SimonTaddio_Qc
Headbanger
Because if you aren't drinking alcohol, you're not fun...
well...at a party...sometimes!:Smokin:
How to save money
- Thread starter AntonioPetrole
- Start date
well...at a party...sometimes!:Smokin:
professorlamp
I are Joe
I think this thread should derail into 'how to save money in general'. I'll start
Walk you lazy fuck , it's good for you and free.
Put your leftover money in a bank account so it's not available in times of impulse purchasing (durhur).
Put your credit/debit card away somehwere if you are SURE you're not going to use it that day for anything essential.
Buy a piggy bank
Don't get an overdraft for your bank account , people see it as free money...these people are called retards.
If you're contemplating buying something but unsure whether you need it then chances are you don't need it.
I'd also like to add I don't drink or smoke and this saves me a FUCKTON of money
Walk you lazy fuck , it's good for you and free.
Put your leftover money in a bank account so it's not available in times of impulse purchasing (durhur).
Put your credit/debit card away somehwere if you are SURE you're not going to use it that day for anything essential.
Buy a piggy bank
Don't get an overdraft for your bank account , people see it as free money...these people are called retards.
If you're contemplating buying something but unsure whether you need it then chances are you don't need it.
I'd also like to add I don't drink or smoke and this saves me a FUCKTON of money
grywolf627
Member
Not always applicable. I would LOVE to be able to walk. But in many places, especially in the U.S....and even more especially in a city like Houston...walking isn't an option. Everything is just too spread out. And almost nothing is laid out for pedestrians. There's no place to walk (safely). Public transportation here is also a joke. If you don't have a car here, it's nearly impossible to survive. But yeah, I WISH I could walk nearly everywhere like when we take trips to Europe. I always feel lazy when I come back here and have to drive everywhere.
SocialNumb
Damn Christians!
Executioner213
Ultimate Meatbag
Start drinking a ton of water. It's generally free, it fills you up when you feel the urge to snack, and it helps clear the bullshit (preservatives from the garbage food you might consume on any day, among lots of other shit) out of your system. I have a 1 liter bottle that I fill every day at work and drink it down 1-2 times in my 8hr shift.
Coffee is also great, especially if you drink it at work because it's pretty much free there too. Black coffee can do wonders for curbing appetite if you can learn to enjoy it...assuming you don't already. Don't get the "drink coffee" logic confused with "drink coffee with a shit ton of sugar and cream". Also, don't assume getting coffee means going down to Starbucks or whatever and paying $1 for a cup of it...that'll eat up funds you just don't need to spend. If you bought a $1 cup of coffee at a convenience store or whatever every day of the week, that takes a chunk of your $50 budget that you could have spent on food. Better to buy a tub of grounds for $5 and drink it up over a month or longer.
Heres some fast ideas...
Get a tub of plain yogurt (should last 2-3 days if you eat this every morning). A bag of frozen blueberries. Some wheat germ. Sliced almonds (or whole, if you are into busting up your own). If you have the money to spend at all, get some flax oil to put in it as well. Mix it all up with a spoon. There's your breakfast. Good for you, keeps you full for a while, and not too goofy to where you couldn't eat it for a few days straight.
Learn how to make Hummus. You can use it as a spread on stuff, or a dip for fresh vegetables. My favorite is Hummus and sliced red pepper. You can make a ton of it for cheap, but be careful not to make too much or you'll end up wasting some. You can generally eat this for lunch, or with your dinner...or as a snack. Canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are cheaply had, fresh garlic goes a long way, olive oil is cheap enough, lemons are usually cheap...only goofy ingredient to seek out is tahini, which you can usually find at whole food stores (Trader Joes, etc) and you can also make your own if you do the homework: it's pretty much just like peanut butter, but with sesame seeds instead of peanuts.
Get a decent package of chicken breasts. You can grill them in a skillet with olive oil and some pepper. Use em up right away, or save a bunch in the freezer. You can make your own stir fry with a fuckton of fresh vegetables and the chicken...eat on that for quite a long time.
Biggest thing to remember with fresh produce is to not get more than you are going to use before it goes bad. Thats the biggest mistake everyone makes is buying up a bunch all at once...then not using all of it before it goes bad. It's not convenient to have to go to the store every 4 days, but its the best way to keep shit up in your house.
Start buying up cheap variety packs of granola bars. This is pretty much all I eat throughout the day anymore. Breakfast: granola bar. Lunch: granola bar. Dinner: a plate of something home cooked. If I get hungry between my lunch bar and dinner meal, I'll eat another granola bar...that usually pushes me to not have to eat until a bit later. I get the Nature Valley 24 bar variety pack, typically. If you feel like this example isn't enough, there's always plenty of granola bars to be had through the day to keep you going.
Another trick is to use black beans in a bunch of stuff. You can mix black beans in with hamburger to make it go soooo much further. Pretty good for ya, too.
Salsa is a very useful condiment. You can put it on damn near anything. Bigger jugs of it go a long way.
If you plan your budget to where you aren't looking for instant gratification ("I can get a shit ton of this cheap garbage food right now and be set for the week"), you can get stuff that goes further and only have to buy it every month or so. Economy buys are a great thing...they might deplete your budget somewhat, but will last though your next "oh fuck, I only have $50 for the next week to eat off of" crisis.
Coffee is also great, especially if you drink it at work because it's pretty much free there too. Black coffee can do wonders for curbing appetite if you can learn to enjoy it...assuming you don't already. Don't get the "drink coffee" logic confused with "drink coffee with a shit ton of sugar and cream". Also, don't assume getting coffee means going down to Starbucks or whatever and paying $1 for a cup of it...that'll eat up funds you just don't need to spend. If you bought a $1 cup of coffee at a convenience store or whatever every day of the week, that takes a chunk of your $50 budget that you could have spent on food. Better to buy a tub of grounds for $5 and drink it up over a month or longer.
Heres some fast ideas...
Get a tub of plain yogurt (should last 2-3 days if you eat this every morning). A bag of frozen blueberries. Some wheat germ. Sliced almonds (or whole, if you are into busting up your own). If you have the money to spend at all, get some flax oil to put in it as well. Mix it all up with a spoon. There's your breakfast. Good for you, keeps you full for a while, and not too goofy to where you couldn't eat it for a few days straight.
Learn how to make Hummus. You can use it as a spread on stuff, or a dip for fresh vegetables. My favorite is Hummus and sliced red pepper. You can make a ton of it for cheap, but be careful not to make too much or you'll end up wasting some. You can generally eat this for lunch, or with your dinner...or as a snack. Canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are cheaply had, fresh garlic goes a long way, olive oil is cheap enough, lemons are usually cheap...only goofy ingredient to seek out is tahini, which you can usually find at whole food stores (Trader Joes, etc) and you can also make your own if you do the homework: it's pretty much just like peanut butter, but with sesame seeds instead of peanuts.
Get a decent package of chicken breasts. You can grill them in a skillet with olive oil and some pepper. Use em up right away, or save a bunch in the freezer. You can make your own stir fry with a fuckton of fresh vegetables and the chicken...eat on that for quite a long time.
Biggest thing to remember with fresh produce is to not get more than you are going to use before it goes bad. Thats the biggest mistake everyone makes is buying up a bunch all at once...then not using all of it before it goes bad. It's not convenient to have to go to the store every 4 days, but its the best way to keep shit up in your house.
Start buying up cheap variety packs of granola bars. This is pretty much all I eat throughout the day anymore. Breakfast: granola bar. Lunch: granola bar. Dinner: a plate of something home cooked. If I get hungry between my lunch bar and dinner meal, I'll eat another granola bar...that usually pushes me to not have to eat until a bit later. I get the Nature Valley 24 bar variety pack, typically. If you feel like this example isn't enough, there's always plenty of granola bars to be had through the day to keep you going.
Another trick is to use black beans in a bunch of stuff. You can mix black beans in with hamburger to make it go soooo much further. Pretty good for ya, too.
Salsa is a very useful condiment. You can put it on damn near anything. Bigger jugs of it go a long way.
If you plan your budget to where you aren't looking for instant gratification ("I can get a shit ton of this cheap garbage food right now and be set for the week"), you can get stuff that goes further and only have to buy it every month or so. Economy buys are a great thing...they might deplete your budget somewhat, but will last though your next "oh fuck, I only have $50 for the next week to eat off of" crisis.
StefTD
Member
Seems like a lot of you guys spend a lot of money on food.
I cook and buy all the stuff I (and my gf) eat, all in all we
spend 150€ per month (together, so 75 for each).
It's WAY!!! cheaper to cook the stuff by yourself.
I am able to make pizza for us (2 baking plates) for 1,50€
and it tastes really good, spaghetti with tomatoesauce costs
1€ for both of us. We could pay way less, but I like to eat
some meat and fresh salads from time to time, but it's
still only 150€ per month for 2 persons (and I am like 6ft 4" and
weight almost 220pounds).
The only thing we buy that is "produced" are some chinese
noodles called yumyum, they taste good, I need two packs,
my girl just one, and they cost 30cent per pack, and we only
eat them every 2 weeks.
Oh and don't go to the store without a list what you need,
because if you do this, you gonna buy stuff you actually
don't need and waste alot of money, since we do this, we save
about 25%.
I cook and buy all the stuff I (and my gf) eat, all in all we
spend 150€ per month (together, so 75 for each).
It's WAY!!! cheaper to cook the stuff by yourself.
I am able to make pizza for us (2 baking plates) for 1,50€
and it tastes really good, spaghetti with tomatoesauce costs
1€ for both of us. We could pay way less, but I like to eat
some meat and fresh salads from time to time, but it's
still only 150€ per month for 2 persons (and I am like 6ft 4" and
weight almost 220pounds).
The only thing we buy that is "produced" are some chinese
noodles called yumyum, they taste good, I need two packs,
my girl just one, and they cost 30cent per pack, and we only
eat them every 2 weeks.
Oh and don't go to the store without a list what you need,
because if you do this, you gonna buy stuff you actually
don't need and waste alot of money, since we do this, we save
about 25%.
LeSedna
Mat or Mateo
50 dollars a week is really really easy. I think, while buying many extra things that are not necessary, I can do 150 euros a month which is around 180 dollars.
Keep in mind I don't eat breakfast (my stomach has hard time for digestion in the morning, I only some time to time eat a little thing or two). Also, I don't eat many sugar stuff, in the afternoon or whatever. I eat 2 times a day, and sometime a little extra, no more.
I don't remember who said that (too lazy to find again) but 50 dollars for 2 days is just meaning one is buying a lot of crap. And it's not about eating a lot, I even myself eat quite a lot for someone as slim as me (In a pizzeria with girls I always eat mine, and finish 2 of theirs, as an example). It either mean you eat pre-made food (which cost like easily 4 or 5 times the cost, for many things), or buy expensive brands, or dunno. With 50 dollars, you can buy so many pastas/rice/frozen meat.
When I started living alone, I could do 100 dollar a month, but that was not funny at all.
+1 with gareth : learn to actually cook, even simple stuff. For less than nothing, I learnt from a friend hwo to do pasta sauces that are better than most you can find in restaurants, it's just about doing the right stuff. When you cook 100% of your food yourself, you gain at least 30 or 50% of money and maybe 50% in food quality.
and +1 to spices or little things that can increase the smell or taste of your basic food. You can do some time to time a really tasty big bowl of rice, if you add the right things to it. Just add a little meat and you're done with a good meal.
Other stuffs not to waste money :
- don't buy expensive drinks. You could spend maybe 30 dollars a month just in coca if you drink it a lot. Fresh water (don't buy it excepted if your local water tastes like shit) + some time to time orange juice is really better and so less expensive.
- avoid pre-made food excepted for practical reasons
- cook big quantities and save them for several meals
- avoid restaurants
- don't buy big brands. Still, don't buy too low cost food, they are sometimes crap
- make a list of usefull food to buy, and try to keep close to it each time you go buy food
- buy fresh vegetables. You can add them to your meals, it will add a lot for nothing.
- don't trust any solution other than managing your food shopping. Things like drinking more coffee, smoking, drinking a lot of water instead of eating, etc, will only lead you to health problems.
- have many cheap and good things to eat. Try to be diverse from just pastas and chicken. You'll get too bored of it otherwise. A good tip I learnt is you can do a very nice meal by having many little portions of a lot of different things. It's more balanced, and you will not get bored of it, and in the end you will eat the same things and not more.
other than food, I discovered today a little tip : I noticed I use a fucking huge amount of shampoo at each shower. If you just use a tiny bit of it, and don't waste it, you're doing a good shampoo and your bottle will last 4 or 5 times longer. Quite useful if like me you have to use hsampoo againts those little white things you loose in your hair (dunno the word in english) which are more expensive than usual ones. By now I may save 5 dollars a month this way.
Keep in mind I don't eat breakfast (my stomach has hard time for digestion in the morning, I only some time to time eat a little thing or two). Also, I don't eat many sugar stuff, in the afternoon or whatever. I eat 2 times a day, and sometime a little extra, no more.
I don't remember who said that (too lazy to find again) but 50 dollars for 2 days is just meaning one is buying a lot of crap. And it's not about eating a lot, I even myself eat quite a lot for someone as slim as me (In a pizzeria with girls I always eat mine, and finish 2 of theirs, as an example). It either mean you eat pre-made food (which cost like easily 4 or 5 times the cost, for many things), or buy expensive brands, or dunno. With 50 dollars, you can buy so many pastas/rice/frozen meat.
When I started living alone, I could do 100 dollar a month, but that was not funny at all.
+1 with gareth : learn to actually cook, even simple stuff. For less than nothing, I learnt from a friend hwo to do pasta sauces that are better than most you can find in restaurants, it's just about doing the right stuff. When you cook 100% of your food yourself, you gain at least 30 or 50% of money and maybe 50% in food quality.
and +1 to spices or little things that can increase the smell or taste of your basic food. You can do some time to time a really tasty big bowl of rice, if you add the right things to it. Just add a little meat and you're done with a good meal.
Other stuffs not to waste money :
- don't buy expensive drinks. You could spend maybe 30 dollars a month just in coca if you drink it a lot. Fresh water (don't buy it excepted if your local water tastes like shit) + some time to time orange juice is really better and so less expensive.
- avoid pre-made food excepted for practical reasons
- cook big quantities and save them for several meals
- avoid restaurants
- don't buy big brands. Still, don't buy too low cost food, they are sometimes crap
- make a list of usefull food to buy, and try to keep close to it each time you go buy food
- buy fresh vegetables. You can add them to your meals, it will add a lot for nothing.
- don't trust any solution other than managing your food shopping. Things like drinking more coffee, smoking, drinking a lot of water instead of eating, etc, will only lead you to health problems.
- have many cheap and good things to eat. Try to be diverse from just pastas and chicken. You'll get too bored of it otherwise. A good tip I learnt is you can do a very nice meal by having many little portions of a lot of different things. It's more balanced, and you will not get bored of it, and in the end you will eat the same things and not more.
other than food, I discovered today a little tip : I noticed I use a fucking huge amount of shampoo at each shower. If you just use a tiny bit of it, and don't waste it, you're doing a good shampoo and your bottle will last 4 or 5 times longer. Quite useful if like me you have to use hsampoo againts those little white things you loose in your hair (dunno the word in english) which are more expensive than usual ones. By now I may save 5 dollars a month this way.
LeSedna
Mat or Mateo
Executioner213
Ultimate Meatbag
On the saving money front...one trick you can learn to adapt to really quick is when you get your paycheck cashed, have them give you $20-25 of it (or more, if you feel bold) in rolls of quarters. Take these rolls of quarters and immediately put them in a shoebox or something similar. Out of sight + out of mind = you don't think you have it to spend. Save that for when you get hit with something unexpected (car repairs, urgent care visits, appliance failures, etc). You might notice that the more you actually save, the less that karma bites your ass. Once or twice a year, treat yourself from it...this should appeal to any of you who have G.A.S.!
Also, take a look at what you actually spend in a day and in a week. Look to find where shit is unnecessary and cut that out of your lifestyle. You can also figure out other options that satisfy your wants but costs less. Example: I used to rent movies all the goddamn time. $1 for older flicks, $4 for new movies. That added up really fast. I have Netflix now, it's $9 a month...and I watch a ton of movies on-demand from my laptop through them. You also get to keep the physical movies as long as you want (no late fees...a HUGE money pit if you like movies).
I also cut down to just paying for internet. No more cable. It's not worth it. If you're into sports, go watch it at a sports bar (bring your cheap home-made meal with you...what the fuck are they gonna do about it?). Order water...kick em a tip at the end of the game for tolerating you being there all night without drinking. Lots of shows are now on the networks websites for instant viewing. Sometimes you have to wait a week to see it, but it beats not having money. If I really need to watch something (which I've learned over time that I really, in fact, do not *need* to watch fucking anything), I'll go to my parents house...you can substitute that for anyone else you know who will tolerate you coming over to hang out once a week. Having 500,000 channels with absolutely fucking NOTHING to watch but commercials all the time is what made me realize it was a waste of time and money.
Buy a cheap $50 bike. I live on a retarded fucking hill now, so I never use mine anymore...but when I lived on the flats in my town, I started biking everywhere. Those who say "I can't get anywhere by walking" can have a happy medium in biking around. The occasional $20 for new tires or if your brake cable shreds is nothing compared to filling your gas tank every few days. In a big city? Carpool when you can. Not only are you gonna make the tree huggers happy, but throwing down a few bucks in gas to carpool with a few people is a lot better than using a bunch of funds to transport nothing but yourself. It also saves wearing out your own vehicle as fast...which is yet another expense when something breaks.
Want to start making a few bucks on the side? Start collecting cans. Do some research into recyclers who pay by the pound. It usually takes a lot of cans to get any sort of real turnover, but making 1 trip every month or so isn't so bad. Don't drink anything in a can? Buy your own $5 plastic garbage can and put it next to a popular garbage can at work. We have huge multi-day events here in my town...if I don't have anything going on, I'll usually spend the next morning going through the area and collecting cans. I made over $100 one weekend doing this. It gets you out of the house, and anything going into the piggy is better than it always coming out.
Final bit of advice here: pay attention. Don't carry cash if you feel you spend it easily when you have it. Don't carry a debit card if you feel swiping a card is too easy and getting you in trouble. Sometimes you have to be without funds to figure out how important it is to not have to carry them all the time. Keep a register of what you have and what you spend. I have a Droid...I downloaded an app called Mint.com. It links to your accounts and keeps a digial register of what your funds are, updates it as often as your bank would update their online transaction records. It's been a lot easier for me to just have that than carrying around a notebook or a check register, having to write it down all the time...and not doing so, usually. I can look at my phone and decide if shit is within my budget, instead of compulsively spending because I don't see the money in front of me (card). I know not everyone can do this the same way, but you'll have to find something that works for you.
Am I lavishly wealthy? No. Do I do all of the above all the time? No. This is all stuff to keep in mind that you can figure out if the option is doable for you. I started digging shit like this up because I'm NOT well off (especially since I am married with 2 kids). Anything you can do to make shit go further always helps.
Also, take a look at what you actually spend in a day and in a week. Look to find where shit is unnecessary and cut that out of your lifestyle. You can also figure out other options that satisfy your wants but costs less. Example: I used to rent movies all the goddamn time. $1 for older flicks, $4 for new movies. That added up really fast. I have Netflix now, it's $9 a month...and I watch a ton of movies on-demand from my laptop through them. You also get to keep the physical movies as long as you want (no late fees...a HUGE money pit if you like movies).
I also cut down to just paying for internet. No more cable. It's not worth it. If you're into sports, go watch it at a sports bar (bring your cheap home-made meal with you...what the fuck are they gonna do about it?). Order water...kick em a tip at the end of the game for tolerating you being there all night without drinking. Lots of shows are now on the networks websites for instant viewing. Sometimes you have to wait a week to see it, but it beats not having money. If I really need to watch something (which I've learned over time that I really, in fact, do not *need* to watch fucking anything), I'll go to my parents house...you can substitute that for anyone else you know who will tolerate you coming over to hang out once a week. Having 500,000 channels with absolutely fucking NOTHING to watch but commercials all the time is what made me realize it was a waste of time and money.
Buy a cheap $50 bike. I live on a retarded fucking hill now, so I never use mine anymore...but when I lived on the flats in my town, I started biking everywhere. Those who say "I can't get anywhere by walking" can have a happy medium in biking around. The occasional $20 for new tires or if your brake cable shreds is nothing compared to filling your gas tank every few days. In a big city? Carpool when you can. Not only are you gonna make the tree huggers happy, but throwing down a few bucks in gas to carpool with a few people is a lot better than using a bunch of funds to transport nothing but yourself. It also saves wearing out your own vehicle as fast...which is yet another expense when something breaks.
Want to start making a few bucks on the side? Start collecting cans. Do some research into recyclers who pay by the pound. It usually takes a lot of cans to get any sort of real turnover, but making 1 trip every month or so isn't so bad. Don't drink anything in a can? Buy your own $5 plastic garbage can and put it next to a popular garbage can at work. We have huge multi-day events here in my town...if I don't have anything going on, I'll usually spend the next morning going through the area and collecting cans. I made over $100 one weekend doing this. It gets you out of the house, and anything going into the piggy is better than it always coming out.
Final bit of advice here: pay attention. Don't carry cash if you feel you spend it easily when you have it. Don't carry a debit card if you feel swiping a card is too easy and getting you in trouble. Sometimes you have to be without funds to figure out how important it is to not have to carry them all the time. Keep a register of what you have and what you spend. I have a Droid...I downloaded an app called Mint.com. It links to your accounts and keeps a digial register of what your funds are, updates it as often as your bank would update their online transaction records. It's been a lot easier for me to just have that than carrying around a notebook or a check register, having to write it down all the time...and not doing so, usually. I can look at my phone and decide if shit is within my budget, instead of compulsively spending because I don't see the money in front of me (card). I know not everyone can do this the same way, but you'll have to find something that works for you.
Am I lavishly wealthy? No. Do I do all of the above all the time? No. This is all stuff to keep in mind that you can figure out if the option is doable for you. I started digging shit like this up because I'm NOT well off (especially since I am married with 2 kids). Anything you can do to make shit go further always helps.
SimonTaddio_Qc
Headbanger
JayB
Member
I'd just buy a shitload of yellow rice , I love that stuff. Bread , peanut better , and I would probably just get a container of protein powder
V8 Blend stuff
and gummy vitamins lol cause I hate the regular kind
V8 Blend stuff
and gummy vitamins lol cause I hate the regular kind
LeSedna
Mat or Mateo
Josh Burgess
Member
egan.
daylightdies.com
I'm just wondering, are all you guys living off $50/week for food packing your lunches everyday? Chances are if I'm working I'm going to eat something out even if it's just a snack.
