The things folks do to pinch pennies...

I like to keep my house between 70 and 80 degrees. I have found out that if we keep our home above 80 for an extended period of time, the family seems to be constantly sick. Sadly we found that out the hard way, keeping our home heated via 100% coal that year and it was 90 in the house most of the winter. It was too warm, and it was a constant winter of sickness.

Sadly I have been nabbed by the "Penny Wise: Pound Foolish" issue many, many times...

 

So...what you are asking is, "what is the definition of IS"?

 

While we don't use cash for everything, we don't buy anything without having the funds readily available.

Paying interest, for us, is avoided. Most everything we buy, is using credit cards, paying off the full amount each month. We also accumulate various points using the CC's.

Mrs Mikeinma, recently decided her car had become undependable. We bought a used vehicle, putting as much on a CC, and writing a check for the remainder. Using the CC company's money for a month, works for us.

 

I think one of the biggest mistakes I have seen people make regarding pinching pennies, is looking at the shiny glossy stuff, and not the mundane. This covers a lot of ground, but a prime example is my Grandmother's House that we are moving into. It has no insulation. A poor attempt was made in the 1980's, but it was not very effective, yet now that Katie and I are moving in, we are doing a 100% gut job and calculated the cost of all new insulation...the cost $350. My grandmother spent that and more on oil in one year! Imagine years and years of heat wasted? Sure it means new drywall too, but suffering goodness, it was built without electricity so each room has only one outlet. For $1000 we can insulate, wire and drywall the entire house. They should have done that years ago!

Another area that makes sense to us is a Green Switch. Its pretty basic wiring, make one breaker box feed the outlets you do not want shut off from power like the furnace, boiler, refrigerator, etc, and then run wires to a green switch, then to another breaker box that feeds the rest of the outlets in a house. With the green Switch located next to the front door, every time you leave, the power gets shut off. No phantom power consumption there. It is not as glamorous as windmills, solar panels, etc, but the return on investment is only a week instead of years.

It is all about conservation. Saving money is a 100% deal, for every dollar saved, it is kept in one's pocket.

 

One possibly thing that it could be is that outdoor wood boilers would be more prone to have antifreeze in them versus straight water like inside boilers. IF antifreeze was used, then it would make them instantly 10% less efficient. Add in longer runs underground, even with insulated pipes heat will be lost. I could see where a person who replaces their oil powered boiler of 130,000 btu's with an outside wood boiler with 130,000 btu's might suddenly not have enough heat.

I am not saying that is the reason, I am just saying it might be a factor.

My father's old outdoor wood boiler did not have that problem, but he went the other way, making it too big. He got a massive one in order to heat up his indoor pool, but never thought that once his pool got up to temperature, the mass of it would keep itself warm for long periods of time. His boiler just simmered all the time because it was too big. But I admit that is an odd situation.

 

Might take people of a certain age to get that one...
Oh, and that was not meant to be a political comment...

 

I gotta admit I've become very frugal as I've gotten older. I try my best to run a tight ship with anything related to money. The wife and kids keep me on my toes in this department . It's taught me a lot though. I was manic about it for a while and have learned that even though being manic about saving money is good for the bank account it's generally not good for life and relationships. Fortunately we've learned to meet in the middle.

Dollar for dollar I would say heating your house with wood is the best value related to housing costs. For us the upfront equipment costs paid for itself in 1 winter. We were paying 2500 a year in LP now we pay about 400. I also don't need a gym membership which is about 75 a month.

On the penny pincher topic, I've got a buddy that works for a tree removal outfit. He runs jobs and he's also an Arborist. He rarely touches a saw. He has access to all the free wood he wants by either backing is truck up and loading 16" bucked rounds (that someone else bucked) or if it's close enough (which it generally is), his guys will deliver the wood to his house . Guess how he heats his house. Propane stoves...

 

My wife would freeze to death in he!! so our stove room runs around 85*.
My 91 year old mother just moved in and she has been complaining it is cold the last week and we don't have AC. It has been in the mid to upper 80s. Don't know what the winter may bring. I may have to sit in the unheated front porch and watch TV through the window.
I do have a new AS to install. It should really drive them out.

Old farm house here, not insulated well and totally electric. I installed my first stove 6 years ago when I got a 1 month electric bill of $600+. Now the electric runs between $130 and $155 year round.

 

Pinching pennies .... seeing that the heating side is well covered here, I'll add a few others.

• I buy used wherever I reasonably can.
• We grow what food we can, repair what I can, build what I can.
• I use gift cards to shop, when I can get them at a discount (sometimes as much as 25%).
• eBay can be a good source of deals, if one is careful, with the benefit of tax free in many cases.
• Re-shop all insurance every 2-3 years.
• Lowes card gets me 5% discount, PayPal card gives me 2%.
• Never pay interest.
• Use inexpensive investment options.
• Pet and people medications can be found through non-traditional channels without the doc or vet cost.
• Do the right thing for you, and don't worry about what others think.
• Own a house that cannot be seen from the road.
• Turn off lights and water.
• Buy a 2-5 year old car and run it until it dies.

Lots more, but these are a few that come to mind.

 

Ding, ding, ding!

 

Many years ago I replaced all the bulbs with fluorescent that had ten year lifespans. Now, as these bulbs slowly die, I replace them with LED bulbs. The old incandescent bulbs used a LOT of electricity, lasted a very short time if used regularly and, were HOT, which, in the summer, was not good. (Why burn little electric heaters all over my house in the summer?)
Replacing incandescent bulbs with either fluorescent or LED bulbs seems like a no-brainer to me.
Now, how do I really pinch a lot of pennies? A WOOD STOVE, of course.

 

Good one. No incandescents in my house, though the life of LEDs has been a little disappointing.

 

My wife and I are cheap on some things, but on heating the house? No. We have an old house that was rolled off a ghost town in 1900. So the main part of the house was built in the 1880s. No insulation and remodel until the kids are gone. We spent 600 bucks a month heating 1100 square feet. I kept the thermostat at 78. I work in the second coldest valley in the lower 48. That one winter from Sept 13 to July 3 was brutal. I can't stand coming home or waking up to a cold home after working in 40 below temps.
I bought a AS last fall, and just got it slapped up on the hearth. Blew two dolly tires and almost my whole body getting it in. Too much for one middle aged guy.
I don't care how much the setup was. Even though it was pricey buying from another the north east. I don't like BK anymore. Worth every penny dealing with the likes of the fine folks at woodstock.

I would rather have the most comfortable home, not the supposedly elite idea of living.

 

That guys wife sounds just like a guy I know who tried to convince me that you should never pay your house off because you'll lose your tax write-off.

 

I've heard that one too

 

Here; property taxes alone are enough of a write-off!

 

I know a millionaire that just had to have an OWB. Too lazy to get his own wood to make certain it is dry, he finds two of the nicest people in the world to bring him 12 cord. (This was about 8 years ago). After he stacks it, he calls and says they were "three blocks shy of 12 cord". For 65$ a cord, I would have shut up. Wood perfectly dry. Now he can't find anybody to bring him anything. Not even a truck load for double the cash. Same guy gives thousands to the NRA, to offset the thousands he gives to the opposing party. I just can't process that logic

 

We do a big Thanksgiving and a little Christmas at our house and always turn up the heat for guests. We turn up when Mom comes over, too. She's cold blooded.

I would feel like a terrible host if I had guests that were still in coats, or even acting a little chilly! I 'd rather sweat a little or go down to summer wear than to see my guests uncomfortable. Some people just aren't very considerate!