Excellent ideas and a double benefit. By doing all of this you are saving money AND learning valuable skills and altering your mindset toward a more sustainable life. KUDO'S

JAB

I've always used VOIP (internet phone) in Canada with different providers. Never payed more than 12$/month for my home phone and for the last 3 years it was free. You do need an initial investment (VOIP box, one time fee, fee for keeping your number) and some knowledge to set up the box. Also for the last year I switched my cell to mobilicity and payed 17$/month for everything unlimited (in Calgary).

Another area with significant savings was car insurance. I dropped 50% by switching from State Farm to Canadian Direct.

On TV/Internet part I saved a lot for one year by switching from Shaw to Telus when they had a promotion for 30$ per month for a year. Also with telus you get a laptop or XBox or something else if you sign with them for 3 years. After one year they gave me the regular but I called them and told them I'll move to Shaw cause they had a promotion too so they gave me a discount. I was thinking of actually moving from Shaw to Telus and back every 6 years to take advantage of their promotions 🙂 but it's too much trouble.

I love posts like this. Especially when they are environmentally based and show how easy it is to save money doing some of these things.

Others I like:

-Water efficient shower heads. (upto 10% savings in water, the ones that actually have the on/off switch while you wash can save you upwards of 40% water)
-more insulation in your attic. (you can rent the machine at Home Depot, or get a spray insul. contractor to do it. but it takes longer to make your money back if you use a contractor)
-Use plastic film to cover your porch door, windows, etc. in the winter.
-Use a manual lawnmower.
-In Ontario, look at the "rate of use" for power consumption in your area. We all have those smart meters now...try and do all your major power consumption during the cheapest time.
-Hang your laundry to dry. Get an indoor clothes line for the winter. Dryers are huge consumers of power.
-Don't use the dry cycle on your dishwasher. Turn it off, and let it air dry.
-Change your air filer ever 4-5 months or more often if it looks like it's filling up
-Driver slower. If the speed limit is 90...drive 80. honest to god, the one week I did this I saved almost an 1/8 of a tank! Don't go over 3000rpm!! 🙂
-Make your coffee at home. Don't buy timmies/mcdonalds, etc. $1.60 a day times 365 days...
-This one is "questionable.." I don't do it..but..."if it's yellow...let it mellow..if it's brown..flush it down.." Saving that 6l a flush really adds up in water conservation. Another thing I see...fill a couple beer bottles with water and leave them in your water closet on your toilet. The toilet will fill up with less water and start saving you.
-Don't buy beer. 🙂
-High efficiency light bulbs everywhere you can.
-Basement insulated? if not, insulate and poly over it.
-Take a walk around the outside of your house...seal any cracks or openings with caulking. (make sure it's dry, not in the rain, and air temp is above 4 degrees for at least a couple of days to properly cure.)

Its all about cost return so far as I"m concerned. For instance..high efficiency light bulbs you get your return back in a matter on months..and then everything after that is money in your pocket...but things like new high efficiency windows...unless you have some really old windows..your looking at making your money back in several years...not really a great return....anywhere between 60 and 80 percent of your heat loss is through your roof. so more insulation is a great idea!

I'm open to other ideas too! Someone post more!

-Wash Clothes in cold water. (Don't fall for the extra expensive "cold water" detergent. Normal detergent works just fine. I have to wear slacks and collared shirts at work...no ones has said i look grimy yet! 🙂 )

-Turn down your hot water tank, fridge and freezer. These things are so efficient today, that the "recommended" or "normal" setting is usually more than enough. No one is saying you need to be uncomfortable taking a cold or tepid shower...but you can get the hot water you want with half the energy expended by turning it down.

-Foam insulate pipes directly coming out and entering your hot water tank, or any other energy sources. At least a few feet. This is where they lose most of there energy. The tanks themselves, new ones are exceptionally well insulated.

This winter I am learning how to knit our socks, slippers and mitts (scarves I could do) and today my mom gave me my aunts treddle sewing machine as I am learning how to sew my own clothes and having a sewing machine that doesn't use electricity is even better for SHTF.

-Wash Clothes in cold water. (Don't fall for the extra expensive "cold water" detergent. Normal detergent works just fine. I have to wear slacks and collared shirts at work...no ones has said i look grimy yet! 🙂 )

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i'm cheap, and i wash in cold water (save my work cloths, but i work in a hospital, i need bug killing power) and i've only ever used cold water detergent once, and that's because it was ON SALE! i've never had an issue.

Things we do to be frugal
(I tried to post this a couple days ago not sure if i had computer issues or if a moderator hasn't approved my first three posts yet, sorry if I've double post )

We started being frugal before I got interested in prepping. Fortunately some of the things we do could these also double as preps.

-Cloth Diapering - no worries about a diaper shortage for us!
-Gardening
-Canning
-Home brew. Currently I mainly use kits, though I have planted a dozen grape vines this year. I bought an apple press and hope to preserve apples in the form of hard cider. Next year I will be plant some hops and barley.
- Price matching
- Meal planning based on what is on sale.
- Brown bag lunches with coffee in a travel mug.
- Running washing machine / dryer / dishwasher on off peak hours
- clothes line weather permitting.
- More meals at home instead of restaurants