Bush’s stimulus package gave every person $600, while Obama’s gives each person about $13 a week…or $676. The difference? We got the $600 stimulus package in one fell swoop, while this new one will be spread out over a year. I have been getting many emails from readers complaining about the $13 a week, saying that it won’t do much of anything to stimulate the economy. And instead of emailing each person back, I figured I would just write up a quick post about it instead.

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saving
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Credit Card Research: The Discover More Card.

Since I get emails all the time asking about different credit cards and if people should be signing up for this, that, or the other one, I am going to start a new feature every week about different credit cards. I am going to research different cards and then present the ones that I think might be worth applying for. I am not a proponent of using credit cards as emergency funds or carrying any long term credit card debt, but I am a big fan of using your good credit to your advantage to earn points, miles, or cash back. You might as well earn something back from any and all spending that you do. I put as much of my monthly recurring bills on my rewards card, and if I could do it I would also pay my rent this way! Anyway, for those of you who are always looking for good credit card offers, this weekly feature will be for you. As always, please use credit responsibly. This week’s card is the Discover More Card, which has a 0% interest offer for 6 months on both purchases and balance transfers. These offers are getting harder and harder to find! (If you are reading this by RSS, you might have to click through to see all the details)

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credit
23
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Warehouse Store Versus Regular Grocery Store – Do You Really Save Money?

I don’t know the answer, as I don’t shop at warehouse stores – which is why I am asking you guys in this post to help me out. The reason I ask is that I hear people talk about all the money they save by shopping at these stores, but when I have asked for examples they have a hard time coming up with specifics. I guess it’s because of the sizes you get when you buy things (especially food products) that shoppers assume they are saving money over regular grocery store prices, but do they really? When you buy 100 rolls of toilet paper at a store like Costco, are they cheaper per unit when you buy 25 at the grocery store? When you shop at these warehouse stores, do you assume you save money on the stuff you buy or have you made the line by line comparison on each and every thing you put in your cart?

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saving
30
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Cheese Sandwiches For Kids Whose Parents Failed To Pay Their Lunch Tab.

What do you guys think about this? It’s been a pretty huge story here in New Mexico, and while on one hand I understand what and why the school system is doing it (we have no money), I cannot help but hate the fact that the kids are being punished for the parents lack of payment…

Faced with mounting unpaid lunch charges in the economic downturn, Albuquerque Public Schools last month instituted a “cheese sandwich policy,” serving the alternative meals to children whose parents fail to pick up their lunch tab.

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education
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