Comments on: Five Things You Should Not Spend More Money On

By: kat

kat — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:08:37 +0000

As a voracious reader, I gotta echo the recommendations for PaperbackSwap and BookMooch. I don’t know why, but it’s so much more exciting when one of my wishlisted books comes up, and I already have the points sitting there in my account so it’s like getting a book for free! It’s somehow much better than just walking into a store and buying it — maybe there’s something to be said for delayed satisfaction.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:37:45 +0000

Bookmooch is one of the best things ever, I agree with you both Cara and Gretchen. I now have so many books to read that there is a huge pile near the bed. Hard life, huh?

By: cara

cara — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:07:38 +0000

I agree with the commenter about online bookswaps. I use bookmooch.com and it’s awesome. Basically, you list books and mail them to whoever wants them and vice versa. You can also donate points to charities. Of course, I do love the library. My local library allows you to reserve any book in its system online (I live in a major city) and they will send you an email when it arrives at your local branch.

I also canceled my cable. $90 a month for what? I missed the Daily Show, but I can watch that on hulu.com/

cara’s last blog post..NIN’s “The Slip” Available Free

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:27:59 +0000

Book: join PaperBack Swap online (or sister sites DVD Swap and CD Swap). For the cost of postage (you to new owner) you can get rid of/recycle old books and receive new ones (free!). You post 10 or mote books you are willing to swap out, and create a wish list of titles you want to receive. In four months, I have sent on about 20 books and received about same; in two months of DVD Swap, I have swapped about 10 DVDs. There is even online postage, so that you can mail from your own mailbox without spending gas on driving to the Post Office: double savings!

I also belong to NetFlix and love it. I figure that I save about $20/month on overdue library fines (I was terrible about that!) and not only get DVDs I want mailed to my home, but can access "Instant Play" titles for no extra money. Given that I stopped my cable service (too many useless chanells and continued hikes in fees), this too is a double savings. I figure that I went from paying about $120/month at video stores and cable bill to $20/month for Netflix.

Oh, and I've been driving the same car since 1994. I plan to buy another used car within the year, but I've only got 90,000 miles on this one, and the regular oil changes/maintenance appts. at my local garage have saved me money on car payments, repairs, and gas.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:36:02 +0000

I couldn't agree more! I am convinced that organizing is not about buying stuff. I also have a hard time spending money to eat out at average restaurants. I want the food to be really good to be worth the expense. Rachel's last blog post..Taste of Summer

By: Budget Mama

Budget Mama — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:21:11 +0000

Those are such great tips. All I can say is ditto on all the above mentioned. The only other thing I can say is maybe not purchasing those latest and greatest gadgets. Where you spend $400 the day it comes out and then it quickly depricates.

Budget Mama’s last blog post..Looking for a sports bra

By: Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:52:15 +0000

Sarah, the pizza crust is a great idea!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:51:42 +0000

Ooh Shevy and Suzanne, I totally agree! I never buy anything that needs to be drycleaned; for one thing I only wear it once every six months! And special kids food is a total waste of money- but very well marketed! The only special kids food I buy is the alphabet cereal, because my boys like to do their alphabets with it.

By: Suzanne B.

Suzanne B. — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:47:49 +0000

Well, you took all the words out of my mouth.
Those things are definatly not worth wasting money on.

Another thing, designer foods for kids. I think that buying these juices for 4$ a bottle, when you can buy the adult brand, it’s the SAME thing!!!

Good question!

Suzanne B.’s last blog post..My Weekend!

By: Shevy

Shevy — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:47:14 +0000

Haircuts! Why spend $50 to $70 at a fancy salon (plus all the ‘special’ conditioners, etc. they try to sell you) when you can go to a $10 place? You get a bad cut just as often at the fancy place and its even more upsetting when you paid a fortune for it.

For school age boys spend $20 on a clipper set and just buzz it really short. My younger son and his friends used to take turns buzzing each others hair off every few months when they were teenagers.

Drycleaning. Buy as few things that need drycleaning as possible and have them cleaned as seldom as possible. (That means you should take a little more care with them, trying not to get food on them and hanging them up so they don’t get crumpled, not that you should wear grungy, dirty clothes.) Some ladies rayon clothes that say “dry clean only” can really be machine washed and ironed afterwards. Note that I said “some”, so don’t try this with your favorite expensive outfit and then think you can send me the bill…. (Personally, I’ve had success with all but one or two items, but those ones were a total loss.)

Shevy’s last blog post..After the Fast