The Penny Pincher's Club

Top 15 Do's and Don'ts from The Penny Pincher's Club

(a novel I read this week by Sarah Strohmeyer)

1. Don't go grocery shopping with your husband.
2. Do vacuum the back and underside of your refrigerator once a month and disconnect the icemaker if it hasn't already stopped working.
3. Do share high-speed Internet with your next-door neighbors (with their permission)
4. Don't buy a durable item when it's brand-new (except for mattresses, swimsuits, and underwear). Shop for used items at flea markets, thrift stores, or yard sales.
5. Do knit quick and easy hats and socks from unraveled sweaters.
6. Don't buy gas in the afternoon on warm days. Buy it in the early morning, when it's colder--and thicker--in the ground, to get more band for your buck. Also, always keep your tank more than half full.
7. Do place all "phantom" appliances--TVs, DVRs (total energy hogs), stereos, and microwaves--on power strips that are easily turned off at night. Replace all bulbs in the house with five kilowatt CFLs--compact fluorescent lights.
8. Don't pay for curbside trash service; you'll save $600 a year by recycling and composting instead. Shoot for one bag of trash a week to be taken to the local dump.
9. Don't pay for expensive name-brand cleaning products. Remove shower mildew with a mixture of water and bleach for pennies instead of spending $4 for mildew-removing products. 
10. Don't wash dishes by hand. Use the dishwasher instead, but use only one half of a dishwashing detergent tablet per load.
11. Do store batteries in the refrigerator. They last longer there.
12. Don't watch TV. TV creates artificial wants.
13. Do shop the warehouse stores with a frugal girlfriend and split up bulk buys.
14. Don't get divorced if you can help it. Saving your marriage can save your IRA.

The best is yet to come,
~Adwoa