I cut out skiing, rock concerts, and attending Ravens games. I think i miss skiing the most.

I hate to think of it as downgrading. It's really about getting more strategic.

But, we've eliminated gym memberships.
Kept donations at the same level instead of increasing.
Only grocery shop in person at ALDI, LIDL or Trader Joe's, with ALDI being the most frequent. No grocery delivery.

Things I should do: stop buying things on Amazon so frequently.

Things we already did:
buy as much as we can from the thrift shop.
buy wrapping paper instead of gift bags.

We haven't had a babysitter for most of of 2025. I miss date nights, which we only had every other month or so. Only two more years until my oldest is old enough to legally supervise the younger sibling (they get along well and would happily just play video games for 2 hours while we went to dinner).

OP, like you said, you have more kids now. Yea, it's gonna cost more. Duh.

I gave up live yoga classes and do recorded classes. I miss that but at $20+ per class, it's not worth it. Same with Solidcore - their prices are insane. I lift at a cheap gym and changed my diet and am now leaner and lonelier than ever.

Anonymous wrote:Here are all the things I do as a poor person.

Never eat out. Make all food from scratch. Eat mostly vegetables and beans and eggs and such.
Walk, run, hike as exercise. No gym memberships.
Throw out TV. Read for pleasure
Camp with other poor friends for vacations (hint this is just as much fun as expensive trips abroad).
Don’t buy stuff for kids beyond very basic necessities. Encourage them to work for their own spending money
Never buy new clothes. Most of my clothes are several decades old and going strong.
Never buy jewelry. I have one necklace and one pair of earrings.
Look for free entertainment. High school musicals, church recitals, etc.

To the camper....there are some prime camping beach spots on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. The beaches surpass anything in Bethany, Rehoboth and OC. Shhhh....I'm not giving away my secret.

My 800 sq foot Montana getaway. I really miss this place. We could walk to the restaurants, walk to the clubs, walk to church, walk to the post office, and walk to get our groceries and catch the free ski bus to go skiing. We could also walk to the thrift store. We could also walk to the senior center where I had free senior yoga classes.

We loved that place. My boyfriend picked up a job out there and we worked there for 4 months. He had me buy a bike from the thrift store. It cost $10. He rode the bike to work every day.

The negatives....it was very challenging to get a plumber or electrician. You had to treat these guys very respectfully.

I ultimately sold it due to my sister putting freeloaders in my personal unit when I was not in state. (See other thread about 2nd homes.)

I have an IBD so we have not eaten in restaurants in over 15 years. I'd say in 15 years we've eaten out maybe 8 times when friends or family forced it. I prefer our home cooking now. The restaurant food is over salted and many times very processed.

Mom passed away last year. She had a very classy wardrobe. She was about 10 pounds less than me but I can wear her tops and coats. I get compliments anytime I wear the Mom clothes. In fact, I'm wearing a pair of her jeans right now.

We still spend on travel, but apart from that we rarely eat out. And no drinking out, though in part because we are too old for that. Unc, as the young people say.

Our income is down this year for fed govt-related reasons.

- way less Uber eats, doordash etc.

- almost no shopping for clothes, shoes, etc. I only replace individual items that are worn out. I shop my closet and have enjoyed restyling a lot of older items. I don't like most styles these days or enjoy shopping so this hasn't been a big loss for me.

private jet , now we are stuck in business class

Absolutely nothing. I have downgraded several times in my life. I loved every change, because they were usually for the better as I added a family member, removed a family member, or changed locations.
Didn't miss materials things as they can be bought again and again. Stores are like free storage.

Here are all the things I do as a poor person.

Never eat out. Make all food from scratch. Eat mostly vegetables and beans and eggs and such.
Walk, run, hike as exercise. No gym memberships.
Throw out TV. Read for pleasure
Camp with other poor friends for vacations (hint this is just as much fun as expensive trips abroad).
Don’t buy stuff for kids beyond very basic necessities. Encourage them to work for their own spending money
Never buy new clothes. Most of my clothes are several decades old and going strong.
Never buy jewelry. I have one necklace and one pair of earrings.
Look for free entertainment. High school musicals, church recitals, etc.

I too am more pinched compared to 7 years ago. To stretch, I have given up: housecleaning. Yard cleanup. ALL eating out. Some organic groceries. Eyebrow threading. Botox.

The thing that’s made the biggest impact though is the cleaning in the yardwork because now I do it all and work full-time it is hard

Honestly we still spend on travel but we barely ever go out to eat anymore. It used to be easy to have a date night under $200 at a nice restaurant with drinks but it seems like those days are gone. Now you have to either skip apps or drinks or go somewhere divey for that price point, and I really hate the additional non-tip fees that are added after the fact.

Even a burger joint with the kids feels comically expensive at this point. We'll still do it from time to time but it's hard to enjoy when it feels like you're not getting value for your money. (Shakes fist at cloud.)

We all know the wealth gap is widening and while some of DCUM has more extra cash than ever before, some of us are making the same salary stretch further. We are a duel gvt salary household and while we live a good life, we also dont live like we did 7 years ago either. One thing that we really miss is ski trips. It use to be a somewhat modest activity (or ways to make it more such) and we also had less kids so we were able to go a few times a year. A ski trip that use to cost us 3/4k now cost 7k (easily) and it just isn't justifiable anymore. Any similar experience or things you may miss? This is meant to be lighthearted with some focus on things that have really gotten expensive or not worth it, not meant to turn into anything else!