I'm saving gas money and my arms by taking fewer car trips and combining errands, appts on same trips. I try to fill my tank other week on the same day when I am already nearby Costco.

I had my hair cut for free by someone that had finished school but needed models for further training at a high end salon. And I'll get a half price haircut next time with this gal. I found out about it through a social worker friend who knows all sorts of tricks and tips. She also gets her hair highlighted for free. She said she looks at craigslist under beauty.

I'm looking for a solution to lower the cost of phone/cell/internet service. Someone on this board told me that as a disabled person she was able to get cell phone service for only $10/month. Does anyone have any suggestions on how/where to look into this? Right now I'm on a family plan which costs only an extra $10/month. I've been considering getting rid of my land line but I can't quite figure out how to get a reasonably priced internet service w/o it. I have a bundle with phone and DSL from Qwest which is $58/mo with taxes. This includes a $10 reduction for disabled. Comcast internet is almost as expensive as my combined phone/internet so it's not worthwhile to me. I know that many people have dropped their land lines but I need to figure out how to best make this work. Any suggestions?

Fern, try using internet at the library. Usually it is free.

Tied, it may be free but not good ergonomics. My priority is to keep internet at home if at all possible and to keep driving and sitting in non-ergo chairs, etc to a minimum. sometimes i use the internet at a coffee shop but always seem to be in too much pain afterwards. but thx for the good suggestion. I hope to find a smaller company to offer a competitive price to the big ones.

tshadow-
as an atty do you know about "special needs trusts" or something like that? I may not have the term exactly correct. someone on SSDI told me that she is looking into creating a trust so that she will have more access to assistance while keeping some small amount of money that has been disqualifying her from getting many services, like Medicaid, in home support... I aksed a banker about it at an economic free seminar I went to last month and he said the one he knows of is usually set up by parents of disabled children, not by adult disabled themselves. He did give me a trust atty name and I will phone this week.