Comments on: A Day of Waste

By: David G. Mitchell

David G. Mitchell — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:30:18 +0000

greyroma — Bottling your own water is a great way to cut down on your expenses but be cautious in reusing plastic bottles. I have a stainless steel water bottle that I use and it helps me to avoid many of the risks described in the following article:

http://environment.about.com/od/healthenvironment/a/plastic_bottles.htm

By: greyroma

greyroma — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:24:25 +0000

I do the water bottle thing too but I recycle Propell or Gateraid bottles and refill from our fridge water spout and then freeze. The water stays ice cold for hours and also works in a cooler to keep cold sodas on trips. The water bottles stay frozen in the cooler for about 24 hours and we can avoid buying sodas on the road or in the hotel. If the hotel has a fridge I refreeze and I have had the same bottles for about a year. Some of the wimpy bottles won’t freeze well. We also save coins-last time we had $400.00 that went toward our vacation fund. As for garage sales I have one twice a year just to clean out and usually make about $400.-$500. each which also goes in the vacation fund.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:23:05 +0000

Insightful article, but I can’t help pointing out that a lot of your observations are short-sighted:
1. I doubt someone was “careless” enough to leave change.
2. some banks won’t take rolled coins. The coinstar charges no fee if you get a gift card for Amazon or Starbucks.
3. Washing your car is better for your wallet but worse for the environment.
Also, peoples actions are based on weighting different priorities like frugality, entertainment, efficiency “being-green”, etc. It’s impossible to reconcile all these values with every action we take, so give people a break.

By: spicoli

spicoli — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Interesting article. I have friends who shop at a convenience store where the prices are much higher, rather than drive the extra mile to a full service grocery store. I can’t understand their thinking.

By: persephone

persephone — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:44:51 +0000

Another insightful article!

Cassandra, please tell us what bank you use. What a great service it provides.

By: Annie Jones

Annie Jones — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:31:57 +0000

@ Monkey Mama: We hold one or two garage sales each year and make $400-$500 at each one. We usually run them for 1-1/2 days. Fpr is. they are definitely worth our time.

I also have no problem selling books, CDs or DVDs for a couple of dollars each. It takes almost no time to list them on eBay or half.com using the ISBN or UPC numbers, and just a couple of minutes to stick them in an envelope and slap on a label.

Making $2 bucks for 5 minutes of my time is the same as making $24 an hour. So, to me, it’s worth it. Small amounts can add up quickly.

By: Lou Russo

Lou Russo — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:14:58 +0000

We do most of the things you pointed out. My wife is an inveterate coupon clipper. We usually only buy things that either have a manufacturer’s coupon or store coupon (or both). Our average weekly savings at the supermarket (there are just the two of us) is $30-$35. Our bill after savings is usually under $50. We try to buy in bulk, especially if there are coupons or other savings. As far as water is concerned, we have a few plastic bottles (we usually buy a case for picnics and recycle most of them) that we just refill with tap water. I haven’s bought a cup of coffee in many years. I’ve never even been in a Starbucks.

By: Stacy Adcock

Stacy Adcock — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:38:49 +0000

I love this article, it is truly amazing how much money we waste. I love that you took your family home for home cooked pizza and salad instead of dining out. My family paid off $40,000 credit card debt in 2 1/2 years with the help of home cooked meals. Eating at home really helps save money, it was the biggest factor in our debt payoff.

By: JB

JB — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:46:02 +0000

As for the coins, I use those Coinstar machines to get gift certificates (for the full value of my change — they don’t take the commission on gift certificates) to places like Amazon.com, where I use the GCs to bulk grocery shop (with free shipping). So it’s not always wasteful!

By: Cassandra

Cassandra — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:07:20 +0000

Regarding the ATM- my bank refunds us for any fee we are charged by an outside ATM. So if I were to go to another’s banks ATM and get charged $2 by the other bank (mine doesn’t charge for any ATM), my bank would refund me the $2.