How do you save money on everyday expenses?

[kyuuei]

Most of my life I've lived off of $8,000-$14,000 a year. Not a lot of money in an entire year, especially when some people's rent alone is that.

My fitness is free: I troll craigslist for free fitness gear like dumbbells or after garage sales when they throw out the free-box on the side of the curb. I have aspirations of having a nice, beautiful studio to work out in or whatever, but fitnessblender is awesome, I did bootleg some DVDs (but I had copies that were so old they were broken from overuse from my family) that I still have, etc. I don't pay anything for my gear, my instruction, nothing. I DO have aspirations of paying-to-support my fitness stuff after I start working, but most of my life it's been free or super cheap if I decide to 'splurge' and buy a new DVD.

My food is cheap: I've always lived in areas where people either grow food and too much of it and give it away, or I partner up with people who (for example) work at panera bread.. they have to throw all those beautiful breads out! So the huge trash bag came to our house and we froze it in exchange for helping mow their grass once a week. It was a great partnership. I swear by deep freezing and I think it's the only way to go to save money--because it's the only thing that truly helps you buy in bulk. I like sites like budget bytes and budget101 that show off cheap recipes. I cook most of the food I eat or I buy it at discount grocery stores. When I worked in food, I always brought food-waste home too.

My clothes are mostly free: I am not at all shy about taking people's hand-me-downs, or going through the clothes that are left behind at the flea market because people don't want to haul them home. I take advantage of the thrift store down here's bag sale--where you get a $5 big shopping bag to stuff full of as much clothing as you wish, and the articles end up $0.25-$0.50 each. Currently I have more clothing than I can ever know what to do with (which wasn't the case for a long time, I looked like a cartoon character with the same 5 outfits) so I'm set for a long long time.

I buy everything second hand: Like.. everything pretty much. I'm a huge fan of breville appliances in the kitchen, for example, and they make cooking soooo much smoother and easier. However, they're also hella expensive. My oven I found at a pawn shop for $80, and brand new it is $300. The accessories are like $20 each, and I'm hoping to save money with those someday too. My juicer was $12, and yeah it kind of sucks but I also don't juice that frequently, so it serves my needs until I find a better one for just as cheap.

I never, ever, ever, ever will buy a phone and contract line again. I cannot swear by this enough. Everyone thinks they are getting great deals, and people sell the SHIT out of those deals in SUCH good ways. It is just not worth it. The ONE time something goes wrong--who cares? NO ONE because you have a contract. I pay month-to-month and buy my phones outright and invest in a very good case for the phone itself. Even though I replace my phone ever year lately (the new phones are never built as great as the old ones) and sell the old one, I am still saving a TON of money compared to .. I mean.. Not doing that. Haha!

I found a deal recently in the hardware store so I could get $3 LED bulbs! Awesome considering they're usually $15-20 a piece. Those in the whole house change up the electric bill pretty easily. I don't have a TV at all actually, I hang out with friends or go out to watch TV which is definitely worth the gas and money in comparison to the cost of the TV, the electricity it sucks up, etc.

Usually if something is disposable I find a free or renewable resource for it. Swiffers are for suckers.

 

[small.wonder]

For the most part, I should not be giving advice in this thread. I have a spreadsheet called I Hate Money, that I really don't even use.

That said, the only area I can speak to is clothing, in which I completely agree with the previous thrift suggestions. I have so much in my closet that came from a thrift store. The same rule also applies to home goods.

Other than that, I'm pretty horrible with money. I'll be reading here though.

 

[Coriolis]

The two main things I do to save money is to keep clear the difference between what I want and what I need; and to maximize the value I get for what I do spend. Why spend $30 for a blouse at the mall, even if I have it, when I can get a comparable item for $2 at a thrift store?

So yes, I buy most clothing and many household goods at the thrift store. I prefer classic styles to the latest trends anyway, so often it is hard for me to find what I like in stores without going to really pricey stores. If I can't find something in the thrift store, I will comparision shop and look for good sales.

With food, I start by cooking almost everything from scratch. Yes, fresh ingredients often cost more than cheap takeout or packaged foods, but it is also healthier, and I think I still do come out ahead in the area. Sadly there is no good farmer's market in my area, but some of the grocery stores buy what's in season from local producers, so that helps. I avoid buying disposable items like paper napkins, plastic bags, mop covers, etc. I use cloth napkins and cleaning rags, and reusable plastic food containers, many reclaimed from whatever was originally purchased in them.

I try to minimize debt, which in turn minimizes finance charges/interest. I never carry a balance on my credit card, and use it only for convenience.

Unfortunately public transit is poor in my area, so end up driving to most places. There are only a few places I need to go that are close enough to ride my bike.

Finally I just don't spend money on alot of other things that I really don't need. This includes things like cable, netflix, smartphone, gym membership, lawn service, etc. I can find plenty of movies, etc. in the public library, or even (free) online, and I don't watch that much TV/movies anyway. Fortunately there is a decent gym at work that is free. Oh, and I use linux so don't pay anything for software/upgrades.

All that said, when I do need to buy something costly, say a new appliance or specific clothing item, I am willing to pay more for something that is good quality, will last, and has the features that I will use. I am also not stingy with gifts, though again I try to find the best quality and value for the money I am spending. I'd rather spend the money I save this way or even give it to charity than pay more than I need to for something.

I never, ever, ever, ever will buy a phone and contract line again. I cannot swear by this enough. Everyone thinks they are getting great deals, and people sell the SHIT out of those deals in SUCH good ways. It is just not worth it. The ONE time something goes wrong--who cares? NO ONE because you have a contract. I pay month-to-month and buy my phones outright and invest in a very good case for the phone itself. Even though I replace my phone ever year lately (the new phones are never built as great as the old ones) and sell the old one, I am still saving a TON of money compared to .. I mean.. Not doing that. Haha!

This is my philosophy as well. What kind of phone and service do you have now?

 

[Tellenbach]

I budget by deciding how much I'm going to spend each week and that's what I put in my wallet. This allows you to splurge on some things but also forces you to be thrifty on other things.

Oh, and pay for everything using cash, especially if you have low impulse control. For many years, I didn't even bother getting a credit card.

 

[kyuuei]

This is my philosophy as well. What kind of phone and service do you have now?

Verizon is the only service that works out where I live. They tried to sell me HARD on buying their phones in their whole "just pay like $20 a month!" thing. Ugghh. But I took them up on the deal I'm currently getting.. it only works out to be as cheap as pre-paid if you have your whole family on it paying separate (which I do), so my parents, myself, and my sister all split the bill in 4th's, and I end up with unlimited talk/text and 10 gbs of data for about $39/mo each person. I just have a bank account and they all transfer their shares into my account each month and the bill auto-pays out of it. I also get a military discount on my account too, so 15% comes off of the base price that helps pretty much make up for the fees and taxes.

 

[Raffaella]

Your dog makes me squee with delight. I have three cats at the moment though.

I spent $20 on a toy mouse for my cat only to have her maul it apart and use the head as her soccer ball. Then I realised that one of her favourite toys is a hair-tie attached to a long piece of string... and apple earphones. She also doesn't mind store brand food or litter which is a huge bonus.

Off the top of my head. (And I may add more later.)
- Store brand = as good as other brands, 99% of the time (with medicine, home products, lotions/soaps).
- Comparison shop! Cannot stress that enough.
- Cook in bulk over the weekend (and if you like coffee, cold-brew a huge pot of coffee on Sunday night -- lasts a long while, saves money, and saves time in the morning)
- Choose your snacks and ingredients based on what's cheapest and/or on sale

I can't emphasise these enough.

At first it'll be frustrating moving from store to store, looking for less expensive options, but you'll learn the ropes and the price of your groceries will decrease by 20% (sometimes more).

 

[chubber]

1. Cut satellite subscription
2. Take the train
3. Optimize downloader
4. Minimize travelling with car to shop.
5. Monthly shopping
6. Stick to a schedule
7. Prepare own food for lunch
8. Don't give money to beggars (give them food instead)
9. Buy a demo model instead of a new car.
10. Don't buy the first thing that you see, research it well, ask e-mail/phone around.
11. Clean your place and do your own laundry.
12. Eat at home.

Only a small list I could come up with for now.

 

[Poki]

My GF is teaching me this. I am teaching her to buy what she really wants instead of just take what's cheap. We try to find that balance. I made several times what she made and my views of money made her panick. My view of alot of money was way more then her view. This is why she does our finances. I never spent more then I made, but I would always come close.

I just have always saved by doing things myself and then I still didn't really save as I would just end up with better then if I just paid someone.

I save on everyday expenses by letting someone who cares about money more then me handle the finances. I have issues with paying for other people as well I don't care about money so I like to pay for things for other people. I get more pleasure out of helping others then I get out of money.

 

[Codex]

I'm not very good with monies. Mostly because I live in a very expensive city that doesn't have a lot of options such as second hand shops.

Also I'm just terrible at being frugal. I have very low impulse control and am always up for trying things, regardless of price. I've tried adopting more thoughtful habits, such as minimalism, and it has helped a lot.

My biggest leak of money has been experiences and food. I'm ok with that though!

 

[EJCC]

Reviving this thread with a specific question: Does anyone have recommendations with regard to homemade household cleaners? So, things to replace Swiffers, Windex, toilet bowl/shower cleaner, and ideally also laundry detergent. (Borax + something, maybe?) I'm looking for legitimate information, and Internet sources for this are about 99% pseudoscience.

 

[prplchknz]

Reviving this thread with a specific question: Does anyone have recommendations with regard to homemade household cleaners? So, things to replace Swiffers, Windex, toilet bowl/shower cleaner, and ideally also laundry detergent. (Borax + something, maybe?) I'm looking for legitimate information, and Internet sources for this are about 99% pseudoscience.

my mom told me distilled vinegar,water, and amonium in a spray bottle works better than windex in a spray bottle for glass

 

[windoverlake]

Reviving this thread with a specific question: Does anyone have recommendations with regard to homemade household cleaners? So, things to replace Swiffers, Windex, toilet bowl/shower cleaner, and ideally also laundry detergent. (Borax + something, maybe?) I'm looking for legitimate information, and Internet sources for this are about 99% pseudoscience.

I personally don't understand Swiffers. Based on their cost, they don't seem worth it. Just use rags.

Toilet bowl/shower cleaner: Baking soda. Biodegradable, cheap, works, unscented.

I haven't attempted a homemade laundry detergent. I get a biodegradable one, and unless I'm laundering something that's heavily soiled, I only use half, or even less than half, of the recommended amount. I also forego dryer sheets; just don't overdry, take out laundry slightly underdry and there's no static. I think clothes are meant to come out of the dryer with the slightest touch of ... not dampness, but not full dryness, if that makes sense. You can make homemade, reusable dryer sheets, but it's not a necessity for me so I don't bother.

Also, white vinegar with water in a spray bottle is a great glass cleaner.

 

[ceecee]

Reviving this thread with a specific question: Does anyone have recommendations with regard to homemade household cleaners? So, things to replace Swiffers, Windex, toilet bowl/shower cleaner, and ideally also laundry detergent. (Borax + something, maybe?) I'm looking for legitimate information, and Internet sources for this are about 99% pseudoscience.

I have a floor cleaner that I make. Washing soda (you find it with the borax) or baking soda, vinegar and a little Dawn or other dish soap (a few drops). I use it in the bathrooms and kitchen (ceramic tile) and it cleans wonderfully. Warm vinegar and a little Dawn in a spray bottle work great in the tub/shower. I use a magic eraser for any tough spots or soap scum and microfiber cloths for nearly everything else.

I use Rain X on one of my glass shower doors and I see that they actually make a product specifically for the shower door now. I just use the little bottle made for cars, it lasts a long time and keeps the crud off the glass.

 

[kyuuei]

Magic erasers for cheap: Amazon.com - 10/50/100/200Pcs/lot ERASER CLEANER MAGIC MELAMINE SPONGE CLEANING 10x6x2CM - Multipurpose Cleaners That's literally all they are.

There's been some cool options like Apple TV, sling TV, etc. for cable channels without cable prices too.

 

[Qlip]

Sorry, I can't keep from peanut gallerying here. My mind is boggling from contemplating someone having a significant portion of their budget be cleaning supplies. Is it bad to mop with dishsoap? Can't I just rub my mirror down with my wet towel?

Ignore me.

 

[ceecee]

Sorry, I can't keep from peanut gallerying here. My mind is boggling from contemplating someone having a significant portion of their budget be cleaning supplies. Is it bad to mop with dishsoap? Can't I just rub my mirror down with my wet towel?

Ignore me.

You're so cute. Yes you can blow an extraordinary amount of money on cleaning supplies but most of that is for convenience cleaning items. Not cleaning ingredients.

Here's one - my son and his girlfriend bought a house and it came with all the appliances, including a newer gas stove. Works great but the burner grates were disgusting. I found the both of them trying to scrub the sticky cooked on crud off with no success. Fortunately I brought some ammonia. I put each grate in a zip bag and a tiny bit of ammonia and set them in the garage. I told them this will come off easily in the am. They were amazed that the tiny bit of ammonia worked so well. I told them it only needs the fumes, not to soak in it. A half gallon of ammonia costs about $2 and should last for years.

This also works for the drip pans on electric stoves.

 

[windoverlake]

You're so cute. Yes you can blow an extraordinary amount of money on cleaning supplies but most of that is for convenience cleaning items. Not cleaning ingredients.

Here's one - my son and his girlfriend bought a house and it came with all the appliances, including a newer gas stove. Works great but the burner grates were disgusting. I found the both of them trying to scrub the sticky cooked on crud off with no success. Fortunately I brought some ammonia. I put each grate in a zip bag and a tiny bit of ammonia and set them in the garage. I told them this will come off easily in the am. They were amazed that the tiny bit of ammonia worked so well. I told them it only needs the fumes, not to soak in it. A half gallon of ammonia costs about $2 and should last for years.

This also works for the drip pans on electric stoves.

This is amazing information! I wish I had it earlier, but just as thrilled to have it at all.

 

[kyuuei]

Reviving this thread with a specific question: Does anyone have recommendations with regard to homemade household cleaners? So, things to replace Swiffers, Windex, toilet bowl/shower cleaner, and ideally also laundry detergent. (Borax + something, maybe?) I'm looking for legitimate information, and Internet sources for this are about 99% pseudoscience.

I've experimented with just about everything. What I found worked for me:
- Homemade laundry detergent (as long as I add purex crystals to it I like it.. I tend to just add some cheap liquid store-bought soap to the homemade mixture, and the purex crystals and voila, months and months worth of soap)
- Homemade whitening agent (Bluing.. it's not home made, it's just a bottle of that stuff mixed with water, but it's far far cheaper than bleach when you get over the learning curve)
- Homemade disinfectant (Bleach and water pretty much)
- DIY magic erasers (which aren't DIY at all, they're just whole sale sponges)
- Vinegar for a bunch of stuff like replacing jet dry, deodorizing tupperware with tomato sauce in it, cleaning the garbage disposal...
- DIY shower cleaner spray (I dunno if it makes it cleaner, but it seems easier to clean and smells nice, I think a squeegee might do just as good of a job)
- DIY mirror cleaner (aka water and non-lint cloth)

Stuff like that...

Stuff that didn't work for me:
- Homemade dryer sheets (They were messy, didn't give nearly as much scent to the clothes, etc. For the time and energy of those things, I just use a tennis ball and piece of aluminum foil I keep in the dryer and I use bulk dryer sheets I buy at big lots that they sell for like $3 for 105. It's worth the $0.03 a load.)
- Homemade cleaner spray (While this DID work for me, it goes bad fast from the water in it so it only works when I'm cleaning the whole house at once.. the occasional spray didn't. Now I just buy disinfectant wipes on clearance from people who re-sell grocery store items at flea markets for the occasional thing, and use bleach water for the whole house days.)
- DIY dish soap (this stuff always sucked. Both the ones in the dish washer and the hand dish ones. You can just buy a giant thing of dawn and it'll do whatever job you ever want ever.)
- Floor cleaner... Honestly, I just use bleach or some cheap smell-good stuff because I really don't mop the floors often (once every other week?) and a bottle of it lasts like over a year for me.

For toilets I just use bleach water to clean the outside with and I use one of those inside-the-bowl-blue-things to keep the inside smelling fresh and prevent water stains. I really do like the flushable brushes from Scrubbing bubbles.. to me it's the most sanitary (no gross brush just hanging out) and I don't need to brush it out but 2x a month so it works well.

I did get to waste a lot of money experimenting with things like this.. which I guess is cool. It was worth it to figure out some things.. Definitely I spent a lot of money on washing machine soap in comparison to now, and it was worth it to break the idea of one thing doing one task vs one thing working for many things.. so instead of going "Omg we're out of bathroom cleaner! I can't clean it with the kitchen spray!" everything just has the one dang bottle.

Pretty much anything reusable will save you money (like steam mops with washable pads, cleaning cloths, napkins, etc.) Just pre-rinse/wash them alone before you wash them with other things to get all of that muck off of them.

 

[EJCC]

Thanks everybody!!

Magic erasers for cheap: Amazon.com - 10/50/100/200Pcs/lot ERASER CLEANER MAGIC MELAMINE SPONGE CLEANING 10x6x2CM - Multipurpose Cleaners That's literally all they are.

Whoa, that's amazing. Buying these soon!

(Hopefully the good reviews are more accurate than the bad ones.)

 

[prplchknz]

I've experimented with just about everything. What I found worked for me:
- Homemade laundry detergent (as long as I add purex crystals to it I like it.. I tend to just add some cheap liquid store-bought soap to the homemade mixture, and the purex crystals and voila, months and months worth of soap)
- Homemade whitening agent (Bluing.. it's not home made, it's just a bottle of that stuff mixed with water, but it's far far cheaper than bleach when you get over the learning curve)
- Homemade disinfectant (Bleach and water pretty much)
- DIY magic erasers (which aren't DIY at all, they're just whole sale sponges)
- Vinegar for a bunch of stuff like replacing jet dry, deodorizing tupperware with tomato sauce in it, cleaning the garbage disposal...
- DIY shower cleaner spray (I dunno if it makes it cleaner, but it seems easier to clean and smells nice, I think a squeegee might do just as good of a job)
- DIY mirror cleaner (aka water and non-lint cloth)

Stuff like that...

Stuff that didn't work for me:
- Homemade dryer sheets (They were messy, didn't give nearly as much scent to the clothes, etc. For the time and energy of those things, I just use a tennis ball and piece of aluminum foil I keep in the dryer and I use bulk dryer sheets I buy at big lots that they sell for like $3 for 105. It's worth the $0.03 a load.)
- Homemade cleaner spray (While this DID work for me, it goes bad fast from the water in it so it only works when I'm cleaning the whole house at once.. the occasional spray didn't. Now I just buy disinfectant wipes on clearance from people who re-sell grocery store items at flea markets for the occasional thing, and use bleach water for the whole house days.)
- DIY dish soap (this stuff always sucked. Both the ones in the dish washer and the hand dish ones. You can just buy a giant thing of dawn and it'll do whatever job you ever want ever.)
- Floor cleaner... Honestly, I just use bleach or some cheap smell-good stuff because I really don't mop the floors often (once every other week?) and a bottle of it lasts like over a year for me.

For toilets I just use bleach water to clean the outside with and I use one of those inside-the-bowl-blue-things to keep the inside smelling fresh and prevent water stains. I really do like the flushable brushes from Scrubbing bubbles.. to me it's the most sanitary (no gross brush just hanging out) and I don't need to brush it out but 2x a month so it works well.

I did get to waste a lot of money experimenting with things like this.. which I guess is cool. It was worth it to figure out some things.. Definitely I spent a lot of money on washing machine soap in comparison to now, and it was worth it to break the idea of one thing doing one task vs one thing working for many things.. so instead of going "Omg we're out of bathroom cleaner! I can't clean it with the kitchen spray!" everything just has the one dang bottle.

Pretty much anything reusable will save you money (like steam mops with washable pads, cleaning cloths, napkins, etc.) Just pre-rinse/wash them alone before you wash them with other things to get all of that muck off of them.

my mom home mades some things but she says good laundry soap and and dish detergent are a must. but she figured out how to get black stains off of boat bouyies that hadn't been cleaned in over 20 years and perfectly white now she uses the powder spic and span and some other things. but usually when she makes things for cleaning its because there's a tough stain that normal products won't work so she makes a super product. but she swears that the vinergar,water, and amonium works for glass surfaces better than windex. for fleas (which we've had a few times) turns out she washes the bedding in hot water and borax lets the washer fill turns it off and lets it soak for awhile. she also sets off a bug bomb for them aswell. i dunno the point. peronally i like the gel type toilet cleaner cuz it clings to the bowl.

my mom also swears by oxy clean for a lot of things.