Saving Money

By Holli Haerr

With the cost of living so high on Long Island, I was excited when I was asked to do a couple of pieces on saving money as part of News 12's "Handling Hard Times" series. It's always fun to learn new things on the job, and money saving tips can certainly come in handy.

For the first part, I met and interviewed Donna and George Buttner from Mastic.

They're like a "before" and "after" case in a magazine. "Before" getting credit counseling at SafeGuard, they say they ate out a lot, bought a few cups of coffee every day, drove a lot...and basically spent a lot of money. But now, "after" credit counseling, they're saving thousands of dollars a month.

Their counselor helped them consolidate their credit cards and gave them lots of tips. And the Buttners seem to be following those tips to a "T". Among other things, they're eating in, buying in bulk when possible, using coupons, making coffee at home, and carpooling. They're saving a ton of money every month.

For the second part, my mission was to find "unique" money saving tips. Lots of people gave me interesting ideas, and many of them are on the computer. So, here are some links. Also, here are some tips that didn't make it on the air, including: Borrow DVDs from the library for free instead of paying for rentals. Feel free to add your own unique tips to the comment section.

Free Coupons
These two websites will give you coupons, and you don't even have to sign up with personal information. 
www.coupons.com

http://coupons.smartsource.com//index.aspx?Link=5S2ZUA6PWPEPO

Cheap gas websites: (I've found that the first one is more accurate than the second, but here are two.)

Http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx
www.gasbuddy.com

Heating Oil -- You can check out NYPIRG's website http://www.nypirg.org/fbg/, but they recommend you call directly with any questions about their Fuel Buyers Group.

Suffolk
631-673-5536

Nassau
516-783-6400
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Jiffy Lube website for coupons
www.jiffylube.com

Honda Dealership - link to coupons is on the left. (You can probably Google your own dealership and find similar coupons.)
http://www.northshorehonda.net/
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OTHER RESOURCES:

U.S. Energy Department- Energy Saving Tips can also save money:
http://www.energy.gov/insulationairsealing.htm#tip

If you don't have prescription coverage you can join a free group.

In Nassau- the website is: http://www2.caremark.com/nassaurx/
In Suffolk it's -- http://www2.caremark.com/suffolkscripts/

According to Nassau officials, the average savings for their program is 20 dollars a month this year.

Comments

[Rob]

Thank you Holli! This is much needed information. Keep it coming!

[John]

For the best possible home heating oil prices on Long Island, visit codfuel.com.