Let’s get a list going. Like with a Target debit card you can get $40 cash back and it takes 1 to 2 days to be withdraw from your checking.
Cook all your meals in advance. Pasta, potato gem casserole, and a Thai red curry can give you roughly two weeks of lunches and dinners if you alternate well. You can add breakfast bowls of eggs, cubed ham, and potatoes and they’ll keep for a week, minimum (I don’t know how long exactly because a dozen eggs gets me six meals).
I usually pay around $50 every two weeks for food, plus a bit more if I’m running low on coffee or milk.
I gained weight when I could make money. Now I keep intermittent fasting for 10-12 hours just to prolonge my food. It not just keeps me lose weight but I .sure of I start making money again , I won’t be able to get fat because this discipline. Also it reduces your hunger significantly, I now can stay fasting even in winters.
If you have money going out per month, use Klarna (or similar services) for Pay in 3 set ups for better goods that may cost a little bit too much for paying all at once.
Whilst there are bargains to be had, many cheaper appliances may fail or reduce in quality so quick; however, the ‘good’ things are often a fair bit out of people’s price ranges.
I have used Klarna for various things around the house, also good shoes, on the same day per month that I’ve received money. They’ve all lasted a very long time and much better than cheaper alternatives, and they’re fully paid off in three months.There is no interest taken, and can come in handy. I have gotten a washing machine and big fridge/freezer using no interest installment plans, and over time they’ve saved me even more money by being more energy efficient than the cheaper ones.
There’s also an app called Zip that let’s you do 4 payments and you can extend the dates too plus it allows you to pay for some bills like Verizon, T-Mobile, GEICO, etc
Shampoos and shower gels are scams imo. I order a 10 litre container of the cheap pink soap you get when using public restrooms. It cleans just as well and is significantly cheaper. I use an empty bottle with a pump on top and refill it with the container every other month or so.
Edit: If you got sensitive skin that needs special care then this isn’t for you, though.
That’s only if you got short hair. If you got long hair that sadly doesn’t work
i have long hair and don’t even use shampoo, it’s perfectly fine so long as you’re not habitually rubbing shit on your head.
I use Dawn-style dish soap for everything except shampoo. I go with the conditioner-only strategy for hair cleaning. Shampoo really isn’t necessary.
Just buy blocks of basic hard soap. Better for your skin and your plumbing. I don’t know if it’s cheaper compared to your 10L bottle, but it’s definitely cheaper compared to normal liquid soap bottles.
If you don’t have hard water, maybe. Not here. Soap scum on the tub, soap doesn’t remove dirt, just sort of locks it on. Which does not matter as much on skin but is disastrous for hair. I have known a couple people who had to cut their hair off after trying to wash it with soap.
If I was to the point where I could only afford one, I’d get shampoo. If that was impossible for awhile, water only is the way I would go. It works ok, most stuff rinses off.
I did that for two years but I just went through a block too quick. And some soap lumps clogged the drain every now and then
Even then, a basic soap like Dr Bronners or your favorite “hand soap” does well for most of your body. People ask my wife how her hair is so amazing, she just washes it every couple days instead of every day and sometimes has some light argan oil or something to reduce frizz. Washing hair (especially long hair) every day damages it no matter what you’re doing. The most important thing is to scrub your scalp really good.
That soap makes my hand crack and bleed. The though of using that on my whole body is painful.
Same for me , and if I use these soaps, I get Very dry skin no matter what. Liquid soaps are only ones that won’t do that.
Pretty much every item of clothing I own is from the thrift store or has been second handed in some way. I love being able to find clothes that are more my style without the $70+ price tags and I’m able to maintain a business casual wardrobe required for my office.
Furniture that isn’t beds are all second hand as well, I just steam clean everything upholstered. Buying brand new is a money making sham that only fills our landfills unnecessarily.
Also, learning how to cook has saved us a lot of money of takeout and prepackaged meals. There are so many ways to learn now too.
We also no longer own a vehicle, we walk, bike, or transit everywhere. I do maintain a license so I can rent a car when necessary though. Vehicles nickle and dime you to death when you own the outright or cost a years wages or so to buy, plus gas and insurance prices are insane. It costs me $500 a year to ride the bus.
Decide how much you will spend each week and spend a little less than that, slowly over 3 months you will reduce your expenses. Buy clothes and wash them after 2-3 uses unless you live in super dirty/dusty/warm area. This will prolong clothes life significantly and added advantage is they come back in fashion after a while. I have a shorts which I use still after 10 years.
Why would washing my clothes more often prolong their life?
Do you wear your clothes more than three times without washing them currently?
Yes, I wash my clothes when they are dirty, greasy or smelly. Do people wash all their clothes after just one day of wearing?
Yes. They often get smelly after one day depending on what you do. Sure blue jeans or an outer jacket can be good for a few casual wears but basically everything else is daily washed so coworkers don’t need to suffer the smell
I stopped washing my t-shirts after a single use (unless visibly dirty, smelly, etc) and the lifespan difference is immense. Also drying clothes in a drying rack instead of in the machine makes a massive difference in durability.
steal
Also: piracy.
Yeah. Just take shit. If society can’t take care of those in need, the needy cannot be blamed for taking matters into their own hands.
Remember, if you see someone stealing food, no you fuckin’ didn’t.
I mean, yeah, sure. …but I’m still conflicted about the local heroin addicts standing in the frozen aisle scarfing a bucket of ice cream.
I mean, I don’t really give a shit about the theft, but they tend to stand there with the door open and thaw the rest of the ice cream while they’re at it. It’s enough of an issue locally that a couple of local chains have literally started chaining up their ice cream like it’s the goddamn crown jewels. I just want non-crystallized ice cream!
Also… In my experience, people mostly don’t steal food outside of cases like having the heroin hungries. Food banks do an okay job at keeping people fed at least. (Aside: When you donate to your local food bank, donate money, not food! They can buy much more food in bulk - your dollars will go farther that way!) Mostly, I see people stealing things like resaleable electronics or OTC drugs that have useful precursor chems.
Don’t get me wrong - I know fuckin’ Krogers can take it. I just see this meme about seeing people stealing food and like… That’s mostly not a thing. Food banks and food stamps work okay. They aren’t great, the food often sucks - but generally speaking, you don’t have to steal food to survive when you’re poor in America. You might need to steal drugs and airpods though.
preach. this or basic necessities like socks, underwear, gloves, pads, tampons, body wash, shampoo, hygiene products in general, etc etc.
or anything, really. stores are insured, poor people are not
I still can’t justify people stealing stuff they don’t need so they can resell it for a quick buck. Especially people stealing from independent businesses.
Buy a 6 pack of good wool balls. Finish up using your fabric softener first and never buy any again.
Way healthier and cheaper to make your own roast beef. The recipe is simple as it gets.
Leave meat out until 60 degrees to the core. Rub with light virgin olive oil, then heavy on the salt and pepper until it’s coated with it. Bake uncovered 375°F, 20 minutes a pound.
Cover for 20 minutes when you first pull it out so all the juices settle in. Aluminum foil and a bath towel works well for this.
Cool off to room temperature before putting in the fridge.
You will have the best RB for sandwiches you ever had.
Only buy roasts when they are on sale.
I just bought a 10 pound roast for $3.99 pound, saving me $14 a pound over deli roast beef that has added water and nitrates.
I froze half of it already sliced in vacuum sealed bags so I have some when Roast Beef is not on sale.
You left out that you need a $70 -$150 meat slicer.
I once sliced a piece of meat so thin you couldn’t even see it! 🫨
So thin it only had one side!
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This kiosk at my work doesn’t have anyone working on it. There’s cameras but I doubt anybody checks those. I don’t steal much, but I make sure to grab an extra item to buy to make it more convincing.
Friend, if there’s cameras, there’s a record, and that means that if someone notices they’ll have video proof of theft. That would cost your job.
And if you’re working for a small business, please don’t steal from the owner. Small businesses are not big faceless money-extraction machines like corporations are.
The job is small potatoes compared to jail time and a criminal record, which can be way more expensive, particularly over the long term.
It’s definitely cheaper to live in jail than have to work at a job and pay rent. At least in the US it is.
That’s a weird argument. Most people don’t want to spend their whole lives in prison. If you’d ever been in one, maybe you’d realize incarceration is not an experience most people enjoy… at all. It’s sort of the point. Suicide is even cheaper, should we recommend that?
That’s a weird argument.
It’s not an argument for going to prison, it’s a commentary on the deplorable state of American society.
Suicide is even cheaper, should we recommend that?
You think people haven’t considered and even exercised that option for that very reason?
incarceration is not an experience most people enjoy…
If the point of prison is to remove joy, then why not just have convicts play No Man’s Sky?
But seriously, should that even be the point? Isn’t the point of having a justice system a bit more nuanced than that? Shouldn’t our aim be to create a better society in general? Not simply through mere incarceration, but also education and mental health care?
Don’t we owe it to the members of society who have been failed by society to lift them up when possible to a place where they no longer need to subvert and disrupt society’s rules for the sake of their own survival? Don’t we owe it to the rest of society to provide a path to a productive life for so of its citizens, regardless of our previous unwillingness or inability to do so?
Here’s the trick I used when I was young and poor. I worked for cash with an estate liquidator, and I saw the passion some of the customers had for their collectables. I decided to develop that flavor of passion for a collection of $20 bills.
For me, the hardest part of saving money (assuming it’s even a possibility) is avoiding the trap of saving to spend. The savings itself has to become a goal, and that can be really, really boring.
Another tactic I used was to always save double the value of a large planned purchase: if I started with $500 and I wanted a $200 item, I’d save until I had $900 before spending. That way my stack never felt like it was diminishing.
Ride PT when possible. If you are poor, chances are you can get a concession card or even entirely free travel card.
Our PT system (Melbourne Australia) is privately owned and costs $5 each way. Consider not paying and paying a fine if caught - it often works out cheaper. Fines are $200, and I’ve only had my ticket checked maybe 4 times in 6 years. Odds are good!
Arent there any monthly/yearly tickets?
My work made me get dress clothes, my solution was thrift shop bargain bin, just pick the clothes you like as long as they fit or are too big, and get them fitted.
It was cheeper then going to Walmart and getting worse clothes.
Remember a lot of effort and money is spent into brainwashing us from young ages to be constantly be buying shit we don’t need and to feel like we are living bad lives if we don’t have it.
Remember it’s bullshit, remember that you are more than the fucking trinkets and landfill filling they want you to trade all your time for.
Boycott shit, find any reasonable moral cause as a good reason not to buy something. There’s almost always a good reason not to buy something that you don’t need.
I feel like it would take just as much effort and basically a whole other upbringing, in a sense, to become accustomed to all the things we were raised with. So i get what you mean, but I dont know exactly how possible it really is, or none of us would really be here, for example.
Buy solids, don’t buy liquids. Solids are cheaper specially if you buy in bulk.
Don’t buy drinks at fast food restaurants.
Eat less meat.
Drive less.
Solids vs liquids - could you elaborate on that? Soap seems like an obvious example, and a couple specific food items like broth vs powder… but that’s all I can think of off the top of my head.
Dry beans, peas, etc are also cheaper than buying cans.
A couple years ago I switched from drinking soda to drinking those powdered wylers light drink mixes, it was mostly because I wanted to stop drinking so much soda but I went from spending $6 every other day to $20 every month and a half.
It makes sense when you think about it. Most drinks are 90% water and it just seems so wasteful to have water shipped rather than using the pipes that come directly to my house!
Water weighs about 8lbs/gallon (1kg/L). When you’re eating soup, the actual flavors/salts/veggies take up about 20% of the weight, tops. Additionally, volume is far decreased, so you can have more food in a smaller container. Finally, bacteria have nothing to work with in material without water. Just add your local water when you need it, it’s already there.
So, buy dry goods to reduce shipping costs for both you and the producer. Ship only the food part of food, not the water. The costs are much lower, for all the reasons above.
A lot of things including milk, jello, drinks, general purpose cleaners, and detergent
Don’t eat at fast food restaurants if you are trying to save money
