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Money Saving Tips

Recently received a simple two-word money-saving instruction

17 years ago

Stay home.

ole joyful

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Comments (11)

User
17 years ago
Darn! I guessed wrong. I was thinking "No thanks!".
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
17 years ago
That's exactly the words I thought...until I thought Pay Pal!
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Comments (16)
Well, after reading your further posts I think it's sorta a cute idea but certainly not useful in the long haul. My personal suggestion would be to say stop trying to find cheaper TP & concentrate on building wealth. A good place to start that process is by getting more education; no matter your current level...get more. Also, a music degree is lovely but unlikely to be useful in creating wealth. :) Learn how to grow your wealth (probably will mean even more education for many people), learn to diversify your money yourself (mutual funds only create wealth for those who sell them to you & the fund managers), pound into your brain the difference between earned income, dividends, & capital gains then set goals to reduce your dependence on earned income, learn to use leverage properly with acceptable risk (yes, that's not only possible, it's necessary build real wealth), set an annual budget & strive to fund that budget annually - not monthly (an annual budget was the single most important thing we taught our kids to strive for after their education...again, this may require even more education so choose your classes wisely), learn to think like a CFO not the CEO, & I could go on but I think you get the idea. You can't save your way to true wealth. It's created by a combination of education, putting forth effort to make good networking connections, and then learning how to make your money work for you. We tried the saving your way to financial freedom thing...it didn't work. Yep, we had a savings account. Good for us. But, it wasn't wealth. It just meant the wolf wasn't yapping at our door every month. DH went back to school (started life as a math high school teacher) & got his Juris Doctorate. We had kids & he went to night school - took 5 years. We incurred student loans that took many years to pay off. So what? The income that degree provided unlocked doors that would have been paddlelocked before getting that education. It didn't stop there either...he's retired now & still taking courses. Just getting the education though isn't enough to create wealth - there are millions of non-wealthy liberal arts degree owners in America. Choose wisely. Don't forget to make networking contacts while in school. Many of America's mega-wealthy met while in school. This is less in the technology field but the concept is still likely to yield powerful results 20 years later. I know, I know...we're supposed to be offering ideas about how to stretch a dime. But, I'm giving an alternative. Rather than saving a dime...earn another dime. It's easier & works better if your goal is to create true wealth. It may even mean postponing (not giving up) your desire to live in a rural area away from cities, crowds, yada yada. You will have to go where there are jobs available in your chosen field until you're no longer relying on earned income. /tricia (who is recovering from a tough couple days of doctor's appointments & crabby, but honest)
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ok so......how did you save money this week ?
Q
Comments (46)
This week we had my son's 5th bday party. Instead of having the movie theater "package", I treated the guests to the movie and out to lunch at Wendy's (my son's fave restaurant, lol). The package at the theater would have been $300 plus I would have had to pay for any adults past the first 2 (dh & I). I would have had to supply the cake and they would supply popcorn, soda & candy and a souvenier (sp?) for my son and we would have had to tip the party hostess and pay 8.75% tax. Instead I spent a total of $225 and that included: the movie tix for 10 kids & 9 adults (plus 1 toddler), Cheez-its snack packs for during the movie (smuggled in, another 5 y.o. fave), lunch for all, cake (we called ahead and asked permission), party supplies (i.e. tablecloth, forks, candles, cake plates, etc), and favors for the kids. Everyone had so much fun and the whole party lasted 3 hours. The theater package would have been the 1.5 hr movie and 1/2 hour after for cake & play. I am in NY and childrens parties are big business. I have 2 sons and am proud that I have been able to come up with creative ways to celebrate, that are enjoyable and at a savings. I hope I never have to do a "package" party. My other great savings was I received a free vintage sink on freecycle.org. I am a member and frequently offer out and also frequently receive items. We are renovating in the summer and I have been shopping out fixtures. I had my heart set on an old white sink with attached drainboard, but could not find one anywhere feasible (except 200 miles away on ebay). This was free and was a 15 minute ride to pick up. It is in excellent condition and just needed a new home. I had found these new for sale online in England but the cost with shipping was beyond my budget. It would have been close to $800! I can't imagine paying that much for a sink, but I know many people do. I am just too frugal/cheap. Even if it fit my budget, I could not do it. I would rather use the money somewhere else or save it. That's my story for savings this week! I hope to have more to cheer about next week ;)
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Comments (35)
I guess I forgot the "processed part". Processed Potatoes usually consist of just dried potatoes. My brother lives in the Potato growing part of Washington where they Process potatoes...he works in one giant process plant. They are washed peeled, cut and dried. Period. Some producers take those 'fresh, processed and dried' potatoes and add spices or other flavorings to them, or dry them and make them re-hydratable so they become mashed before eaten. Imagine, they don't have to use a chemical spray on a fresh potato to keep it from sprouting or spoiling....just a freshly dug up potato, scrubbed, dried and made edible in its' freshest state. IF YOU add cheese (or a cheese product) YOU are adding a chemically altered product to a product. Do you know WHAT makes your cheese the product you like? Spices are made the same way. Dried onions, dried chives, peppers, salt.....do we know exactly what is in the 'additives' that make our 'scratch' cooking superior to others methods of cooking. Have you 'vetted' your cinnamon, nutmeg, milk (now that 's a great one, how YOUR cow gave you your milk) coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa....even the paper product it arrives in sometimes contains a preservative. That is the world we live in. There certainly are many hundreds of products out there that are nutritionally questionable...I'm thinking so many beverages, including juices. Cookies and pastries, as well as other sugary stuff. Convenience or pre-prepared items,IMO, should be deemed acceptable for many different reasons. The world we live in is the safest food-wise in centuries. Our country has the highest food to $$$ economy in the world.( I only think I have read this, can't prove it) In other words, we can feed more people with our $ than any where else. That says much about how our farms grow, store, preserve and ship to the whole world our farm grown products. t
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The 12 things you should buy used to save money.
Q
Comments (48)
I'd disagree with: 1) Cars. We had two and I decided to go down to one. I've always made compromises on what we've bought, but I love cars. I SERIOUSLY love cars! I figured this is the last new car I will probably ever buy, so why should I compromise unnecessarily? I made my list of "must haves" and "nice but not a deal breaker". Then I spent over a year reading, researching, and test driving. Finally bought it in May 2017. Gifted the two old cars away, and have been driving with a grin on my face ever since. Love the advanced safety features and power. This car is a joy to drive on our travels. 2) Furniture. I agree, wouldn't buy a used mattress but no objection to used furniture. BUT, I have a small LR and needed some very specific, modular pieces that I could move around for flexible seating. So we bought a new loveseat and giant ottoman. All the used modulars I've seen are the huge '80's and '90's overstuffed monsters - that's what I was getting rid of! 3) Designer Jeans. Hate jeans, never wear them. 4) Tech gadgets. You must be kidding! I don't seek out "name" tech toys but it is false economy to buy most used tech. Our desktops are built by a local shop, top of the line. They last 15+ years as download devices. My current desktop works as our network server with a RAID array; not superfast any longer but fine for anything except HD graphic videos, which I don't care about. Our laptops and tablets are name brands. Especially for smaller/thinner devices, their batteries are usually sealed and don't have long life. You want good performance, you need to buy it new. Yes, you can get one of the old Kindles for almost nothing. But if you've ever read on a Paperwhite Kindle, you'll know why almost everyone who originally bought a Kindle, upgraded to the Paperwhite. It is Nirvana for readers. I have impaired vision; reading on a phone gives me a headache, LOL. 5) Swing sets. No kids, no issue. 6) Formal wear & wedding. Really? People still need these for anything except a prom? Weddings - well, maybe. One couple out of the last 15 weddings we've attended, did the formal thing. 7) Books & college textbooks. SOMETIMES this will save you money. These days of e-books - not always. 8) Kids bicycles. Again, no kids. 9) Musical instruments. I'm a listener, so streaming is the way to go. 10) Tools. No way. But my tools are just basic ones, used for light home maintenance. I am not going to buy somebody's used Black & Decker jigsaw. 11) Exercise equipment. Yes, you absolutely can save $$$ on Craigslist. Personally, I'm a believer in gardening and walking. 12) Homes. I'm 50-50 about this. Old or new, sooner or later you are going to have to spend on home maintenance. If new, you have (hopefully) a maintenance-free interim; but you have no real way of telling if or where your builder/contractor cut corners until something goes wrong. If old - in our area the number of older homes that are truly turnkey, fully remodeled, good-as-new-right-down-to-the-roofing-nails, is so infinitesimally small a proportion, as to be realistically non-existent. If you find one, be prepared for a bidding war. 30+ offers are common out here; many mid-priced homes needing moderate remodeling will often have pending offers before the agent can even get the listing onto the MLS. Much of the existing SFH stock where we live is aging and needs remodeling. We are not talking simple cosmetics here; this means sewer systems, wasteful gas space heaters or floor furnaces wrapped in asbestos, aluminum wiring, soggy basements, no insulation or bolted foundations. In a high-labor market, remodeling is a six-figure budget cost - and that amount, on top of an already high RE price, is out of reach for even prospective homeowners already making $150+K.
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joyfulguy
Original Author
17 years ago
Sorry to disappoint you two.

Especially for folks that live alone ...

...it helps if one feels comfortable being with the person that one sees when one looks into the bathroom mirror in the morning (or any other time, for that matter).

ole joyful
stargazzer
17 years ago
Now OJ, that was my saying. LOL

Didn't understand how the part about living alone and the person in the mirror pertains to saving money and staying home.
joyfulguy
Original Author
17 years ago
It helps if one feels fairly comfortable with the person that dwells within his/her skin.

Nice to enjoy one's own company.

Makes staying home less stressful.

Also helps if one can say, about a number of life's adventures/diversions/whatever ...

... BT-DT.

ole joyful
ilene_in_neok
17 years ago
LOL, OJ, I thought it was going to be....

"Stop Eating"

Easier said than done for most folks, including myself, unfortunately.

But you know, I've really been thinking along the lines of ... since I already know I'd feel better and look better ... and probably live longer... if I were successful in shedding all these pounds I've accumulated over the years ... and yet I haven't, or at least I've taken them off and then put them right back on ...

Maybe it's time this old tightwad put a new spin on weight loss.

I know there are a lot of folks out there who will think, "Now you've lost your mind, Ilene, because it's expensive to eat right." And yes, it can be. But it's also expensive to eat WRONG. Have you priced a bag of chips lately? Ice cream? And face it, on a diet I'm probably going to eat less, in volume, than I would while indulging.

It can be expensive to join a health club, too. I joined the YMCA many years ago, and I went in for my workout every other day for almost a year. I kept waiting for it to become fun, or addictive, or ... SOMETHING ... and it never happened. I joined in March and I was still there the first of the following year, and I saw all those "newbies" coming in, in their brand-new workout clothes and shoes. After a month or two, they weren't there any more. All the money they'd invested in all the trappings was wasted.

Is anybody up for joining me in a Frugal Diet? --Ilene
cynic
17 years ago
I had a number of them come to mind:
No thanks
NO WAY
No... NO!
Got it
Don't need
Don't want
No (explitive deleted)
Forget it
Then there was one word followed by the word "off"

But then again I see 3 pizza delivery vehicles go by in the matter of minutes and wonder about the savings.

Anyone else ever hung their head out the window of their vehicle and yelled why don't some of you %#@! people GO HOME!!!

Just so when they're there, you say "No ebay!"
joyfulguy
Original Author
17 years ago
That's "expletive", please (without being too specific).

o j
quasifish
17 years ago
My money saver is 3 words:

California Sales Tax

That's become enough to make a lot of us just "stay home." We are at 9.25% right now and going to 9.75% in July. Most people I know say that at almost 10%, the mental calculating of tax is obvious enough to make it a deterrent to shopping. I think CA's answer to the finance crisis is becoming a self fulfilling prophecy as they chase people away from spending with such taxes.

Okay, enough griping for now ;^)
joyfulguy
Original Author
17 years ago
Our Federal Sales Tax was 8% a few years ago and our Conservative Partry, lusting after power, promised to reduce it if elected ... so they reduced it step by step, one percentage point at a time, until now I thik that it's 5%.

Our Provincial Sales Tax has been at 7% for a long period.

Several years ago we had a hospital insurance project to which we needed to contribute, and on a geared-to-income basis ...

... then it was cancelled for several years (and there are no individual levies on idividuals in several provinces), but ...

... recently our Provincial Premier, who'd promised not to raise taxes if elected, was elected ... and found that the financial mess was greater than they'd expected ...

... so re-instituted the levy for medical services ... again, on a varying rate depending on income levels ... and free to people ith income under about $20,000., I think.

But it was not an increase in taxes, you understand.

ole joyful
pammyfay
17 years ago
Hold on--those 2 words might not be enough!

Stay Home.
(And don't turn on the TV--all those shopping channels!
And don't go on the computer--all those shopping opportunities!
I wish I could block some of these websites for myself!)

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