How to Live Cheaply

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[2ndDivisionVet]

Sad that it's come to this, although thrift is always a good idea.

[Niuhuru]

1) When it comes to groceries for your family, always buy in bulk. You can get more for less food and will save more when you no longer have to dine out to eat.

2) Instead of paying outright for heat or air conditioner in an apartment, buy a portable heater and air conditioner and keep your room heated or cooled when you’re there instead of paying extra to the landlord for heating/air conditioning. Since a lot of places charge extra for that, you can cut down on expenditures for that with a portable one.

3) Buy from Ebay. I just bought stamps in wholesale sheets (70 stamps for ten dollars) and the same with envelopes. I also found a Donna Karan wallet for less than ten dollars as well.

[abigail2]

save for later...

[PA Engineer]

2. Find where you spend the most money on a monthly basis. The top two or three items are where you need to do the most work.

This one stood out. There is one item that exceeds all our combined costs for housing, utilities, meals, transportation, medical, clothes, insurance and misc. Most of our money goes to taxes on a monthly basis. That would be direct payroll taxation including real estate taxes. That does not include the hiddent fees and indirects. This is the reason it has come to this.

[AZLiberty]

1. Check.
2. Check.
3. I might be interested in another roommate, but my wife wouldn’t like the kind of roommate I’d be interested in.
4. Yes, I’d love to do a garden.
5. Opening windows isn’t an option in Phoenix in the summertime. Already have a big tree on the west side. Already use time-of-day electricity pricing, minimize air conditioning during prime time. Foam art boards are a neat idea, except that they’ll annoy the hell out of the cats.
6. Most of my entertainment comes via the Internet. Hard to cut back there. My wife likes cable TV and the DVR. I wouldn’t mind cutting back there, but she has some say about it, too.
7. Almost impossible to live without a car in Phoenix. Son at UCLA seems perfectly happy without one, however. Big saving there.
8. Ditched the landline back in 2003, but we love our Androids. And our cats. Fortunately, they’re very healthy, and they’re happy to eat Costco cat food in the 25 lb. bag. One just had an abscess from a fight with another cat, but we handled that with children’s antibiotics that we bought for a few dollars in Nogales — no veterinarian needed.
9. I like a daily drink (just to maintain a healthy heart, mind you), but generally make do with three-buck chuck from Trader Joe’s.
10. Goals? My goal is to make more money, not spend less. I like the Chevron executive’s idea of shared prosperity rather than shared sacrifice.

We get our books at the library, and most of our food at Costco, or whatever’s on sale at the other grocery stores.

We’re pretty thrifty — what we need is tips on making money, not so much on cutting expenditures.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Medical research.

[cynwoody]

There is one item that exceeds all our combined costs for housing, utilities, meals, transportation, medical, clothes, insurance and misc. Most of our money goes to taxes on a monthly basis. That would be direct payroll taxation including real estate taxes. That does not include the hiddent fees and indirects. This is the reason it has come to this.

Winning post of thread.

[Brad’s Gramma]

BTTT with thanks...

[pandoraou812]

I moved to a small farm so I could have my 3 horses & not pay board. Now I have chickens & there was already a garden planted. We get about a dozen eggs a day & the chickens eat ticks. So they serve 2 purposes, eggs & bug control. I am not sure how much I save with chicken feed & bedding but they were here & I am not going to get rid of them. I have a root cellar & plan to learn to can . We have a dehydrator which we use for jerky & drying fruit. I make my own sausage, usually deer meat. Buy in bulk but learn to store & use it before it goes bad. Planning how to use food before it goes bad is a must.As is storing it.

We bought this old farm house because if need be my adult children & grandchildren can come back here to live. I hope not but you never know. We feed the horses by scrapping metal we see on the road. Most people are happy to be rid of it. When shopping for a large item I never buy it the first time I see it. I think about it for a few days to make sure I really need it . Then I bargain the price down. I never buy anything unless its on sale. I save money home schooling too. One week of school lunches pays for the online school. I buy my books at the library discard shelf for less then a dollar. I got a clothes line which is great. We've learned stuff isn't as important as it was.

[exnavy]

Sage advice for the times we live in.

[MARTIAL MONK]

save for later...

Good advice. Always put a little money away.

Oh...wait...

[maddog55]

My question would be why do any of the above? I don’t throw money away but if the economy colapses what good is money anyway? I can’t be without a car because the nearest anything is 10+ miles away and there’s no public transportation. I like my Harley and my truck. The only entertainemnt we do is eat out occassionally, my bad habit is beer, I’ll continue to be bad and do both. I’ve stocked up on many things I may need including guns & ammo to protect what I have but otherwise I’ll be enjoying life until the shxt hits the fan.

[CGASMIA68]

.

[NamVet71MP]

Too complicated. The 300 pound gorilla(s) in the room for most Americans are fixed expenses. For almost everyone those expense are too big and too illiquid. mortgage/rent + car payments + real estate taxes + insurance premiums. 25%, 30% ... of gross for mortgage alone? Sure. If you put 50% down!

I don't think there's an easy answer if you have a fixed expenses set of problems. Much like the deficit and entitlements. Clipping coupons or getting rig of earmarks, same-same. The illusion that the problem is being addressed will only lead to disappointment.

[SatinDoll]

Books and reading are great entertainment.

Try this internet site. It is a great source for childrens books. And it isn’t just for old paperbacks, either.

http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php

(Note: most folks at this site don’t like ex-library books for some odd reason!)

[Nervous Tick]

>> the chickens eat ticks

Well, there goes my plan to raise chickens. :-)

[EBH]

This one stood out. There is one item that exceeds all our combined costs for housing, utilities, meals, transportation, medical, clothes, insurance and misc. Most of our money goes to taxes on a monthly basis. That would be direct payroll taxation including real estate taxes. That does not include the hiddent fees and indirects. This is the reason it has come to this.

1. Quarterly payroll, property tax, business "licenses" at the state, county, and city levels.

2. Car. This is a required item in my profession, along with the required insurances.

3. Vet and animal care. I have several special needs animals that I committed to taking care of.

I was considering #1 the other day. As a sole proprietor and how much is going out to taxes, fees, and permits or some sort. Really it is quite a chunk of change and even #2 is subject to government required expenditures. From the air quality testing requirement for a new car to the license and proofs of insurances.

To really think about it, it becomes overwhelming and I would think a vast amount of average folks ready your thrifty list would ever consider payments to the government their biggest living expenses. Why? Because the government nickles and dimes us to death from our payroll taxes, to property taxes, to regional taxes(we have that here), to city taxes, to sales taxes, to phone taxes, to utility fees and taxes, to entertainment taxes, to restaurant taxes, to the assorted gas taxes...

[EBH]

Goals? My goal is to make more money, not spend less.

Indeed make more money and for me...create a network of other small business professionals willing to barter services.

[Avery Iota Kracker]

If you own a house, rent it out and sleep in the backyard in a tent.

After a while, you will fit right into the line at the local mission for free hot meals.

If your state forces consumers to put a recycle deposit on cans, collect those during your free time.

You can afford a second home. Look for a dry box they slip refrigerators in.

[Freedom4US]

Paragraphs are our friends.