What are people doing to save money in this insane economy?

[Anonymous]

Contributing to my retirement plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Contributing to my retirement plan.

Yes.

This is not an insane economy. It is pretty standard and predictable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sell all your junk on FB marketplace.

Don't buy expensive plants during summer. Last two summers, I have just planted marigolds in the garden and they are proven performers with least amount of care needed. I plant tomatoes next to them and they thrive. Not much care needed.

I also overseeded with different types of clovers and grass seeds a few summers ago. I no longer fertilize my lawn or use herbicides. All weeds are welcome in the lawn.

This is where I’ll be hurting ; I love buying plants and flowers for my garden.

Start laying out perennial beds and participating in clubs or events where people exchange perennials (sometimes for free). Also try naturalizing daffodils. If you get lucky, and buy the right varieties and have a good space, they will multiply.

Another suggestion. Do you have room for a raspberry patch?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Contributing to my retirement plan.

Yes.

This is not an insane economy. It is pretty standard and predictable.

I’m with you here. IF you are employed, it’s within normal fluctuations. Gas is going up and down. Red meat is definitely going up but chicken and pork are cheaper. Egg prices have gone down, same with butter. It’s time to make a break with ultra processed foods no matter what. Cars have been expensive for years.

There are a lot of factors at play but the economy isn’t insane. It’s being its same self, which can be temperamental.

[Anonymous]

We stopped spending $15+ a day on wine and beer. Saves almost $500 a month.

[Anonymous]

Cancelling a lot of stuff to do it yourself is unfortunately going to hurt the people in the service industry counting on that income.

It's really terrible. As long as the billionaires can get another yacht, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love to get ideas for what else we could be doing as everything just gets more and more unaffordable. I really didn’t used to think about it this much for the last two years have been brutal. I’ll start:

- Used to eat out twice a week, now we eat out twice a month (take out only). Cook 7 nights a week but meals have gotten less complicated because who can realistically cook that much? I CAN. IT JUST TAKES MEAL PLANNING. WHAT I MAKE AT HOME IS BETTER TASTING AND LESS EXPENSIVE. EATING OUT HAS ALWAYS SUCKED BUT LATELY IT'S BECOME SUPER DISAPPOINTING. THE ONLY THING I'LL SAY FOR RESTAURANT FOOD IS THE PORTIONS ARE SO BIG THAT THEY USUALLY AMOUNT TO TWO MEALS.

- started buying frozen afterschool snacks (tater tots, chicken tenders) and don’t let the kids stop at Starbucks or Boba place or whatever more than 2-3x per month THIS IS A GOOD ONE. WE BOUGHT A DEEP FREEZER FOR THIS REASON. LOVE ME THE TATER TOTS AND CHICKEN TENDERS AND FROZEN FOODS. TRADER JOES ALSO HAS SOME DECENT OPTIONS.

- Decided to drive our car until the wheels fall off. New cars are insane. When did that happen? COVID DISRUPTED SUPPLY CHAINS SO YOU CAN TRACE THE JUMP TO THERE. TRUMP'S TARIFFS EXACERBATED IT. BUT I HAVE ALWAYS DRIVEN CARS INTO THE GROUND. BUYING NEW CARS EVERY FEW YEARS HAS ALWAYS BEEN ECONOMICALLY STUPID. ESPECIALLY IN VIRGINIA, WHERE THE PROPERTY TAX IS BASED ON THE VALUE OF YOUR CAR.

- started buying all basics (socks, underwear, basic tees) on Amazon. YOU CAN ALSO GET THESE AT PLACES LIKE ROSS, ETC.

- only shop for clothes off season and on sale. Have bought some basics from Target and Uniqlo. Saw a fairly basic sweater at J.Crew for $350 and almost laughed out loud. AGAIN, NOT A NEW STRATEGY FOR ME. BUT I'M NOT SOMEONE WHO FRETS ABOUT FASHION OR WHAT IS 'IN.' I HAVE MY STYLE AND I BUY CLOTHING THAT REFLECTS IT. COULD NOT CARE LESS IF I MATCH OTHER BASIC TWATS OR NOT. I LIKE TO STAND OUT

- only reading books from the library I REDISCOVERD THE LIBRARY TOO. IT ALSO HAS STREAMING (KANOPY) AND DIGITAL NEWSPAPERS/MAGAZINE (LIBBY) SO YOU CAN REPLACE NETFLIX AND MAGAZINE/NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTIONS

- no more sporting events for entertainment (we used to enjoy basketball games) NOT SURE ABOUT BASKETBALL BUT WE LOVE MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL!


I would not have considered us to be in a difficult financial situation even two years ago. Our jobs are thankfully stable. But neither of us got pay increases this year because of cost cutting. It just doesn’t feel sustainable.

I'm also growing my own food, selling pictures of my feet on Only Fans (considering selling my soiled panties, too -- huge market for that) and forcing my kids into part-time jobs and charging them for rent.

When you say, 'considering selling my soiled panties', what do you mean by soiled?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Contributing to my retirement plan.

Yes.

This is not an insane economy. It is pretty standard and predictable.

We can predict more and more inflation and lots of job cuts.

[Anonymous]

I got rid of the house cleaners and make my husband do housework for the first time.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Contributing to my retirement plan. [/quote]

Yes.

This is not an insane economy. It is pretty standard and predictable.[/quote]

I’m with you here. IF you are employed, it’s within normal fluctuations. Gas is going up and down. Red meat is definitely going up but chicken and pork are cheaper. Egg prices have gone down, same with butter. It’s time to make a break with ultra processed foods no matter what. Cars have been expensive for years.

There are a lot of factors at play but the economy isn’t insane. It’s being its same self, which can be temperamental. [/quote]

The war in Iran is making things unpredictable but on the whole I agree this is within the realm of economic fluctuations. We haven't seen a bad economy (yet!). I am also old enough to have seen a lot happen and to also see the basket of goods and services evolve. People focus on year to year inflation but I look at the allocation of the spending within the basket of goods and services we consume as that explains a lot more about how different people experience the economy in any given moment.

Things like housing and education costs have gotten more expensive relative to the rest of the basket, but food seems to have gotten cheaper. Clothes are also cheaper. And while car costs have gone up, people also drive cars for a lot longer too. And gas efficiency is also vastly better. And weirdly while domestic vacations seem to have gotten more expensive, international trips have never been as cheap.

You can see why someone who bought a house 10 or even 5 years ago is in a different place and experiences the economy differently than someone with the same income buying a house today.

[Anonymous]

Someone tell me the benefits of renting v owning your solar panels now, post all the set asides

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone tell me the benefits of renting v owning your solar panels now, post all the set asides

It’s just math—- owning will always be better that renting if you have the cash and plan to stay. Renting is usually better than doing nothing.

And for the first time I managed to use my HT gas points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Contributing to my retirement plan.

Yes.

This is not an insane economy. It is pretty standard and predictable.

I’m with you here. IF you are employed, it’s within normal fluctuations. Gas is going up and down. Red meat is definitely going up but chicken and pork are cheaper. Egg prices have gone down, same with butter. It’s time to make a break with ultra processed foods no matter what. Cars have been expensive for years.

There are a lot of factors at play but the economy isn’t insane. It’s being its same self, which can be temperamental.

For so many reasons.

Learning to cook has fixed my health, and saved me huge amounts of money. I always thought it would take too much time, but now that I have a handle on how to do it, it doesn't take much more time, if more at all, than picking up Chipotle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would love to get ideas for what else we could be doing as everything just gets more and more unaffordable. I really didn’t used to think about it this much for the last two years have been brutal. I’ll start:

- Used to eat out twice a week, now we eat out twice a month (take out only). Cook 7 nights a week but meals have gotten less complicated because who can realistically cook that much?

- started buying frozen afterschool snacks (tater tots, chicken tenders) and don’t let the kids stop at Starbucks or Boba place or whatever more than 2-3x per month

- Decided to drive our car until the wheels fall off. New cars are insane. When did that happen?

- started buying all basics (socks, underwear, basic tees) on Amazon.

- only shop for clothes off season and on sale. Have bought some basics from Target and Uniqlo. Saw a fairly basic sweater at J.Crew for $350 and almost laughed out loud.

- only reading books from the library

- no more sporting events for entertainment (we used to enjoy basketball games)


I would not have considered us to be in a difficult financial situation even two years ago. Our jobs are thankfully stable. But neither of us got pay increases this year because of cost cutting. It just doesn’t feel sustainable.

no starbucks
limited eating at restaurants
no movies
no major purchases
not touching investments
walking everyday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone tell me the benefits of renting v owning your solar panels now, post all the set asides

No upfront cost, but you get much lower energy bills.

I don’t know where you live, but in DC the lessors keep the SREC credits which are significant (nearly $400/MW).

It’s better to own them because of the SRECs assuming you don’t plan to move in the next like 10 years.