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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep my house much hotter in the summer than I would like and much colder in the winter than seems normal. It sounds vaguely Soviet, but the truth is, doing this saves me $200 to $300 every month.

(I set the air conditioning to 80° in the summer and the heat is 60 or 59 in the winter)

"saves me $200 to $300 every month."
Your mansion must be huge.

? My 1912 house is 3000 sq ft and wood / uninsulated with a lot of old, large windows.

And before anybody says it, the bids to replace my windows and retrofit the house with insulation come in around 200,000. So, no.

Sounds like my house. We keep thermostat around 68 in winter and I’m always freezing. Our last gas bill was over $900.

that's not right. you need that checked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Gross.

I know a few women that sell their worn panties and they make a ton of money!

and have no dignity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I keep my house much hotter in the summer than I would like and much colder in the winter than seems normal. It sounds vaguely Soviet, but the truth is, doing this saves me $200 to $300 every month.

(I set the air conditioning to 80° in the summer and the heat is 60 or 59 in the winter)

You're saving money but not $200 to $300 every month. That's an exaggeration.

[Anonymous]

We eat out less often, drink less alcohol, cut Starbucks down by half, and shop at Aldi. We'll drive car til it dies. It's got 140K miles on it now, hoping it goes to 300K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We haven't changed much to be honest. I just finished booking our August-October music and travel plans. Looking forward to Oktoberfest.

Frankly I think groceries are cheaper now than 2020-21. And our credit card benefits comp all our video streaming. Dining out has always been $ compared to staying in. Airfare is actually trending down. Nice hotels seem to be staying the same.

I think if you are finding this economy challenging, you are doing something wrong.

You’re not even a good troll

[Anonymous]

What is so insane about the economy?

Spouse & I are both working & not making very much. We are barely middle-middle class by most standards. One kid is military officer & other is a CPA.

We have all traveled all over the US, along with a lot of foreign trips. The 4 of us have no mortgages, no car loans, & no credit card debt. The 4 of us managed to get 11 college degrees without any college loans.

Kids went to public schools k-12. We haven’t bought any used cars (some new, quite a few leased, which has allowed us to avoid large auto repair bills). We paid off our modest new-construction suburban house in 9 years.

Bottom line: minimize your debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is so insane about the economy?

Spouse & I are both working & not making very much. We are barely middle-middle class by most standards. One kid is military officer & other is a CPA.

We have all traveled all over the US, along with a lot of foreign trips. The 4 of us have no mortgages, no car loans, & no credit card debt. The 4 of us managed to get 11 college degrees without any college loans.

Kids went to public schools k-12. We haven’t bought any used cars (some new, quite a few leased, which has allowed us to avoid large auto repair bills). We paid off our modest new-construction suburban house in 9 years.

Bottom line: minimize your debt.

Key factors for you included dual income and kids attending public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We haven't changed much to be honest. I just finished booking our August-October music and travel plans. Looking forward to Oktoberfest.

Frankly I think groceries are cheaper now than 2020-21. And our credit card benefits comp all our video streaming. Dining out has always been $ compared to staying in. Airfare is actually trending down. Nice hotels seem to be staying the same.

I think if you are finding this economy challenging, you are doing something wrong.

Nothing but delusion here.

[Anonymous]

Eating out less
Coloring my own hair - Madison Reed
Fewer vacations, no international travel
Gave my kids an shopping budget
Adults not buying any new clothes
Will drive our cars as long as possible
I take my own lunch (tons of grilled chicken, fruit, and yogurt brought in at the beginning of the week.)

A few things we have decided to spluge on:
- kids sleepaway camp
- some maintenance and decorative things around the home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did go through my subscriptions for various things and cut $210 a month. They add up.

I need to call and bully comcast into reducing our rates.

Cook a lot more and cooking less interesting stuff that can last and work well for leftovers, or freeze. But dag, if you want to cook healthy, it's still expensive (although I highly recommend incorporating beans into many dishes).

No door dash, even though we didn't use it much.

I stopped using the car dealer for service.

How do you do this? The old retention department trick no longer works from what I’ve heard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did go through my subscriptions for various things and cut $210 a month. They add up.

I need to call and bully comcast into reducing our rates.

Cook a lot more and cooking less interesting stuff that can last and work well for leftovers, or freeze. But dag, if you want to cook healthy, it's still expensive (although I highly recommend incorporating beans into many dishes).

No door dash, even though we didn't use it much.

I stopped using the car dealer for service.

How do you do this? The old retention department trick no longer works from what I’ve heard.

I meant how do people negotiate down the Comcast rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is so insane about the economy?

Spouse & I are both working & not making very much. We are barely middle-middle class by most standards. One kid is military officer & other is a CPA.

We have all traveled all over the US, along with a lot of foreign trips. The 4 of us have no mortgages, no car loans, & no credit card debt. The 4 of us managed to get 11 college degrees without any college loans.

Kids went to public schools k-12. We haven’t bought any used cars (some new, quite a few leased, which has allowed us to avoid large auto repair bills). We paid off our modest new-construction suburban house in 9 years.

Bottom line: minimize your debt.

You are not coming out ahead with leasing vehicles because it "allowed [you] to avoid large auto repair bills." You are not saving money leasing cars. At all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We never lived lavishly so no changes.

Same

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We never lived lavishly so no changes.

Same

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

- 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.

It happened under Biden, I had to pay $12,000 over the manufacturer price to get the vehicle and had to wait for it for 4.5 months.

You're insinuating it was Biden's fault. I'm sure you didn't mean to do that. Right? Because if that was your intention, it would make you a goddamn idiot.

COVID disrupted supply chains. Higher prices were the effect. Trump made things exponentially worse with his stupid unconstitutional tariffs. But then again, Trump hates America and everything it stands for, as does anyone who voted for him.

The massive stimulus spending under Biden, which was far more than needed, definitely fueled inflation big time. Because the Democrats had the trifecta majority they went big time on spending in the name of covid recovery, but it was insanely excessive.

-- not a MAGA.

Maybe the stimulus was too much, but I’d much rather have our tax dollars spent on Americans than in another pointless evil war in the Middle East. I’d take Biden and tons of infrastructure spending any day over the mess we have now.