Frugal First Friday

[ecosophia]

We had the discussion, and far and away the majority of commenters said they wanted these posts to continue on a monthly basis. So...

Welcome to Frugal First Friday! This is a monthly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up on the first Friday of each month, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course. 

There has been talk about releasing these posts in print format.  In case that turns out to be worth pursuing, please note: if you comment on this or any future Frugal First Friday post, you are giving permission for that comment to be included in print or other editions. This means, for those of you into the legalese, that by posting something in the comment thread you are granting me non-exclusive reprint rights to your comment, and permitting me to transfer those to a publisher or other venue. Your contribution will have your name or internet handle attached, your choice. 

I also have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed. One change from the earlier frame is that if you produce goods or services yourself, and would like to let readers know about them, you may post one (1) (yes, just one) comment per month letting people know, with a link to your website or other contact info. The other rules ought to be familiar by now. 

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc.  I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #3: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

Rule #4: don't post LLM ("AI") generated content, and don't bring up the subject unless you're running a homemade LLM program on your own homebuilt, steam-powered server farm. 

With that said, have at it!  

Comments

Re: Pennies

[atmosphericriver]

Why not just go spend them ? They still take pennies at the stores and some have signs up soecifically looking for them

Re: Pennies

[(Anonymous)]

I don't want to spend them. I think pennies have design possibilities. Furthermore, I don't want to be that person counting out 99 pennies while ten other shoppers are waiting in line.

I have scant sympathy with stores that won't get with the program and simply price in round numbers.

Re: Pennies

[atmosphericriver]

they realy cant because of sales tax. Maybe you live in a state with no sales tax. I guess they can do the math and have a weird price that when combined with sales tax makes around number, but sales tax varies by which city and county you live in around here, not just the state of California ! Of course, at this point, most of California localities are almost topped out, which I think by statute ( until they change it ! ) they cant go over 10%. At this point, the sales tax taotal can be 10% in a city and 9.5% in the county outside of city limits, etc...

I have seen some fun designs where a countertop is done with pennies glued down then coated with some pour over clear self leveling coating

Re: Pennies

[teresa_from_hershey]

I don't mean to be rude, truly I don't, but if you think any retailer will EVER round down, when they could round up, you are delusional.

You should expect -- once pennies are gone and you are paying cash -- that if an item, with tax, is $1.01, it WILL be rounded UP to $1.05.

If you are paying with a card, you will pay $1.01. If you are paying cash, you will pay $1.05.

Perhaps that nice craft vendor at the farmers' market will round down. Any storefront business with utility and rent bills to pay and salaries to meet will scrounge for those pennies. They add up.

Think of this as another flanking move in the war on cash.

Re: Pennies

[kallianeira]

In Aus the 1c and 2c coins were deleted long ago. There must have been legislation imposed to the effect that if a price ends in 1 or 2, 6 7c it is rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5c (now our smallest coin in circulation). Similarly 3, 4, 8 or 9c totals go up to the next multiple of 5. It is universal except in our friendly local government office, where if you pay your $778.88 rates bill in cash they round down to $778.85!

- iridescent scintillating elver

Re: Pennies

[(Anonymous)]

I will happily pay the extra nickel to be able to pay in cash. That makes a good test for do I really need this. If it isn't worth 5cents more, I can do without. I observe that some businesses are charging surcharges for card use below a stated amount, usually $10 or $20.

Re: Pennies

[(Anonymous)]

The price of nickel is $6.57 per pound. A US nickel is 25% copper 75% nickel each one cost 8 cents to make that is from info several years old. Would not be surprised to see nickels on the hit list in a few years. If one wants to make a great axe head or knife or plow shears good to have nickle in the steel. Blueberry

Re: Pennies

[teresa_from_hershey]

You should absolutely expect nickels to be degraded in the metal mix.

Many people in the more survivalist end of the world are hoarding nickels because the metal melt value is higher than the coin's value.

The idea is to not get caught short when nickels get downgraded, like people did in 1964 or so when dimes stopped being made of silver.

Silver dimes instantly vanished from circulation and it took several years for the mint to catch up with making enough dimes to replace the hoarded ones.

Re: Pennies

[(Anonymous)]

In New York, there is a chain of convenience stores called Stewarts, that has publicly stated that when they run out of pennies, they will round cash sales down, in favor of the customer. Is this a publicity stunt? Probably. They say that they are doing it to promote brand loyalty.

Re: Pennies

[(Anonymous)]

Stewarts are gasoline stations with "convenience" stores added. They can well afford to round down as their prices are at least a third higher on most common items than almost anywhere else.