• LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari

Does anyone have any money saving tips for the recession?

^ there are ways of getting high without having to spend much money, if any at all, unless you mean some peoples' propensity to spend whilst fucked!
 
We don't pay rent
Try to shut the lights off
Throw trash away at work
Get free food and shit at work
Eat about once a day when we can, at home
Don't by anything we don't need, bf has problems with that one
Buy needed clothes at goodwill
Drive a POS car for as long as possible ( we only have 1)
Fix instead of repair
Try never to use the credit card and get it paid off (good fucking luck)
Don't heat the parts of the house that we don't use
Look for a new job that has more hours
Found ways to save money during Christmas. (make cookies, wipe and redo my parent's computer, by online, cheaper)
Get all my pharms through my mom's medical insurance which she pays, also all MY dr shit gets paid for. As well as my cellphone. Plus she loves auctions and she is always bringing us things to try to make this house just a little more livable.

You would think with all this we would have it made but I worry about money constantly. It seems like it is gone before I even get it, other bills.
Still don't exactly make ends meat.
If we ever decide to spoil ourselves just a little bit we pay dearly for it...
 
did someone already mention re-using ziplock bags, foil, etc...that aren't really dirty? That helps!

I remember hearing of someone's mum who used to rinse the cling-wrap/plastic lunch wrap after using it, and hanging it up to dry to re-use it.
EXTREME RECYCLING!! =D
 
We don't pay rent In my dream world this would happen!!!
Try to shut the lights off
Throw trash away at work
Get free food and shit at work
Eat about once a day when we can, at home Once a day?? That doesn't seem healthy
Don't by anything we don't need, bf has problems with that one
Buy needed clothes at goodwill
Drive a POS car for as long as possible ( we only have 1) This can end up costing more money in the long run as you need to repair it more often
Fix instead of repair can also cost more money in the long run because you end up having to fix something 10 times when you could just "repair" it and be done with it
Try never to use the credit card and get it paid off (good fucking luck)
Don't heat the parts of the house that we don't use more blankets, sweaters, and socks! my house doesn't have heat, it gets down to the low 40's
Look for a new job that has more hours at my house that just means more beer at the end of the day lol ;)
Found ways to save money during Christmas. (make cookies, wipe and redo my parent's computer, by online, cheaper)
Get all my pharms through my mom's medical insurance which she pays, also all MY dr shit gets paid for. As well as my cellphone. Plus she loves auctions and she is always bringing us things to try to make this house just a little more livable.

You would think with all this we would have it made but I worry about money constantly. It seems like it is gone before I even get it, other bills.
Still don't exactly make ends meat. meet ;)
If we ever decide to spoil ourselves just a little bit we pay dearly for it...

lmao @ "extreme recycling"
 
Getting solar panels is a good money-saving investment for the long-term. They pay for themselves in approximately seven years but last for around fifty. So it's a good idea to maybe save a little every month and then eventually purchase them. In the UK you can get them at a discounted price because the government is encouraging their use through subsidizing them, so I'm not so sure how much they would cost AFTER deductions. Oh yeah, they're also obviously green and help you save environment.

Another really cool idea is to use 'light tubes', which bend th light down these long attractive tubes so that you can get nice warm natural sunlight indoors, which saves on electricity. Natural sunlight is also arguably more attractive than artificial fluorescent light and is better for growing indoor houseplants.

My goal is to become completely self sufficient so that I do not have to spend any money on food. I'm already about half way to reaching my goal. This is vastly more healthy and has many more positive aspects to this practice. My favorite indoor houseplant are chili peppers. I'm a fan of the hottest chili pepper on earth, the Bhut Jolokia. The seeds can be purchased online. To make your dish moderately hot, you only need a minute amount of this fruit since it has such a huge capcaisin content. I grow many different varieties of chilli, tomato etc. under special HID grow lights (metal halide and high pressure sodium lights) in a grow tent with a special purpose-built ventilation system which was admittedly very expensive. The hobby is fascinating and VERY fun. The sense of satisfaction and achievement is very rewarding. Although the initial cost was relatively high, the ongoing running costs are quite low. I'd recommend indoor gardening to anyone. The botany you can learn is quite considerable, so it's also very educational I believe.

My next goal is to start growing legal psychoactive plants such as San Pedro, Peyote, Kratom (difficult to cultivate apparently), Papaver Somniferum (legal here in the UK at least) etc.
 
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Start slow. And proceed in this fashion:

Each time you refrain from an activity that would have cost money, IMMEDIATELY or ASAP transfer that money into a savings account. If you make lunch in the morning (or, ideally, the night before), then figure out how much you would have spent for lunch otherwise, sit down at your computer, and transfer the money into a savings account.

Start setting some very precise, but realistic rules. Don't change everything at once. Set a goal of packing a lunch three times a week. Of leaving extra time to walk twice a week. And so forth.

Be exact, be incremental (slow changes stick and big changes slip), and lock in the savings immediately or you'll simply spend the money elsewhere.



I think all of the other suggestions were great (although even I hesitated at the idea of a bread and butter sandwich--unless we're talking about toast at breakfast).

If you're going to cut off calories as a way of saving money, look up something like the Mediterranean diet, which involves less food. You can eat less food without eating more junk food.

As a project at some point, when you have free time, I'd glance at some online brokerage services (if you're working full-time for a company check to see what their retirement savings options are like). Take your time. Eventually you may want to put some money into a few index funds.

For now though, since the name of the game is slow change, just focus on those initial steps.
 
OK, here are almost all the tips I have...I bet I could probably write a book on living frugally without giving up much but tbh a lot of my money saving comes from splurging only on things I can't produce myself. I honestly don't give up anything as far as quality of life is concerned.

-Eat more vegetables...meat is expensive. Maybe you can cut down your meat consumption to once a week, or maybe you're only comfortable cutting one meat eating day out of your diet. Dried beans are cheap as hell and sooo easy to make.
-Shop at farmers markets. They always have fresh produce at excellent prices.
-Cut down on eating out-- anything you like to eat can be made at lower cost and higher quantity at home.
-Wash your laundry on cold, and if you are so inclined make your own laundry detergent. The materials are simple and easy to find and make over a year's worth of laundry detergent. All you do is take nag champa soap (found in the laundry aisle of your grocery store) or any other bar soap you like and either grate it or cut it up and stick it in your food processor, and combine it with equal parts washing powder and baking soda. That's it, and if you want it to smell like something you can pick up a fragrance oil and stir it in.
-mend clothing--there are a lot of resources on this
-don't go to movies, rent them
-only go out once in a while, and if you plan to drink do a little pregame since it's cheaper to drink at home, and hang out at home whenever possible
 
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I've found a fabulous way to save money on alcohol. Purchasing brewing kits online can save you an absolute fortune in alcohol. A daily tipple of wine is actually good for you and your heart. It's definitely worth it. You can also sell it to friends (quietly).
 
I've found a fabulous way to save money on alcohol. Purchasing brewing kits online can save you an absolute fortune in alcohol. A daily tipple of wine is actually good for you and your heart. It's definitely worth it. You can also sell it to friends (quietly).

A couple of things to clarify:

Don't sell it to your friends because that's illegal ;)

1 glass of red wine a day is reported to have health benefits, particularly for the heart, BUT any more than 1 glass of alcoholic beverage per day can be equally as unhealthy on the body, particularly the liver, and particularly for women.
So take that with a grain of salt...
:)
 
For those of you who are not provided health insurance through your employer or some other means and are in good health, consider a high deductible. e.g. if you have $5,000 in savings you can allocate towards paying for any costs you incur then use a $5,000 deductible. Even if you see the doctor a few times and fill a couple of prescriptions it will only take about 2 yrs max before the amount you saved equals your deductible.
 
A couple of things to clarify:

Don't sell it to your friends because that's illegal ;)

1 glass of red wine a day is reported to have health benefits, particularly for the heart, BUT any more than 1 glass of alcoholic beverage per day can be equally as unhealthy on the body, particularly the liver, and particularly for women.
So take that with a grain of salt...
:)

Thanks for clarifying that ;)

One more point to make. The cardioprotective properties are like only to be of benefit to older people (not exactly the demographic of this site).

Also, if you're drinking red wine for the antioxidants, grape juice will be a cheaper alternative that does the job just as well.
 
Also, if you're drinking red wine for the antioxidants, grape juice will be a cheaper alternative that does the job just as well.

I didn't figure that, that's a great point! Thanks AE :)
And also while we're on the topic, like you said, grape juice is a whole lot cheaper than red wine ;)
 
For those of you who are not provided health insurance through your employer or some other means and are in good health, consider a high deductible. e.g. if you have $5,000 in savings you can allocate towards paying for any costs you incur then use a $5,000 deductible. Even if you see the doctor a few times and fill a couple of prescriptions it will only take about 2 yrs max before the amount you saved equals your deductible.

My employer offers a high deductible plan ($2500) along with a Health Savings Account (HSA) where you can deduct pretax dollars from your pay. IT SUCKS!
I have bills to pay. Bills that collect interest. I can't afford to put a whack of cash into my HSA.

I am afraid of going to see the doctor due to out of pocket cost. My birth control is $75/month. I scrounge for samples from my gyno.

I had routine blood work done at a physical last year....$325 cost with insurance. If I knew that I would have said fuck the blood panel.

If I had $5000 in savings I would not be using it for health care.

I am grateful I am healthy. I work at keeping it that way.

Heaven forbid there was a medical emergency. I would have to go on yet another payment plan to pay the bill!
 
lmao @ "extreme recycling"


Well we don't pay rent because the house is owned by my bf's parents.

And Ends meet- actually comes from when people would poor they had to buy the cut end potions of meat because it was cheaper... Guess I was thinking about that...
 
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