20% Pay-Cut (furlough). How about some money saving ideas...

[BadgeBunny]

Badge Bunny,
Bread reciepe please!

Check in the Prepper's Section, Stan ... I'll post it there ...

Laundry soap:

1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax
1 fels naptha(sp?) bar grated

Use one table spoon per load. Saves us a ton of money not buying detergent. Lots of good ideas here. Been saving more this last 8 months than I ever have and I'm glad I have a little to fall back on. Not much but ill live lean to get through this if it happens.

This is a GREAT recipe. We use it ourselves. Just remember, guys, get "WASHING" soda, not "BAKING" soda. They are NOT the same. Washing soda is on the laundry soap aisle. Also, you can use Ivory soap in this, too. It is cheaper than Fels Naptha (I think that's spelled right, tharper) and I think it smells better.

I have a ton of "recipes" for cleaning supplies that use only vinegar, baking soda and water. I'll post them in the Prepper's Section ...

Also ... all those mixes you buy at the store ... DON'T ... There is a recipe for Bisquick Mix over in the Prepper's Section right now. It costs a TON less money to make it yourself than it does to buy it in the cardboard box at the store. Same with cake mixes, brownie mixes, etc. You can mix the dry ingredients yourself, store and then get out and add the wet ingredients when you are ready to use. If there is something in particular you are wanting to do, ask me and if I have the recipe, I'll post up.

Finally, for those of you who eat a lot of green salad, try sprouting greens. It's easy, it's WAY cheaper than buying lettuce and spinach at the store, and the little sprouts actually have more nutrients and antioxidants in them than the full-grown veggies you are paying for. You can mix and match sprouts and get a GREAT tasting salad ... try spinach, alfalfa, radish and a few broccoli sprouts, with some tomato slices. It's pretty good ...

 

[nos8ed]

Laundry soap:

1 cup washing soda
1 cup borax
1 fels naptha(sp?) bar grated

Use one table spoon per load. Saves us a ton of money not buying detergent. Lots of good ideas here. Been saving more this last 8 months than I ever have and I'm glad I have a little to fall back on. Not much but ill live lean to get through this if it happens.

We've been doing this for the past year or so and I love it. I think my wife adds some kind of smell good to it though.
Btw, I am the designated bar grater....

 

[jstaylor62]

Great Thread!

I just got a internet/cable bill from Cox in the mail, low and behold there was about a 6% increase from last months bill. After reading all of these money savings ideas it gave me the drive to give them a call. After a short converstaion with the customer service department they knocked my monthly bill down 30% for the next year! I know its still a lot to spend on cable and internet but by making a simple call I saved approx $500.00/year.

Thought that was pretty cool!!

I am also really interested in some of the homemade cleaner recipes that you use, if anyone has any they would like to pass along I would greatly appreciate it!

Did you drop several options or just haggle with them?

 

[Cinaet]

I recently found out that walmart sells cold rotisserie chickens for $4. They make them at the same time as the hot ones and put them in the fridge. I asked an employee why they do this and they said that people on food stamps can't buy hot food. When I buy one I'll strip all the meat off, freeze some of it, and use the bones to make soup. I end up getting about a week worth of meals out of $4.

Those cold rotisserie chickens are a great deal. Up until about a year ago they would sell the hot ones that were close to timing out for $2.50! Now they just sell the cold ones. Even at $4 they're a real bargain. Like you say, one chicken can go a long way if you use it all.

 

[Bleedsorange]

@ jstaylor62


I called them up and asked about the rate increase, I then said it was getting too high and he offered the 30% off of the cable, when I wasn't fully sold he added in the 30% off on the Internet as well.

Didn't have to drop anything and not really any haggling. They offered it up pretty quick to keep me as a customer.

 

[Cinaet]

@ jstaylor62


I called them up and asked about the rate increase, I then said it was getting too high and he offered the 30% off of the cable, when I wasn't fully sold he added in the 30% off on the Internet as well.

Didn't have to drop anything and not really any haggling. They offered it up pretty quick to keep me as a customer.

Nice! I think I'll do the same thing!

 

[BadgeBunny]

Here's a link to an MSN article today. Look fast ... there are links to other sites and blogs for recipes for stuff so you will need to print (or shortcut) them before the links die ... And there's one for hand sanitizer that's much better than the Crunchy Betty link I posted ... I'm changing hand sanitizer recipes ...

http://money.msn.com/frugal-living/post.aspx?post=593448a8-2caf-4ac2-947f-b0780b8cef11&_nwpt=1

 

[-Pjackso]

After you factor in the reduction of taxes you will pay, the cut will likely be around 12 percent.

No, it's a lot more than 12%.
A lot of the deductions don't change much based on income.

The percent pay-cut based on GROSS-income is about 12-13% cut (depending).
But the percent pay-cut based on NET-pay (take home) is about 20-25%.
Most people look solely at the NET take-home pay.

Here's a calculator if your interested:
http://www.stripes.com/news/furlough-pay-calculator-released-for-federal-workers-1.209671

(look for the calculator)



Thanks everybody for all the good tips!
There's quite a few ideas I hadn't though of before.

 

[n8thegr8]

No, it's a lot more than 12%.
A lot of the deductions don't change much based on income.

The percent pay-cut based on GROSS-income is about 12-13% cut (depending).
But the percent pay-cut based on NET-pay (take home) is about 20-25%.
Most people look solely at the NET take-home pay.

Here's a calculator if your interested:
http://www.stripes.com/news/furlough-pay-calculator-released-for-federal-workers-1.209671
(look for the calculator)

Thanks everybody for all the good tips!
There's quite a few ideas I hadn't though of before.

Just did mine and saw I'm getting a 23% reduction in net. Thanks for ruining my evening

 

[bearpaws]

One thing is to Keep the broadband internet and drop the phone service and get majic jack plus for approx. $39 the whole first year. An internet phone that works great. A cheap home phone.

20% Pay-Cut (furlough). How about some money saving ideas...


Hi guys,
There are a number of us OSA members that’s going to have to endure the 20% cut in pay (i.e. work week reduced to 4 working days). Some people are already living paycheck to paycheck with little extra cash, so this cut will be very difficult.

When cash is short, there are two options available:
1) Find alternate income, or 2) reduce your existing spending.

Option 2) is more easily within our control and is most easily overlooked since we’ve all grown accustomed to the ‘normal’ monthly bills. So I’d like to start a thread about ways to help cut spending.
Not all options will be viable for everyone, so this is a thread for brainstorming ideas for ways to cut costs. Remember – this 20% cut is for (up to) 6 months, so think short/mid-term. We have about 1.5 to 2 months until the pay-cut kicks in, so this allows some time to make arrangements and prepare.


I’ll start with the easy ideas (no order):

1) Insurance. Review your house and car insurance - think Deductibles and Coverage’s. Increasing your deductible from $250 to $1000 can save you a lot in premiums. Is your coverage still correct? Can you handle less coverage? Do you still need full coverage on the vehicle?

2) Cable TV. Look at your cable bill. Cut back to basic, or cut it off completely if you can handle it.
What – NO TV?!?!? Yah, I know. Here’s some ways to help you find your fix: Get a Free-to-air-Antenna, Watch movies free Online (Hulu), or go to the library and check out VHS/DVD movies.
(Tip: For Hulu – consider ways to connect your computer to the big-screen TV – but also review your internet download limits.)

3) Cell-phone. Can you scale back on your options? If necessary, cancel the contract - pay the cancellation fee ($200~ish?) and save the expensive monthly cell plan ($100+/month). Remember this furlough is for up to 6 month. So $-200 up front and save $600 down the road.
…Consider a cheap basic pre-paid no-contract phone such as (TracFone, Straight-Talk, Net10).
I bought my (two) basic phones outright ($50-$80/each) and then buy the minutes as you need them. Total upfront $150-200 (total for both phones + 1200 minutes included for each) and I spend a total of $17 per month for 2 phones using the TracFone Family Value Plan. Search eBay for ‘TracFone Triple 1200’.
Note: I am not a heavy phone user, and NO – it’s not the coolest phone. BUT IT’S NEW, IT WORKS, AND IT SAVES MONEY.

4) Home Phone. If you don’t use the home phone much, consider cutting the home phone. Lots of people cut the home phone and go completely with cell-phone only.
Or keep the home phone and get the lowest cost (local only) option. Cut the long-distance carrier, and use the cell-phone for long-distance.

5) Electric bill. Think home electric consumption. It’s common knowledge that turning down the thermostat can save you some money. Go buy a $20 programmable thermostat and set it to automatically turn the temperature down when you’re asleep and when you’re away at work. When you’re at home, try to handle a (slightly) cooler setting and wear that Turtle-neck sweater your mother-in-law gave you.
...And for this summer - consider enrolling in the OG&E Smart-hours program. Use less Energy DURING PEAK HOURS - and you can save some good money off electric bills. For first-time Smart-hour customers, OG&E guarantees you save money or they'll charge you the equivalent cost if you were not enrolled. (WIN-WIN) (They've done this in the past, but verify before enrolling)

6) Eat-out-less. This is pretty straight forward.
Home: Buy more at the Grocery store (no, not the junk food) - and don’t eat out as much.
Work: Think about taking lunches to work also. Eating at the work cafeteria gets expensive also.

7) TSP savings. (Fed employees only) Are you saving for your retirement via TSP? If so, consider reducing the % contribution. Take note - going below 5% reduces your agency matching. But if times are tough, you got to do what you got to do….

8) Carpool. Gasoline gets expensive. Can you split the costs with another neighbor worker on the same shift schedule?

9) Habits/Hobbies. Try to reduce or limit the expensive costs. (Reduce smoking, drink less, spend less on the Hot-rod, Shoot the cheaper bullet calibers, play with the electric RC car instead of the Nitro-gas RC, etc….)

10) Sodas. Drink water instead. Or bring home-made tea for drinks. (The boss might not approve of bringing the long-island tea, haha)

11) Internet access. Depending on what tier of internet access you have (super-fast), then possibly reduce your level of internet speeds. This depends on if your internet provider has options.

12) Refinancing debts.
Home: Home financing rates are low right now. You may be able to get a lower rate on your home loan, and reduce your monthly bill.
Credit Cards: If you have month-to-month Credit card debt at high interest rate, consider moving to a lower rate card or roll it into the house loan.

13) Water bills. Don't water the lawn. ...during a drought.



Ok, that’s all I got. These are just brainstorming ideas.
I have already done quite a few (not all) of the above, but these may not be right for you.
***YOU*** must do your own research. Run the numbers before initiating anything.
Now is the time to start saving, before you get in a pinch.

If you have any other ideas, let us all know.