Work:

• Car Pool – Now that my wife and I car pool, we actually drive 5 miles more per day, but save $10/day in parking. There’s also more freeway driving, so we get better gas mileage.
• Bag Lunches – My wife takes food to work rather than eating out now, which saves a lot. I eat lunch at home & take care of leftovers, so we don’t waste food.

Utilities:

• Cancel Home Phone – Not really necessary these days with skype, cell phones and email, unless you need to use a fax machine, but then there’s always eFax.
• Cut Cell Phone Bill – I realized that I don’t text enough to need an unlimited plan, so I switched. Of course, once I’m eligible for a new phone, it will be hard to resist a Blackberry with a data plan.
• Cancel Pest Control – We had it for a while and it seemed to have worked, but now we’ll see how we do without it. So far so good.

Entertainment:

• Cancel SIRIUS – Two recent rate increases made this an easy decision & I don’t listen to it for more than an hour or two a day.
• Cancel Book/Movie Clubs – My wife loves these and even though she sent books back, it was still a charge on our credit card and wait for a refund. I’m glad to be rid of these.
• Don’t Renew Magazines – I’m a firm believer that everything in magazines can be found for free online. They’re a waste of money and trees. My wife is letting all subscriptions lapse.
• Lower Netflix Plan – One movie at a time is enough for us right now, especially with a RedBox around the corner. We may cancel it entirely in the future.
• Record Movies – I took advantage of free Showtime this month on AT&T U-Verse and recorded a bunch of movies that were on our Netflix queue.
• Buy Used Books – Many used book stores will also buy books in turn for credit, so you can then buy books at half price.

Home:

• Switch to CFLs – Almost every light in our house is a compact fluorescent and those that aren’t don’t get used much.
• Cover Windows – During the heat of the day, block it by keeping blinds and drapes closed.
• Open Windows – When it cools down outside, open windows and turn off the air conditioning.
• Recycle – We saved our aluminum cans and plastic water bottles to take the recyclers. We don’t buy those anymore, but family members save theirs and the CRV goes to our son’s account.
• Sell Baby Stuff - Craigslist is great – you can get barely used baby items at great prices & turn around and resell them for about the same price. You, basically, got to use it for free. A local Craiglist type site is SactoClassifieds.
• Swap Baby Stuff – If you have a baby, chances are you know others who do as well. We swap, or rotate clothing & toys among friends & think of it as free off site storage.

Food:

• Veggie Garden – Its fun and worthwhile not having to buy lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. It’s also healthy and educational for our son! He loves picking tomatoes, even if they’re not ripe…
• Eat Less – Generally, we over indulge, so if you split a meal in half or leave enough for lunch the next day, you can save money and lose weight.
• Generic Food – Many name brand foods have identical generic counterparts that cost much less & taste the same.
• Ditch Bottled Water – Our fridge has a water filter, so why not use it? We refill bottles and rarely buy them anymore, which is also better for the environment.
• No More Soda – A while back I stopped drinking soda. I’ve had some a few times at BBQs, but I don’t buy it.

Other ideas that we could implement to save even more money:

• Cancel Cable – We would still have Internet, but I think we’d be miserable without decent TV
• Cancel Netflix – Getting rid of the lowest level they offer would save almost $10/mo
• Turn Off Computers – I tend to leave my desktop PC on all the time as I never know when I can jump on and get some work done
• Change Thermostat – Since my body tends to run warm, I’d be miserable during the summer
• Reduce Water Usage – Once they start metering water, we’ll need to decrease our sprinkler timers.
• Change Auto Insurance – I’m a faithful kind of guy, but if I need to, I’ll shop around for cheaper insurance, like at esurance.

Mac Pro, $2,499:

• one 2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500 series processor with 8MB of L3 cache;
• 3GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 8GB;
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics with 512MB of GDDR3 memory;
• 640GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm
• 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort and DVI (dual-link) for video output (adapters sold separately);
• four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
• five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
• ships with Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Mighty Mouse.

Home Built PC from NewEgg.com, <$600:

• Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor (a 2.83GHz Core 2 Quad is $200 more)
• G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
• EVGA 01G-P3-N959-TR GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
• Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
• LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2C 64-bit for System Builders
• Rosewill TU-155 Black 0.8mm SGCC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 400W ATX12V Version 2.2 Power Supply
• GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
• Memory Supported: 16GB SDRAM
• 8 USB ports on Motherboard, 2 USB ports on case

Total before tax: $592.92 with free shipping on everything except the Motherboard. For a couple/few hundred dollars more more, you could easily beat the Mac Pro in every category. Keep in mind that the list I created above is based on prices as of this week. Some discounts and rebates may no longer be available, but you can check NewEgg’s Daily Deals for the latest! Also, check out their clearance section for more good buys.

So, it’s not a new idea, but there is a site that makes it a whole lot easier! Elfster.com is a free service that allows all of your family members to join and the names will automagically be paired up with another family member. Each person can create a wish list that their Secret Santa can refer to so each person is sure to get what they want, without breaking the bank.

A Secret Santa is also a good idea to introduce for another important reason. Assume you have a family member who really cannot afford to do the normal holiday giving, but is too proud to say something. As long as there is a limit agreed upon and everyone signs on to the Secret Santa idea, the family can still experience the joy of giving and the money strapped relative can save face.

Part of my family has done the Secret Santa thing for years, and another part is fairly new to the idea, but uses Elfster.com, which makes it much easier than hand drawing names from a hat.