Tell me something you do to save money

[pete6032]

I don't drive much so I switched to per-mile car insurance. I pay about $20/month flat rate plus 1.3 cents per mile. My total bill is always under $25/month.

 

[DietDrThunder]

I have no debt and I don't spend much.

 

[lxskllr]

I buy most things used if time allows for searching. The last new clothes I bought were a pair of work gloves a couple years ago. I usually find all my gloves, but they're always left hands. I have a bag full of lefts, and only a few rights :^D

 

[dasherHampton]

I only buy toilet paper on sale.

And I look for "buy one get on free" until the last possible second.

 

[dullard]

The easiest way to save money (to me) is just to delay purchases. A simple example is with haircuts. I could get a $12 haircut every 3 weeks. That would cost me $208.56/year. If instead I delay until every 4 weeks, it only costs $156.42/year. The difference sounds small, but that adds up to over $4000 saved in a lifetime. Just by having an unnoticeable delay in a haircut.

Do the same thing with every other purchase in your life that can be delayed. Buy a $25000 car every 3 years over a lifetime will cost you ~$583k. Buy it every 6.5 years (the average time that people have a car) will cost you ~$269k. Do that every 10 years (like I do) and it costs ~$175k. And a new car every 10 years costs you about the same amount as if you bought a decent used car, but had to buy used every 5 years since used cars get less reliable over time, so you don't have to resort to used vehicles.

Computers get cheaper and better if you delay. Movies plunge from $10/ticket to free on TV if you delay. You can pay $100+/month for cable TV or just buy the DVDs of what you want to actually watch for $5 each if you delay. Etc.

 

[PricklyPete]

Spend less than I make.


In all seriousness, put money away before you make it available to yourself. Whether through your company’s options or immediately after you receive your paycheck. Don’t touch that money.

Then don’t spend anymore than what you have remaining. People figure out how to live with much lower salaries than yours, so you’ll figure it out too. Might require you to reprioritize your needs vs wants.

If you are single and childless, you really have no excuse.

My wife and I set a budget that is significantly less than what I make. We look at that budget as all the money we have (regardless of what I actually make). This works for us.

 

[PricklyPete]

The easiest way to save money (to me) is just to delay purchases. A simple example is with haircuts. I could get a $12 haircut every 3 weeks. That would cost me $208.56/year. If instead I delay until every 4 weeks, it only costs $156.42/year. The difference sounds small, but that adds up to over $4000 saved in a lifetime. Just by having an unnoticeable delay in a haircut.

Do the same thing with every other purchase in your life that can be delayed. Buy a $25000 car every 3 years over a lifetime will cost you ~$583k. Buy it every 6.5 years (the average time that people have a car) will cost you ~$269k. I do that every 10 years (like I do) and it costs ~$175k.

Computers get cheaper and better if you delay. Movies plunge from $10/ticket to free on TV if you delay. You can pay $100+/month for cable TV or just buy the DVDs of what you want to actually watch for $5 each if you delay. Etc.

This is good advice as well and something I regularly practice. I have friends who don’t get it and will say to me “you are going to spend the money eventually, so you might as well get it now”. I am always flabbergasted that they don’t understand how that doesn’t add up.

Not only does delayed gratification save money, it increases how much you enjoy the eventual purchase.

I also try to do small things that add up. Cut my own hair (have since college), make my own coffee, buy minimal clothes, pay for phones in full and keep as long as possible, keep our furniture purchases at a minimum (kids destroy even the nicest stuff), etc. Sure, we might blow a large sum at a restaurant for a date night or on a vacation...but those add a lot of value. My haircut does not.

 

[ctbaars]

Stop buying junk food and soda.
Stop buying food that you'll just throw away.
Make a shopping list and stick to it.
This was a rough lesson to learn for me. My household went from two incomes to one and I needed to go through a lot of mental training.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I quit buying junk. I was spending several hundred a week on computer parts and motorcycles. Sold the motorcycle and quit upgrading my computer. Computer is a 2600k with an old ass video card. Also me and the wife budget going out to dinner once a week and we haven't even been doing that. Maybe once every 3 weeks. I'm at the point that I'm sick of working. Unless I quit wasting money I was going to be working until the day I was dead.

 

[sourceninja]

I buy cigars by the box and whiskey by the bottle. Way cheaper than than going to the bar.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I buy cigars by the box and whiskey by the bottle. Way cheaper than than going to the bar.

I don't drink or smoke. 100% savings and no increased medical costs or days off my life either.

 

[dasherHampton]

I don't drink or smoke. 100% savings and no increased medical costs or days off my life either.

Vices or not, life is pretty short either way.

I don't drink much anymore but I wouldn't take back all the fun I had when I was younger.

 

[JM Aggie08]

I buy only what I need, and cook meals like a responsible adult. I do have a few indulgences, as I won't be young/live forever.

 

[Exterous]

Things we do:
Buy low mileage used cars and keep them for a long time
Buy in bulk esp when we can stack 'new customer' and Amex offers
Fix things instead of replace them
Learn how to fix new things from youtube
Do the majority of our own home improvements\renno work. I might work slow but my labor is dirt cheap
Tax arbitrage
Don't buy a lot of 'stuff'

 

[mikeymikec]

I turn the heating off during the day while my wife is at work, heating is off at night.
All bulbs are energy-saving types (except my wife's bedside lamp, bloody halogen, and an energy-saving G9 bulb won't fit in it)*.
Lights are off unless needed.
I switch off the power shower while I'm soaping myself (also helps me hurry up in the shower).
I walk to the shops in most circumstances.
If a hole develops in washing up gloves, then replace the glove with the hole only.
Keep take-away food down to once a month, we hardly ever eat at a restaurant.
Hi-fis are unplugged from the mains until they're in use.
My wife keeping a note of what she's spending on the joint credit card has made a significant difference.
I doubt that my 'indulgence' purchases hit £30 on average. This month I bought a bargain bucket PC game.
* - keep my wife away from purchases with a technical bearing, when she does it we end up with 'fashionable' halogen lamps! 230 goddamn watts for the one in the living room!

 

[IronWing]

We evaluate everything that has a periodic fee (services or subscriptions) to determine if they are still worth it and dump them if they aren't.

 

[IronWing]

* - keep my wife away from purchases with a technical bearing, when she does it we end up with 'fashionable' halogen lamps! 230 goddamn watts for the one in the living room!

Halogen lights were glorious! When we lived in the land of gloom, rain, and depression flipping on the f'in sun in the living room felt so good. So what if it scorched the ceiling paint? So what if aircraft tried to land on our roof? So what if it was like living inside an easy-bake oven? The light shining all the way through our bones felt so wonderful.

 

[Chess]

People call me jewish, but I like to save... I like getting perks out of using my CC... Instead of companies taking it directly out of my bank account I use my CC to pay every bill besides my mortgage... I am getting points Chase Freedom unlimited 1.5 pt for every dollar.

Someone else mentioned that spend less than what you make, of course that is easiest way. I actually stack cash away every month.
I think it also depends on how much you and your significant other make together.

I have a nice house, nice cars, and not anywhere in CC debt. I use to be and I found a way to pay it off and its worked. After July, I will only have debt of house, car (interest free) and student loans (2.5%). My student loans will be the next to tackle.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I cut my own hair
I eat out as infrequently as my wife will allow
I hand me down all of my "high end" PC gear to my kid who is happy to have an upgrade from my last upgrade
I dont buy junk
I dont buy brand name unless there is a real benefit in longevity or my quality of life
I wait to buy any video game since i know they fall like rocks in price, plus if you stay a bit behind there is always a stream of "new to me" games to choose from

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I say no a lot.
I also try to do stuff myself a lot, even if that includes an up-front purchase... so for instance, instead of buying more cat scratchers, I bought a staple gun, staples, and some sisal rope, and now I can repair a scratch post for a percentage of the cost of a new one, or build my own based on whatever specifications I choose. I do this a lot.
I get a lot of used/'broken' stuff then fix it/repair it and use that.
Buy on sale, near-exclusively.
Buy in bulk, near-exclusively.

 

[mikeymikec]

I eat my own hair

Ok, I read that wrong. Does anyone else get this, when your eyes read a line and you accidently hop down a line halfway through and back up again?

I also try to do stuff myself a lot, even if that includes an up-front purchase... so for instance, instead of buying more cat scratchers, I bought a staple gun, staples, and some sisal rope, and now I can repair a scratch post for a percentage of the cost of a new one, or build my own based on whatever specifications I choose. I do this a lot.

I think I may have to take a leaf out of your book, that would score me some serious points with the wife.

 

[lxskllr]

Ok, I read that wrong. Does anyone else get this, when your eyes read a line and you accidently hop down a line halfway through and back up again?

Similarly, I have several edits going while writing, and I sometimes mix them up, and blend versions so I have words that don't make sense, or are out of place.

 

[rh71]

Silly, but I try not to use more than 2GB on my TMobile unlimited data account on my line so that I can get the $10 kickback monthly. I'm usually home on wifi anyway. On one hand, it sucks because I have unlimited and the idea of getting back $10 hinders me.

Cut my own and my boys' hair with this vac trimmer - so easy. Lots of money saved there over 10+ years. Helps to have simple buzzcuts.

Working from home, I eat leftovers for lunch every single day.

We used to not use a dryer, but having kids and all their extra clothes & socks really put a damper on that idea.

We use [still free] grocery bags as kitchen trash bags. One for paper waste and one for everything else and we toss both every night. Tall kitchen bags are a huge waste for us. Not sure how others deal with those.

Mow my own lawn which is rare around here. My whole block, only me and 1 neighbor do our own. The landscaper commercial-grade noise is unbearable almost every day in-season.

 

[Kaido]

I cook at home a lot.

Unfortunately I also buy a lot of kitchen gadgets, so that kind of negates any savings lol.

 

[madoka]

I take a shower once a week.
I reuse floss.
I eat almost entirely off the dollar menu.
I dress like a hobo.
I use slickdeals and coupons.
I bought the entry level McLaren.
I flush the toilet sparingly.
I shop at the $0.99 store.
I use a swamp cooler instead of air conditioning.
I put on more clothes rather than use a heater.