I like a lot of these ideas. Especially avoiding stores- I am fine if I am not tempted by seeing things.
I also second Don't buy it if you don't need it NOW. I found that over the years I bought a lot of things at hardware/housewares stores to repair things in the future and by the time I got around to repairing said thing I forgot I already had the parts and bought more, or the product bought has hardened in the tube, etc. etc. Or even worse I get rid of the item and later find the unused purchases for fixing it.
Another one is read the details before signing up for things- we got a credit card that turned out to have a high yearly fee, too high too get any advantage from the air miles. It was recommended by someone who was using theirs to pay for college tuition for three kids. We have no kids.
Go over your statements each month with care- before I started doing our bills I had cancelled Vonage and then they kept billing us for three more years but because I did not do the bills and never looked at the statements we continued to pay them.
Never buy on impulse, sleeping on it definitely dulls the excitement of buying.
Shop more frequently for veggies and use them up before buying more. I have wasted so many vegetables over the years it is horrifying.
Take an active role in your shared finances- you may be able to spot leaks better than your partner. We had AT&T overbill us for 9 months to the tune of about $2000 and when I called them on it they said we could only recoup a few months of that. My DH is not into the details.
Find out how much your health insurance pays for various appointments, etc. I now can check our history online but before discovering that I just mindlessly paid whatever the doctor's office told me to pay. About 6 weeks ago the receptionist at a specialist's office charged me a copay of $150 for a first time visit to a doctor's office and when I asked her how much the insurance company was going to be paying she suddenly said that my portion was actually $53!
Do the math:
Is a new energy star oven going to save you money or do you rarely use the oven?
Is it true that a dishwasher uses less water than hand washing? Not in our household.
Is it cheaper longterm to get another car now or to pay for a $2000 repair on a 12 year old car?
One hack I particularly enjoy is listing what we already own or have access to which we can enjoy for free. Should we buy a new cd or listen to some of our tunes we have not heard for a long time? Should we fly somewhere to go hiking or should we enjoy the miles of hiking trails nearby? Should I buy a new chair or fix the existing one? Should I go to quiz night or pull out the forgotten board games?
A huge money saver for us since reading MMM has been having already prepared food in the freezer so we can just heat it up when too exhausted to cook instead of going out.
Maintain, maintain, maintain. Replacing something expensive halfway through its expected life because we did not take care of it is a really special face punch. I am slowly putting together a maintenance list for everything. It sure makes owning fewer things look good.
Smaller dwellings hold less stuff, cost less to maintain, take less of your time to maintain and clean and are sooo much less stressful. Some physical ailments are due to the stress of having to deal with the hidden costs of excess. Insomnia can be reduced, who knew?
