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Does anyone have any money saving tips for the recession?

When making dinner use complex carbohydrates for the main part of the meal, like potatoes, rice, noodles,pasta.
There cheap and they fill you up and keep you full.

Potatoes roasted in the oven with herbs, cracked pepper and garlic are the bees knees!. . . . . .seriously

Also porridge with honey and fruit keeps you way full until after lunch time and is healthy and cheap as fuck!
 
arsey said:
What do you do when the answer is yes? :D
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After asking myself 100 times and the answer is still yes , I buy it, and when I get home, I immediately get rid or give away 2 things I don't need :D

*Take note, this applies to everything except edible items ;)
 
I guess I'm the opposite. When I have cash in hand I tend to hold on to it more tightly and really think think about what I'm buying since I'm physically handing over money. A hundred bucks in cash looks a lot more serious than $100 on Visa. But maybe that's just me. I'm much more likely to spend liberally with plastic than I am with cash. Guess I'm different.
 
^ I actually find the same thing and so do my friends, so rest assured, you're not alone. Although I do like handling tangible money that I can see and feel so that I can actually get a mental picture of how much I'm spending, I prefer the convenience of each expense being listed on my statement.

I would like to try what someone suggested earlier in the thread - taking a percentage of my income and saving it. Would I just set up a direct debit on my main account and get a percentage of my income transferred into my other current account as soon as it is deposited into my account? Or is there something else I can organise with the bank? I get paid on different dates each month (five times a month), so setting a direct debit would be difficult. Do I have to open a special sort of savings account, or can I just use current accounts?

Also, does anyone have a decent online guide to saving or low-risk investing? For someone who can save about £150/week, which would leave me with £100/week to spend on food and luxuries, how should I save or invest the money if I don't need to use it for a good 2-4 years? An ISA? I am put off by the sub-inflation interest rates of current accounts.
 
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go to the hood n watch wat people there is doin. nobodys realy doin better than basically gettin by but theres a whole lot of stretching money goin on you can learn from.


Anyways I will give you a small list of things in my life that was standard as i was growing up. Learn to eat shit like butter&sugar sandwiches. stuff made with the most basic things you can buy. enjoy kool aid. dont go out to eat unless its at taco bell off the 79 cent menu. buy ramen. dont buy brand names. dont have cable. dont run up the heat wear lots of clothes inside. dont buy the fluffy quilted toilet paper for your precious ass get the cheap kind. drink tap water or get one of them filters shits if your tap water aint safe to drink. dont have a air conditioner. turn off all lights except the ones you need. dont have subscriptions to magazines or newspapers. dont have a credit card. eat rice every night it fills you up and its cheap just get some sazon and throw it in there to make spanish rice. take good care of the shit you got so you aint got to replace it as much. have a old used car with good gas miles. dont be wearin fancy expensive ass clothes go shop at thrift stores n shit, not becuz its 'cool and hip' to wear stuff like that like all these asshole hipsters but cuz its cheaper n you can find good shit sometimes. theres lots of shit you can do. the most important money saving tip that exists however. Is learn to do without and fucking deal with it. cuz it sucks not havin alot of money but you get by. learn how to get used to things and adapt to them. and be thank ful for wat you got. If you got raised with alot of money then you got alot to learn. if you didnt then try n think back on some shit from your childhood to remind you of things you can do.
 
I don't understand how people would voluntarily eat a fucking crap diet just to save money. This is your health which you are putting at risk. Your health is priceless.
 
kratom luver said:
I don't understand how people would voluntarily eat a fucking crap diet just to save money. This is your health which you are putting at risk. Your health is priceless.
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Voluntarily? You do realize that people who do this are doin it becuz they CANT AFFORD that much right? Do you think the whole time I was a kid my mom was like, hey I think we should save money for a rainy day cuz Im totally cheap and dont want to spend money even tho i got tons of it, so lets eat rice every night and have milk and bread and butter for breakfast! Thats how I want my kids to live! No, its becuz when you are strugglin to survive then you only have a set amount to spend on food so you got to make it count. When youre fuckin hungry you dont give a shit how nutritious it is. If you can buy a lot of one thing or a very small amount of another thing with the same money youre gonna get the thing you can get the most of so it fills your stomach up the most. Holy shit I dont think i ever seen so much ignorance in 3 sentences before.:|

You said your new years resolution is to save money and asked for ideas. If you dont want to hear it then I will be sure to avoid givin any more tips in this thread.
 
lacey k said:
the most important money saving tip that exists however. Is learn to do without and fucking deal with it. cuz it sucks not havin alot of money but you get by. learn how to get used to things and adapt to them. and be thank ful for wat you got.
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How very, very true. Comparing what you do or don't have to what others have is always going to be depressing, but you can get by on next to nothing if you have to. It's amazing how cheaply you can live if you really need to.
 
kratom luver said:
I'll be moving into a new flat, and I was considering buying solar panels. Would it be cost-effective to supplement your electricity with solar panels in the long term?

Also, which is more cost-effective - using gas or electricity to heat your flat and cook food?

* Making sure you shop in a supermarket at a time when they usually start reducing products. Also making sure you take advantage of 2 for 1 offers and sales.
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I suspect solar panels will only be cost effective if you own your own home, or will be there for a while.

Shop around for good tariffs on your electric gas (or so I keep reading).

2 for 1 is only good if you really need both of the items ;)

On your savings account question: set up a separate account. You won't get much interest unless there's a lot of money in there, though. Set up an auto-transfer once a month (presumably you've got some spare cash in your current account that can cover it for now). The advice I've seen is to ensure you can cover your expenses for six months from your savings.

Forget about investing, IMO, unless you have some savings put aside AND have paid off all credit card or other debt. Also, any investing you do right now will be either low return, or risky. It's not a good time for amateurs to invest with money they can't afford to lose.
 
Figure out activities YOU love to do that are inexpensive.

The best things in life aren't only FREE - they actually ADD VALUE.

Write a book.

Or a song.

Or a joke.

Or a haiku.

CREATE SOMETHING!
 
eat smaller meals and freeze leftovers

experiment more with fruit and veg, rather than expensive meats

avoid eating out like the plague. You will be much more satisfied eating at home rather than eating a greasy double whopper or the like.. plus its much cheaper.

definitely work with cash - collect all your coin and use it to treat yourself, save your notes for what counts like gas and poptarts.

Also, when you get a chance, eat at friends/familys houses and if you get offered something free, swallow your pride and accept it - if someone is offering, it probably means they can afford it.

Enforce the 'when not in use, turn off the juice' policy and turn off all unused lights/appliances.

Half your bread and freeze the other. No use letting good bread go mouldy. This also applies to milk, but I havent tried that one.

Buy storebrands rather than name brand products for necessities.

Cook roasts - a decent roast can last you a week of sandwiches/stews or whatever else you may come up with
 
Grow as much of your own food as possible. In the winter you can easily have herbs and small plants near a window for sunlight, or even where the most artificial light is. In the summer time plant on your porch and try to go for things that you can keep frozen for the wintertime.
 
Lay out all your bills, identify those things you aren't even considering giving up. Consider them anyways.

If cable or satellite TV is something you haven't considered reducing or eliminating, why? You might find more quality with less expense by renting DVDs or otherwise getting movies only when you have the time.

Are you paying for the highest tier of internet access when a lower tier would meet your needs just fine.

Is your cell phone a necessity for your life right now? Is it a good time to find cheaper plan that better suits your needs?

Are you acquiring things that are really for the future, not a current need? -buying 2-5 books a week but you only really read 1 a week, and have a cosiderable backlog-

If you have ways that you treat yourself on regular basis (nice meals out, trips to a casino, road trips, etc) look for less expensive substitutes for those things, or give them up for the time being.

Giving up one's car or cars is unthinkable or not feasible for many people, but go ahead and analyze that one also. Are you possibly over insured? Would a smaller vehicle be workable.
 
I find this thread comical. Here we are, plotting expert ways of saving money, and here is our government, wanting us to get out and spend. Most people scratch their heads and ask, why? I just feel that the government and most ordinary people aren't on the same page when it comes to the economy. Well, most things....

Perhaps it is the ingorance of the rich people that is keeping the economy afloat at times like this.
 
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Cut down on hot water use. Take colder showers.
Cut down on heating/cooling. Wear more or get used to the cold.
Unplug electronics not in use at the time.
Do not have lights on if you do not need them, for example when the sun is shining or you are just staring at a screen (might want to turn the brightness & contrast of the screen down for your eyes).
Get rid of the TV service. It is boring anyways.

No processed drinks, including juice. Water, teas, and tisanes are cheap and much healthier than HFCS crap.
No processed foods. Cook for yourself.
Only buy food at grocery stores. Look for the cheapest accessible grocery store (Trader Joe's for me).
When buying food, consider the price versus how many meals it will provide, not the volume or mass. A pound of nuts may be $5, but that will go a long way. A $3.50 pineapple by contrast is one meal (but fucking delicious occasionally :) )
Do not snack.

There are plenty of free or cheap ways to get exercise. Run, dance, pushups...

Bike when possible.

Do not smoke so much cannabis that you build up a tolerance.

Frugality is a virtue. :)
 
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About using cash only, why not withdraw a certain budget each day then only spend that, if you want to save for anything you simply don't spend whole of daily budget.
 
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