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Post by mojothehelpermonkey on Oct 10, 2015 15:06:14 GMT -5
Since becoming unemployed, I have been eating a lot of lentils and rice. I could probably pass that food stamp challenge thing now that I have time to prepare most of my meals from scratch. It also helps that I already have a lot of spices and live within walking distance of places with cheap produce. I never did have cable, but I don't plan on giving up the internet or Netflix any time soon. If I did, I would probably be spending more money entertaining myself. Also, reliable internet access may not be absolutely necessary for job searching, but in my opinion it is worth it. Also, I can take free online classes through Coursera.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2015 18:51:50 GMT -5
I'd move to Bhutan, where I can rent a house for $18 a month. I'd have to watch out for tigers when I go outside to the open-pit toilet, but I can work around it. Could you be happy there? I could be happy in Thailand for awhile, but would miss my family after a few months.
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Cass
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Post by Cass on Oct 10, 2015 19:19:58 GMT -5
I'm currently doing this. When the car died I replaced it with a bike. When it came time to move I rented the smallest, cheapest place I could find in the center of downtown. My stuff didn't fit (and who wants to carry it up stairs in an apt. with no elevators!) so it's me, my clothes, a bed and a bike. Television has been replaced by physical activity. I bike or walk to work and hike in my free time. Nature beats sitcoms hands down I have a $90/ month phone plan that I justify as my only entertainment expense. I eat out a little too much, but groceries don't always get eaten either... My current fixed expenses are around 35% of my income. And I'm far healthier and happier without my 'stuff'!
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Oct 10, 2015 20:39:35 GMT -5
I'd go the roommate route. Then I'd animal sit. Just to do a cat daily is 10 bucks cash. Dogs are more because they're more time and trouble. But people don't want their dogs in kennels. It's spendy there as well.
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resolution
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Post by resolution on Oct 10, 2015 20:47:01 GMT -5
When my husband was out of work last year we went to a "bare bones" budget. We spent about $1500 per month. However we have had increases in property taxes, internet and phone so it would run about $1600 a month right now. We cut investing, extra principle payments on mortgage, dining out, charity, and discretionary spending. We kept $30 a month for games, $10 for the gym and $70 for internet/phone (required for work).
I don't see a good way to get below $1600 a month unless we move to a cheaper area or really limit our groceries and heating/cooling. I think I would rather pick up a second job before I cut heating and cooling, but I would be willing to find cheaper housing. My sister in law just moved to an efficiency apartment for $400 a month, and I think I could live in something like that with no problems, however DH would have a difficult time plus he snores really loud and there would be no place to escape.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 10, 2015 21:18:52 GMT -5
I'd move to Bhutan, where I can rent a house for $18 a month. I'd have to watch out for tigers when I go outside to the open-pit toilet, but I can work around it. Could you be happy there? I could be happy in Thailand for awhile, but would miss my family after a few months. Sure I could. I bring my happiness with me. It's not dependent on geography. There's tigers and leopards and monkeys and palm trees in the south. No snow to shovel.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Oct 10, 2015 21:34:42 GMT -5
I'd go down to one car (no car payments, but I'm paying the insurance on three).
I don't have cable, so already live cheap there.
I'd drop life insurance. It's not much anyway, but it's money I don't need to spend after DS is on his own. I'm single, and there would be enough to pay for cremation, he could sell the house.
I rarely eat out. The last two times I ate out was with an old coworker, and we alternate who pays. Not much to cut down there.
I've learned to cut my spending by not browsing catalogs or shopping websites. If I don't see it, I don't get tempted to buy it.
I preserve the food I grow/buy/get. With canning, freezing, drying... I buy my meat in bulk to save money in the long run, and I get some really good cuts I never would otherwise. Once you have all the jars and equipment, canning doesn't cost a whole lot ($1/dozen lids). Don't count your time as money though, because it can take a bit of time! However, we recently canned 20 half pints of relish with all home-grown food. There were the spices, but that's not much. Figure it came out to maybe 25 cents a jar, and it's way better than the relish you find in a store for $3. Same with pizza sauce (did those in 12 oz jars).
I actually live cheap in a lot of areas so that I can afford the things I want to splurge on. I have an espresso machine to make my coffee every morning (usually just whatever beans are least expensive, but sometimes I splurge on good stuff).
I've cut down on Coke, so now when I buy it, I buy the stuff in the bottle since that has real sugar instead of HFCS. It's more expensive, but I like it better.
I know I could live cheaper than I do, but I like the balance I have right now, and can afford it while still saving money, so don't plan to change much right now.
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Oct 11, 2015 2:02:07 GMT -5
If I had to live very cheap I would sell my house and move in with my ISO. He wouldn't charge me rent or utilities or for food but I would give him some money and buy some food. I would sell my two trucks and just keep the car to cut insurance. I could live very well on 10K a year.
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marvholly
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Post by marvholly on Oct 11, 2015 5:46:22 GMT -5
An earrlier p[oster mentioned how little I drive. That is NOT exactly true. I generally only do 1 major drive/week (max 3 in 2 weeks) BUT I do drive a couple times/week for close to home stuff: library, Aldi & 2 local markets <2 mi from homw, events at the park district or library..........
I just checked Sept: 5 big drive trips, 8 nearby drive trips, 17 no drive days. I WAS out & about for something nearly every other day. Aug was similar.
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haapai
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Post by haapai on Oct 11, 2015 9:52:41 GMT -5
I'm not sure that I understand the question. "Voluntary frugality" kind of leaves me scratching my head. I can understand positioning myself for lean times and I can understand deferred gratification and I can understand doing test drives of minimalism but I can't understand cheap for curiosity's sake.
On the other hand, I get how the cuts are self-imposed and that there is some money available now that can be used to save on expenses in the future. Those two things are hugely important.
I really need more information regarding the "why" in order to understand the question.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2015 9:57:16 GMT -5
I'm not sure that I understand the question. "Voluntary frugality" kind of leaves me scratching my head. I can understand positioning myself for lean times and I can understand deferred gratification and I can understand doing test drives of minimalism but I can't understand cheap for curiosity's sake. On the other hand, I get how the cuts are self-imposed and that there is some money available now that can be used to save on expenses in the future. Those two things are hugely important. I really need more information regarding the "why" in order to understand the question. I think I would llke to worry about money less. The income and the outgo don't mesh as well as I would like. I would like to voluntarily lessen the outgo. I am looking for ideas on where that boundary could be. If that makes sense.
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haapai
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Post by haapai on Oct 11, 2015 10:25:45 GMT -5
I can understand tapering back on spending in order to shed bad spending habits and flabby thought processes. That's never a bad idea.
On the other hand, living truly cheap usually involves some long-term planning and not just a change of diet and clothing. Housing, vehicles, and health insurance are the biggies. Diet, clothes, and communication are pretty small and easy to change compared to those.
Maybe you'll get to the big stuff by sweating the small stuff first but the real savings are on the big stuff.
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TheHaitian
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Post by TheHaitian on Oct 11, 2015 13:11:53 GMT -5
Live cheaply for me is our current lifestyle. So about ~5k/month because my mortgage is almost half that at $2,300/month.
We are working on maintaining the same lifestyle and pocketing the difference as our income increases.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2015 13:36:42 GMT -5
living truly cheap usually involves some long-term planning and not just a change of diet and clothing. Housing, vehicles, and health insurance are the biggies. Diet, clothes, and communication are pretty small and easy to change compared to those. I agree and didn't talk about buying a house that is only 1,000 sq fr (2000 in American terms since you guys count finished basements), I actually switched the type of car I bought because of the difference in insurance for the two makes, and I have my expenses set up to be able to pay the bills on half of my income. For me the clothing and food are the part to make sure I'm not wasting money for no reason.
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Post by mojothehelpermonkey on Oct 11, 2015 14:22:36 GMT -5
I'm currently doing this. When the car died I replaced it with a bike. When it came time to move I rented the smallest, cheapest place I could find in the center of downtown. My stuff didn't fit (and who wants to carry it up stairs in an apt. with no elevators!) so it's me, my clothes, a bed and a bike. Television has been replaced by physical activity. I bike or walk to work and hike in my free time. Nature beats sitcoms hands down I have a $90/ month phone plan that I justify as my only entertainment expense. I eat out a little too much, but groceries don't always get eaten either... My current fixed expenses are around 35% of my income. And I'm far healthier and happier without my 'stuff'! Just trying to keep an eye on the amount of stuff you accumulate can be an easy way to live cheap. Less stuff = less stress too, for me at least. Our house flooded when I was in high school, and something about having to lug all of your water-logged stuff out to the dumpster makes having a lot of stuff seem like less of a good thing.
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gooddecisions
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Post by gooddecisions on Oct 11, 2015 14:50:13 GMT -5
I can't live cheap anymore. Daycare is currently $2400/month and will soon be $3500/month. Some might say to stay home and then you could live cheap- but giving up my job to stay at home will cost my entire $90K/year salary plus benefits and really throw a curve ball in retirement planning. Neither are cheap options. Sigh, I used to do very well living cheaply before kids.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2015 15:02:59 GMT -5
I can't live cheap anymore. Daycare is currently $2400/month and will soon be $3500/month. Some might say to stay home and then you could live cheap- but giving up my job to stay at home will cost my entire $90K/year salary plus benefits and really throw a curve ball in retirement planning. Neither are cheap options. Sigh, I used to do very well living cheaply before kids. $3500 a month is $42,000 a year and over $800 week.
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gooddecisions
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Post by gooddecisions on Oct 11, 2015 15:42:11 GMT -5
I can't live cheap anymore. Daycare is currently $2400/month and will soon be $3500/month. Some might say to stay home and then you could live cheap- but giving up my job to stay at home will cost my entire $90K/year salary plus benefits and really throw a curve ball in retirement planning. Neither are cheap options. Sigh, I used to do very well living cheaply before kids. $3500 a month is $42,000 a year and over $800 week. I know, I pay $560/week plus several hundreds in supply and activity fees and next year it will be almost $800 week plus even more supply and activity fees. I annualize it and divide by 12 for the monthly cost.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2015 16:04:07 GMT -5
I'm not sure why but this made me giggle... I want the t-shirt.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 11, 2015 16:50:22 GMT -5
I can't live cheap anymore. Daycare is currently $2400/month and will soon be $3500/month. Some might say to stay home and then you could live cheap- but giving up my job to stay at home will cost my entire $90K/year salary plus benefits and really throw a curve ball in retirement planning. Neither are cheap options. Sigh, I used to do very well living cheaply before kids. HOLY CRAP!! Ours is $140 a month. We WANT people to go back to work.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Oct 11, 2015 17:50:16 GMT -5
$3500 a month for daycare? Really?
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Oct 11, 2015 20:56:25 GMT -5
I can't live cheap anymore. Daycare is currently $2400/month and will soon be $3500/month. Some might say to stay home and then you could live cheap- but giving up my job to stay at home will cost my entire $90K/year salary plus benefits and really throw a curve ball in retirement planning. Neither are cheap options. Sigh, I used to do very well living cheaply before kids. HOLY CRAP!! Ours is $140 a month. We WANT people to go back to work.
Let me guess...government run or paid for? I would rather not be taxed for others choices.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2015 21:47:28 GMT -5
HOLY CRAP!! Ours is $140 a month. We WANT people to go back to work.
Let me guess...government run or paid for? I would rather not be taxed for others choices. It's cute how you say that as if it isn't exactly what you get taxed for now. The only debate is which choices your going to be taxed for. I'll take daycare so women can go back to work over tax breaks for corporations any day.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 11, 2015 22:19:30 GMT -5
HOLY CRAP!! Ours is $140 a month. We WANT people to go back to work.
Let me guess...government run or paid for? I would rather not be taxed for others choices. Of course. It's available to everyone. If you don't like it, you always have the option to go private, and pay through the nose. I haven't heard any complaints. People seem to like it.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 11, 2015 22:22:32 GMT -5
HOLY CRAP!! Ours is $140 a month. We WANT people to go back to work.
Let me guess...government run or paid for? I would rather not be taxed for others choices. Let me guess. You're a Republican? They never want to pay for anything. We pool our money and everybody benefits.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 11, 2015 22:43:45 GMT -5
Let me guess...government run or paid for? I would rather not be taxed for others choices. Let me guess. You're a Republican? They never want to pay for anything. We pool our money and everybody benefits.
Not ALL our money of course. You still get to keep a sizable chunk of it. With a little hard work, you can buy this. These are the kinds of houses just up the street from me.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 11, 2015 23:05:42 GMT -5
...and it's not "old money". My parents came here as illiterate refugees, and my sister just bought a $2 million house. So yeah, you can still get pretty rich.
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svwashout
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Post by svwashout on Oct 11, 2015 23:07:56 GMT -5
I kept my standard of living the same for 20+ years after graduate school. I think I was spending around 15K/yr on average (excluding taxes) the decade before I moved out of the valley. I've never had cable television, I stopped watching it completely after the remote control died. I don't like eating out but do on occasion now that I live close to family. What made the most difference money-wise was shopping for low rents, it's possible if you aren't picky about school district, space, and physical appearance (or if you're willling to commute from Los Banos but that was too hard for me). Car depreciation was also less than typical, I bought used in the 6K range and drove each one for 10 years. It didn't make much difference but my food tastes are plain. For me a microwaved potato is fine for lunch, and I like cabbage soup for dinner. The moderate climate there kept utility bills down, I think my gas & electric was around $15/mon. Also most of my clothes I buy from thrift stores. I wouldn't say I was 'happy' there but that was a problem where I think spending more would not have made a difference. On the other hand I never got any creative ideas, like maybe these folks are onto something-- qz.com/515655/this-couple-lives-on-6-of-their-income-so-they-can-give-100000-a-year-to-charity/
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 11, 2015 23:39:12 GMT -5
I don't cheap out on food. I love good food (and the food here is to die for) and spend far too much on eating out. That being said, I shop at thrift stores and drive a 20 year old car.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Oct 12, 2015 0:04:16 GMT -5
Let me guess...government run or paid for? I would rather not be taxed for others choices. It's cute how you say that as if it isn't exactly what you get taxed for now. The only debate is which choices your going to be taxed for. I'll take daycare so women can go back to work over tax breaks for corporations any day. Hmm...tax breaks for an entity providing jobs or tax breaks for a person's choices...Yep, I will take the job creators
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