OP make sure to pause any auto billed subscriptions - if you have one to a news site, substack, etc.

Agree with selling extra clothes - this is a good time to get out your winter jackets and sweaters, and sell any extras that aren’t fitting well and aren’t needed.

Dog walking/sitting, house sitting and babysitting jobs are a good side hustle.

Try to eat all the random food in your pantry and freezer that’s been sitting there too long.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This poster has savings. Why are people telling him to get free food? Leave those resources for people who actually need them.

where did anyone tell OP to get free food or to take it from someone w/o savings? I missed that. I saw a lot of people telling OP to shop their pantry and make meals with what's on hand, but none that told them to go to a food bank,

The post about Food for Others

Anonymous wrote:This poster has savings. Why are people telling him to get free food? Leave those resources for people who actually need them.

where did anyone tell OP to get free food or to take it from someone w/o savings? I missed that. I saw a lot of people telling OP to shop their pantry and make meals with what's on hand, but none that told them to go to a food bank,

Anonymous wrote:I did a no spend January - look into it. If you google no spend months there are a lot of tips.

I also like the idea of picking up some short term easy work.

So no fresh vegetable fruit eggs bread or milk for a month??

This poster has savings. Why are people telling him to get free food? Leave those resources for people who actually need them.

Anonymous wrote:If you have a standard phone plan, look into prepaid phone plans. I have Verizon prepaid. It's the same service, but way cheaper. Like $30/month.

j

T-Mobile offers a $20/month

I did a no spend January - look into it. If you google no spend months there are a lot of tips.

I also like the idea of picking up some short term easy work.

I just read an article today about how people who make grocery lists and shop from them spend like half the amount of those who don’t. I think you have to strategically meal plan too to use everything you buy.

Poverty/pantry meals.

For example, a bit of ground beef and every canned veggie you have in the house, throw it in the crock pot with onions and spices and you have some "chili". Grilled cheese (if you have cheese). Butter noodles (even better if you serve the "chili" over it). Plain/cinnamon toast.
Just literally whatever the f you have in your fridge, freezer and pantry. You can likely do a good clean out and not have to grocery shop for a week or two. Or just do small shops to supplement what you already have.

Go to one of the neighborhood sites where Food for Others hands out food.

https://foodforothers.org/get-help/neighborhood-sites/

Anonymous wrote:Use a credit card for a month, and borrow from your 401(k) if you forecast being out of cash for more than a month.


Once you get over the hump, start saving money and stop spending your entire paycheck.

Sign up to work doordash/Uber/etc

The borrowing from your 401k bit is a HORRIBLE idea! Don’t do this OP! If you’re really crunched, consider opening a 0% APR credit card to float some expenses, and then pay it off immediately when you start your job. Do this now - look at the Chase Freedom Flex. I did this (and had lots of friends who did, too) when we graduated from business school - there was ~4 months between graduation and when we started our jobs, we all paid off those expenses with our signing bonuses. Much cheaper than taking out a loan!!!

Don't do it just for three weeks, but for much longer. Seems like you are cutting really close if a 3-week period without a paycheck made you think about cutting expenses.
I cut my expenses, which were never too high, after several economic downturns over the years.
Write down 50 most often bought food items and know their bottom prices. I'm able to save $100 on milk a year depending where I buy it. This is just one item. I can see the extra I have to pay out if I forget to buy half gallon milk from Aldi/Lidl.You can see here that a gallon would probably even save me more. Ofcourse it would, so I do have ways to go to master the craft. So would buying whole milk vs the 2% I buy now.
Concentrate less on feeling bad about dipping into savings and more on how to keep it going. Also, start investing if you haven't already. When you invest, you learn, and learn even from your mistakes.
I'm a minimum wage worker who fell into investing, and just retired at 45 with too much money and free time. My part time is to save money.

Drink tea made at home instead of coffee.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call car insurance to see if you can get a better rate
Eat out less
Meal prep more
Eat less meat
Buy off brand groceries at big box stores

Thanks! I recently saw a TikTok that compared some items/pricing at Aldi and I think that will be my first change.

Eggs are about $1.12 there at the moment. Make omelettes instead of steaks.

For just 3 weeks, are you sure it's going to have a measurable impact?

I would not eat out at all, cook rice and bean type meals, cut all paid entertainment, not use your car (you're not working, the battery won't die in 3 weeks). It does not seem worthwhile to hustle for a side-job just for 3 weeks, but you can always propose your dog walking services on your neighborhood listserve. Plenty of people need midday walks.