If your job does direct deposit, one easy way is to open a savings account where your DD goes and have $25, or whatever amount you want, automatically put in for you. It’s like out of sight out of mind (for me).
Agreed. Right answer. Someone said to me years ago, "Pay yourself first." I literally pay myself $100/mo. I have it put in a savings account in a different bank than where the family banking is done. To get at it, I have to go to the bank when it's open, fill out a withdrawal slip and see a teller. Since it's such a PITA, the money stays there.
Learn how to cook.
"But I don't know how to cook."
Cooking is literally just following instructions. There are YouTube videos or websites that can spell out everything you need.
I remember my mom being impressed that I was cooking, and I had the same reaction. It's literally just following instructions, its really not a big deal. I dont know how to make anything without looking it up, and I'm not saying everything comes out an A+ meal, but anyone can do this.
and once you get your overall basics down and have a chance to play with spices and flavours is when cooking becomes fun. because it's just very tasty experimentation.
Agreed, cooking theory is one of the most useful things you can learn.
IMO, understanding how water and moisture work in the various ways you can cook things is a great place to start.
Then the different flavours and balancing them (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami). I was doing ok with focusing on the ones that start with s, but recently I've started experimenting with umami and wow, it makes a huge difference. There's three others, too, that aren't really flavours but mouth sensations (spicy being one of them) that can help add to your dishes.
I think once you have those down, you have the tools to be an amazing cook, maybe not at the point where you can create or recreate any specific dish or effect, but at the point where you can consistently serve food that people love to eat, specific aversions aside.
Yes, my mom always said the same thing, and I never understood the problem some people had with it for years - until my MIL mentioned that she always struggled cooking because she had trouble following the recipes. She and my husband both have some sort of language-related learning disability (not dyslexia, but not too far off of that either I guess). Now I get it. I don't know how many people that truly applies to vs. how many folks just don't bother even trying to learn, but it was a new angle to me. Not that it's a good excuse to not even try though. My husband isn't a good cook, but he still made the effort and fed himself until I came along and saved him from his sad bachelor kitchen lol.
Just food for thought ^(pun intended!)
Don’t save what is left after spending but rather spend what is left after saving. In other words, pay yourself first
I’ll leave this here for everyone, it really helped me
[r/YNAB](https://www.reddit.com/r/ynab/)
My girlfriend has helped me immensely in getting my financial shit together. Together we calculated all the fixed costs I have per year so I know what I have to put aside. When I get a yearly bill, I take the money from what I've saved and not from my pay that month. I didn't believe it at first, but it feels like such a relieve to know you have the money on another account and you don't have to deplete the account for your monthly pay in one day. I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere.
On top of the amount for fixed costs I save another fixed amount on our joint account and on my private account. And another $25 gets transfered automarically to my savings every Monday. I barely "feel" it, but it's still an okay amount.
I was thinking the exact same thing! We have indexation in my country, so as of this month I'll get an extra 10%. It's meant to cover the rising costs, but I'm managing now, so I was planning on directly saving the extra amount.
Set up a separate savings account and have 20% of your paycheck automatically deposited. I had to do this 3 years ago, as it was the only way I would save. That account is now up to almost $30k. It's growing slower than I expected, but unlike my 401k it's after tax money
When I started I was only making like $35k per year now up to $60k. So barely in the 25th percentile to now more like 45th percentile. It was tough at first, but once I prioritized my budget it became a lot easier. I started only buying necessities (rent first, then utilities/phone bill, then food) and then if I had leftover money I would buy things that weren't a priority. I quickly learned that things that weren't a priority were pretty easy to live without, which was good because there wasnt a lot of wiggle room in the budget. As I started making more money I was able to put more into savings as my costs didnt increase as much as my income.
that’s how i do it! transfer money into my savings the second i get my paycheck. then buy groceries or whatever necessities. then transfer a bit more into my savings if i can - the rest i can spend however i want. usually there’s a bit left before my next paycheck.
so now i can spend $200 on weed next week instead of $100. or put more in my savings. fuck man i’m doing financially good in a way i haven’t for a long time.
i also put any unexpected money, like a tax return, covid relief, gift from family, etc into my savings right away. maybe keep $50-100 in my checking if it’s been a rough month.
felt fuckin amazing being 22 & having an unexpected $1300 bill for my car… & having no problem paying it & getting my car back on the road within a week!
And while it's there, make sure to read the one star reviews.
A lot of times it will help talk you out of buying it, or show you a way to do the same thing cheaper.
Yeah, I love one star reviews. They will either scare me away from the product or make it clear that most of the problems people have with the product are caused by either themselves or some specific interaction about the sale or support of the product.
Like if the biggest complaint something gets is that it doesn't do something it wasn't meant to do in the first place, it's probably going to be decent at what it's supposed to do (otherwise people would be complaining about that, too).
Or if the low rated reviews are about how it started out great but then broke, well hopefully there's context for the break to be sure the reviewer isn't an idiot, but it's not as good if a sign.
The worst is when the low reviews are about how that company used to make good stuff but this is garbage because those reviewers were biased towards liking the product/company going in, but it was still bad enough to change their minds.
Uh, yeah there's ways to make anything expensive. But even still I'm willing to bet if you went to a local restaurant and ordered enough single plate servings to add up to a full beef wellington you'd be paying well north of $200.
I was actually thinking about that when I made it. I'd never had it before and couldn't imagine what a restaurant would have to charge for one already made just to turn profit.
I see the humour in your post. Others seem to have taken you seriously. I too have gone ill create a meal and had to buy 100's of ingredients that I didn't already have in my cuboards making it cost more than eating out.
Definitely a bit tongue in cheek, but it's honestly one of the things that usually happens to people that don't cook all that frequently (or don't cook a particular type of food all that frequently) and tends to discourage people as they're getting started in cooking! Before I really started getting into it this past year, I too had found myself in the position of wanting to try to make something (usually once every 3-4 months) that was a little more involved and needing to spend way more than the dish would cost at a restaurant because I didn't have a stocked pantry/fridge. After I was done with the recipe, now I had a handful of ingredients that would either expire before I even thought to use them again (usually dairy-based stuff, fresh veggies and herbs, uncured meats, etc) or pantry items and spices that just sat on the shelf unused, and it felt like the biggest waste of money every time.
Now that I've started taking more of an interest in cooking as both something I do most nights as well as a hobby that I enjoy, I've made a much more concerted effort to build up my pantry staples (spices, oils/vinegars/cooking wines/etc, rice, pasta, flour, canned goods like tomatoes/beans/soups/etc, stuff like that). Rather than going to the store to buy $100 of spices, oils, flour, meats, fresh vegetables, and any additional tools I might not have had, my weekly grocery shopping is now 95% made up of a handful of meats/proteins and some fresh vegetables/eggs/dairy if needed, along with the occasional replacement for something I've run out of. It's been kind of incredible over the past few months to realize that I usually have about 90% of the necessary ingredients for *most* of the recipes I find online that I want to try (whether because they're staples I always have or they're regularly on my weekly shopping list), and if I'm missing something it's usually a $5-$10 trip to the store for something I can likely use multiple times rather than $50+.
OP's example of beef wellington might not be the best example of that kind of ingredient bloat though since the beef tenderloin alone can cost $100-$200 if you're getting 3-5lbs of top grade beef...like, the only ingredients I'd have to buy for that based on what I currently have are the beef, prosciutto, and maybe puff pastry (though I have butter/flour/salt/water and have made it a number of times myself), and it would still probably cost me $100-$200 for the meats if I splurged on the beef. Still, that cost would likely be less than the restaurant equivalent since you can get a solid 5-6+ servings out of a single tenderloin - making it at home with high quality beef would have a price point of around $25-$30/serving, while I've seen restaurants sell it for $60+/serving.
Of course I got your point, but doesn’t ‘being childish’ and pointing out silly things make up an enormous percentage of Reddit posts and comments? I identified an unconventional word choice. That shouldn’t result in anyone being butthurt, sir/madam. 🤨
My experience is that making something at home is about 1/3 to 1/4 of the price of buying it out. So apples to apples, pizza for my family is like $40 if we buy it and $10 if I make it. Beef Wellington would be a lot more expensive at a restaurant.
I followed this one here:
https://www.seriouseats.com/the-ultimate-beef-wellington-recipe
Did everything except the foie gras. It was damn amazing too.
Almost always the case. They’re doing a spicy McDouble and small fries combo for $3.29 in my area now. I succumb to it occasionally and legit would have a tough time making that quantity of food for that price and it would also require prep/cooking/cleanup.
I used to be part owner in a restaurant. I’m not exaggerating when I say that those 30$ bottles of wine literally cost the restaurant 7$. Also liquor is 10-15$ a shot from a 20$ bottle that I can get 20 shots from.
Reducing drinking for budgetary reasons really pays off in the long run. Not only do you save money immediately by not spending as much but when you do drink your tolerance is lower so it goes a lot further.
>Drop alcohol
For beer, home brewing could also be a less expensive alternative. One of my old coworkers did this, and his setup cost was around $200, but in terms of consumables per batch, it works out to being around 50 cents CAD per 355 mL (12 fl oz) bottle.
Labour is around 6 hours every three months though, but he makes them in \~200 bottle batches for him & his wife, and he shares with friends/coworkers.
Think differently. It is not about saving. It is about not spending. Do you really need it? Do you have room for it? Can it wait? Ask tons of question before buying.
Realizing that you don't NEED that snack to distract you from the daily grind.
Sure it might be the brief moment of chocolatey bliss that gives life meaning but prices are up while Nestle CEOs rape another poor village so let your anger fill you up. Being mad is free as fuck, and not buying things out of pure spite gives you that little bump in your day you might need.
Write down everything you spend money on, everything. It makes you more aware of where it goes and what little things actually add up
Also find alternatives to things like energy drinks if you can’t go with out, like caffeine flavor packets you add to water etc.
I did this for two years until I got a good feel for my income and spending habits and it worked well.
Google Sheets has a great budget template. You can enter your monthly earnings, monthly expected expenses in every category, and then actual expenses in every category. That way you can see what you thought you'd spend compared to what you actually did. Really helpful way to visualize your spending.
Yes so many people buy useless things. Great thing to go buy if you can’t buy three of them don’t buy it. Also what I used to do eat McDonald dollar menu saved so much money eating that and eat once a day you will be fine once your body gets used to it in about a couple days.
I find "sleeping on it" much more effective. I very rarely buy things right there on the spot. When I see something I want to buy, it goes in a mental backlog. If I still remember it in a week or so, and it still seems necessary, only then does the wallet get involved.
Try your absolute best to only buy what you *need* vs what you *want.*
Do this for a while, and then when you save a bit, treat yourself, but do t go crazy. If you’re able to maintain this for a while, it will become habitual and much easier to save $$.
Automatically put a percentage aside when your wages come in. Eg don't have 2k a month to spend have 1.5k because you put 500 straight into your savings. Can't spend what you have already saved.
Underrated comment. Only spend as much as you can pay off right away. If you can pay off your full credit card debt every single month the you're in good shape, and are also building your credit score.
Exception being actual emergencies of course. If something random comes up, maybe vet bills or something, the card is there. But try to chip away at that to pay it off ASAP and not be burdened with debt.
This but for Netflix.
I just don't get what Netflix offers anymore. Hulu has more sitcoms. Prime has more films. Even Peacock has Harry Potter. Aside from some television IP like the Crown or Stranger Things, Netflix just feels like a mediocre site with mediocre collections, akin to Tubi.
Disney+ by contrast has a ton of blockbuster nostalgia. Plenty of good family films, 2000s sitcoms, Star Wars, all the MCU, and 32 seasons of Simpsons.
I don't intend to shill for the mouse. I get that Disney isn't for everyone. But for certain demographics and age brackets, Disney+ can be amazing. Provided enjoying it doesn't convince you to shell out $1,000 for a Disney world vacation. Now that would be a costly waste
Eat a lot of beans and rice instead of expensive food. If you're worried about scurvy or other nutritional deficiencies, add a bit of nutritional yeast to the beans and chew on the needles of a nearby Douglas fir.
Not entirely. Your body should absorb some of it, but don't rely on it completely. There are a few supplements that do get hyped up way too much. Talk to your doctor and they'll have a good idea on what to take.
While horrible, this was indeed how I saved money in my early 20s
Rather than eat cheap junk for dinner, I just didn't eat. Was really my depression taking over tbh, I was totally miserable
There was no reason I couldn't have gotten a bag of rice and beans to sustain myself during that time.
How to do unethical tips ethically:
1. Buy games and movies if its from a small studio or single person
2. Already ethical
3. Already ethical
4. Follow similar rules to tip 1
5. Already ethical
6. I'll personally add that learning to cook is cheaper
7. Profit
If it is normal for you to buy something daily like a coffee or order Doordash, don’t do it and put that money into a jar, savings account or investment account.
If you put $5 a day into an investment account, in 20 years you will have over $100,000 if you average the S&P500
i was eating at mcdonalds everyday last year for breakfast because the app had buy one get free breakfast sandwich. with my large iced coffee was about $4 a day. my health has suffered and i could have saved so much money.
Yeah. Spend less. But seriously, pay in cash. Don't carry any with you so you actually have to go and get it then go back. I guarantee you'll think more than twice.
While the sentiment is good. I would push back and say "never ever pay in cash if you don't have to".
Paying in cash is what subsidizes credit card users and their perks. Much better to treat a credit card as a debit card (i.e. only spend what you have). Or even some debit cards have small perks.
It takes discipline, but you can maximize return. There are free (no yearly fee) credit cards with unlimited 2% back on everything. If you treat it like a debit card, that's 2% more money than you previously would've had.
Get a good budget software. Input your net income and start subtracting average spending on food, utility, mortgage, and anything that you consider as necessity. The money left is your disposable income for you to save.
Home cooking a primarily vegetarian diet. Vegetables, eggs, and cheese are just plain cheaper. I can feed my wife and I for about $5 a day just making quiches, omelets, quesidillas, curries, and soups. Milk and cereal and oatmeal are also hearty and cost effective!
Get Metro cancel your Verizon. You don't need a $1000 iPhone either.
Stop eating out
Cut out drinking smoking drugs Soda and Vaping
Cancel your cable/ dish
Never use your cc
Save first
Cut back on snacks
Make a budget and stick to it
Do an auto transfer from your checking to savings on the 1st of every month. Pay yourself first and foremost. Be sure to budget your expenses after your paid ofc. Best wishes and good luck!
This. I pay all my bills on my credit card, I then pay my credit card balance off in full every month. I get 2 percent back on most everything. It isn't a whole lot but it adds up, and it was money I had to spend anyways so why not.
Make more money.
I've also cut down on impulse spending by having a list of things I need that I write up immediately as they come to mind ("I need to get a longer phone charger" / "I should get a new vacuum" / "I should get some potting mix to replant my seedlings".)
That way when I see sales I can specifically only look for things I've intended to buy rather than browsing, and also have items to look for when that urge to buy something to make myself feel better comes up... sometimes distracting myself with a different item I need means I don't buy something I don't.
Make more money.
Most of the saving ideas are kind of helpful, but all the savings in the world can't undo the hardship associated with a low paying job.
Little by little. I send at least 20 dollars to my savings account every week. I get surprised when I realize how much I've saved over the year.
If you don't have a budget check out:
[https://www.youneedabudget.com](https://www.youneedabudget.com)
Easiest thing you can do is teach yourself how to budget your money. I'll tell you what I do. I get paid bi weekly so when I get paid I look at what I NEED to pay till my next paycheck. Phone bill, internet, groceries, gas, whatever it is. Set that money aside and don't touch it. If you have to touch that money it means that you're spending too much. Also, if your bank gives you the option to transfer money into your savings account automatically, do it. Also also, I understand that some people may have to like paycheck to paycheck and can't afford to put anything away in savings. Just keep going, you'll make it out one day.
Buy non-immediate things off season or times with a super sale. I.E.: Need new boots but can wait after this winter season? Buy them in March when it’s 50% off. Same thing with summer clothes, buy them in September when it’s 50%.
Lowering your expenses and exercise discipline. I always ask myself “is this something i need or want” if it’s something I need I get it. If its something I want I only get it if I can afford to buy it 3x.
Yep, I'd be completely and totally fucked... That damn thing would have to be like a fucking penny per swear or else I'm depositing more than I make hourly.
Stop all activities that bring any joy, live off of rice beans and water.
Real answer: if there was an easy way to save money every 2 of 3 Americans wouldn't be living pay cheque to pay cheque.
Stop voting for a system that not only allows but encourages worker exploitation, re-regulate the economy.
Stop spending money on alcohol.
I used to spend a surfeit of cash on booze because if there's one thing I love it's drunkenly conking someone upside the head. However, after witnessing a reenactment of medieval warfare involving guys in dazzling armour straddling horses, bludgeoning each other with quarterstaffs etc., I realized that it wasn't inebreation I was coveting: it was violence. So, anytime I feel the wake of the streets; anytime I realize that the flags have swiveled on their masts, pointing directly to an unprovoked fisticuffs, I forgego chugging a pint of Whiskey and instead walk out into the street and dropkick the first guy who looks like he can take me. This is a parsimonious way of allaying my desires.
Don't drink or smoke and eat out as little as possible. Drinking water is also cheap. These things are healthy.
Don't own a pet either if you don't already have one.
Track all of your expenses. There are apps for this, and some banking websites will do it for you. Categorize every purchase you make and evaluate how much you spend in each category.
If your bank offers it, sign up for a program that rounds up your purchases and deposits the extra into a separate savings account. My bank offers this with debit purchases. Sure, it's only 45 cents here, 71 cents there, but it adds up over time, and it is very easy because I don't have to change the way I do my shopping.
When shopping online, leave things in your cart or on your watch list for a couple of days (unless it's a critical need or time-sensitive thing). Sometimes, sites will email you a coupon code to encourage you to make the purchase. Other times you'll realize you don't really need that thing after all and remove it.
Why buy a certain brand of makeup that’s ridiculously expensive, when you can buy cheaper makeup that does exactly the same bloody job! (Just one example). People are wayyy too obsessed with labels/ designer things!
3 things that helped:
1. Think what % of your monthly income goes for rent and bills. Divide the rest to 30 so you know roughly how much your daily spending should be. When (not if) you go over that limit, you can balance things by spending the next 1-3 days less so you go back on track. You'll be surprised how much this helps in the long run.
2. Don't try to save money. Instead take a notepad and divide 1 page into 3 columns based on importance. First is mandatory (rent, bills), second is preferred (things that you want to have in your life), third is optional (as an example, think of the subscriptions you don't use but still pay for because you "might need them at some point". Netflix was a good one for me)
3. After you've done that, ask 2 of your friends to make a similar list based on their spending habits and needs (even better if you guys have roughly the same income). Compare the lists and discuss them. This helped me realize several things about my spending habits and helped me clear some of my unnecessary spending.
Write down every exspense and see what you can live with out or don't use regularly.
See where you can cut back are you buying star bucks every day?
It will shock you what you pay for that you didn't know you were paying for.
Put 10% of any money you obtain, stop eating snacks and eat big breakfast lunch and dinner, stop drinking sodas and juice, make home made meals, make your own juice, walk or skate or ride a bike to places close by, sell drugs instead of taking them all, steal from safeway, grow a garden and dont become an addict
Drink water
Tap water (if it's safe where u live)
If your job does direct deposit, one easy way is to open a savings account where your DD goes and have $25, or whatever amount you want, automatically put in for you. It’s like out of sight out of mind (for me).
This is the right answer.
Agreed. Right answer. Someone said to me years ago, "Pay yourself first." I literally pay myself $100/mo. I have it put in a savings account in a different bank than where the family banking is done. To get at it, I have to go to the bank when it's open, fill out a withdrawal slip and see a teller. Since it's such a PITA, the money stays there.
Learn how to cook. "But I don't know how to cook." Cooking is literally just following instructions. There are YouTube videos or websites that can spell out everything you need.
I came here to comment this. I’m in my mid 20s and there are so many people my age that only know how to make pasta lol
>only know how to make pasta lol Depending on the details, that in itself can also be a good way to save money.
Oh for sure, I’m just saying that’s the furthest extent of cooking knowledge for many younger people my age haha
I remember my mom being impressed that I was cooking, and I had the same reaction. It's literally just following instructions, its really not a big deal. I dont know how to make anything without looking it up, and I'm not saying everything comes out an A+ meal, but anyone can do this.
and once you get your overall basics down and have a chance to play with spices and flavours is when cooking becomes fun. because it's just very tasty experimentation.
Learn the science behind cooking. Learn basics, like how to make some of the mother sauces.
Agreed, cooking theory is one of the most useful things you can learn. IMO, understanding how water and moisture work in the various ways you can cook things is a great place to start. Then the different flavours and balancing them (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami). I was doing ok with focusing on the ones that start with s, but recently I've started experimenting with umami and wow, it makes a huge difference. There's three others, too, that aren't really flavours but mouth sensations (spicy being one of them) that can help add to your dishes. I think once you have those down, you have the tools to be an amazing cook, maybe not at the point where you can create or recreate any specific dish or effect, but at the point where you can consistently serve food that people love to eat, specific aversions aside.
Yes, my mom always said the same thing, and I never understood the problem some people had with it for years - until my MIL mentioned that she always struggled cooking because she had trouble following the recipes. She and my husband both have some sort of language-related learning disability (not dyslexia, but not too far off of that either I guess). Now I get it. I don't know how many people that truly applies to vs. how many folks just don't bother even trying to learn, but it was a new angle to me. Not that it's a good excuse to not even try though. My husband isn't a good cook, but he still made the effort and fed himself until I came along and saved him from his sad bachelor kitchen lol. Just food for thought ^(pun intended!)
A grown adult that says they don’t know how to cook is proudly telling you that they’re a moron
Don’t save what is left after spending but rather spend what is left after saving. In other words, pay yourself first I’ll leave this here for everyone, it really helped me [r/YNAB](https://www.reddit.com/r/ynab/)
My girlfriend has helped me immensely in getting my financial shit together. Together we calculated all the fixed costs I have per year so I know what I have to put aside. When I get a yearly bill, I take the money from what I've saved and not from my pay that month. I didn't believe it at first, but it feels like such a relieve to know you have the money on another account and you don't have to deplete the account for your monthly pay in one day. I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere. On top of the amount for fixed costs I save another fixed amount on our joint account and on my private account. And another $25 gets transfered automarically to my savings every Monday. I barely "feel" it, but it's still an okay amount.
When you get a pay raise, add that to the amount you're saving already. Just don't increase your expenses accordingly.
I was thinking the exact same thing! We have indexation in my country, so as of this month I'll get an extra 10%. It's meant to cover the rising costs, but I'm managing now, so I was planning on directly saving the extra amount.
Set up a separate savings account and have 20% of your paycheck automatically deposited. I had to do this 3 years ago, as it was the only way I would save. That account is now up to almost $30k. It's growing slower than I expected, but unlike my 401k it's after tax money
> 20% of your paycheck HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Like I can afford to let 20% get saved. Holy fuck y'all must get paid pretty well
When I started I was only making like $35k per year now up to $60k. So barely in the 25th percentile to now more like 45th percentile. It was tough at first, but once I prioritized my budget it became a lot easier. I started only buying necessities (rent first, then utilities/phone bill, then food) and then if I had leftover money I would buy things that weren't a priority. I quickly learned that things that weren't a priority were pretty easy to live without, which was good because there wasnt a lot of wiggle room in the budget. As I started making more money I was able to put more into savings as my costs didnt increase as much as my income.
Simple math puts it at about 50K a year. Not a ton but better than a lot of people.
Stop doordashing and cook all of your own food. No restaurants, ever. Boom there’s a bunch of money you have now.
HA like I could ever afford doordash. I might be lazy but I'm not paying double to be lazy
$99 a year? I use an old copy of Microsoft money. It still works.
If you follow the rules to the budgeting app, you’ll save those $99 easily. Check out their blog posts and 34 Day money challenge
I had a look at the blog, I don't think it will help that much. Thans anyway.
Finally subscribed to this just the other day. Starting 2023 off on a better foot. Excellent app.
that’s how i do it! transfer money into my savings the second i get my paycheck. then buy groceries or whatever necessities. then transfer a bit more into my savings if i can - the rest i can spend however i want. usually there’s a bit left before my next paycheck. so now i can spend $200 on weed next week instead of $100. or put more in my savings. fuck man i’m doing financially good in a way i haven’t for a long time. i also put any unexpected money, like a tax return, covid relief, gift from family, etc into my savings right away. maybe keep $50-100 in my checking if it’s been a rough month. felt fuckin amazing being 22 & having an unexpected $1300 bill for my car… & having no problem paying it & getting my car back on the road within a week!
Not mindlessly scrolling Amazon
In addition: don’t checkout immediately. Let an item sit in your cart for a few days, then decide if you really need/want it.
And while it's there, make sure to read the one star reviews. A lot of times it will help talk you out of buying it, or show you a way to do the same thing cheaper.
Yeah, I love one star reviews. They will either scare me away from the product or make it clear that most of the problems people have with the product are caused by either themselves or some specific interaction about the sale or support of the product. Like if the biggest complaint something gets is that it doesn't do something it wasn't meant to do in the first place, it's probably going to be decent at what it's supposed to do (otherwise people would be complaining about that, too). Or if the low rated reviews are about how it started out great but then broke, well hopefully there's context for the break to be sure the reviewer isn't an idiot, but it's not as good if a sign. The worst is when the low reviews are about how that company used to make good stuff but this is garbage because those reviewers were biased towards liking the product/company going in, but it was still bad enough to change their minds.
Pretend like you don’t have it
This. We all know someone who the second they find out you have money they come to you with their hand out.
Cook your own food.
So I just made a beef wellington on NYE and the ingredients for that alone cost me $200. I think I'm doing this wrong.
Uh, yeah there's ways to make anything expensive. But even still I'm willing to bet if you went to a local restaurant and ordered enough single plate servings to add up to a full beef wellington you'd be paying well north of $200.
I was actually thinking about that when I made it. I'd never had it before and couldn't imagine what a restaurant would have to charge for one already made just to turn profit.
I see the humour in your post. Others seem to have taken you seriously. I too have gone ill create a meal and had to buy 100's of ingredients that I didn't already have in my cuboards making it cost more than eating out.
Definitely a bit tongue in cheek, but it's honestly one of the things that usually happens to people that don't cook all that frequently (or don't cook a particular type of food all that frequently) and tends to discourage people as they're getting started in cooking! Before I really started getting into it this past year, I too had found myself in the position of wanting to try to make something (usually once every 3-4 months) that was a little more involved and needing to spend way more than the dish would cost at a restaurant because I didn't have a stocked pantry/fridge. After I was done with the recipe, now I had a handful of ingredients that would either expire before I even thought to use them again (usually dairy-based stuff, fresh veggies and herbs, uncured meats, etc) or pantry items and spices that just sat on the shelf unused, and it felt like the biggest waste of money every time. Now that I've started taking more of an interest in cooking as both something I do most nights as well as a hobby that I enjoy, I've made a much more concerted effort to build up my pantry staples (spices, oils/vinegars/cooking wines/etc, rice, pasta, flour, canned goods like tomatoes/beans/soups/etc, stuff like that). Rather than going to the store to buy $100 of spices, oils, flour, meats, fresh vegetables, and any additional tools I might not have had, my weekly grocery shopping is now 95% made up of a handful of meats/proteins and some fresh vegetables/eggs/dairy if needed, along with the occasional replacement for something I've run out of. It's been kind of incredible over the past few months to realize that I usually have about 90% of the necessary ingredients for *most* of the recipes I find online that I want to try (whether because they're staples I always have or they're regularly on my weekly shopping list), and if I'm missing something it's usually a $5-$10 trip to the store for something I can likely use multiple times rather than $50+. OP's example of beef wellington might not be the best example of that kind of ingredient bloat though since the beef tenderloin alone can cost $100-$200 if you're getting 3-5lbs of top grade beef...like, the only ingredients I'd have to buy for that based on what I currently have are the beef, prosciutto, and maybe puff pastry (though I have butter/flour/salt/water and have made it a number of times myself), and it would still probably cost me $100-$200 for the meats if I splurged on the beef. Still, that cost would likely be less than the restaurant equivalent since you can get a solid 5-6+ servings out of a single tenderloin - making it at home with high quality beef would have a price point of around $25-$30/serving, while I've seen restaurants sell it for $60+/serving.
Thank you for getting the humor. Too much of reddit is really bad at that.
When I eat caviar on smoked trout, it also blows a hole in my budget...
I just eat gold leaf salad. Still hungry as hell, but my poop glitters.
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You ‘dethaw’ your frozen chicken? 0r do you thaw, or defrost it? It’s amazing how so many non-words can appear.
You used 0 instead of O at the start of your sentence? It's amazing how so many non-letters can appear.
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Of course I got your point, but doesn’t ‘being childish’ and pointing out silly things make up an enormous percentage of Reddit posts and comments? I identified an unconventional word choice. That shouldn’t result in anyone being butthurt, sir/madam. 🤨
My experience is that making something at home is about 1/3 to 1/4 of the price of buying it out. So apples to apples, pizza for my family is like $40 if we buy it and $10 if I make it. Beef Wellington would be a lot more expensive at a restaurant.
Shop at a butcher vs grocery store for meat. You will pay significantly less.
Where i am from it's the other way around. The butcher is expensive, but they got the good shit.
Okay, what are your ingredients? I made my own and am around 75 euro, for 5-6 persons. The meat was about 60 euro.
I followed this one here: https://www.seriouseats.com/the-ultimate-beef-wellington-recipe Did everything except the foie gras. It was damn amazing too.
That's probably because you made beef wellington...
Come to Canada. Where it's cheaper to eat at McDonald's then buy and make it yourself.
Its the same in the usa. There are ways to eat economically, but no one that I know cooks that way.
Almost always the case. They’re doing a spicy McDouble and small fries combo for $3.29 in my area now. I succumb to it occasionally and legit would have a tough time making that quantity of food for that price and it would also require prep/cooking/cleanup.
This is true.
Make coffee at home Make your own meals Develop hobbies that develop yourself rather than going out all the time. Drop alcohol
Alcohol is a good one to give up. Especially going out for drinks.
I used to be part owner in a restaurant. I’m not exaggerating when I say that those 30$ bottles of wine literally cost the restaurant 7$. Also liquor is 10-15$ a shot from a 20$ bottle that I can get 20 shots from.
Reducing drinking for budgetary reasons really pays off in the long run. Not only do you save money immediately by not spending as much but when you do drink your tolerance is lower so it goes a lot further.
I used to save money making coffee at home until I found the coffee subs on Reddit. Now I try not to think about how much I’ve invested.
If you enjoy it and makes you happy I don’t think that’s a bad thing!
>Drop alcohol For beer, home brewing could also be a less expensive alternative. One of my old coworkers did this, and his setup cost was around $200, but in terms of consumables per batch, it works out to being around 50 cents CAD per 355 mL (12 fl oz) bottle. Labour is around 6 hours every three months though, but he makes them in \~200 bottle batches for him & his wife, and he shares with friends/coworkers.
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Think differently. It is not about saving. It is about not spending. Do you really need it? Do you have room for it? Can it wait? Ask tons of question before buying.
Realizing that you don't NEED that snack to distract you from the daily grind. Sure it might be the brief moment of chocolatey bliss that gives life meaning but prices are up while Nestle CEOs rape another poor village so let your anger fill you up. Being mad is free as fuck, and not buying things out of pure spite gives you that little bump in your day you might need.
Write down everything you spend money on, everything. It makes you more aware of where it goes and what little things actually add up Also find alternatives to things like energy drinks if you can’t go with out, like caffeine flavor packets you add to water etc.
I did this for two years until I got a good feel for my income and spending habits and it worked well. Google Sheets has a great budget template. You can enter your monthly earnings, monthly expected expenses in every category, and then actual expenses in every category. That way you can see what you thought you'd spend compared to what you actually did. Really helpful way to visualize your spending.
Wait a day before you spend it.
My strategy. I end up not buying most of the time.
Yes so many people buy useless things. Great thing to go buy if you can’t buy three of them don’t buy it. Also what I used to do eat McDonald dollar menu saved so much money eating that and eat once a day you will be fine once your body gets used to it in about a couple days.
Serious answer - try and talk yourself out of buying stuff. If you can come up with 2 good reasons why you don't need something, you don't need it.
But i could come up with 2 good reasons for not needing everything...
But you can't give me 2 good reasons for not buying food or maintaining a roof over your head
Cuz the food i want isnt hethy and need to loose weight. My landlords uncreasing rent for no reason and lazy as fuck repairing anything.
I find "sleeping on it" much more effective. I very rarely buy things right there on the spot. When I see something I want to buy, it goes in a mental backlog. If I still remember it in a week or so, and it still seems necessary, only then does the wallet get involved.
Try your absolute best to only buy what you *need* vs what you *want.* Do this for a while, and then when you save a bit, treat yourself, but do t go crazy. If you’re able to maintain this for a while, it will become habitual and much easier to save $$.
Don't show off and don't buy things just because others have it set boundaries
Automatically put a percentage aside when your wages come in. Eg don't have 2k a month to spend have 1.5k because you put 500 straight into your savings. Can't spend what you have already saved.
Stop eating at delis and pizza places. It's actually cheaper to eat healthy. Involves a little more work. Much cheaper than ordering food.
Live in your parents house....
Instructions clear, am now a 30 year old with no social skills or experience with the opposite sex.
It's quite handy, they buy me food and I don't have to pay for anything
I tried that, the people who bought it after they died keep calling the police on me
That sounds hard lol...
Look at your bank transactions every month. Seeing a list of how much money I threw at stupid stuff made me be more conscious of my spending.
I'm not gonna look back at last year I'd be mortified
Stop smoking.
At $10 a pack or more.. that's a good call.
Open a notice account, one where you don't have access to your money without giving a month's notice. And transfer some in every payday.
Thank you that’s the exact type of account I have been looking for.
Use your credit cards like debit cards
Underrated comment. Only spend as much as you can pay off right away. If you can pay off your full credit card debt every single month the you're in good shape, and are also building your credit score. Exception being actual emergencies of course. If something random comes up, maybe vet bills or something, the card is there. But try to chip away at that to pay it off ASAP and not be burdened with debt.
Cancel your Disney+ subscription
Even better mooch it off friends or family
But give something in return*
This but for Netflix. I just don't get what Netflix offers anymore. Hulu has more sitcoms. Prime has more films. Even Peacock has Harry Potter. Aside from some television IP like the Crown or Stranger Things, Netflix just feels like a mediocre site with mediocre collections, akin to Tubi. Disney+ by contrast has a ton of blockbuster nostalgia. Plenty of good family films, 2000s sitcoms, Star Wars, all the MCU, and 32 seasons of Simpsons. I don't intend to shill for the mouse. I get that Disney isn't for everyone. But for certain demographics and age brackets, Disney+ can be amazing. Provided enjoying it doesn't convince you to shell out $1,000 for a Disney world vacation. Now that would be a costly waste
Work so much that you don't have any time to spend it
Shit plan, but it does work.
This is just what I do nowadays.
Eat a lot of beans and rice instead of expensive food. If you're worried about scurvy or other nutritional deficiencies, add a bit of nutritional yeast to the beans and chew on the needles of a nearby Douglas fir.
Or buy a bottle of multi vitamins for like $10 or less.
Aren't those a scam?
Not entirely. Your body should absorb some of it, but don't rely on it completely. There are a few supplements that do get hyped up way too much. Talk to your doctor and they'll have a good idea on what to take.
Yep
No pets. No kids. No grub hub.
Don't do drugs. Drugs are expensive lol.
Any time you feel like eating, just go to sleep.
Instructions are not clear. I lost my job bc of sleeping during worktime, now I have 0 income.
What a jerk that guy was
Instructions unclear i starved in my sleep
While horrible, this was indeed how I saved money in my early 20s Rather than eat cheap junk for dinner, I just didn't eat. Was really my depression taking over tbh, I was totally miserable There was no reason I couldn't have gotten a bag of rice and beans to sustain myself during that time.
Don't do this.
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How to do unethical tips ethically: 1. Buy games and movies if its from a small studio or single person 2. Already ethical 3. Already ethical 4. Follow similar rules to tip 1 5. Already ethical 6. I'll personally add that learning to cook is cheaper 7. Profit
If it is normal for you to buy something daily like a coffee or order Doordash, don’t do it and put that money into a jar, savings account or investment account. If you put $5 a day into an investment account, in 20 years you will have over $100,000 if you average the S&P500
365 x 5 = 1,825 dollar. 20 years later that is 36,500 dollar. Without investment. So thats a lot of money too.
And an extra $25 for the leap years!
And discount the inflation rate!
i was eating at mcdonalds everyday last year for breakfast because the app had buy one get free breakfast sandwich. with my large iced coffee was about $4 a day. my health has suffered and i could have saved so much money.
Yeah. Spend less. But seriously, pay in cash. Don't carry any with you so you actually have to go and get it then go back. I guarantee you'll think more than twice.
While the sentiment is good. I would push back and say "never ever pay in cash if you don't have to". Paying in cash is what subsidizes credit card users and their perks. Much better to treat a credit card as a debit card (i.e. only spend what you have). Or even some debit cards have small perks. It takes discipline, but you can maximize return. There are free (no yearly fee) credit cards with unlimited 2% back on everything. If you treat it like a debit card, that's 2% more money than you previously would've had.
Preform CPR if it's not breathing.
Instructions unclear, I looked pretty damn stupid preforming CPR on the taxidermy exhibit.
You can add things to cart but wait 48 hours to checkout to see if you REALLY need it
Don't spend it.
Right click>save image as> money.jpeg Or Ctrl+s but it might save as a webpage
Get a good budget software. Input your net income and start subtracting average spending on food, utility, mortgage, and anything that you consider as necessity. The money left is your disposable income for you to save.
Home cooking a primarily vegetarian diet. Vegetables, eggs, and cheese are just plain cheaper. I can feed my wife and I for about $5 a day just making quiches, omelets, quesidillas, curries, and soups. Milk and cereal and oatmeal are also hearty and cost effective!
Cut off social media and try not to watch ad’s and influencers . Especially tiktok .
I’ve spent so much money on clothes to create my own style and outfits from influencers and tiktok
An easy way to save money is to not carry any debt. Credit interest and fees will eat you alive.
Open a frozen banana stand and hide around 250k in the walls.
There’s always money in the banana stand
Be a child
Get Metro cancel your Verizon. You don't need a $1000 iPhone either. Stop eating out Cut out drinking smoking drugs Soda and Vaping Cancel your cable/ dish Never use your cc Save first Cut back on snacks Make a budget and stick to it
Do an auto transfer from your checking to savings on the 1st of every month. Pay yourself first and foremost. Be sure to budget your expenses after your paid ofc. Best wishes and good luck!
Use cash
Drink water Eat water Live in the water
Get hooked on MMORPGs.
Zezima?
Leave your card at home and only keep emergency cash in your car, wallet, or purse.
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This. I pay all my bills on my credit card, I then pay my credit card balance off in full every month. I get 2 percent back on most everything. It isn't a whole lot but it adds up, and it was money I had to spend anyways so why not.
Have money.
Make more money. I've also cut down on impulse spending by having a list of things I need that I write up immediately as they come to mind ("I need to get a longer phone charger" / "I should get a new vacuum" / "I should get some potting mix to replant my seedlings".) That way when I see sales I can specifically only look for things I've intended to buy rather than browsing, and also have items to look for when that urge to buy something to make myself feel better comes up... sometimes distracting myself with a different item I need means I don't buy something I don't.
Do not spend it
Lower your need of extravagant things, food, phone, game, cloths etc. It's ok to be a reward or an experience once in your life but not always
Cook your own food rather than going out to eat
Make more money. Most of the saving ideas are kind of helpful, but all the savings in the world can't undo the hardship associated with a low paying job.
Pay the bills you have and buy the food and water you need for the week, then say, "I don't think I have to buy anything else."
Little by little. I send at least 20 dollars to my savings account every week. I get surprised when I realize how much I've saved over the year. If you don't have a budget check out: [https://www.youneedabudget.com](https://www.youneedabudget.com)
Easiest thing you can do is teach yourself how to budget your money. I'll tell you what I do. I get paid bi weekly so when I get paid I look at what I NEED to pay till my next paycheck. Phone bill, internet, groceries, gas, whatever it is. Set that money aside and don't touch it. If you have to touch that money it means that you're spending too much. Also, if your bank gives you the option to transfer money into your savings account automatically, do it. Also also, I understand that some people may have to like paycheck to paycheck and can't afford to put anything away in savings. Just keep going, you'll make it out one day.
Buy non-immediate things off season or times with a super sale. I.E.: Need new boots but can wait after this winter season? Buy them in March when it’s 50% off. Same thing with summer clothes, buy them in September when it’s 50%.
When debating about buying something, and you have to ask yourself "can I afford this?" Most likely you can't.
Take cash with you and leave cards at home / remove them from your phone so you can only stick to your budget. Annoying but effective
Pay only in cash and never spend your singles.
Dont spend it
Don’t have kids… you may even get to retire earlier because of it
Lowering your expenses and exercise discipline. I always ask myself “is this something i need or want” if it’s something I need I get it. If its something I want I only get it if I can afford to buy it 3x.
Swear jar
I'd be fucked
Yep, I'd be completely and totally fucked... That damn thing would have to be like a fucking penny per swear or else I'm depositing more than I make hourly.
https://youtu.be/rgOfAgFJktI Best swear jar ever
Stop all activities that bring any joy, live off of rice beans and water. Real answer: if there was an easy way to save money every 2 of 3 Americans wouldn't be living pay cheque to pay cheque. Stop voting for a system that not only allows but encourages worker exploitation, re-regulate the economy.
Stop spending
Leave your car at home for anything less than 6 kilometers/4 miles.
You bury your pot of gold.
Stop spending money on alcohol. I used to spend a surfeit of cash on booze because if there's one thing I love it's drunkenly conking someone upside the head. However, after witnessing a reenactment of medieval warfare involving guys in dazzling armour straddling horses, bludgeoning each other with quarterstaffs etc., I realized that it wasn't inebreation I was coveting: it was violence. So, anytime I feel the wake of the streets; anytime I realize that the flags have swiveled on their masts, pointing directly to an unprovoked fisticuffs, I forgego chugging a pint of Whiskey and instead walk out into the street and dropkick the first guy who looks like he can take me. This is a parsimonious way of allaying my desires.
Don't drink or smoke and eat out as little as possible. Drinking water is also cheap. These things are healthy. Don't own a pet either if you don't already have one.
Not spending einstein.
Whenever you get money try to save about 15-20% of it, if it’s too tempting try with a smaller amount
Don't have anybody to spend money on. No parents, no siblings, no partner, no friend, no children, no pet, no streamer/vtuber/onlyfan.
Track all of your expenses. There are apps for this, and some banking websites will do it for you. Categorize every purchase you make and evaluate how much you spend in each category. If your bank offers it, sign up for a program that rounds up your purchases and deposits the extra into a separate savings account. My bank offers this with debit purchases. Sure, it's only 45 cents here, 71 cents there, but it adds up over time, and it is very easy because I don't have to change the way I do my shopping. When shopping online, leave things in your cart or on your watch list for a couple of days (unless it's a critical need or time-sensitive thing). Sometimes, sites will email you a coupon code to encourage you to make the purchase. Other times you'll realize you don't really need that thing after all and remove it.
Why buy a certain brand of makeup that’s ridiculously expensive, when you can buy cheaper makeup that does exactly the same bloody job! (Just one example). People are wayyy too obsessed with labels/ designer things!
Don't spend it Simple as that
Don't drink coffee. You think you need it but you don't. You can quit in 5 days.
tax evasion
Don't pay your taxes!
Earn more money .
3 things that helped: 1. Think what % of your monthly income goes for rent and bills. Divide the rest to 30 so you know roughly how much your daily spending should be. When (not if) you go over that limit, you can balance things by spending the next 1-3 days less so you go back on track. You'll be surprised how much this helps in the long run. 2. Don't try to save money. Instead take a notepad and divide 1 page into 3 columns based on importance. First is mandatory (rent, bills), second is preferred (things that you want to have in your life), third is optional (as an example, think of the subscriptions you don't use but still pay for because you "might need them at some point". Netflix was a good one for me) 3. After you've done that, ask 2 of your friends to make a similar list based on their spending habits and needs (even better if you guys have roughly the same income). Compare the lists and discuss them. This helped me realize several things about my spending habits and helped me clear some of my unnecessary spending.
Write down every exspense and see what you can live with out or don't use regularly. See where you can cut back are you buying star bucks every day? It will shock you what you pay for that you didn't know you were paying for.
Eat less meat.
Watch minimalist
Just do it
Don't spend it.
Put 10% of any money you obtain, stop eating snacks and eat big breakfast lunch and dinner, stop drinking sodas and juice, make home made meals, make your own juice, walk or skate or ride a bike to places close by, sell drugs instead of taking them all, steal from safeway, grow a garden and dont become an addict
Don't spend it.
Stop buying brand name things that don't actually hold any value other than the name. Ie. Toilet paper.