Learn to repair things, re-purpose junk, and not care about fashion.
Find a long-lasting, high quality product. Now find a second-hand version of it. Now you saved money, AND have a quality product that will last for years. CAUTION: May involve refurbishment.
Always ask your self:
“Do I need it or do I want it?”
When purchasing technology, never buy the “latest” thing. The price is usually inflated and if it’s something like a computer or a smart phone it’ll have bugs that need to be worked out. Buying one generation back is always a smart way to go!
Change the way you give gifts. My husband and I like to gift homemade treats (candy, preserves, sweet breads, etc.) It is always less expensive and people love it. It’s also a great way to spend time together. There is way too much pressure to spend $$$ for holidays and birthdays.
Keep your eyes out for stuff on trash day. I just found a Honda lawn mower that only needs a throttle lever handle and the blades sharpened. Saw it at Lowe’s for $699.
7 bucks for the handle lever and 30 minutes of my time. Thing starts right up and runs great.
Have an set amount of money automatically transferred to your savings each pay check. You won’t miss it and it adds up rather quickly as long as you don’t constantly dip into it.
Learn to cook different styles of meals. Making food yourself instead of takeout safes so much money, especially if you make enough to have lunch the next day.
A good water bottle that can be refilled also pays off very quickly (if you live in an area with drinkable tap water)
I was wasting food… half open packages were getting lost in my freezer, and only resurfacing when they were beyond use. I got the biggest freezer bag I could find, and whenever I open any package, I put the part I didn’t use in the bag, right in the front, on the top shelf. Every time I open the freezer, I look at the bag and see if there is anything I can use up… maybe put the peas in a stir fry, or make vegetable soup. I don’t have to use the open packages, but just looking at them keeps me from letting them go to waste.
If you are running up too much credit card debt, freeze your card, literally in a block of ice (this won’t work if you’ve memorized or written down the number. By the time the block melts, you’ll have had time to think about it. I do all my shopping online, and I have a 24 hour rule… put it in the cart and sleep on it. If I still want it next day, fine, otherwise, delete or save for later.
Keep your $5 bills back – or the equivalent in your currency. When you get home at the end of the day and pull your money out take all the 5’s you have left from the day and save them. Those save up a whole heck of a lot faster than ones.
Also – keep your change and save it. I have three containers one has quarters, one nickels and dimes, the last pennies. I’ve always held my change back and it’s saved me when times get strapped.
If you find yourself shopping online out of boredom, go ahead and add those impulse items into a shopping cart. Then do nothing and log out. Your brain will give you the satisfaction of having “shopped” and you will thank yourself the next day when you empty the cart and count the savings you almost squandered.
cars are expensive if you can invest in a high-quality bike do it, deck it out with an electric motor and back tire bags. it will save you a lot of money.
From the USA perspective, it is way cheaper to vacation abroad than in our own country. A simple trip to Disney will run you over 2K for 2 people. While you can go to abroad with same money and have an excellent time, save money and get to know other cultures.
Live somewhere you have free healthcare and human job laws ( if you can choose, I was born here, so I’m lucky).
When it comes to food, make freezer meals. Soups, stews, curries, sauce bases for pasta and rice, breads, all of this and much much more. You might sacrifice the total fresh taste, but it saves you a lot of time.
I grew up on freezer meals, and let me tell you the benefits definitely outweigh the sacrifice. You can cook a lot of one dish and then freeze it in smaller portions to pull out when needed. You know that you’ll come home from work late? Take it out of the freezer and thaw it on the counter in the morning, and when you come home, heat it up and eat. Make sure as you warm it up to add a little fresh something, like green chilies, fresh herbs, even some fresh lemon juice.
Otherwise, if you have time to cook every day or something but want minimal leftovers, I recommend dessertfortwo.com for scaled-down recipes.
I save a lot of money by bringing my own food for breakfast, lunch or coffee break at work. My company provides hot and cold water for free, so I bring a bowl with my oatmeal, a bagged lunch and a nice quality instant coffee and a reusable mug. I also have a reusable water bottle that I fill up, so I don’t have to buy water. I don’t know how much I’m saving by bringing these things from home and just using their water dispenser, but I think it’s reasonable to assume something like $5 for breakfast, $1.50 for a bottle of water, $3 for coffee and $5-10 for lunch. And I’m eating healthier for it, too, which is important for people my age/health situation. My company doesn’t mind providing the hot/cold water dispenser, either–it’s cheaper than a company coffee maker or cafeteria. They provide a microwave too, if I ever want hot food instead of my typical sandwich & veggies.
I know this goes a little deeper but once my husband and I stopped focusing on lack and digging into the concept of abundance we have been so much happier and richer (double meaning). Some principles of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace and the envelope system turned absolutely everything around for us.
A bargain is something you don’t need, at a price you can’t resist.
Don’t buy a New car. They lose up to 40% of their value in year one.Certified pre-owned!
If you have children, add them on your credit cards when they are 16-17 (only if you make the payments religiously) You do not have to even tell them.. but their credit will be building the whole time. How great it would be for them to rent their first place and be able to buy a car with out a co-signer!
Look out for markets/stores where they sell the stuff which cannot be sold in a regular store.
e.g. where I live, every saturday there is a market for fruit, veggies which aren’t looking fresh enough anymore or doesn’t comply with the standarts (apples not big enough, cucumbers not straight enough)
>visit it with friends, everyone put the same amount of money in one pot, shop together, split up everything according to needings.
We’re 4, everyone gives 5€ and is happy with the result. It’s cheaper to shop as a group, than alone.
—-
In addition there is a store selling stuff, mostly where the “best use before”-date is nearby and not of use anymore, but shouldn’t be wasted.
It’s great for big families, b/c mostly there are packages made for restaurants/diners – so… like… a package of 20 cordon bleu for less than 5€
Sounds contrary, but buy a whiteboard or chalkboard for your kitchen to fight wasting food and organize meals and shopping.
We have three parts:
1. Upcoming meals. (Ingredients at home.)
2. Best by dates of stuff in the fridge. (Like fish or self-prepared foo)
3. Need to buy next shopping day.
This helps a lot to avoid wasting food and keep track of things that need to be bought. Esp. the best-by-dates-list is awesome.
We moved the meal plan to a huge self-made chalkboard now which even looks stylish in the dining room 🙂
Eat all the food you buy. Don’t buy in loads of stuff and leave it sitting there.
Save any leftover bits of meat & veggies. Freeze each in clear bags & put them into 1 freezer bag. Soon you can make soup or a stir fry. If cheese is going bad, grate & Freeze. Eggs can be frozen if they are getting old. Whip each egg & put in an ice tray. Fine for cooking with. Make your own pancakes, waffles, & French toast to Freeze instead of buying. Stock up on staples when on sale. Just 1 extra can, box of pasta, bag of sugar – whatever you can afford (including toiletries). It will begin to add up to a useful stockpile quickly. Use 3/4# of ground meat instead of 1#. You really won’t miss it & those 1/4# add up. Milk can be frozen, but remove 1 cup for expansion. Add powdered milk & whole milk to make 2% cheaper. When you buy bread, put 2 slices in a sandwich bag. Put in a freezer bag. Thaw as needed, takes seconds -no more moldy bread. Make frozen dinners w/ leftovers-great for lunches or busy nights. I’m sure there are more, but we did all this when our kids were little to save
Not sure if anyone has said this. Eat before going into a grocery store. You will not feel as hungry and won’t feel the impulse to buy anything other than what’s on the list!
Pay cash for realistic things like groceries, restaurant meals, booze. When you are taking money from your wallet, that is limited, you realize how much you are actually spending.
Cellphones do not need to cost $75 – $100 dollars. Look at your data plan, how much do you really use. You can switch to a smaller company, usually inside retail stores, they cost a fraction of the three big carriers, and run on the same network. You could go from $100, down to $40.
Cable, get rid of it. It’s a Ponzi scheme. All you need is unlimited internet. You can stream movies, and tv from it. Streaming services are hit and miss, on content, that’s on you.
Pack your lunch, you’ll save a good chunk right there.
Reusable drinking bottle, a good one. A bit pricey up front, will pay for itself in the long run.
Fill up your gas tank. I know some folks are going to say, “I can’t afford that.”, or “I only can do $20 for now.”. This a mental state. You THINK it’s cheaper, when in actuality it’s more expensive. It cost $20 on Monday to put gas in the car, then $20 on Thursday, to finish the week, but you still had to get gas again on Sunday, another $20. Same scenario, you fill up the tank on Monday, $52, lasts till next Monday. I know, that’s just 6 bucks. You also didn’t go to the gas station 2 more times. You just saved time and money. Boom.
This last bit is the oldest piece of advice, since consumerism.
You get what you pay for.
Buy cheap sh!t, you get cheap sh!t.
Buy a quality product that costs more, lasts longer than cockroaches.
I have more, this will start you out.
I’ve been homeless, I’ve pulled myself out, and got on my feet. I’ve been at both ends of the spectrum, in terms of financial well-being.
Every time you go grocery shopping, take out $20 and put it in a jar. At the end of the year, you’ll have a grand.
Just because you were born somewhere doesn’t mean you are stuck there. If where you live is expensive and the job pool is low, move. Move to where work is growing, move to cheaper locations, move to where the opportunities are.
I have so many…
– Laptops – do not buy new. All my laptops have come from ebay over the past 25 years, I’ve never spent more than $250 on one. My current one has a backlit keyboard, i7 processor, 16gb ram, 1T HD, excellent sound system (sub woofer on bottom). I’m on year 5 and it still works great.
– Don’t rule out refurbished products. I got my $400 Dyson vacuum for $165. On year 3 and still works like new.
– No grubhub or 3rd party delivery service. No one needs a $20 big mac.
– Buy a reliable econo car outright – No loans means you don’t have to have to have increased insurance. This saves me $1,100 a year. (ignore this if your friends have nicknamed you Captain Crunch because of your bad driving)
– Don’t have the money to buy it outright? I paid for mine with a credit card convenience check. I found one that had a 15 month at 0% interest promo rate and split the payments over that period. Paid no interest, plus got to own it right away.
– Drink coffee at home or at work where it’s free.
– Look at your weekly flyer from the supermarket. Stock up on sale items.
– Buy an additional freezer to store stuff you scored on sale. It will pay for itself after a year.
– Stay away from Apple products. Their entire business model is charging through the roof for a substandard product that you’ll have to replace too quickly.
– Do not buy designer anything. You don’t need it, you may as well set fire to your money if you buy them. You’re paying for the name, not the product.
– If you have mid to long length hair, get a CreaClip and cut it yourself. I’ve saved a TON doing this.
– Have a mortgage? See if you can refinance. I refinanced my 30 year mortgage 3 times, getting a better rate each time, which allowed me to pay it off in 15 years.
– No going out for drinks regularly. At $10-$15 a pop, they add up.
– Cook at home. Go pick up some take-out or go out to a restaurant no more than twice a month. No delivery, the fees + tips add up.
– Be smart buying clothes, again no designer anything. I find a lot of good deals from places like Venus and Kohl’s. And always search for a promo code.
Just don’t spend it! Go minimalist, it saves loads and saves the earth from wasted, useless junk.
Every few months go through your drawers and really scrutinize if you really need that item. Put all the items you don’t really need or want in a bag or a box, take a picture of each one and post them on Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji, or ebay. But before you come up with a price, check out how much that item is being sold for by others. (You never know if you have something worthy of more value.)
Any extra money you get out of your usual income, don’t spend it if you don’t absolutely need to. Bring it to the bank and open a RRSP or Trust Fund. Or perhaps a bond where the money can grow. (It may depend on how much you have to save.)
Think of free activities to do. Go out for walks and explore the neighbourhood. We like to look at houses and how they are structured and landscaped. Hang out at the park more, go for picnics, toss the frisbee with friends, play ball. Look for free events and activities scheduled around town.
Saving money for artists/hobbyists:
I like to paint with oils, acrylics and do various projects to fix up my home, and make it more personalized. This can be super costly.
Avoid expensive art stores, like Michaels, or look for sales (especially if you’re just doing it for fun.). Sometimes thrift stores sell art supplies but check out the quality first.
When buying paint, picking colours can be overwhelming. Stick with the primary colours, first: Yellow (Medium/Cadmium), White (Titanium), Black, Red (Cadmium), Cerulean Blue.
Just use an old plate or something hard and easy to wipe off that doesn’t absorb the paint (like wood). You don’t necessarily need to buy a painter’s palette.
You can buy a book pad of canvas paper instead of canvas boards or wood framed canvases. Or take advantage of the canvas pack deals.
Do not throw out anything that can be salvaged, including paintings you don’t like. Just sand down the clumps and brush strokes, Gesso it, and start anew.
Learn to take care of your paint brushes and clean them properly so you don’t have to replace them. You don’t need a ton of different brushes. It’ll depend on your technique preferences but you should only have 3 or 4 different types of brushes in your arsenal.
Acrylic painting is much cheaper than oil painting. Water colour maybe even more affordable.
If you are an oil painter, do not throw out your Terpenoid just because it’s murky and paint is settling in the bottom of the jar. You may only need to change it out once a year or less, depending on how often you clean your brushes. (And for the love of all that’s Holy, DO NOT dump paint thinner down the drain, and DO NOT throw anything like paper towels, containing paint thinner in the garbage. Dump it in a separate jar, put that paper towel in a designated jar with a lid. Take it to the chemical waste plant.)
Make your own personalized gifts for friends and family.
Convert some of your fiat (paper money) to gold or silver and take physical custody of it. In 2020 the US Federal Reserve bank printed 1/5th of all the US dollars in existence in that year. The Euro and the Yen are in worse shape, the British Pound is sinking too. When the banks fail, depositors will be “bailed in”, meaning they essentially forfeit their deposits. The dollar only looks good now because all the others are worse. “In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.” Pre1964 US silver dimes and quarters are the easiest to buy. A silver dime fetches $2.00 US dollars, a quarter brings about $7.50 USD. Precious metals are greatly undervalued due to manipulation, rising precious metal prices are the sign of a failing currency. Good luck & plant a garden!
Invest in a vacuum sealer. Buy in bulk. Buy things, especially meats when they are on sale, seal, label and freeze. By vacuum sealing them, you avoid nasty freezer burn. Buy cheaper cuts and learn how to cook them for soups, stews, etc. Keep veggy scraps in the freezer until you have enough to make your own stock. Basically free and much better than store bought stock.
If you get a raise at work, say 3%, put 2% to automatically go to savings or 401K. You won’t notice the difference and it will add up quickly.
Make your own coffee and bring it to work in a thermos. “Brown bag” lunch.
Use public transit if you can. Then you can read, relax, play Wordle, etc. while somebody else worries about the traffic.
Bike or walk whenever possible – good for your health as well as your wallet.
If you want a pet, get a mutt from the local shelter. Random-bred cats and dogs tend to be sturdier than purebreds, since the latter may have come from puppy mills or be inbred.
Use your credit card like a debit card: only put things on it that you can pay off at the end of the month (or sooner). This helps build credit and avoids carrying too much debt.
Also watch your credit utilization! Aim for using under 30% of your credit limit at any time, it will boost your credit score over time.
Shop thrift and consignment stores. I find very nice, nearly new items lots of times. And it’s fun, “the thrill of the hunt”.
For the small savings you may need:
Put aside the money from the bottle deposit and the change (if it is more than an hourly wage, only the coins).
At the end of the month, look in your wallet and put aside what’s in it, at least the coins.
> Helped when the stove broke and needed to be repaired.
If you can, pay a fixed amount every month into an extra account – €5, €20, €50, €100 […] it doesn’t matter, as long as the amount stays the same. I only changed the amount, when I changed my employment.
> Saved my a*s when I became unemployed & had to get through the month with what I had saved. Now I have to start again.
—
For the bigger stuff you want/need later (retirement, house, fund for somebody)
Ask a professional, better yet several professionals (e.g. your bank, friends/family of that profession) about investment opportunities for small amounts of money (for Germany: avoid ‘Riester Rente’!).
Don’t be afraid to ask – get advise from those who are trained and know what they do.
Check the contract/s – several times, by several people.
> parents got a nice addition to their retirement and sorted out the costs of their funeral (2nd one is reviewed every year)
When I am indulging in a little retail therapy, I put everything in my cart and let it rest for a while. Then I go back, and for each item ask myself “is this something that I would go to the store to get if I couldn’t have it delivered?” Most of the time, the answer is no. Online retailers have trained us to buy everything on a whim. I may feel that I NEED a gold-plated stapler at 1 am, but would I need a gold stapler so badly if I had to drive to the store to get one?
If I want to buy something like a car, figure out it’s total monthly cost then figure out how to create a cash flow equal or greater to that and use that to pay for it.
If your employer offers matching funds for the retirement account or 401k then put in the max amount they will match. If you can save more than that, put the rest in a Roth IRA away from your employer. I retired at 51, still wishing I had started my contributions earlier.
Try to trade.
Use the online groups, sometimes there are specific groups for where you live.
Try to get your hands on re-usable stuff, like linnen-diapers (it isn’t pretty, but ask your grandparents or great-grandparents) or especially for women re-usable pads (there are even patterns to sew them by yourself)
Take your change you accumulate at the end of each day and put it in a jar or something. You will be suprised at how fast it adds up.
Learn the difference between an asset and a liability. Maximize assets (especially liquid ones) and minimize liabilities. The biggest liabilities most buy is a car. So don’t do that or buy old, efficient, and reliable.
Doesn’t work for everything, but don’t buy replacements when you have something perfectly useful but are “saving for company” or that special occasion. Towels are a great example.
Not really a tip but rather something I just happen to know (My dad is EXTREMELY careful as to how he handles money and he knows so much that if I have a question, I just ask him.) : If you get a tv that let’s say is $800. You get it on “sale” for $200 off. So you didn’t save $200. You just spent $600. :/
Set aside a percentage of any income you have as soon as you receive it (salary, gift from grandma, bonus) in some tool that is not so easy to access (bank account, piggie bank), so you don’t spend it without thinking about it. It can be 10%, for example. And use 90% as if it were the total. Always. All your life.
Once you have collected enough, you can use a part (or all) of it to invest it in something that is not risky even if it does not give much interest. Eventually it will become part of your routine and you will learn to live with that 90% without realizing it.
Make a budget and keep a record of what you spend, and where you spend it. In your budget set aside a specific amount for purchases not associated with bills and specific expenses.
Make your own coffee, pack lunches for work, and cook your own meals at home. Shop at thrift stores. Get rid of memberships you don’t use. Use the local library for books and movies. Live within your means.
So don’t buy new cars. Thwy coat a fortune. Walk as much as you can. Bus passes are worth it. Basically the simpler the transportation is the less you spend tour money.
Quit smoking. And be careful to not spend all the money on food instead.
Make a list of all of your expenses for each month. Attack the largest expense first. For most it will be housing. Always share your house by renting out a room. You can frequently cover most or all of your rent/mortgage this way. It’s the largest pay raise most people will ever get. (And if you choose well you will meet some awesome people this way!)
This is a great help for me, I wish this could come in a pdf format..
Like those fancy coffees that are typically around $5 a cup? Espresso machines: $50-100; coffee grinder: $30-50; whole coffee beans, 1 pound: $10-15; milk, half gallon: $3-5; flavor syrup: $7-15 a bottle. Add that up, and depending on how much you drink, that espresso machine and grinder can save you money starting in a month or two.
Want it vs need it helps as does sleeping on it. Buy pretty but practical things if you love pretty things (e.g. sparkly shoes instead of plain black). Eat the food you have at home instead of eating out even if you don’t want to eat the food at home (https://twitter.com/Commandr_nchief/status/1513857299936423948 is stuck on my fridge now especially with this reply: https://twitter.com/CrystalBLive/status/1513881819149709319). I personally find it cheaper to get my groceries delivered because I can then avoid impulse buys. Learn to bake and you can make cake and biscuits and things at home (not always cheaper but then you have a whole cake instead of a slice and can freeze the left over).
Have a budget and stick to it but make sure to put some money for fun things in that. Even poor people deserve the odd treat or splurge item. Don’t stress over much about saving for a rainy day if you are constantly living in a rainy day.
If possible, try to live off of 70% of your income, and save the rest on a savings account. Only buy things you actually need, and look for sales, (avoid Black Friday Sales)
Listen I’m sorry I offended so many people off a joke, like I guess my humor is just messed up.
Don’t carry cash with you. If you do, make sure it’s larger bills because you will spend it faster if it’s a smaller bill.
