The broke as a joke and saving ca$h thread

[Juddog]

So lately I have been broke as hell. My wifey is just finishing her bachelors and I am paying for the both of us. She no longer can afford to help out with rent, groceries, gas, or anything else. I barely make enough ca$h to break even.

To start saving money and survive, I have done the following so far:
* cut back on going out to lunch. Since wifey doesn't have a job, I agreed that she needs to cook dinner and make me lunch. So I pack a lunch every day, when I used to go out almost every day it cost me between $8-12 a day, now it's zero. Savings: $8-12 a day.
* quit drinking soda pop. I used to buy Mountain Dew or Full Throttle maybe once or sometimes twice a day during workdays. Now I pack a coffee mug. Savings: $1-2 a day.
* quit shopping name brand groceries, shop at Aldi's now. Savings: $100-160 per month.
* cancelled my warcraft accounts. I was two boxing for a while, now I'm not. $35 a month.
* quit going out to eat. Savings: $30-50 per week (I used to go out at least twice a week with wifey).
* cancelled cable TV. Savings: $55 a month.
* quit buying video games - for now. $60 a month.


So that's about $600-700 a month direct savings. As I sit down with a spreadsheet and calculate it out, I can't believe how much money I've wasted on pure entertainment.

So what do you guys that aren't rolling in dough do to make ends meet and save a little cash here and there? Looking for ideas.

For those ATOT's that make six figures and own multiple houses, no need to brag about all your stuff, I don't care.

 

[DainBramaged]

I think that you should take some of these savings to buy a camera and give us :camera:'s of the wifey.

BTW: Good job on the cutbacks. It sucks but a lot of people don't realize how much they actually spend. My mom always used to shop at Aldi's. Those packets of lunchmeat were awesome.

 

[lyssword]

1. well, technically you still have to buy the ingredients, to cook. Of course in the end still cheaper.
2. Frozen burritos/whatever they are called I can buy for $2 for 8 pieces (microwave each one for 1 minute and it's ready) Each of those is as nutritional as the $1 value meal in a drive-thrus, so almost 4x more value

 

[BurnItDwn]

For the lunch costs ..... it's not zero, you need to buy the food at the grocery store, still, you are probably saving 70 to 90 percent of the amount you would otherwise be spending going out. (I need to pack lunches rather than go out ... hehehehe)

Coffee vs Pop ... I made that switch myself .... I also used to stop at mcdonalds or dunkin donuts to get coffee .. I don't do that either

Aldi's is a good way to save a few bucks .... I shop there too .... (GF got me to go there)
My WOW accounts were cancelled 6+ months ago (also was 2 boxing) .. but that's because I wanted to quit WoW, not because I wanted to save money ...

Congrats on the sacrifices and cutbacks there, $600 to $700 per month is no pocket change, that's a nice big chunk of cash .....

I should do the same ... I want to get out of my townhouse (worth about 130K to 140K) and into a detached home (200K and up) ...

For me, the hard part is to NOT go out and blow $100 on DVD's at least once or twice per month. Also, it's hard for me not to go and buy a new hard drive or CPU or RAM or something every month .....

Ahh well, Congrats!

 

[SilthDraeth]

Good job Jud. I will need to take some of your decisions back to heart. My wife "WAS" making me lunches, but she stopped. Now I don't eat as much, but I still spend maybe $3-5 a day.

Its not quite costing you zero though because you do have to buy additional food for making the lunches. At least I did. It was a big savings however.

Canceling your Warcraft, I did that, mainly because I can't get internet where I live now.

If you enjoy reading at all, try hitting your local library, it should really help break the boredom and eat some time that WOW, TV, and video games consumed.

Overall good job. One thing I started doing though, is I put just enough in the bank to cover all the bills, then I save the rest of my paycheck cash. I get payed once a month so for me it goes like this.

* Get paycheck, throw same amount each month in the bank, pay all my bills using online bill pay.
* Figured out my average miles I drive each month, and take out enough for gas for the month, I guestimate on the high end.
* Have a set amount for household necessities, groceries etc for the month.
* Give wife and myself, $50 blow money to spend however the hell we want.
* Provide $50 for the "family blow money" basically, thats go out and go watch a film at the theater, and or buy movies for my kids.
* Take the rest of the money and stick it in an ammo can. If you have unexpected expenses, then we dip into it to break even.
* I have home improvement expenses right now, so I also set aside a fund for that.

I wish I could save $500 a month this way, but so far I haven't been able to save that much. I was able to save $200 last month.

 

[HardTech]

I'm already at the limit of saving.

my take home pay: $2500 per month

rent: $1150 (I live in Silicon Valley)
car: $621 (I financed a used $25k car with $5k down and a 3-year loan)
gas/electric: $30
cell phone: $75 (I pay for my gf's bill too)
gym: $29

that's roughly $1900 a month in expenses. What I do to save money:

- use my neighbor's wireless internet (it's legal as long as they do NOTHING to secure it)
- no TV or home phone
- whenever I eat out, take the leftovers home (I rarely eat out anymore.. only on special occasions, or when my gf is buying)
- pack my lunch everyday, or come home to eat lunch (5 minute commute FTW)
- prepare my breakfast the night before
- eat dinner at home

I probably spend less than $200 a month on groceries. I've just started to keep track of how much I spend and where I spend it on, so I'll know exactly how much I'm spending on what. I'm thinking about selling my car and buying a cheap car (<$2000) and riding that around. Not only would that save my monthly payments, but it'd save me on gas and insurance too.

edit: oh yeah, I don't smoke and I don't drink alcohol either, so I save a lot of money there. And my salary isn't really that low; I deduct 10% pre-tax for 401k and 15% post-tax for my company stock purchase plan

 

[pcslookout]

I saved as much as I could.

Sold car which was costing $500
No cable tv $50
No soda pop or other drinks just water $50
No online gaming $30
No going out to eat $50
No more buying new video games. Play the ones I already have $100
No phone $30
Wash only when I have a lot $30
No more buying dvds $100 (They come on normal network tv in a few years always)
No more upgrading pc parts $200

 

[AmigaMan]

the trick to saving money when you hardly have any is to pay yourself first. I do that in the form of an ING Direct savings account. I put in $300/month now, but when I started it was only $100/month. But the automated withdrawal from my checking account into my savings every paycheck means I won't miss the money. Obviously everyone's situations are different and not everyone can afford $300 or $100 a month. But you have to start somewhere and be diligent in doing it. Over time you'll miss that money less and you'll see it grow. I know there are other high yield savings accounts out there, but ING was where I started and I love their UI.

 

[chuckywang]

Originally posted by: HardTech
I'm already at the limit of saving.

my take home pay: $2500 per month

rent: $1150 (I live in Silicon Valley)
car: $621 (I financed a used $25k car with $5k down and a 3-year loan)
gas/electric: $30
cell phone: $75 (I pay for my gf's bill too)
gym: $29

that's roughly $1900 a month in expenses. What I do to save money:

- use my neighbor's wireless internet (it's legal as long as they do NOTHING to secure it)
- no TV or home phone
- whenever I eat out, take the leftovers home (I rarely eat out anymore.. only on special occasions, or when my gf is buying)
- pack my lunch everyday, or come home to eat lunch (5 minute commute FTW)
- prepare my breakfast the night before
- eat dinner at home

I probably spend less than $200 a month on groceries. I've just started to keep track of how much I spend and where I spend it on, so I'll know exactly how much I'm spending on what. I'm thinking about selling my car and buying a cheap car (<$2000) and riding that around. Not only would that save my monthly payments, but it'd save me on gas and insurance too.

edit: oh yeah, I don't smoke and I don't drink alcohol either, so I save a lot of money there. And my salary isn't really that low; I deduct 10% pre-tax for 401k and 15% post-tax for my company stock purchase plan

$60k-ish salary? That's ridiculous that you have to worry about all that in the Silicon Valley. Here in the Chicago area, while not cheap, you could live a pretty good life with that salary if you have a roommate.

 

[kranky]

That's awesome savings! You've proved that, until you sit down and determine exactly where your money is going, it's trivially easy to spend it all without realizing how much you can really save. Nice work!

I try to not spend on things I don't really care about (like eating out) but make sure I have money for the things that matter to me (like a daily newspaper delivered to the house - $17/month). If you prioritize, you will have enough money for some things that you really enjoy, and it won't feel like you're living like a miser.

We're trying to do more planning before running errands and we've already seen about $25/month savings on gas. Before, my wife might run to the store to pick up one or two things for dinner which she forgot, then later on I might have to go out to pick up mail at the post office box. Now we list the things that need to be done and do them all in one trip. Seemed trivial and we were surprised how much we saved by eliminating many of the short trips which are real gas-eaters.

Some other suggestions: if you can get coupons (our Sunday paper usually has plenty), you can often find things cheaper than Aldi's. Buy only those things at the big supermarket, use Aldi's for the rest. Check your cell plan - if you don't use it a lot, do the math and see if a prepaid plan might save you money. Never use a foreign ATM - only the ones from your own bank (don't think that sounds stupid - I work with people who use the ATM at work once or twice a week, and they don't care that it costs them $3 every time (ATM charge + their own bank's charge).

 

[SilthDraeth]

Originally posted by: chuckywang

Originally posted by: HardTech
I'm already at the limit of saving.

my take home pay: $2500 per month

rent: $1150 (I live in Silicon Valley)
car: $621 (I financed a used $25k car with $5k down and a 3-year loan)
gas/electric: $30
cell phone: $75 (I pay for my gf's bill too)
gym: $29

that's roughly $1900 a month in expenses. What I do to save money:

- use my neighbor's wireless internet (it's legal as long as they do NOTHING to secure it)
- no TV or home phone
- whenever I eat out, take the leftovers home (I rarely eat out anymore.. only on special occasions, or when my gf is buying)
- pack my lunch everyday, or come home to eat lunch (5 minute commute FTW)
- prepare my breakfast the night before
- eat dinner at home

I probably spend less than $200 a month on groceries. I've just started to keep track of how much I spend and where I spend it on, so I'll know exactly how much I'm spending on what. I'm thinking about selling my car and buying a cheap car (<$2000) and riding that around. Not only would that save my monthly payments, but it'd save me on gas and insurance too.

edit: oh yeah, I don't smoke and I don't drink alcohol either, so I save a lot of money there. And my salary isn't really that low; I deduct 10% pre-tax for 401k and 15% post-tax for my company stock purchase plan

$60k-ish salary? That's ridiculous that you have to worry about all that in the Silicon Valley. Here in the Chicago area, while not cheap, you could live a pretty good life with that salary if you have a roommate.

How do you get 60kish?

I take home 2500 a month, and my gross annual salary is 36k.

 

[chuckywang]

Originally posted by: SilthDraeth

Originally posted by: chuckywang

Originally posted by: HardTech
I'm already at the limit of saving.

my take home pay: $2500 per month

rent: $1150 (I live in Silicon Valley)
car: $621 (I financed a used $25k car with $5k down and a 3-year loan)
gas/electric: $30
cell phone: $75 (I pay for my gf's bill too)
gym: $29

that's roughly $1900 a month in expenses. What I do to save money:

- use my neighbor's wireless internet (it's legal as long as they do NOTHING to secure it)
- no TV or home phone
- whenever I eat out, take the leftovers home (I rarely eat out anymore.. only on special occasions, or when my gf is buying)
- pack my lunch everyday, or come home to eat lunch (5 minute commute FTW)
- prepare my breakfast the night before
- eat dinner at home

I probably spend less than $200 a month on groceries. I've just started to keep track of how much I spend and where I spend it on, so I'll know exactly how much I'm spending on what. I'm thinking about selling my car and buying a cheap car (<$2000) and riding that around. Not only would that save my monthly payments, but it'd save me on gas and insurance too.

edit: oh yeah, I don't smoke and I don't drink alcohol either, so I save a lot of money there. And my salary isn't really that low; I deduct 10% pre-tax for 401k and 15% post-tax for my company stock purchase plan

$60k-ish salary? That's ridiculous that you have to worry about all that in the Silicon Valley. Here in the Chicago area, while not cheap, you could live a pretty good life with that salary if you have a roommate.

How do you get 60kish?

I take home 2500 a month, and my gross annual salary is 36k.

I meant $60k-ish pretax. He deducts 10% pre tax and 15% post tax, so I just ballparked.

 

[SilthDraeth]

Originally posted by: chuckywang


I meant $60k-ish pretax. He deducts 10% pre tax and 15% post tax, so I just ballparked.

Yeah, I understand, gross income, is before all that. I would guestimate that he is making between 38k-45k annually.

Either one of us could be close I guess. I just thought 60k was awfully high. I have to pay social security, as well as calpers, which is some California retirement, my job makes me buy into, then health insurance etc, and I get to take home $2500.

 

[Estrella]

RAMEN FTW

CANNED TUNA FTW

Found furniture ftw

Ikea FTW

Total saved: FTW

 

[49erinnc]

I'll tell ya, it is ROUGH going from splitting a mortgage down the middle, along with power, water, gas, cable/internet, etc. to paying 100% of all of that on the same wages (result of separation/divorce and me keeping the home). I'm happier now but certainly struggling at times, financially.

For me, I find that I blow way too much money on food. I'm one of those people who goes to the grocery store around 4 days a week, buying 1-2 dinners/lunches at a time. But the problem with that is I'm wasting money by not buying in bulk, more gas money going there/back and more opportunities to impulse shop which I'm bad at. I think I'd shock myself if I started adding up every single penny I spend on stuff from the grocery store.

Things I need to start doing and hope to do so:

- Only drink water at work and for dinner at home. I go through probably a 2 liter of Diet Sierra Mist every 2 nights. And I drink Diet Lipton Green Tea every day at work. Cutting that out will help a little.
- Buying in bulk. I plan on shopping more at the warehouse club I belong to to buy larger quantities. I can separate into smaller portions and freeze.
-Possibly shopping at cheaper grocery stores
-Not eating out for breakfast/lunch on weekends. I always eat in during the week for those meals but because I'm usually out and about more, I find that I always eat out on weekends for those meals.
-Less sporadic errand running. I'm notorious for running an errand, coming home, running another errand, coming home, etc. I blow a ton of gas doing that around town. I need to start doing all of my errands one day a week and at the same time.

Things I've done/do:

-Sell clutter on Craigslist/Ebay. I've found that when I'm really broke, I realize just how much crap around here I don't need. I've been able to clear out a lot of junk and make some nice pocket change as a result.
-Cancel cell phone add-ons that I don't really need.
-Put all my loose change in mason jars. I probably have $50+ in one now.
-Automatically have a certain amount of my paycheck go directly into a savings account. The downside is that when in a bind, I tend to dip into that account so it's a constant battle to keep it growing
-Don't drink booze out. So easy to turn a $25 dinner tab for two into a $50 dinner tab by having a few drinks. If I do drink out, I usually limit it to one beer (on special) or one glass of wine.
-Clip coupons. You can really save a good bit of money by doing this. The key though is to not counter it by buying stuff you may not really want/need just because you see a coupon for it.

 

[TuxDave]

Originally posted by: HardTech
- use my neighbor's wireless internet (it's legal as long as they do NOTHING to secure it)

lol, not to say that I'm innocent of that violation but even I don't kid myself into believing it's legal.

 

[jagec]

I buy bulk beef online.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Juddog
* quit going out to eat. Savings: $30-50 per week (I used to go out at least twice a week with wifey).
* cancelled cable TV. Savings: $55 a month.
* quit buying video games - for now. $60 a month.

Disputes over money is one of the main reasons why couples get into trouble.

Just a couple of suggestions for backing off a little on the savings so you don't get into fights over living like monks:
- netflix for movies, since you don't have cable.
- do go out to eat at least once or twice a month, but make it more of a night out instead of just an excuse not to cook
- gamefly.com if you have a console so you aren't completely gameless. If you only have a PC try gametap.com

Also, you could bring a can of soup (campbells microwaveable chunky is easy) once or twice a week so the wife doesn't always have to fix you a sammich.

 

[tfinch2]

I canceled digital cable and road runner. Now I pay $40 for basic cable (locals in HD) and road runner lite per month. That's a savings of $800+ a year! Blockbuster Total Access $10/month plan makes up for the no cable entertainment.

I also do front-end web design on the side. That really brings in the extra dough, but sometimes my time is worth more to me.

Drinking at home with friends also saves tons of $$ rather than going out all the time.

I bought a Wii instead of a PS3 to save $$ too.

 

[HardTech]

Originally posted by: TuxDave

Originally posted by: HardTech
- use my neighbor's wireless internet (it's legal as long as they do NOTHING to secure it)

lol, not to say that I'm innocent of that violation but even I don't kid myself into believing it's legal.

from what I've learned in my cyber law classes and computer security classes (which focused a LOT on legislation), if there is nothing done to prevent outside use of a wireless router, then accessing it is not illegal

 

[HardTech]

Originally posted by: chuckywang
$60k-ish salary? That's ridiculous that you have to worry about all that in the Silicon Valley. Here in the Chicago area, while not cheap, you could live a pretty good life with that salary if you have a roommate.

yes, I make 65k a year. I don't really think about my monetary situation, so I don't really worry about it unless I'm negative.

I think it's worth mentioning that I used to live and work in Chicago. I was making 55k a year, but because I was using my college car and never really travelled anywhere except from home to the train station, I didn't spend money on my vehicle. I also secured a homestay situation where I paid $500 a month on food and rent. Utilities included. I was taking home 3k a month, and after all bills and rent I was probably saving 2k a month despite eating out for lunch everyday.

Although I'm saving much, MUCH less here in the valley, I'm much happier with the type of work I'm doing and the opportunities that I have.

Oh, and I didn't bring my lunch everyday to save money. Well, that was part of the reason. The other part was to eat healthier.

 

[ATLien247]

To take things a step further...

Stop eating out > Buy grocery items in bulk, but only when they're on sale > Use coupons and/or price-match

 

[Ns1]

- Buy everything from Costco
- cook more, eat out less
- cancelled netflix account
- decreased phone bill by 20/month
- use the "do I really need it" test: do I use at least 4/7 days (not applicable to clothing): if yes then buy, if no then find a way to make that money

 

[SilthDraeth]

Originally posted by: jagec
I buy bulk beef online.

Where?

 

[robphelan]

i used to eat lunch out everyday.. now I try to bring lunch >= 3 times per week. that way, I do get some variety.

wife & i were fortunate enough to have some bonuses where we paid off her vehicle and alot of mine. then I refinanced my truck - now paying 230/month instead of ~450

sold a lot of stuff on craigslist - you'd be amazed at what people will buy.

buy gifts in advance while on sale. my wife is always on the lookout in clearance sections B&M/online - this saves alot of money when you know Bdays are coming up. As the old saying goes "retail is for suckers".

we are trying to cut way back on going out to eat - this is probably our #1 reducable monthly expense. also, if we do go out to eat, we don't drink alcohol - as a previous poster mentioned, this really ramps up the bill.

canceled landline(VOIP) & only use mobile phones.