Andy Knows How To Save

Andy Rooney Shares His Favorite Ways To Save Money

(CBS)  The following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney.

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Everyone's talking about how bad our economy is. It's in the headlines every day, so I guess it is true. I don't know though. CBS is paying me the same as they paid me last year and I don't really understand anything as big and vague as what they call "the economy".

I do know I have to be careful though, so I'm trying to save in little ways.

For instance, I make my own coffee in the office every morning. I do it because downstairs, in the CBS cafeteria, one cup of coffee costs $1.50.

This morning on my way to work I bought gas. I got eight gallons of regular 87 octane and eight gallons of premium 91 octane and it cost me a total of $36.80. If I'd bought 16 gallons of 89 octane it would have cost me $38.40, so by mixing the regular with the premium, I saved $1.60 and got 89 octane gas. My car doesn't seem to know the difference.

I go to every New York Giants home game, which are, ironically, played in New Jersey. I take the bus from New York because if I drive it costs me $8 to go through the Lincoln Tunnel and $20 to park my car at the stadium.

The bus tickets cost $2.20 each way. The game ticket costs $80 including tax. Don't ask me why I don't just watch the game home on television. At home I don't even have to pay $4 for a Coke.

I take my shirts to the laundry. I used to wear them once, then I started wearing my shirts for two days. Now sometimes I wear them three times before I have them washed. You may have noticed.

There's a shoeshine parlor downstairs at CBS but I don't have my shoes shined there because it costs $3.00. I bought a brush and some polish and I do my own. And it's very satisfying.

When I go to a good restaurant here in New York for dinner I often slip a roll in my pocket for breakfast the next morning. Taking a roll at a restaurant, that's not stealing, is it?

There's no doubt about it though. We're using up all the good things on Earth and if we don't start saving more, we're going to run out of everything.

[utahraptor43]

Concerning the method of saving on gasoline, most gas stations, at least in my area (and I assume the rest of the country), no longer have mid-grade gasoline. It''s cheaper for the oil companies and the gas stations to stock two grades of gas instead of three. If you press the button for mid-grade, the pump dispenses both regular and premium gas at the same time, thus giving you mid-grade. You can tell by looking at the pump. There will usually be a little black dial counter that keeps track of the total number of gallons dispensed from that pump. If there are only two of these black dials, they are for regular and premium, and the pump mixes the two for mid-grade. I''ve pumped mid-grade before, and watched both counters increase as they dispensed both grades at the same time.
I''ve never thought of mixing the two and getting mid-grade cheaper the way Andy did. I''ll check it out next time I gas up.

[arthurenn]

Andy, just use only regular gas in your SUV or whatever. Most vehicles after 2004 run as well on regular as they do on premium gasoline eventhough the manufacturer suggests you should only use premium Gas.
Try it and save ewven more.

[beachsheltie]

Yes everyone is talking about the economy! There are very few people that it has not affected. It sounds like you are just conserving. Try walking in my shoes%u2026 I have worked for 35 years. I have always gone from one job to another for advancement opportunities with no time off in between. I have never been with out a job. I was layed%u2013off from an Aerospace Manufacturing Job and my Husband has been selling Real Estate for 25 years. It is something that he is very good at. Well I don%u2019t have to tell you how it is going now. We have gone through our savings. I have applied for over 80 jobs in 3 months with only 2 interviews. I am making $330. per week on unemployment which is the max for our state. There are a lot of people hurting, This is why people are talking about the economy. It is not good!

[ma4545]

Is taking a few rolls stealing? If everyone comes in my restaurant and takes a roll and my bread usage goes up and I have to pay for it, then yes, my friend, it is stealing. Is saving a buck so important that you can''t buy some eggs and support a farmer, or a bagel from your corner bodega in the morning? Small things add up. Instead of taking bread that we allot for other customers, buy some eggs for breakast. They will last you a week and a half (twelve eggs: twelve days). Spending two dollars on eggs instead of telling the whole country to take a few rolls at the end of there meal, would do more good.

[arthurenn]

Andy, just use regular gasoline in your SUV or whatever. Regular gas works as well as premium Gas recommended by the manufacturer in most vehicles made after 1998. The reason...The computer makes adjustments to the timing, air intake, and fuel injection in such a way that regular gas performs as well as premium gasoline. try it, you''ll see and save even more.!!!!
Gifted-tulip.

[stdal]

Please don''t confuse your "spirit of poverty" as being conservative with your finances, and then boast of your actions to the american people, who most of which, I''m sure, are much much below your standard of living!

[creinartsen]

Whoever does the overlay, while Andy is explaining the difference in price of filling his tank with various gas grades, should be shot. I, in an adjoining room, heard nothing wrong with Andy''s explanation. My wife, sitting in front of the tv, was relaying the figures on the screen. I thought she was hallucinating until I saw the replay (DVR). When showing the math for the middle grade, you will find that (16) X (2.49) does not equal (38.40). Perhaps, the figures should have been (16) X (2.40). It''s a good thing Andy wasn''t reading off the screen. His observations are, both, humorous and insightful. Please don''t make him look foolish!!!

[rushlimpdrug]

Ah Andy, by now you should be spending some of what
you have saved for all those years.

This is the picture of America today.

EVERYONE has to work.

Even the elderly.

And don''t say it''s because he likes to work,
if that was the case, Andy would not have
to be saving what he earns at his age.

I thought Rooney was dead.

[breedpdx]

Dear CBS - Andy Rooney is so highly irrelevant to today''s world, it''s painful to have him as the closing statements to your otherwise newsworthy 60 minutes. Do us all a favor -- give the guy a severance package, and send him on his way. Otherwise, I''m headed over to another channel.

[breedpdx]

Dear CBS - Andy Rooney is so highly irrelevant in today''s world, it''s painful to have him as the closing statements to your otherwise newsworthy 60 minutes. Do us all a favor -- give the guy a severance package, and send him on his way. Otherwise, I''m headed over to another channel.

[breedpdx]

Dear CBS - Andy Rooney is so highly irrelevant in today''s world, it''s painful to have him as the closing statements to your otherwise newsworthy 60 minutes. Do us all a favor -- give the guy a severance package, and send him on his way. Otherwise, I''m headed over to another channel.

[breedpdx]

Dear CBS - Andy Rooney is so highly irrelevant in today''s world, it''s painful to have him as the closing statements to your otherwise newsworthy 60 minutes. Do us all a favor -- give the guy a severance package, and send him on his way. Otherwise, I''m headed over to another channel.

[troutfisher4]

Dear Andy,

Are you going to have all that money you saved buried with you?

[brascat-2009]

Dear Andy,

We just watched you segment re. saving money with the little things. It was good, but I was little dissapointed that you didn''t mention electricity in the home.

My wife thinks I am a control freak because I follow her around turning off lights in rooms she leaves for more than 5 minutes.


I estimate that we save about $100 per month with my "controlling " behavior. Like most people, I am just trying to save a little money in hard economic times.

Please use my full name, Darryl Brasken, and if you can, let me know when you may air a segment on this. I want her to see it. We watch 60 Minutes almost every week.

I don''t want my wife to think I am crazy, and I think if she sees this from a relibale source, she may take me more seriously on this issue.

I really hope you do this for me. I think it actually may help more Americans from wasting money on unnessay electrical use.

Plaese let me know if you read this and will consider my request.

Sincerely,

Darryl

Dear Andy,
Good on you! It''s nice to hear a voice of sense and sanity in this profligate and wasteful culture we have become. Keep it up!
Without being too presumptious, could I suggest a couple of topics for the future.
1. I have noticed in recent years that any promotion in the media for government savings bonds has completely dissapeared. Why is that? Could it be that our government and their business overlords don''t want us saving money? Perhaps it''s more profitable for them if we are profligate and wasteful.
2. I''ve also noticed that the government is wasting taxpayer money on TV advertising in it''s futile attempt to shove that one dollar coin down our throats. Nobody wants it. They''ve tried several incarnations of the dadgum thing - nothing''s worked, don''t they get the message?
I won''t bother ranting about that accursed penney.

Thank You...

[harp1974]

Andy,

I''m disappointed in your segment from last night. I think you''re old and out of touch my friend. That''s why America put youth back in the White House.

Your ridiculus examples to save money in tough times overlook a simple but most important fact. You see, people have already been doing most of the things you reccommend for some time now. In the current crisis we''re in, the most important thing to realize is that most people can''t afford to spend thousands of dollars for season tickets to a football game !
This is a massive flaw into your insight.

Yes, like most Americans, your pay hasn''t been reduced but the fact is, a lot of people have been on wage freezes for over 5 years and things have gotten more expensive over that time. People have to stretch their money to make ends meet and the first cut that has to be made is always on entertainment expenses.

I think you need to open those old eyes of yours and really take a look at what''s happening in this country
because it''s a lot more serious than cutting out $1.50 coffee purchases and mixing fuel.

I feel as though you owe me an apology for insulting my intelligence but more importantly, I hope you read this and re-analyze your opinion.

James White
Buffalo, NY

Go Bills !

[brucesmall]

There are only two tanks at the gas station. The middle grade automatically takes half from each tank, which is why the price of the middle grade is the average of the low and high grade.

[lewisclark4]

Did this senile old bag just wonder if we were in a tough economic time? "CBS seems to still be paying my salary." That statement is a slap in the face to those of us who have been laid-off and struggle to make ends meet. Here''s another thing you can save Andy; your stupid, out-of-touch comments.

[cricketmk3]

ma4545, you''re right...buying breakfast would help out the economy more but I''m sure Andy meant he took an extra roll out of the basket they bring you in good restaurants that would hopefully be thrown out anyway.

[meowcat2]

Cry me a river, Andy. I tuned my tiny violin while I listened to how YOU save a nickel here and there. A rich man giving penny-pinching advice isn''t much different than a man with legs showing off his new Italian loafers to an amputee. Do you really expect us to feel good for you? By the way....can you spare a buck?

[skysoldier75]

Some of the people that I see regularly bashing Andy Rooney''s articles here obviously have absolutely no sense of humor at all, nor any appreciation for that absolutely essential commodity: the ability to have a little chuckle at ourselves and our own personal foibles once in a while.

Andy Rooney''s subtle ironic humor apparently just sails right over their pointy little heads. They''re just not sophisticated enough to "get it", I guess. That''s really too bad; it''s truly their loss.

[hypnotoad72]

I don''t always agree with Mr Rooney (think four or so weeks ago about jobs in a climate when few are to be had any many are "overqualified", "underqualified", or won''t be given a chance to gain experience because all available jobs require experience. (So when they say Americans won''t pick lettuce (at any price), how many did apply but got turned down because of having too many degrees or whatever?)

Boy, did I digress. Mr Rooney is spot-on this week. And I know I need to do better at saving money, and not needing the latest and greatest ____ that exists. Just what''s efficient should last for years, assuming those who make products believe in the same philosophy. (e.g. computer operating systems and software, but such waste has existed since the dawn of the microprocessor and those that were taut with programming were involved in companies that went under anyway.)

Made well too so "planned obsolescence" isn''t a factor either.

There is so much we can do, we''re doing a lot, and we can do more.

I hear you, Mr Rooney, and will continue to improve my part. Let''s hope everyone does.

[hypnotoad72]

Posted by harp1974 at 10:49 AM : Dec 01, 2008
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An article that came out today said Obama wants help from governors to fix their states and the article claimed Obama would tax cut and spend. Now while there are no precise details yet, which means take my response with a grain of salt, if it''s the identical sort of spend more/tax cut without oversight and conscious input, we''ll never get any improvement or long term relief. (indeed, in times of war, tax cuts are unprecedented, or at least were until the 21st century.)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/02/politics/main4642138.shtml

[meowcat2]

To Skysoldier 75:
Perhaps using the board to post your personal opinion about Mr. Rooney''s news stories ONLY would be best. Where we get lost, is when people begin to jab one another because they don''t agree with EACH OTHER.

I love Andy Rooney. I just found his most recent "rant" a little hard to digest.

So....speaking of sophistication, in the future perhaps name calling should best be left to school children.

[HeWhoE]

Thanks, Andy. I need to learn to save more.