>add compressed air to your propane tank to save money on heating costs
>dip candles in melted candles to make them last longer
>take the family to the local homeless shelter for Christmas dinner
>leave a bottle of Martinellis out and open. Champagne by New Years!
Only buy gas from gas stations. Don't go inside. It's easy to spend a couple hundred a month on bullshit drinks and snacks. Drink water or coffee, or if you must, buy your drinks in bulk at the grocery store.
Get a Google Wallet card. Set up a free recurring deposit for each week, just enough for your weekly expenses, like gas, food, entertainment, etc. Leave your debit card at home. Not only does this help you stick to the budget, it lessens your risk of identify theft and fraud. Wallet cards also have the option of text notifications every time your account is billed. You can also lock your card via the app instantly.
Stop smoking.
Get a shitty ~$35/mo cell plan and learn to live on ~2GB a month.
Ask your car insurance company for a discount. GEICO offers up to an 8% discount for shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, or employees of Berkshire or any of its affiliated companies. Anyone can download Robinhood and buy 1 share of BRK.B for like $125
>Stick chewed gum to your house for free Christmas decorations
>Give your children pictures of toys with a note from Santa saying his elves are still working on finishing. They will forget in a few days
>scavenge old Christmas trees and grind up the needles for a cheap alternative to deodorant
>babysit a Mexican baby and dress as a manger scene. Go door to door asking for donations to a local church
>Take off a week before Christmas and drive around picking up delivered packages while the homeowners are at work. Christmas shopping done, every gift is a surprise!
>use junk mail as wrapping paper
>>993613
gas stations, holy shit this. I waste so much money on snacks and soda. So expensive. Even worse when i worked there. I pay 55 a month now for my cell plan, not a big user, I get unlimited text talk and actual unlimited 3g data with tethering. I use it for my internet at home. It is slow but it does what i need. I get 5 gigs of high speed and than they throttle it to something slow but plenty usable. I abuse the fuck out of it. Probably rack up 20 gigs of data a month but it saves me on an internet bill. I think its like 15 extra over a regular internet bill with no upfront costs in equipment.
I'd love to hear some tips on buying clothes and shoes. Everything is so damned expensive. While this may seem hackneyed, you really are better off, in many cases, buying a slightly a more expensive product that lasts longer and works better. Jeans are a great example for this. Sure, you could buy that $10 pair of Rustlers from Wal-Mart and be "saving money," but good luck getting more than 2-3 months out of them even doing light work. You're better off getting that $50 pair of pants that will last two years. The trick is be able to distinguish between actual quality that's being sold for $50 and junk that has a designer label. The latter will barely hold up better than the Wally World shit.
Also, pack your lunches, guys. If you're temporarily in a low-paying job like me, you'll probably find that the only place you can save any real money is on your food budget. Echoing >>993613 it's way to easy to spend $5-$10 a day on food when you're working or at school. I can pack a decent, healthy lunch with some snacks for $2-$3 no problem now. And if you're always at either work or school seven days a week like me, then you could find that you're saving roughly $5 everyday, or $1825/year. That may just be the difference of you being able to move out of that shitty town, or avoiding a student loan for a semester.
>>993613
>Get a shitty ~$35/mo cell plan and learn to live on ~2GB a month.
>mfw i pay $18 a month for 10 hours talk, free text and 17 gb 4g
>>993613
>GEICO offers up to an 8% discount for shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway
No shit? That's awesome to hear. I wonder if the tiny fractional share I hold in one of my index funds qualifies me.
>>993600
>melt snow for your drinking needs
>unplug fridge during winter to save electricity. bury your food in the snow outside instead
>>994308
My buddy always talks about his crazy uncle, who in the winter operates a " meat van"
It's a junked van sitting on blocks that he rigs into a meat cooler for storing bulk frozen meat during the winter months. He is apparently very proud of this innovation and is always meat bartering.
I never met him but he sounds like a riot. He also has highschool age kids do manual labor and pays them in cigarettes.
Basically the patron saint of /frugal/ threads.
>>994271
Wal mart jeans last a lot, at least the wranglers, those cost 15, but i just wait for black friday each year and buy it for 10,
Bump for more frugality
>>994289
you're getting fucked bud. t-mobile offers $50 a month for unlimited talk text and 6GB LTE, unlimited 4G. Not a tmoblel shill I just switched from verizon and my butthole already feels tighter
They let you finance a sweet phone for like $10 a month too. Cheap living for expensive tastes and you don't feel like a pleb or an andweeb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdeHH_X-HZk
All great tips I saved hundreds last Christmas.
>>994271
For certain types of clothes, like dress shirts, you can just go to the source and buy in bulk from China.
> order a few to check what model and size fits you best
> find perfect one
> order 50 of them in various colors for like 4$ a piece
Same shit from the same factory, and you just saved thousands if you need clothes like that.
> source: I did it for dress shirts and T-shirts
I'm a cheap bastard. Here are some things I do:
1. Never buy anything new, except clothes (sometimes)
2. Whenever possible, eat for free. My company takes us out to lunch a few times per week, and keeps a fridge stocked with food, and I don't eat breakfast, so most of my food expenses are freee. I never eat anything that I didn't make myself or get on the company's dime.
3. No buying books or movies, use libraries and the internet.
4. Live close to work (I live 2.1 miles from my office, it's just a nice walk/bike across the park.
5. Walk/bike everywhere. Increases health, saves gas/healthcare money, and let's you burn through audiobooks like crazy.
6. No debt! Ever!
7. Take up free hobbies, or hobbies that only have one-time up front cost for equipment. Exercise, music, language learning, etc.
8. If you must own a vehicle, but it used and drive it into the ground. No changing cars every ten years like debt-slave normies do.
9. Craigslist is king. Watch the free section and be patient.
10. Buy food and spices in bulk from Costco and ethnic supermarkets.
11. Do free stuff with your friends. Go to parks, hike, play music, etc. if they insist on going to a cafe or bar, just get water.
12. Always ask for a discount. I went to the doctor's office last week and owed $300. I asked if u could get a discount for paying immediately in one shot, the receptionist made a phone call then gave me 20% off.
13. If you're going to travel do it for free. I taught in Korea so my airfare and housing were free, on top of my paycheck. I backpacked around the country and made friends from different countries at the hostels I stayed in, and now I get to travel to those countries and stay for free with the friends I made.
14. Never pay someone to fix something you can fix yourself. Youtube had videos of how to fix/maintain everything.
15. Only use home air conditioning and heating in extreme circumstances.
>>993613
>>993645
>gas stations
How is that even possible, who the fuck buys anything at gas stations? How impulsive you need to be? Everything is 200 to 300% pricier than at my nearest supermarket.
Then again at my local station the closest thing to the door is the counter, so I don't bother myself with any of their crap. Git in, git out.
>>994308
I actually do throw all my drinks out in the snow and put all packaged foods in a box in the garage and turn the fridge off.
>tfw waiting for all my iced food to thaw so i can cook it
>>993600
anyone discount codes for amazon or ebay ?
>>993613
christ why are cellphone plans so expensive in America? I pay 10$ for 3 gig and 1000 texts/calls. Granted, my country has among the lowest cellphone costs in the world thanks to competition, but if 35$/month is considered cheap, then holy shit I don't even wanna know what the expensive ones are
>>995953
50 burger dollars a month for mobile? Are you out of your fucking mind?
>>996146
I pay $200 per month for 3 lines plus a tablet. 15GB (+rollover) shared. Unlimited talk and text
>>996146
What country? I would say average burgerphone costs $100/month
>>996159
u srs?
>>996232
Austria. I think it's the second lowest in comparison to the GDP or something. Lowest I remember was Finland. Anything above 40$ would be considered outrageous and that is of course including a free top notch smartphone for free
>move to Austria to save $ on phone bills
>>994271
>Sure, you could buy that $10 pair of Rustlers from Wal-Mart and be "saving money," but good luck getting more than 2-3 months out of them even doing light work. You're better off getting that $50 pair of pants that will last two years. T
Let me stop you there son. I'm a blue collar worker. The only jeans I buy are rustlers and faded glory from walmart. It is also the only thing I buy from walmart.
Not only do the jeans last longer than my Levi's since they are heavier weight, when I spill concrete, tar, or chemicals on them. I'm not out $50.
The real tip here is keep a good pair of jeans for going out (my levi's because they look much nicer) and keep a couple pairs of work pants. Also wash your jeans less. I wash my jeans when they get nasty. I get about 1-3 years out of my jeans and wash them probably 20 times a year.
Another tip for clothing in the blue collar world is to wear an overshirt. I wear a green flannel every day that isn't balls hot. Keeps me from getting nasty shit on my shirts and keeps my arms slightly safer on the job site.
>>996018
Better idea is just to get samples of the shirts you want. most will send you 1-5 shirts for a higher price, but it will still beat full store prices.
I did do this once for t-shirts with two buddies though. We all wore the same size shirts. All like plain t-shirts. Ordered 100. 33 shirts for each of us. As long as none of us get fat, we're probably set on shirts for many years.
>>996024
>3. No buying books or movies, use libraries and the internet.
Most bigger libraries also allow you to check out ebooks and audiobooks online. Audiobooks are great for commuting.
>>996018
On that note.
Any time you buy clothing, go to the store and pick out all the stuff and sizes you want. Then leave and buy all the shit on Ebay/Amazon for 1/2 the price.
I got a $200 North Face coat for $95 on Ebay. Same everything.
As for cell phones. I currently have AT&T but a few months ago I got a phone from FreedomPop because they offer free monthly service and try to sell you on upgrades.
You get 200 minutes a month. (Who the fuck talks on a phone anymore)
500 texts (This is the biggest downside, however, you can use google voice or similar service to use texts)
and 500mb of data (This also sucks, but you can get 500mb more free each month by adding "friends" (you can add people online just google the list))
Also just remember to use wifi at home and at work and you should be fine for non-streaming.
Hoping to work down to just using it, but will be keeping my real phone for now.
>>996508
Just checked my account. Apparently I have unlimited talk and text. I thought that was a one month promotion when I joined, but maybe I get it for life? Haven't been charged anything yet.
>>996018
Where can I buy Chinese t-shirts in bulk? Can you recommend a site you use? This sounds like a great idea.
>>996514
How many do you want? What colors?
You don't even have to use China. Won't save you any money unless you're in the hundreds range. You can easily get shirts under $2/each on ebay and other websites.
>>996519
I see. I'd be down with ordering hundreds of plain t-shirts, I'll check out eBay. I'd definitely need samples though, no way I'm going in blind on this kind of thing. Do you use a specific eBay seller?
I buy lot of shit on craigslist you can get some really good deals.
Got a iphone 5s new only open box for 320 dollars when at that it costed 700 dollars new.
And some nice headphone which costed 200 new got them for 90 dollars unopen.
>>994271
I also browse /fa/, but I'd suggest spending a little more for clothes you'd wear for a while.
I try to avoid fast fashion (like h&m or zara or a lot of mall tier brands as they'd usually get destroyed in the first few washes). Find out where you can get decent basics for the price points you want (i.e. American Apparel/Uniqlo basic crew shirts last me a long while compared to h&m 5$ shirts).
I also threw out my shitty clothes away, and decided to build my wardrobe slowly. I have a smaller wardrobe with less clutter and no shit I don't even wear. This helps me get a sense of style on what I like and stop me from impulse buying.
Also visit frugalmalefashion on reddit for deals
>>996146
Canada's phones are pretty much just 3 competitors with the same prices...
Makes it like 70$ for 500mb of data
>>996572
>500mb
That sucks. I guess setting up towers across the tundra is costly. I blow through 500mb in a week easy
>>993613
>Get a shitty ~$35/mo cell plan and learn to live on ~2GB a month.
This anon knows. I got kodoo prepaid. It's 15 a month (unlimited text) with Talk and Data "Boosters". Turn off data when you get to wifi spots. This is the ultimate money saver IMO. If you are too afraid to use company wifi, use bear vpn. 500 megs a month free and your administrator wont see anything.
>>996514
I use Aliexpress for most of my China buying.
>>996497
Do you use onedrive for the ebooks or do libraries have their own thing? Also are there any apps for this and other library things?
Bump i love these threads
>>993600
I only buy new clothes every 6 months. I spend $200 aprox per each buy.
I don't have a cellphone plan. I recharge only $10 dollars. And then I only have internet plan in my house and it's near 50$ per month.
Moreover, I spend a lot of money in food, healthy food. Because I think the food must be our medicine. Near $50 per day buying chicken, potatos, carriots, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, etc. That prevents me from gastritis, stomach diseases, illness, etc.
>>998298
50$ per day on food? Just for yourself? That's crazy, even if you're eating healthy
>>997161
Onedrive, luckily I kept all my library cards so I have access to 4 different library networks. Gives me more choices and shorter waiting times.
>>998304
>50$ per day on food? Just for yourself? That's crazy, even if you're eating healthy
Man, I eat non-transgenetic food. It's expensive.
>>998298
> $50/day on food
Wut
>>995988
>american television
kek
>>998400
>non-transgenetic food
you're a fucking moron who can't even spell transgenic properly. There is no physical way you spend $50/day on food you make yourself.
>>998400
Can't tell if srs or troll
>>998400
Ok explain yourself already
>>998400
I don't care if you eat transgender food every day but 50$ is ridiculous. Go to local markets and get high quality ingredients for low prices
>>998400
you must be trolling
Buy prepaid phones with unlimited txt, and calls. That run you from 30-40 dollars a month. Don't buy cable/satellite tv. Organic food is a meme. They still use the same chemical found in conventional foods. The US FDA doesn't regulate anything. So buy bulk meat to get your protein and fruits and veggies which are fresh in markets. Beans and rice is a cheap way to sustain your daily needs. Buy a used car that has excellent MPG and low maintenance cost. Don't go on spontaneous vacations. That will ruin your savings. Millennials do this shit a lot. Its not a surprise they are broke. Invest in Index funds and Roth IRAs. Never buy the latest gizmos. If you want entertainment read books or build yourself a modest PC.
>>998781
Agreed. So much of people's poor financial habits are just shitty impulses and buying shit they don't need, especially when there are much cheaper alternatives.
For clothing I only wash my socks /underwear/undershirts after each wear. Pants, buttoning shirts and sweaters can be washed every few months. More if you sweat a lot. Let your clothes air out between wearing them.
Especially for you non underlayers. NEVER put them in the dryer. Air dry only and wash on cold or warming.
When at home never wear your going out clothing unless people are over.
