Tips for saving up money?


I can eat fast food for 5 bucks and not have to do dishes, or I can buy food and have stuff I like better, do dishes (or use paper plates) and still come out cheaper than the fast food. The problem is I am not very good at cooking most things, and it is hard to find certain things. Oh, and free-range animal products can be pricey, so that can significantly increase the cost.

I ate a free-range croissant for breakfast, and now I am out of em again. (No, it wasn't really free-range, it was bread.)

My money saving is going ok. A new cat walked into my house this morning, so getting him checked out might cut into it a bit...he is still a kitten, so he wants lots of attention and affection (quarantined/isolated from the others until he gets checked out and they tell us whatever he could have had is gone). He is sleeping under my legs.
 
I can get an extra large pepperoni for $8, and if I don't gorge myself it'll last 4 meals. It's honestly a really good deal and if I lived alone I'd probably eat pizza more often, save a tonne of money, and lose some weight in the process.
 
That's not actually a completely crazy idea. I don't know how heavy an extra large is, but taking the stats for a single slice and then multiplying it up so you're getting enough protein, you'd still be under the recommended calorie intake for maintaining weight, and while you'd perhaps want a slightly less fatty source of protein and carbs if your goal was fat reduction, you'd only significantly blow the budget on the salt content. You'd not be getting many vitamins or much dietary fibre, but you can take a pill for the former and the lack of the latter might actually help you in losing weight.
 
JDTAY said:
I do have to pay the cleaners a couple times though,
Click to expand...

If you're physically fit (i.e. not disabled, elderly, etc), get a vacuum cleaner, a bottle of disinfectant and do it yourself.

Seriously, there's no point complaining of being broke when you're ignoring simple ways to save money.
 
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I just noticed that there are 20 EUR vouchers on ED's shop, approximately $25 USD each. Were those always there? I remember discussing buying a 50 EUR voucher before, slightly over $60 USD, but decided against it.

In any case, I think I have a new plan. I will buy two of these a week, as soon as I get my weekly cash loaded onto my debit card, until I have enough for Pyra. These things don't expire, do they? This could take a while...
 
JDTAY said:
In any case, I think I have a new plan. I will buy two of these a week, as soon as I get my weekly cash loaded onto my debit card, until I have enough for Pyra. These things don't expire, do they? This could take a while...
Click to expand...

That's pretty much what I've done, and have already enough for my Pyra.

Apparently they expire after 2 years, but for those waiting for Pyra, at least, @ED is still honouring them even if they have "expired."
 
Hey guys, I now have five 20 euro vouchers in ED's shop, or 100 euros total for those of you who somehow manage to use Linux without knowing math.

JDTAY Pyra fund
Current: 100 euros
Goal 1: 330 euros
Goal 2: 530 euros plus shipping
 
@FBnil I mentioned in late January in this very thread that I was gifted some used, but still good living room furniture by someone.

I should've started buying vouchers then; I'd be further along by now.
 
@JDTAY: What style? Which colour? PICS!

Vouchers: Nah... it's not the amount saved, just keep it up with small steps.
 
Since this is a thread about tips, learn from this experience of putting aside $20 every once in a while. Don't stop doing it once you have purchased the Pyra, build a little buffer and value that buffer based on the amount of time you have spent to save it up (i.e. don't blow it away on the first game you encounter).
 
One thing that's stuck with me from my childhood is that the things that I buy have to be useful. Before my mother would buy me a toy I had to explain how it would be useful/the uses to which it could be put, if it didn't qualify it didn't get bought. I had a lot of Lego/Meccano when I was a kid and I don't remember having any action figures.

Edit: Lest ye think too harshly of her we weren't exactly rich and every penny counted.
 
Caine said:
build a little buffer
Click to expand...
Exactly. I have an "unforseen" buffer. So if my, say,
  • washing machine dies I can buy a good one, instead of the cheap one. This way my clothes last longer.
  • if my vacuum cleaner dies I can buy a good one, instead of the cheap one. This way I can do one pass and have a clean surface instead of having to pass twice and spend more time.
  • if my computer dies I don't have to buy a second hand chromebook, I can buy one with specs that I want.
Unfortunately, some stuff can't be bought anymore. There are no good kitchens anymore.
 
Exactly. If you are not saving a little bit of money every month then you are in a high risk situation. Anything breaking can put you into debt, which can be difficult to escape. While it is easy to say this, for those on the social minimum (minimal wage, unemployment benefits, etc.) this is not easy to actually do.

FBnil said:
Unfortunately, some stuff can't be bought anymore. There are no good kitchens anymore.
Click to expand...
I smell a strong opinion :) This is likely to steer things off-topic, which I don't want, but I am really curious now what is a good kitchen to you.
 
@Caine: The new gas ovens are of lower quality build than in the past.
It's just that "evenly" hot upper and lower part of the oven is harder to get. In the past, ovens were pure solid metal, heated up from the bottom, and thus, did not burn the top part (and if they did, then the whole cake was burned :) ). Now, you need to put things lower to not let them get burned at the top, at risk of burning also the bottom. On the plus side, pre-heating an oven is not required anymore, but the heat is not "even" . Even with "convection" because the heat source is much closer to the inside now.
With electrical ones, you need 2 dials for top and bottom to be able to regulate them manually (or semi programatically). The alternative is a mud/stone oven but heating those is expensive.
 
You can still get an Aga if that's your thing, and there are still a few other clone brands if you can't quite afford the real thing. I'm happy enough with a cheap gas oven though - you need to be slightly more creative with preheating pans to 'seal' the underside of pastry and things properly, and sometimes covering the tops of things if they're looking like catching with loose foil.

But then I've never cooked with a cast iron oven, so perhaps I don't know what I'm missing.
 
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