I looked at some of those coupon sites. Most of that stuff is chemical products that I would never use. Redplum has an organic section but no coupons! The whole industry seems to revolve around pushing chemicals. If you want organic foods and non-toxic products, you have to pay full price.

Good morning Annestacey, we have been using the food from the efoodsglobal.com company for some time. It is very good, but with your reply about chemicals we question what is in this food. It has a shelf life of 25 years. Would you check out this web site and view what the ingredients are and give us your thoughts. We ask for other opinions also. Thanks

Hi Chris. Growing food is difficult in a 1-BR apartment with no outdoor space. I can do a search for some local farms or maybe they can give me a list of them at Whole Foods. They usually advertise their food sources anyway so it should be easy to get that. Thanks for the info.

Rick D, I responded to your request but my comment is waiting moderation and approval (maybe because I added some links).

Loved this show. I too don’t use coupons that often the things I buy most often are cheaper way cheaper 25# bag of steal cut oats and the like. I spent 10 hours one day looking for coupons on the web and found 2 that I could use. Not worth it for me. My niece shops and eats differently and can get $70 of stuff for $4-$5. The bottom line is you can’t make/save dollars if you don’t save pennies first. But you must be able to use a calculator and look at the whole picture to figure out if there really is a savings. One of the biggest things I ever have done to save money is quit my job. For me at that time it worked out. It was costing me $150. per month to work.

Every tip that came in today had one thing in common Being CONSISTENTLY aware of your money flow in and out. You can take one month off and so easily find yourself ass over tea kettle in debit ok maybe even just one day not be vigilant & oops there it is debit.

Also I found some recipes for homemade laundry soap & dish washer detergent sounded good. However if there are any ingredients that are antibacterial like asorbic acid possibly vinegar you could be saving $$ on soap but spending on repairing your septic tank. I’m not a chemist so not 100% sure but I’m not willing to take that chance.

Hi roundabouts… I just checked into the BECU savings and it looks like the 6.17% interest rate you are referring to is only available on their “Early Saver Savings” accounts for people UNDER the age of 18. Also, any account that has over $500 in it only earns 0.25%. All other savings accounts earn 0.25% (which is still better than the average savings account but no where near Amex Savings, ING, or Smarty Pig interest rates).

BECU would be great for teaching a young person how savings accounts and interest works as 6.17% on a few hundred bucks isn’t anything to scoff at. Those of us who are over 18 and don’t have children would do better sticking the money in an interest bearing savings account somewhere else.

Hope this helps 🙂

Regarding the 911 service reason for keeping regular phone service… In most areas even when a phone line is ‘disconnected’ the phone company is required to keep the line live and support the 911 service. This means that you can still use your Skype or other service and leave a couple of hard-wired phones plugged into your normal phone lines for backup 911 service and you don’t have to pay for it.

Chris, thanks so much for that link. It’s perfect!

I will second the ING Direct suggestion.
The rate is usually very good compared with other options and the website is fantastic. It’s one of the few services that lives up to its advertising.

dakotaslim I think using a program to track spending is very helpful I like using quick books. When I show my husband the pie graph he can really see how the spending goes. Also on any given day open a profit and loss report and it tells you the bottom line. A few years ago I showed my husband in black and white -$1200.00 for the year. As he looked with a blank stare I explained that means you worked your ass off all year long and you would have had to make $1200.00 more just to be @ $0. Of course he had a fit when it finally hit. Where did the money go? So an itemized report and graph. So long starbucks. Now with two button pushes he tracks it every week. It is so great to have him on board. I don’t have to be such a big B$%@%.

Wondering if anyone has a recipe for the mild Brown Ale Jack was talking about?

I’ve had the same results as most with coupons – I cook virtually everything from scratch and they’re rarely for stuff I would use.

RE: the bundled terry towels from Costco, they’re great! The only time I use paper towels is for nasty stuff like when the cat hurls on the floor. Jack mentioned keeping them white with bleach – if you’re on a septic system, throw that bleach water on your weeds or driveway, but NOT down the drain, it’ll croak the good bacteria necessary for the system to work properly.

I make fermented cabbage just exactly like that recipe has it, but add lots of garlic and cilantro and use it instead of shredded lettuce in our tacos and burritos. I can eat the stuff straight from the jar, but that’s a good way to get the huz and kids to eat it as well 😉

Has anybody been watching the new TV show “Extreme Couponing”? It is interesting, but as Annestacy says, most of the coupons are for garbage chemical ridden food/cleaners. I have noticed recently that stores are starting to have sales on organic things – Raley’s is doing a big one now. So while it does seem true that there aren’t many organic coupons out there, you should keep an eye out for sales & pounce on them when they appear.

Minor correction on the misconception of kimchi. I lived in Korea for 3 1/2 years and make the stuff. The cabbage is not at all fermented–if it were, it would be considered spoiled and be tossed. The cabbage is first soaked in rock salt and water for an hour in order to cause wilting/softening. Other ingredients are then added and the kimchi is kept cold from then until the time it goes bad–usually about a month, unless frozen. The famous Korean clay kimchi pots will extend its life through the winter, if buried, because they cut off the air supply. No different than vacuum packing.

Thanks for featuring Gateway to Saving! We have tips to save on everything from using coupons for groceries (processed food and NON-processed) to the marketing traps put in place by the stores to drain your wallet to the best resources to save on every other type of purchase you can imagine.

There so many tips and tricks to save on everything you purchase that you should never pay full price for anything!

It’s all about taking control, learning pricing strategies, and understanding that marketing is nothing but a big, vicious cycle that you can beat if you learn the correct patterns.

Ref: Using 911 from inactive phone line

Comment 13 above is correct… MOST of the time. There are certain situations where the phone company will disconnect the line from the house. Its not common but can happen. I am a supervisor in a 911 Dispatch center and suggest if you are connecting a land line phone or expecting to use the line with Skype… TEST IT. Hook up whatever you plan on using in am emergency and make a test call to 911. Let the dispatcher know you are making a test call to ensure you can reach 911 if needed. You may end up with an officer at your house to check on you but that is one minor inconvenience that could save a life at a later point.

Great show. Can’t wait to listen to part 2.

For VoIP for free (not counting the high speed internet and small upfront cost):

Google Voice account + Obi100 ($44 on amazon, a VoIP box so you don’t have to leave your computer on)

Cell phone:
T-mobile ~$15 to $20 to purchase a phone, pre pay plan, $100 first year (1000 minutes), if you don’t use it very much $15 every year after (since you’re using your free VoIP phone).

Emergency calls. You can use any cell phone that is out of service for emergency calls (911).

I wanted to also point out http://www.saving4rbabies.com as a great resource on saving money for items for Babies and Kids of all ages.

@Mike, I was wondering the same thing… the closest I could find was boost mobile’s unlimited plan for android phones which is unlimited nationwide talk, text, 411, im and email for $50/month. It has what they call “shrink” so after 6 months the bill goes down to $45/month, after 12 months down to $40/month, and after 18 months down to $35 but I couldn’t find anything as low as $25/month. I haven’t looked that hard as I am locked into a contract with Verizon but even at $50 a month this plan would save me a lot. Hope this helps!

Here’s the prepay information:

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phones/samsung-intercept-phone.jsp

Don’t know if other companies do it too, I think Virgin might have deals with other companies who might charge the same amount. Just press on the plans tab.

I have a tip to get DirecTV for basically free. I called them and told them that due to job losses that we were canceling our TV service. I let them know that I was happy with the service, but we are making “tough cuts” and TV was on the list to go. We are going to see how well we can get by with just Internet (This scares the crap out of them). This next step is the key. I actually cancel my account, get a termination date, and they tell me about shipping my receiver back to them. Later that day or the next day I get a call from them. They offer me a credit for about $250 which works out to 4 months of service with my plan. I have done this twice and have gotten free DirecTV for the last 8 months. This works for us because our threat is not hollow, We did lose jobs and we will go to just Internet service and get by just fine. But it cost them nothing to give us free service and keep us as a customer.