Work hours got cut - saving money tips.

[Tuikku]

Put all your expenses into categories and examine them one at a time, starting with the big ones. Could you lower rent by changing neighborhoods or getting a place with a roomate? Can you drive less? Combining cooking with costco, make larger meals, then enjoy the rest for lunches.

Good points. Especially categorizing expenses.

Also think about:
Do you have insurances, you don´t really need? Can you combine or move insurances to same company, usually you get some discount.
What about energy, electricity (gas), or heating? Can you change your electric company to cheaper one? Can you save electricity with small efforts?
Cell phone, how much do you pay for your calls, any alternatives for provider?
Internet connection, could you manage with slower/cheaper? Do you have cable TV, could you do without?


Everyday groceries, could you change some branded products to some not-so-branded ones and get roughly the same standard of living cheaper?



For a couple of years ago, I did some cuts to my budget.
I cancelled some of my newspaper and magazine orders, electricity, insurances, about everything I could figure out that was relatively easy to do but does not affect awfully lot to my standard of living.
I got good results, have more loose money now

 

[NonSenCe]

above is plenty good advice. (going thru expenses, limit them etc)

here is another: you do have extra time and vehicle skills. why not go thru ebay/craigslist/hemmings/classifieds for something simple fixer upper vehicle.

car, bike, moped, boat (engine), even lawmowers are options.

something like a common and still "desired" car (toyota,honda or pickup, what ever is popular there where you are) with engine or tranny problem and fix that up and re-sell.

you just need to invest the time and effort.

sometimes you can find deals that offer the broken car with spareparts in the trunk waiting.. (owner likely just realised after buying the parts that having it professionally fixed by mechanic would be more than what car itself is worth. and they either dont have the energy or skills to do it themselves.)

this could give you something constructive to do with extra time you have, and if you do your math and research ok you should make some profit aswell.


**then, go thru all family and friends, let them know you have couple days off every week, just in case if they are in need of handyman around the house or garage, you are available for food and drink, and possible for some small cash outlay. (hey, i too would pay someone 20dollars to mow my lawn for me. most people have some projects they might not start on their own or just need an extra pair of hands to help out)

**like emptying friends garage (yeah the one his wife has been nagging him to empty for years now) could yield lot of useful stuff that is now going into the trash. pick them up and sell them in your garagesale/ebay/fleamarket.

i did the garage thing myself: year ago i took one trailer of old furniture stuff to local 2nd hand store owner and asked him a bulk price for lot. walked off with 200$. -i could of sold them slowly myself for 3-500 or so, but was easier this way.

i have pulled during past 3 years six similar lawnmowers out of trash etc. 1 worked as is and is still in use. 1 came to life with cleanup and was sold. 2 were built into one and that one got sold. 5th one was given away to a friend whom needed spare parts. the 6th and rest of the dismantled/harvested one is still waiting for number 7 to appear so i can get it running and have it sold.

i have also bought stuff from china and usa and sold them here for small profit. couple knives and lights lately. if i had more money and time to wait for the purchased items to be re-sold i would do more of it.

i got 20 nfl/nhl jerseys myself, and pretty much all of them are "free" to me as i ordered extra ones and sold them here to finance my own jersey, ordered 3-5 and kept one. (decided to stop importing them for fun when i started to have my money tied up in a jersey for 3 months before it got sold. now i just ask friends if they want one and then order one and take that 5er on top of pricetag.)

 

[Bobyn]

Thanks to everyone who replied! I didn't expect this much response. :twothumbs

Over the last year and a half or so I have really thinned out what I spend money on - some examples are below:

1) My car - a 2000 Jetta I payed $2000 for, about 45% of market value at the time. It had a bad transmission sensor that emulated a failed transmission. I took the risk, and some hours and $100 later I had a fully working car, heated leather and everything! First car I've ever owned with AC too!

2) Same deal with the motorbike - PO had dropped it, and it ran poorly. Payed ~60% of market value of a similar well running one and some hours later it was good again. Good 'ole Craigslist and Kijiji.

3) Before my last hip surgery I liquidated lots of what I owned - sold, gave it away, donated etc. There was a fear that I would be stuck in a wheelchair for along time, so I think there was a bit of an unconscious urge to eliminate material goods. I can fit all of what I own in a few moving boxes, minus the vehicles. In the meantime I've collected a few things that I don't need - but for the most part I don't have that much that I can sell.

4) My cell phone, a Nokia N95, has a very basic plan and most calls are done in a WiFi area over Skype. :thumbsup: Super cheap.

5) I eat Superstore brand food. :sick2: But it works for me, I'm not picky on what goes in my belly as long as I'm full.

6) My insurance for bike/car are through the same company, and I get a slight discount, but its the cheapest I have found so far.

I like the idea of another bank account and the automatic deposit. I think my biggest downfall are the small purchases - corner store drinks, slurpees and that kind of stuff.

I will admit however that I purchased myself a Maxpedition Jumbo S-Type bag for my birthday - of course this was a day before I found out about the time cuts.

I also need to get back into the habit of walking places. I kinda got out of the habit after spending 2 months on crutches, and then a year recovering. Unfortunately I don't own a bike anymore, I sold my downhill rig right before my second surgery and haven't been on a bike since.

I really can't tell you guys/gals how much I appreciate this - while I have enough savings that I should be able to pull myself through, saving money is always good.

 

[Flashlight Aficionado]

By the way, I just noticed that you only have 8 posts. So . . . . .

:welcome:

 

[Tuikku]

1) My car - a 2000 Jetta I payed $2000 for, about 45% of market value at the time. It had a bad transmission sensor that emulated a failed transmission. I took the risk, and some hours and $100 later I had a fully working car, heated leather and everything! First car I've ever owned with AC too!

Nice deal there :thumbsup:

edit: :welcome:

 

[MarNav1]

After you do these things buy yourself a light of course...........................

 

[SFG2Lman]

if you have a yard i suggest a garden, by hand. Its a very good workout physically removing sod and battling it all summer, planting beans, tomatoes, corn, pumpkins, squash, peppers can supplement your grocery bill, but if you live in an arid place with high water bills i guess this isn't for you...We had well water growing up, we'd put down a 20ft stab well and run power to it in a short saturday (20ft water-table rules!) Seed packets are like $1 each, so for a $10-15 investment you can have something that occupies a good bit of time and supplements you a bit. If you have a LARGE yard, you may be able to plant more than you need and go to a local farmers market and sell excess for cash, my grandpa and I used to do that every fall. Fridays and saturdays are usually the busiest days at a market like that. My grandpa and I grew about 3 acres worth of pumpkins, squash, and gourds, and we'd usually go to the market 5-6 times from mid september till the end of october pulling in about $1200 each total, as a frame of reference.

 

[Essexman]

I feel for you, I really do, I went through the same last year. I was working 6 days a week and went down to 4. Really not funny when you have a family! But that was last year, and I'm still here, still got my house, and family. It can be hard to make some cuts, to give up things you really like, stuff you may have treated youself to before become stuff you can't buy because you need to pay the bills.

Save money, yes lots of good ideas here. Now think again, you have some extra spare time, how can you MAKE some extra money??

From what you have said you appear very handy at fixing cars and bikes? I bet you're good around the house with DIY? You know people will pay good money for those skills.

BTW I'm back on a full week now, but no pay rise this year, and the company has let many people go this year . Things are not picking up yet.

 

[kosPap]

sorry guys but I have not got the stomach to browse thsi thread more, cos I am unemplyed for too much time....

I will only take the time to +1 what kestrel says..I am walking some mile salmost very day and now this is not only to keep the feet rolling but to empty my mind and make calm with the situation...doing that by night will kill any booze habbit saaving you money while enjoying the flashlight hobby too!

A HUGE +1 on walking. A great way to spend extra time - 1 obnoxious driving hour doing errands around town becomes 2 hrs of enjoyable walking - no rush, just a great way to spend some relaxing time outdoors. I used to run errands on a bicycle, but after many years transitioned to walking, it was more relaxing than being on the roads & competing with the automobiles.



Take a good backpack for library books or trips to the grocery store, 1-pint nalgene bottle of water & a few granola bars (the old-style 'Nature Valley' bars are wholesome, filling, and inexpensive - ~$0.35 for a two-bar pack when the six-pack boxes are on sale) to save on vittles while out on the town.

• great low-impact exercise - particularly for the lower back
• a relaxing way to take care of errands
• a great way to spend part of a day
• a very very inexpensive activity - I wear high quality leather boots & get them resoled every 2-3 years for ~$80. Much better than wearing out a pair of inexpensive 'hiking' shoes every year. :ironic:

I've been doing virtually all my grocery shopping on foot for the past ~8 years, and it's a great way to spend time & get some good exercise at the same time.

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Bobyn,

The first suggestion that I would have would be to spend one month tracking every dollar that goes in and out of your house. This means getting a receipt for everything, and making your own "receipt" for situations that don't produce one (e.g. putting money in a vending machine). When I did this, I was AMAZED at how much money I was wasting.

I am convinced that if you do this faithfully, it will be obvious where you can cut and save money.

Whenever there are studies on diet, we find that people are incredibly bad at tracking their diet and estimating where their calories are coming from -- routinely underestimating how many calories they take in, and when. That's why keeping a "food log" of what you eat, rather than micro-managing calories, usually proves to be the better approach. I'd bet anything the same happens with monetary issues. So I'd strongly second PharmerMike's approach, keep a log so you can see where you're saving pennies and where you're saving hundreds of dollars.

 

[Monocrom]

Become a Vegitarian- Every now and then I find myself out of work and I suddenly panic over my grocery bill. One of my biggest costs is meat. I like steak, roast, bacon etc. but when money is tight, I can pretty much elimate that. Same goes for any kind of prepared or convenience food.

Probably the only time that posting SPAM is considered fine.

(In this case, the pork substitute that you eat.)

Excellent suggestion on getting a part-time job.

 

[dudemar]

I think the natural consequence of earning less money is buying less food. Therefore you end up eating less, and if you want to shed a few pounds what better time to do it!

I was unable to afford fast food or eating out. I ended up eating my mom's homemade cooking for a while, and I rode my bike in moderation. I ended up losing 15 lbs in a 8 month period. 5 years ago I started at 270 lbs (I'm 6'00") and now I'm at 230 lbs.

My goal is to reach 170 or 180 in the next year or two.

 

[LuxLuthor]

Get more sleep. It kills time, lets you body process the stress, and give you a clearer mind to come up with ideas.

 

[Bobyn]

Thanks to everyone for their contributions. I must say that the first weekend of three days was rather nice. I slept in, got lots of cleaning and general stuff finished.

I did pick up some 550 cord, and scoured the internet for stuff to do with it. Needless to say, I will have some time filled.

 

[Essexman]

Thanks to everyone for their contributions. I must say that the first weekend of three days was rather nice. I slept in, got lots of cleaning and general stuff finished.

I did pick up some 550 cord, and scoured the internet for stuff to do with it. Needless to say, I will have some time filled.

See here , make stuff and sale it!! Hang on, no don't, I could do without
the competition !!

 

[HarryN]

1) Ask your girlfriend for ideas on saving money. There are two kinds of women - those that spend it like water, and savers. I have no doubt that she will be key to either helping a lot or helping you spend into the ground.

2) Eating out - This is where most people can save the most - cook at home or pack lunch.

3) TV, internet, other utilities. Cut back as much as you can, but also you can call them, tell them you are on a reduced income, and sometimes they will drop the rate for 6 months.

4) Look for a second job. Keep the existing job, and try to pick up some side work. Craigslist is one way, post a resume, search listings, etc.

Sometimes even a few extra hours of work can help.

 

[Bobyn]

See here , make stuff and sale it!! Hang on, no don't, I could do without
the competition !!

Thanks for the link! I got about 100ft of the stuff last night, can't believe how cheap it is. I have a severe lack of sleep now thought as I stayed up till after midnight playing. Not sure I'm good enough to sell though, so your safe - for now.

Thanks again to everyone! :thumbsup:

 

[Essexman]

Thanks for the link! I got about 100ft of the stuff last night, can't believe how cheap it is. I have a severe lack of sleep now thought as I stayed up till after midnight playing. Not sure I'm good enough to sell though, so your safe - for now.

Thanks again to everyone! :thumbsup:

It's not good to stay up late with paracord. The wife gets the hump with me when I sit in bed trying to finish off a bracelet etc. But it's OK for her to sit up playing on her DS while I'm trying to go to sleep

You could save on buying birthday gifts by making bracelets, keyfobs, mats, dogleads etc from paracord and giving them away. Sometimes a little something that has been home made goes down better than a gift from a shop.

Hang in there, things can only get better.

 

[M@elstrom]

Save all that loose change and feed it into a jar instead of vending machines, you'll be surprised how much you can accumulate (we call it rainy day cash) :thumbsup:

How are you getting to work? car pooling, public transport & cycling/walking can be more cost effective

Personally I'd completely eliminate the credit card too!

 

[Monocrom]

Personally I'd completely eliminate the credit card too!

Keep the credit card. But only use it for an emergency. For the most part, it should sit around collecting dust.