How our money experts save money, #12 in a series

Editor's note: More from Tony G., our resident cheapskate.

5. Buy milk at your gas station? You might be surprised who as the lowest prices in town for certain items. In one New York suburb, the local Hess gas station has the lowest prices we’ve seen on eggs and milk. The nearby Target beats the supermarket next store on cereal prices by as much as 72 percent per ounce—the store brand was an especially good deal. The dollar store about a mile away—now a $1.25 store—has great deals on some items, like gold audio cables, which are a fraction of the price charged by the Radio Shack across the street. So figure out which stores have the best deals prices near you and try to map out your shopping so you can hit them all in one trip and avoid wasting gas.

6. Free plants. Forget about buying house plants. You can root spider plants, coleus, purple passions, and other popular varieties right from their cuttings. So trade them with your friends, families, and coworkers, stick them in water or even directly into moist soil, and see what happens. Just make sure the cuttings are bug-free.

7. What, pay for TV? With new digital broadcasting, your over-the-air signal from your local TV station may produce a picture that’s virtually as good as you get from off your cable. Although digital TV doesn’t replace the old analog service until next February, many stations’ digital broadcasts already are up and running. So try out some rabbit ears (or, better yet, rooftop antenna) and ditch that cable service and all those set-top boxes you’re renting month after month. Sure you won’t get 500 channels, but you'll save a bundle.

8. Free software II. In our last group of savings ideas, we told you about some popular free programs that replace expensive applications such as Microsoft Office. So where can you find more free applications without having to fear that you’re downloading spyware or viruses? Try these freeware sites: Download.com, SnapFiles, and SixFiles.—Anthony Giorgianni, associate editor

Stay tuned for more of Tony's tips. And feel free to post your own by commenting below.

Comments

[MIchelle]

Not sure that it's a great suggestion to tell people to get rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna. You can't get digital TV that way... although you can get it without cable as long as you have a DTV converter box. You can get one at most electronics stores for about $60, and the government will send you a $40 coupon to offset the cost. https://www.dtv2009.gov/

[everett whitney]

TO: Michelle - 10 Aug - " NO HD/digital with rooftop Antenna .."

Sorry - but - you gotten very wrong info somewhere!
Absolutely some of the very best P.Q. standard digital and/or HD is & has been received via rooftop antennas for some time already !

So have many new HDTVs , with the ATSC internal tuner required by FCC rules for several years too. No Converter.

Granted, no "V" rabbit analog, set top antennas - but - appropriate ones { UHF, for the most part currently } with a quality Coax Cable DO the task!

And, NO - those federal coupon Converters in & of themselves Can not work without a digital antenna as well.

[Michelle]

Everett,
That's true... if you have an HDTV or a TV with a built-in digital tuner. But if you bought a TV before 2007, that's not so.