Money Saving Monday #2

I am a bit embarrassed to say, what to do for Money Saving Monday occupied a lot of my mental cycles this week. Obviously, it is a good goal to set for myself. My plans were all over the map. I researched weatherizing options to determine what made sense for us and what did not. I looked through my bills to see who needed a phone call for negotiation purposes. I even went over the grocery budget/list with a fine tooth comb to see what could be made from scratch, what was a convenience food, and what was just plain unnecessary.

Long story short, here is what I came up with for today -

Turned down the hot water heater - At our last house, the heater was electric and we put it on a timer, which worked awesome. Here we have gas, so can't do the timer. Its also in a very tight location, that won't even accommodate the addition of a blanket. Not a lot of options here, but this morning I had the Husband turn down the temp on it about a 1/4 turn. So far, I felt no impact in today's showers and washing.
Money Saved: $??? Pretty difficult to determine, especially since we are on the budget plan for our gas. I will keep a careful eye on usage over the next couple months.

Making bread for dinner - We try to have homemade soup for dinner at least 1 night a week. Its very yummy, filling and cheap... except for the loaf of artisan bread we buy to accompany our budget meal. The Husband is a fabulous cook, but bread is something we haven't experimented with. No time like the present! French bread was stricken from this weeks grocery list. Tonight's red lentil soup will be served with homemade french bread. Fingers crossed for goodness!
Money Saved: $4-5 We usually buy good, local bread. In actuality if this works out, money saved is increased exponentially by utilizing this skill in lots of future meals.

Selling DVDs on Ebay - Last Christmas, (as in X-mas '08) I bought the Husband the complete Sopranos series on DVD. We loved watching that show together when it was on, and were really looking forward to going through the whole series again. Well, its still in the shrink wrap. We have talked and talked and talked about watching it, and that's about all the farther it has ever gone. Its time to just sell the thing. I feel like our entertainment costs are too high anyway. We hardly need brand new DVDs sitting around collecting dust.
Money Saved: $70 range based on what they are currently selling for, after paypal fees, etc. I actually started the listing yesterday because Sunday seems to be the best auction closing day from my past experiences. I must say, considering what I remember spending on this ($120-ish), I am not really 'saving' just recouping some of my loss.

Bought necessities with Amazon Gift Cards - We each received $25 in amazon bucks from my inlaws for Christmas. We could use those on crap, or we could buy things we need and use to supplement our regular budget. After much internal (and external with the Husband) debate, I finally got the all clear to go with the latter. Giving up your funny money is hard! We stocked up on biodegradable garbage bags and razors blade replacements for both of us. Staple items we won't have to pay for for a while.
Money Saved: $47 and change. Granted we may have paid slightly more for these items because we bought them from Amazon, but I think that is moot. We also used Super Saver free shipping of course.

All in all another successful Monday. Like I said, I had to do a heck of a lot of brainstorming for this. Will I be able to keep it up? I hope so. It really is such a good exercise! I think I will have some success with getting the Husband on board too. He has been much more involved with the budget lately. This seems to be motivating him to participate in those small things, like remembering to turn off the lights, eat leftovers, etc. Money Saving Monday is going to be a good excuse to keep him going.