A new bus service has just started offering low cost travel between a few major cities on the east coast. Boltbus, a division of Greyhound, is now selling low-cost tickets in an interesting auction-like format. The tickets will range in price from $1 to $25 dollars. The price you pay depends on how early you get the tickets before your trip. Unlike typical bus service, these buses don’t leave from a station. They leave from a predetermined location in each city. The buses even sound quite nice. All buses will have power outlets and Wi-Fi access, and some buses will be equipped with leather seats.

Currently the buses travel between New York City, Washington, DC and Philadelphia. Starting in April, that list will expand to include Boston.

Would you consider taking a bus on your next trip if the round trip cost was a mere $2?

So I hopped online and visited the same site I bought my radiator from earlier this month. It only took me about 30 minutes to pinpoint all the parts I needed. I ended up ordering the following parts:

• Catalytic Converter
• Intermediate Pipe with center muffler
• Rear Muffler
• 3 Gaskets
• 2 Spring Bolt Kits

The total cost for these parts – $353. That total includes a $30 off coupon I found online and free shipping. (Any order over $50 gets free shipping). So I bought a complete exhaust for a little more than one catalytic converter would have cost me here in town.

Because I got a good deal last time, I called the mechanic who installed my radiator. He remembered me and said he could install the exhaust for $80.

Doing a little bit of research saved me a fair amount of money – thought it’s hard to say how much exactly because I never really got a quote for anything other than a catalytic converter. If I had to guess, I’d say I saved at least $200. Some people might say it’s a hassle to order the parts online and then lug them to the garage, but I’m happy to do so – especially if that extra little bit of work saves me a few hundred dollars.

How about you? Are you someone who’s willing to do a little extra work to save money on things?

Well, the same thing happened today. We spent about $72 when normally we hover right around $60 for a weeks’ worth of groceries. Close inspection of the receipt afterward revealed that my reading skills are less than optimal. We spent $9.99 on a package of 19 hot dogs! We never buy hot dogs. But the sign said $1.99 (I swear!) and I couldn’t pass up a deal like that.

The good news is that we’ve finally found a grocery store with reasonable prices on produce and poultry. We’ll return, but also stock our cupboards with items from the larger regional stores.

More good news. Hot dogs won’t be on the list for a few months.

Our typical Starbucks bill (give or take a little if I wanted a giant chocolate chip cookie):

We didn’t go to Starbucks every day, but we went frequently enough for it to be pricey. Especially when you go a couple of times a week, then muliple that number by 52 weeks.

So we adjusted our habit. We didn’t drop the habit of drinking tea or coffee. We just decided that it would be cheaper to do so at home. How much cheaper can it be?

Now, instead of spending $5.07 every time we visit Starbucks, we spend $8.48 per month. Let’s say we were going to Starbucks ten times per month or 120 times per year – that would set us back $608.40 per year. If we enjoy our coffee and tea at home, we’re only spending $101.76 per year.

Sticking to our plan to divorce Starbucks will save us $506.64 per year. That’s a separation we can deal with. We can add that extra money to our emergency fund or to our savings for the house.

How about you – is there anything you can do to make some changes that’ll save you money?

Ok – so I’m going to save myself some money, but how am I going to pay my rent each month? To find out, I logged into my Bank of America account and started reading through the FAQs. Lo and behold, they have a service that allows you to pay just about anybody. Just fill in the name and address of the person you need to pay and the bank will fire off a check to that person 4 days before the payment is due. I wish I would of found this feature earlier. No more checks for me!

How about you? Do you still use checks to make payments, or do you let technology and your bank work for you?

After doing hours and hours of research over the past few months, I decided to purchase a Lenovo Thinkpad. I checked out all the popular deal websites to find the best deal possible. So this is what I came up with. I used my account at FatWallet to get 10% back from Lenovo and to have the laptop shipped to me for free. In addition, PayPal gave me $100 for simply using it to pay for the laptop.

So I got a new decked out laptop at a very reasonable price. My laptop has 3gb ram, but only 1gb came installed. I ordered the other 2gb from Newegg. They had a deal running for a single 2gb stick – it was $50 with a $15 dollar mail in rebate and free shipping. Ordering the laptop from Lenovo with 3gb of ram installed would have cost me an extra $300. Ordering the extra ram from Newegg saved me $265 dollars.

So the next time you decide to purchase electronics, be sure to shop around. You could possibly save yourself a lot of money.