Slow Economy – Where to save $$?

With the economy as slow as it is, and no improvement on the horizon, Tracy and I are looking for ways to save money at Nemo’s. Since we have ran our shop with a common sense approach from the start, there are not many places for us to improve. We did find a few, though…

1. Last night, I replaced the head gaskets and diffuser screens on our La Marzocco 3 Group Linea… My cost was about $40. The last time we had a service tech do the work, it cost about $180. I saved $140 and got to spend some quality time with La Marzocco!
2. Another critical maintenance item is to have our ice machine serviced. It was $168 the last time we had it done, and we are due for another. Since we bought our ice machine used, we had absolutely no documentation on it. Five minutes on the internet allowed me to find the Owner’s Manual, as well as the Service Technical Manual. Another 10 minutes of reading and I know everything I need to know in order to service the unit. I had to buy some nickel safe ice machine cleaner for $20. That saves us another $148.
3. For our first 2 ½ years, we have had our milk delivered to the shop by Royal Crest Dairy. They produce steroid and antibiotic free milk, all natural. There is no comparison between Royal Crest Dairy milk and store bought milk. The quality is top notch. However, we have paid as much as $4.50 a gallon (price fluctuates on this commodity). We found a retail source for the Royal Crest milk, and I now do two milk runs a week for the shop. The new price is approximately $2.60 a gallon and it costs me an hour of my time a week. That saves us $275 per month, with no loss of quality.
4. These are just a few ways we have found to save a few dollars at Nemo’s. We are going to continue to look for other ways to save…

Gotta run…
JD