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First Frugal Roundup for 2009
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It’s the first roundup of the new year and I think many have dubbed this the Year of Frugality. If they haven’t, then I just did because we’re going to have a lot of economic and financial challenges this year and the best way to combat them is to tighten up the purse strings so you have some spare cash to handle any emergencies. The wiggle room in a lot of budgets has gotten a lot smaller. To help with that, Ive decided to make this a frugal roundup, pointing to some posts that I think can help you save a few dollars this year.
First, Lazy Man shares a few tips on how to save money on television, movies, music, and books, the four basic food groups in your media consumption hierarchy.
It’s a little cold to be changing car oil right now but my friend Fred doesn’t seem to mind. He recently changed the motor oil in his Dodge Caravan and gives both instructions and a cost benefit analysis. I change the oil on my own car myself mostly because it’s faster than going to a place like Wal-Mart (who, according to some reports, uses sub-par oil anyway). I don’t want to be spending $60 on a quick lube place either. The only change I’d make to his list is the oil drum, just take it to a mechanic and they will let you dispose of it there (they are required to by law).
Saving money is one thing but here are a few ideas from Nickel for earning extra money. Of the thirty-three he lists, I’m sure you can find something in there you can do to earn a little more money.
And to end it all, I felt it appropriate to mention a post I wrote that listed 100 money saving tips. Originally focused on the holiday, how to save money so you can afford the gifts you want to get others, it’s just as appropriate any other time of the year.
(Photo: billywarhol)
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Personally I don’t think changing my oil is worth the time and effort. I have to acquire the parts and disposal of the oil myself. If I go to a place like Walmart I drop off the car get my shopping done and pick the car back up when I’m leaving. Any oil certified my the Society Of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is fine by me.
The Wal-Mart by us takes a few hours to change it, we don’t want to leave our car there and have to come back in a few hours, so changing it ourselves is easiest… though it’s a little cold right now.
Changing the oil for my family is about $10 cause we have a mechanic that does it on his spare time. Definitely not worth it for us because we would have to learn from ground 0 but if he does it, we’re happy to pay him a cheap price to get the job done successfully.
nice roundup. Wal-Mart isn’t an option as there isn’t one close. I just changed mine at jiffy lube with a coupon and it was $25 and took 30 minutes. Considering we only do changes at most 3 times a year, there isn’t much of a savings to be had from a time perspective.
Yeah, the whole changing the oil thing is a bit much for me, too. Ditto a lot of the money earning tips in Nickel’s blog post. However, some of them were pretty interesting.
I think the biggest help would be to just create a budget and stick to it. It’s so easy to waste money if you don’t know where it’s going or if you think you should just spend it until it runs out.
I like the roundup, though. It’s always good to keep the ideas coming.
My husband always does the oil changes for our vehicles now that we live in a rural area. When we lived in the city, our neighborhood prohibited oil changes or any type of repair work on vehicles. I do a lot of driving, I should see if I can find anyone to “wrap” my vehicle with advertisements… great post.
I would like to change my own oil, but it’s tough with no driveway. I have a good relationship with my mechanic and just buy the oil and pay him to put it in my car. I hate going to places like Jiffy Lube because they try to nickel and dime you and misinform you.
We get our car oil changed at a shop(mostly tire sales) a half mile away. They have a lifetime oil change package for $125, and since we typically keep our cars for 5+ years that $125 goes a long ways when changing the oil every 3,000 miles. They do charge $5 in “shop fees” every time, but they also rotate the tires for free.
I also own 2 motorcycles, and with them it definitely pays to DIY. My local dealer charges $100+ for an oil and filter change, but I do it myself and it costs about $25.
That’s a pretty good deal!
Patrick – Any place can nickel and dime you, you just have to be informed. For example, buying your air filter before going and asking them to install it is an easy money winner. Most of the time they won’t give you a problem and if they do, it’s one of the simplest things to do besides put gas in. If they say you need this or that, ask them questions if you are in doubt. Go to another place and ask for a second opinion.
My wife went to a chain tire place to get brakes installed and they said we didn’t need them. Most people would think they’d just hoodwink us, but they didn’t. Honesty exists, you just have to have a little faith sometimes.