Fleas

Jez, our cat who has not been outside in over a year, has fleas for the first time. Since I've never had a cat with fleas before, I had no idea what it was. So we probably caught it rather late - after she shed quite a few flea eggs onto our bed and they had time to hatch near the foot.... and well, it's just not pleasant.

A trip to PETCO was in order. Off we went with a vague idea of what we were looking for. I had looked up Frontline on the computer and the PETCO website said it was $41.99 for 3 months. A bit hefty but oh well.

We get to the store only to discover that it costs $64.99 there, and they will not match the price on their website. Absurd. I hadn't seen the notice at the very bottom of the webpage that said "Regular and sale prices, offers and selection on PETCO.com may vary from those of PETCO stores and the PETCO Store Circular." And really, charging 55% more in the store - what is the justification for that? A premium not to wait for it to ship? Pathetic.

So I asked the cashier if she could give us any discount at all. After discussing it with a manager, we were able to get it for $55. Still a markup but 31% instead of 55%. Later, we learned that we can get it for $35 at a local animal rescue league. We will definitely be looking into that.

The point is that you can get discounts at a chain store. It helped that my boyfriend re-looked up the price on his Blackberry and was able to prove to them that it was a lot cheaper online.

And hopefully after Frontline, furniture spray, and a fogger , we will soon be flea-free.

I Just Saved a Ton of Money on My Car Insurance

My car insurance renewal came up in early September. I had stayed with AllState because of an awesome insurance agent in Ohio (hi Paul Webster!). I felt no such need to stay with AllState in Pennsylvania. So I started calling around - Liberty Mutual and Erie Insurance. They were both recommended at my boyfriend's place of work.

Combined for renter's insurance and car insurance for both our cars, we (my boyfriend used to have State Farm) were paying approximately $1600 total. Erie was able to put us on a domestic partner policy, and we now pay under $600 per year. To be fair, we did change around our options a bit. I increased my liability coverage, but he switched from full tort to limited tort, and got rid of uninsured and underinsured. That made quite the difference as well. It pays to understand you car insurance options.

If you live in an area where Erie is available, you ought to check them out. A number of comments I read said that Erie's prices just can't be beaten - and other insurance companies know it. I also found this site, which might be helpful when trying to figure out who to call, and just stumbled on this one right now.

Cheaper Prescriptions

This Summer when my boyfriend and I went to China, we took preventative malaria medicine. Malarone to be precise (good stuff, much better than Larium from what I read here). While my boyfriend's insurance covered his prescription, mind did not. And the stuff is not cheap.

When I went to pick up the prescription, the pharmacist verified that I was aware my insurance did not cover it. I must have said "I know" in a particularly pitiful way because he said, "Give me a second" and started punching keys on the computer. After a while, he said, "You can ask me to price match it" (or something similar). So I did. I saved $35 on what was originally a $185 prescription.

This is obviously not something pharmacies advertise, but it's definitely worth a try. It only works on things your insurance does not cover, of course.

Consumer Reports' The Ultimate Money Guide has several other suggestions for saving money on prescriptions:

1. Use an independent pharmacy instead of a national chain like Rite Aid or CVS. They are usually cheaper.
   
2. Buy generic whenever possible (and take advantage of those chains with cheap generic plans, like WalMart's $4 generic program)
3. Buying in bulk will sometimes reduce the cost per pill.
   
4. Check your pharmacy's website - they often sell drugs cheaper online.

Lastly, if your insurance offers it, take advantage of the "buy 3 months for the price of 2" option (or similar) when you fill out a form and receive your prescriptions in the mail. I have this option but have yet to do it. I need to get my act together! :)

Save Money on Heating and Cooling Bills

After a high of nearly 70 yesterday, the temperature has dropped about 15 degrees. Fall is officially upon us. The apartment is currently 67 degrees, so I set the heat to come on for the first time this season - at 64 degrees.

We used very little air conditioning this Summer. The a/c was set to kick on at 80. I also spent mornings and evenings opening and closing windows to get the cool night air but keep out the hot air during the day. If I were more diligent and could handle closed curtains (both for me and my plants) then I should have kept the North-facing window curtains closed during the day. I love the sun, and my plants need it, so this was not an option for me. But it certainly could have been.

This Fall and Winter I am hoping to keep our heating bill as low as possible. Here's what I did last year and what I'm hoping to do this year:
1. Last Winter, we kept the apartment at 67. I intend to aim for 66 or 65 this year. It's tricky - I'm a freeze baby - but it's definitely possible. I will also try lowering the temperature at night as well (purchasing flannel sheets is on the To Do list).
2. We also have a very drafty apartment. Last year, I kept a rolled up towel at the base of our front door to stop the draft. This year, I am planning to do the same, and will add one to the door that goes to the basement as well.
3. I will also consider closing off the guest bedroom (and closing the registers in there as well). We almost never use it, and heating one less room should help.
4. Our windows are pretty drafty - I might have to look into that plastic covering stuff to seal them off. Of course, I keep plants on a number of windowsills, so I probably won't do those.

How about you? What do you do to keep your homes/apartments cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter?