THE "XOIP" CHRONICLES

Last week, Starbucks announced that its profit margin would be 97% lower than last year’s, at 1 penny a share, compared to 21 cents a share in 2007….
This points out to a wider trend: the Golden Years are over. The years of spending $5 on a coffee daily are now looking to us as days where we foolishly thought spending $200 a month of coffee wasn’t impacting our savings, or our quality of life. In this economy however, we invite you to take a look at 3 small points that could help rebalance your bottom line:

• Check your phone bill. If possible, go to a lower rate plan - but only if the lower plan would cover the average amounts of minutes spent in the last 6 months. So if you’ve been using 650 minutes in a 900 minute plan, and the next one under is 450 minutes, do NOT change plans. If you can, at home, use Skype, that’s free software that allows you to make cheap ($0.02/mn for the US) calls to landlines and cells from your computer, and free calls to other Skype users .
• Repair any leaks. If you pay your water bills, now’s definitely a time to watch out for leaks. Leaks can add up to hundreds of dollars a year in water… where fixing the leaking faucet can cost as little as $2 for the old joint in the Hot handle. If you need help understanding how your faucet works, try Home Depot, they have very helpful do-it-yourselfers there!
• Eat home-made food. These days, you can make lasagna for $25, which can be reheated for lunch and serves 2 people 4 meals. That’s about $3 a meal per person. It’s home made, so it’s much healthier than any other $3 alternative at a fast food or other. Even simple pasta dishes can be made for $2-$3 per meal, and are easily re-heatable at your office’s microwave. If you can save $5 per meal per day, that’s $200 per month (20 working days per month), or $2400 a year. That week in Hawaii won’t look so expensive at the end of the year, and you waistline will thank you…

Filed under: Outside the Office