The BH makes $70 in 7 minutes

I got such a good response from my Sunday story about trimming household spending that I decided to let y'all know how my saving plan is going. Hubby and I made a long list of our expenses, highlighted categories where we can spend less, and made a to do list to trim out bills. I followed through on one of them and made $70 in 7 minutes!!! No joke.

Hubby and I pay $28.15 a month for the Sunday New York Times. That is just over $7 a paper. Yikes! I called the Times to see if they could extend a discount to a longtime loyal reader. No such luck, the lady on the other end politely informed me. But I can already read the sections I like online, I pointed out. No deal, she said. But I can probably get the paper cheaper off the newsstand, I protested. Can't help you, she said.

By this point I had convinced myself to cancel the paper, which is what I told her. Hold on a second...oh my supervisor has approved a 50% off deal for 16 weeks, plus an additional 4 weeks if you pay by credit card. Kaa-zam!!

My bill drops to $70.35 for 20 weeks, down from $140.74. I hope we save as much with the other items on our to do list.

+Call cable company and ask for $10 off a month, we had the discount our first year of service and are considering switching companies

+Look for cell phone plan with fewer minutes but more texts to fit with our usage patterns

+Reduce gasoline bill by working from home more and carpooling

+Don't risk parking tickets, bring change or keep looking for spot

+Shop around for cheaper places to fill generic prescriptions

+Use dry cleaning coupons instead of going to the most convenient place

+When ordering take out, split a dish instead of creating leftovers