Tightwad or Frugal Genious?

  I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how I can save money. Being a Janitor is the lowest paying position where I work. My wife only makes minimum wage. So yes, I'm all about saving money. I looked at all the money I paid out each month versus the money we bring in. It wasn't a good day. Vicki and I decided to write down everything we owe and every dime we were spending on a weekly basis. We put all our extra money towards the smallest bills first and paid them off in that order. In less than a year we had paid off everything except our house. After that we started putting everything we could into savings each week. Amazingly it began to grow into a nice sum of cash.
  I started looking at ways to save money on my utilities and other house hold costs. I looked at things like my cable bill. We were paying $200 for cable, Internet, and phone. I went to a home improvement store and paid $70 for an HD antenna. I spent an entire Saturday putting it up outside. When I plugged it in I was getting 16 free HD channels! I called the cable company and told them to come and get their stuff out of my house. I went to Radio Shack and got Magic Jack for around $80. So now all I pay for is Internet. It comes to $55 a month.
  Now all we have is one $55 bill a month. Magic Jack is only $30 year. I'm saving $145 a month! Last month we used that savings to pay for a cruise.
  It gets better. There are several free TV sites on the Internet. You can watch free live television anytime you want. I watch all the same Television shows my friends do but I don't pay for them.
  Last winter I became focused on my heating bill which is always high. I usually pay close to $300 during the really cold months. I put clear plastic on all my windows and caulked around them outside. I started using the wood stove I have downstairs in the den. I began using the net to search for heating alternatives. I made a solar heater out of soda cans that didn't work like I thought it would. Then I came across something very simple, cheap to build, and easy. It's called a candle heater and you can find out how to build one on You tube. I made one and began to use it every night in the living room where we watch free TV. It really works. All it is is a couple of clay flower pots and some tea cup candles and it heats up the room for less than a quarter a night. We set it right in front of us on our coffee table and warm our hands like it's a camp fire. As far as lowering my heating bill, I think the highest one I had last year was around $200 and it was a cold winter.
  So that's just a few things we have done to save money. I'll share some more stuff with you in the future.