Comments on: Life On Less http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/ Two Young People + One Old House = Love Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:19:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Bri http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/comment-page-3/#comment-327486 Bri Mon, 22 Nov 2010 20:46:20 +0000 http://www.thisyounghouse.com/?p=10793#comment-327486 Check out grooveshark.com-- this is how I kicked my iTunes habit! It's similar to Pandora, but you can create your own playlists by selecting any/every song you like. You can listen to your favorite song whenever you like, even on repeat, which you can't do with Pandora. However, if you like the feel of Pandora's stations that play music similar to an artist you choose, grooveshark also has stations :) It's a great money saver because all your favorite songs are right at your fingertips... without ever having to buy/ download them! Check out grooveshark.com– this is how I kicked my iTunes habit! It’s similar to Pandora, but you can create your own playlists by selecting any/every song you like. You can listen to your favorite song whenever you like, even on repeat, which you can’t do with Pandora. However, if you like the feel of Pandora’s stations that play music similar to an artist you choose, grooveshark also has stations :) It’s a great money saver because all your favorite songs are right at your fingertips… without ever having to buy/ download them!

]]> By: YoungHouseLove http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/comment-page-3/#comment-161132 YoungHouseLove Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:40:46 +0000 http://www.thisyounghouse.com/?p=10793#comment-161132 Hey Renae, Yes! Thanks to a suggestion just like this comment we discovered AND LOVE Pandora.com. We use it all the time now, so thanks for reminding us that we owe you lovely people for the tip. Best, John

Hey Renae,

Yes! Thanks to a suggestion just like this comment we discovered AND LOVE Pandora.com. We use it all the time now, so thanks for reminding us that we owe you lovely people for the tip.

Best,
John

]]> By: Renae http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/comment-page-3/#comment-161114 Renae Fri, 02 Apr 2010 07:38:52 +0000 http://www.thisyounghouse.com/?p=10793#comment-161114 I don't know if you'll find this since its such an old post, and you've probably already heard it but have you checked out pandora.com for your music fix? You can make an account for free, and well just check it out if you haven't already! I don’t know if you’ll find this since its such an old post, and you’ve probably already heard it but have you checked out pandora.com for your music fix? You can make an account for free, and well just check it out if you haven’t already!

]]> By: John http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/comment-page-3/#comment-55593 John Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:00:37 +0000 http://www.thisyounghouse.com/?p=10793#comment-55593 My wife got me interested in this house with the purchase of our first house. She is always looking online for ways to save and fun ideas for our "soon to be" house. To be honest, I haven't really gotten to effected by this website until you (John) wrote about your pay cut. My wife and I have been married for just shy of a year. We have been together for over four. During this time I have worked in just about every capacity in order for us to pay for our wedding, our new home, pay off bills, etc. As we were cuddling on the couch on night, my wife asked me "what gets you by?" "how can you work this much?"... Without thinking, I responded "moments like this"... Now I'm not trying to be chessy, just trying to point out that in this economy, when it's hard to count on anything, it's great to be able to count on your best friend... My wife got me interested in this house with the purchase of our first house. She is always looking online for ways to save and fun ideas for our “soon to be” house. To be honest, I haven’t really gotten to effected by this website until you (John) wrote about your pay cut. My wife and I have been married for just shy of a year. We have been together for over four. During this time I have worked in just about every capacity in order for us to pay for our wedding, our new home, pay off bills, etc.
As we were cuddling on the couch on night, my wife asked me “what gets you by?” “how can you work this much?”… Without thinking, I responded “moments like this”… Now I’m not trying to be chessy, just trying to point out that in this economy, when it’s hard to count on anything, it’s great to be able to count on your best friend…

]]> By: YoungHouseLove http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/comment-page-2/#comment-51023 YoungHouseLove Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:03:01 +0000 http://www.thisyounghouse.com/?p=10793#comment-51023 Samantha, you inspire us. All of you do! Thanks so much for all the awesome ideas. Life really is sweeter when it's simplified and pared down. xoxo, s (& j)

Samantha, you inspire us. All of you do! Thanks so much for all the awesome ideas. Life really is sweeter when it’s simplified and pared down.

xoxo,
s (& j)

]]> By: Samantha http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/comment-page-2/#comment-51021 Samantha Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:58:26 +0000 http://www.thisyounghouse.com/?p=10793#comment-51021 That's great you have a YMCA membership. I went and looked at joining there (I actually work in the building next to it, connected with a bridge) and loved that they had a month to month plan that you could cancel at any time, and I could go during lunch! However, amfam offered a better deal, and more equipment, even if I can't cancel it anytime! We live on very little as well. We're 23/22 y/o's that don't make much money to begin with, but we made for darn sure that we can live on one income, period. And we also made sure that our one income to live off of was the lower of the two. That way no matter who loses a job, we can still cover everything! We bought our first house when we were 21/20 and he was still in college, so I was supporting the both of us. That's what sparked the one income idea! We too eat at home every night, and rely on netflix for movies. We don't have cable, but a must have was HS internet so we can watch TV shows online for free. We also don't have central a/c. Our house is 56 years old, but it's only 864 sf, so one window unit and 2 ceiling fans cool the whole house. Our propane + electricity bill comes up to a mere $100-150/month to heat/cool the air and water, and to provide electricity. The central a/c controlled house cost across the street topped over $200/month. I don't feel like we miss anything at all. Eating out is fattening, and watching movies in a theatre is annoying when you have people talking on cell phones and babies crying. I can even go to the bathroom when I want! ;) We use the power of CC's as well, and pay them in full every month to get points. Also, with our debit card, we choose "credit" at the stores to earn even more free points. Usually we cash in for Starbucks gift cards and use that as a treat at Barnes and Noble and read magazines for free. To our friends, we sound completely lame. But we're not the ones looking for roommates to cover our bills, or having to cut down on our chosen lifestyle. Our big thing is roadtrips, so we take a ton of them. A tank of gas costs as much as one meal out, and we can make a day out of that cost, not just an hour for a meal! I'm so sorry to hear about your paycut, but I hope things are better by now. We're having major cuts at work as I type. It's scary, but even more unsettling is that we get 5 minutes to vacate the building with all our belongings. My poor cube is so boring now just waiting! That’s great you have a YMCA membership. I went and looked at joining there (I actually work in the building next to it, connected with a bridge) and loved that they had a month to month plan that you could cancel at any time, and I could go during lunch! However, amfam offered a better deal, and more equipment, even if I can’t cancel it anytime!

We live on very little as well. We’re 23/22 y/o’s that don’t make much money to begin with, but we made for darn sure that we can live on one income, period. And we also made sure that our one income to live off of was the lower of the two. That way no matter who loses a job, we can still cover everything! We bought our first house when we were 21/20 and he was still in college, so I was supporting the both of us. That’s what sparked the one income idea!

We too eat at home every night, and rely on netflix for movies. We don’t have cable, but a must have was HS internet so we can watch TV shows online for free. We also don’t have central a/c. Our house is 56 years old, but it’s only 864 sf, so one window unit and 2 ceiling fans cool the whole house. Our propane + electricity bill comes up to a mere $100-150/month to heat/cool the air and water, and to provide electricity. The central a/c controlled house cost across the street topped over $200/month.

I don’t feel like we miss anything at all. Eating out is fattening, and watching movies in a theatre is annoying when you have people talking on cell phones and babies crying. I can even go to the bathroom when I want! ;) We use the power of CC’s as well, and pay them in full every month to get points. Also, with our debit card, we choose “credit” at the stores to earn even more free points. Usually we cash in for Starbucks gift cards and use that as a treat at Barnes and Noble and read magazines for free. To our friends, we sound completely lame. But we’re not the ones looking for roommates to cover our bills, or having to cut down on our chosen lifestyle. Our big thing is roadtrips, so we take a ton of them. A tank of gas costs as much as one meal out, and we can make a day out of that cost, not just an hour for a meal!

I’m so sorry to hear about your paycut, but I hope things are better by now. We’re having major cuts at work as I type. It’s scary, but even more unsettling is that we get 5 minutes to vacate the building with all our belongings. My poor cube is so boring now just waiting!

]]> By: caroline http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/comment-page-2/#comment-44808 caroline Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:35:24 +0000 http://www.thisyounghouse.com/?p=10793#comment-44808 A big thank you to John & Sherry and to all of the commenters here for these helpful suggestions. We've been tightening our belts here because of my husband's salary cut and my lack of luck on the job market. We've managed to save through phone calls to our car/home insurance, cell phone provider, and the cable company. What's infuriating to me, though, is the constant stream of notifications we're getting in the mail from our credit card companies letting us know that they're jacking up our rates to completely ridiculous levels. So far, no luck talking them down, and we've only canceled one because we don't want to decrease our available credit too harshly (to keep our debt-to-credit ratio nice and low). We always pay on time, so I guess the companies are getting their increases in before the credit card reforms that have been signed into law take effect. Re. Sherrie's comment just above, people who have racked up debt will definitely see their interest rates go up - just not on their existing debt. I think the reforms are a really good thing, I just wish they could have been implemented more quickly so the companies couldn't do all the pre-implementation maneuvering. There's a helpful article on the coming changes on CNN here: http://tinyurl.com/kp2m84 And now that I've rambled on forever, one way I'm saving is to actually collect the MyCokeRewards points that come in every package of soda. I've cut back on soda but I really, really like it, and just by entering those rewards codes I've been able to get coupons and a bunch of free magazine subscriptions. Also related to my soda issue (yikes!), here in CA we pay the CRV, a 5 cent charge on just about every beverage container (so for a 12-pack of soda, that's an additional 60 cents). I keep my cans (crushing them to save space), as well as glass and plastic with CRV values, and take them monthly to a recycling center for cash back. A big thank you to John & Sherry and to all of the commenters here for these helpful suggestions. We’ve been tightening our belts here because of my husband’s salary cut and my lack of luck on the job market. We’ve managed to save through phone calls to our car/home insurance, cell phone provider, and the cable company. What’s infuriating to me, though, is the constant stream of notifications we’re getting in the mail from our credit card companies letting us know that they’re jacking up our rates to completely ridiculous levels. So far, no luck talking them down, and we’ve only canceled one because we don’t want to decrease our available credit too harshly (to keep our debt-to-credit ratio nice and low). We always pay on time, so I guess the companies are getting their increases in before the credit card reforms that have been signed into law take effect. Re. Sherrie’s comment just above, people who have racked up debt will definitely see their interest rates go up – just not on their existing debt. I think the reforms are a really good thing, I just wish they could have been implemented more quickly so the companies couldn’t do all the pre-implementation maneuvering. There’s a helpful article on the coming changes on CNN here: http://tinyurl.com/kp2m84
And now that I’ve rambled on forever, one way I’m saving is to actually collect the MyCokeRewards points that come in every package of soda. I’ve cut back on soda but I really, really like it, and just by entering those rewards codes I’ve been able to get coupons and a bunch of free magazine subscriptions.
Also related to my soda issue (yikes!), here in CA we pay the CRV, a 5 cent charge on just about every beverage container (so for a 12-pack of soda, that’s an additional 60 cents). I keep my cans (crushing them to save space), as well as glass and plastic with CRV values, and take them monthly to a recycling center for cash back.

]]> By: sadie http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/comment-page-2/#comment-31865 sadie Wed, 27 May 2009 03:16:27 +0000 http://www.thisyounghouse.com/?p=10793#comment-31865 I cut back on iTunes with Pandora.com and mixpod.com. Great alternatives! I love Pandora and it plays on my computer at work all day. Good luck! I cut back on iTunes with Pandora.com and mixpod.com. Great alternatives! I love Pandora and it plays on my computer at work all day. Good luck!

]]> By: Sherrie http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/comment-page-2/#comment-30918 Sherrie Fri, 22 May 2009 15:42:41 +0000 http://www.thisyounghouse.com/?p=10793#comment-30918 My husband and I are all about life on less. We just recently left our "by all appearances wonderful jobs," that we did like and believe in, to pursue more time for ourselves, each other, and also what we love. Even before that point though, being that we are remodeling, we did without what some people couldn't live without. We like life simple. I would encourage you to check out the latest happenings in Congress regarding credit card legislation. The Fed just made it so that people who have wracked up debt on their cards cannot have their interest rates raised. WHich means that forces credit card companies to hike the rates for people who pay off their balances monthly. B/c of this the lucrative incentive programs are likely to be dismissed, also. CC companies are going to have to find other ways to make money than off the people locked into debt, and this will prob be through the fiscally responsible. My husband and I are all about life on less. We just recently left our “by all appearances wonderful jobs,” that we did like and believe in, to pursue more time for ourselves, each other, and also what we love. Even before that point though, being that we are remodeling, we did without what some people couldn’t live without. We like life simple.

I would encourage you to check out the latest happenings in Congress regarding credit card legislation. The Fed just made it so that people who have wracked up debt on their cards cannot have their interest rates raised. WHich means that forces credit card companies to hike the rates for people who pay off their balances monthly. B/c of this the lucrative incentive programs are likely to be dismissed, also. CC companies are going to have to find other ways to make money than off the people locked into debt, and this will prob be through the fiscally responsible.

]]> By: Amanda http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/life-on-less/comment-page-2/#comment-30694 Amanda Wed, 20 May 2009 18:58:11 +0000 http://www.thisyounghouse.com/?p=10793#comment-30694 Getting a pay cut is definitely not fun to deal with!! However, that's $400 less per month that is getting taxed! So, the difference in your net monthly pay may not be quite as large as you are expecting. I like to take negative situations and bring out the positives, if you can't tell. ;) Either way, it seems like you have some really great ideas on cutting back. Getting a pay cut is definitely not fun to deal with!! However, that’s $400 less per month that is getting taxed! So, the difference in your net monthly pay may not be quite as large as you are expecting. I like to take negative situations and bring out the positives, if you can’t tell. ;)

Either way, it seems like you have some really great ideas on cutting back.

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