Winding Down: Many ways to save

I have been saying for awhile that if I can figure out how to stop shopping at Costco I might retire early. After all, $300 saved is $300 earned, isn’t it?

After my last column, I heard from several readers offering their hints on how to reduce operating costs. One reader wrote about installing LED light bulbs, as he had seen substantial reduction in his electric bill after outfitting his entire home.

LEDs are becoming very popular, and competition is driving down costs. Last week I saw a pack of four 60W equivalent LED bulbs for only $10. One problem with LEDs is they don’t generate enough heat to keep our baby chicks warm at night, so I’m saving my old incandescent bulbs for that — wink-wink.

I also heard from a very happy homeowner who has a 4KW photovoltaic (PV) system and an extremely low to nothing monthly power bill, apparently a good choice for them. PV isn’t dead yet, so keep your eye on system costs that are sure to go down.

The same reader was heaping praise on the 99 Cents store because there he can save money while shopping, and he believes that it offers competition for the mainstream grocery stores in town, keeping prices low for all of us.

And several people have contacted me looking into purchasing a TV antenna to replace their monthly satellite bill, and I hope they are successful.

One place where we realized savings is with our Internet and mobile phones. We had Internet and a landline for more than 20 years and I wanted to reduce my $80 per month bill by eliminating the landline. The phone company wanted to sell me a more expensive bundle and it refused to budge until I called a cable company that offered Internet only. When I let the phone company know about the cable deal, it promptly disconnected the landline and now I pay only $30 per month for Internet. Competition is indeed our friend.

Our two flip phones also only cost us $30 per month because we resisted buying the fancy smart phones. Eventually, we won’t know how to operate the new stuff anyway, so techie obscurity is welcome with a few extra bucks in our pocket.

Back on the water subject, I drilled a hole in the lid of a large trash can and ran my washer outlet hose to it through the screen in my window. Then I ran a garden hose from the bottom of the trash can out to our fruit trees.

We have an older washing machine, so each time we run a wash, we move the hose to the next tree, with each receiving approximately 50 gallons of water. Be warned, however, to use a very rigid trash can. The first one I purchased, very flimsy, bulged out like a pregnant hippo in the summer heat and almost burst.

There are many ways for us to save on our operating costs, and I invite you to contribute your ideas to this column. Just send me an email with the subject line “winding down” to dpatterson998@yahoo.com.