9/9 Expressions

Frugal deeds for the day:  Again at lunch, I made some more phone calls.  One to our "Business Account" credit card to cancel because they charged me a $75 fee for the privelege of using them for another year.  I sure hate it because we have recurring charges for pest control on one of our properties on it.  So, it was a minor hassle.  Wouldn't you know it - they gave me a $75 statement credit to cover it "to keep my business".  So, many things are negotiable.  Secondly, I just got our water/sewer bill.  Not many things I can think of to make more money - oh, I forgot yesterday - I also do swagbucks to earn Amazon.com gift cards.  So, I thought of things I could do to save money - we have a family membership to the "Y".  The facility is brand new.  The showers are individual, curtained stalls.  Even so, the entire family has an aversion to taking a shower in "public".  I was wondering how much I could save if just I showered there - thinking back to the water bill.  Also, the windows of this house are a bit drafty.  I just read that Family Dollar sells decent thermal backed curtain panels for $10 each.  I am thinking I may want to invest in a few to help cut back on the electricity bill because they were approved last night for a 3.5% rate hike.  Why am I trying to cut back - because "extras" always seem to occur.  Like my husband had to repair a few more items in our "new" foreclosure home - I am not talking about "big" bucks - but more like $80 here, $100 there type stuff.  As I said, I want the HELOC paid off by the end of the month - a self imposed deadline - yup, the interest rate is 2.7% - but still, I would rather the bank pay me, than I pay them :(  Then comes the property taxes - on 7 properties.  Also, the holidays.  I also have a goal amount to save toward our daughter's education by December of next year.  So, that means, we need to save some extra this year - unless we all want to kick our "frugalness" up a notch.  Rather institute some minor changes now - and save steadily - than go "extreme".