tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Oct 12, 2015 17:49:45 GMT -5
Apple's suggestion on canning is a good idea to reduce your food cost. You can save quite a bit on food, or eat a lot better than you would think, if you know how to do a few things. I learned to make Canadian bacon for about $2.50 a pound instead of the $7.50 - $8.00 a pound that you'd spend at the grocery store. And mine tastes better.
Another significant savings can be obtained by doing your own auto repair. When you have a shop make repairs to your car, it costs you the labor at $80 - $135 an hour (how many of us get paid that kind of money?), plus, the parts will be at least double what you could buy the parts for yourself. When our minivan needed inner and outer tie rod ends a few months ago, the cheapest repair shop around quoted about $825. I checked out a couple of YouTube videos, bought the parts, borrowed a specialty tool from the auto parts store, and did the work myself in a couple of hours for about $160 (that includes what I paid to have the car re-aligned after the work was done). A $400 brake job is a $75 DIY brake job and it takes less than an hour. And you'll get the premium quality, long life brake pads for your $75, instead of the OEM quality that will wear out in 30K miles. (The OEM pads in the Jeep lasted about 28K miles. The Jeep now has 124K miles on it and I haven't replaced brake pads since 28K miles. And the replacement pads that went in at 28K miles are just over half worn out. Looks like I might replace the Jeep before I replace the brake pads again.) I also did a $400 timing belt replacement for a $45 timing belt, an $18 long pattern box wrench, and three hours of my time.
If a person doesn't have a collection of good auto repair tools, many of the first DIY auto repairs will be a break even proposistion. But, the second and third time you use the tools, it's all savings. For tools, I've been impressed with the lifetime warranty Husky tools, from Home Depot. Although most of my tool box is Sears Craftsman, I understand that they no longer offer a lifetime warranty on anything except their very expensive professional line of tools. These days, for about half the cost of no warranty Craftsman, you can buy lifetime warranty Husky. (For tool buyers, racheting combination wrenches are the bomb! Well worth the extra cost. The flex end version makes some nearly impossible tasks a piece of cake. I reach for my flex end Gear Wrenches before I reach for anything else. (nothing magical about Gear Wrench, they were gifts))
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Oct 12, 2015 18:06:04 GMT -5
Hmm...tax breaks for an entity providing jobs or tax breaks for a person's choices...Yep, I will take the job creators Every once in a while I feel the need to throw this in: those other people's choices, are tomorrows doctors, nurses, storekeepers etc. I really would like them as well educated as possible (especially since I don't have enough kids of my own to cover the full spectrum) since I'd like my future caregivers to be literat. And good childcare is an integral part to that. Making it unaffordable for people to provide that for people, is not in their or MY best interest -> subsidizing childcare is good for eVeryone. JMO Are you implying that people who can support their own families without assistance don't produce doctors, nurses, police officers, and the like? There's a balance here, between the services that low income families consume and the contribution they make. When one considers the cost of taxpayer provided education (about $140K per child K-12 in 2013, according to the US Census Bureau) and family size, I suspect that you have to get to the third generation these days, before immigrants and their offspring, as a whole, make enough of a positive economic contribution to offset the consumption of their ancestors. (Certainly, a few families generate a positive economic contribution sooner, and some families take longer.)
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Oct 12, 2015 19:38:10 GMT -5
I'm not implying anything like that. However, my 2 sons won't be able to be my doctor, nurse, police man, fireman, pharmasist, etc. etc. all in one. There is only so much a person can do.
Also, just because xH and I did pay for almost all of our sons' education (private both outside the US as well as while living here), just the fact that they came from a reasonably well-to-do family didn't make them contributing members of society. Their own work ethic has a lot to do with that. It also does not mean that they would have turned out less successful, GIVEN THE PROPER TOOLS, if we had been poor. It is my personal opinion that we don't do ourselves any favors as a society if we don't provide quality education to all children in this country, starting with quality childcare.
Education is not supposed to be a profit center. If it were we would (wrongly IMO) never spend the amount of money we do on special needs children. They tend to use far more resources than the average child, yet we owe it to them that we give them the best chance possible.
I am not sure how immigrants got thrown into this debate, but this immigrant is the lowest earning in our nuclear family (including xH) and I make a 6-figure income. Guess what, that's because I did get the (original and updated) education needed to be able to reenter the work force after almost 2 decades. Yes, I have worked my butt off but without the proper tools...
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Oct 12, 2015 19:45:30 GMT -5
Oh, to bring this whole thing back on topic: since I live off less than 50% of my net income (after taxes, healthcare, 401k etc. deductions) I would only need to make up for half of my income to keep the same lifestyle. If that weren't enough out would go my travel budget, presents, DGS 529, Roth IRA, additional savings, etc. I bet I could reduce my outflows by another 40% without too much of a stretch. It helps a lot that my home is paid off
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2015 20:07:00 GMT -5
Ok, I didn't consider that. I've seen what you mean. The other thing I forgot to mention is that I have 2 bedrooms downstairs with their own family room and bathroom. I always have the option of renting rooms to university students for extra income if I want/need to. would you want to? I liked weltz's idea of moving to Bhutan. I wish she would flesh it out. I wouldn't mind. I would screen the tenants carefully and there is room for us to have our own space.
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bobosensei
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Post by bobosensei on Oct 12, 2015 23:21:20 GMT -5
I could live very cheaply- I am a homebody. First I would use the library for entertainment- books and movies/shows and e magazines. I already prefer to cook at home instead of eating out. The exercise I like to do is walking, hiking, or biking, and we have hiking and biking equipment plus a basic home gym with dumbbells and an olympic barbell. With a little bit of spending money I'd want internet and netflix and or hulu. I already drive an old paid for car that is cheap to insure. It just passed inspection, and it is a civic with 145k miles on it so it has some years left. I would shop at goodwill or salvation army, and we have the basics that are needed for life household wise. We just got a new mattress last year. The extra I'd need to cut and might find most difficult is booze. To that end I'd certainly get into making my own fruit wines. This year I made some rum infused strawberries. It was good. I've also made ginger beer before. I'd be interested in trying apple wine in the future too. And with liquor I'd cut back. I already stopped buying grey goose in favor of Ketel One vodka. I mix it, and ketel one is good. But I could always go to absolut- or something cheaper and filter it in a brita. Okay, now I sound like an alcoholic. But I'll never give up my bombay sapphire. I'd sooner stop drinking gin.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 13, 2015 2:56:10 GMT -5
Ok, I didn't consider that. I've seen what you mean. The other thing I forgot to mention is that I have 2 bedrooms downstairs with their own family room and bathroom. I always have the option of renting rooms to university students for extra income if I want/need to. would you want to? I liked weltz's idea of moving to Bhutan. I wish she would flesh it out. Sorry, that would be off-topic. Someone has already complained. Oh, right..........
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2015 6:48:12 GMT -5
would you want to? I liked weltz's idea of moving to Bhutan. I wish she would flesh it out. Sorry, that would be off-topic. Someone has already complained. Oh, right..........
the topic is living cheap and how to do it. I liked your idea of living cheap in Bhutan. Sorry.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 13, 2015 7:55:53 GMT -5
Peeps - is it possible to have a conversation without getting all bent out of shape or snarking at each other? Cause, except for that nonsense, I think this is a really good thread.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Oct 13, 2015 10:07:44 GMT -5
Sorry, that would be off-topic. Someone has already complained. Oh, right..........
the topic is living cheap and how to do it. I liked your idea of living cheap in Bhutan. Sorry. Well jeez, what do you want to know? You sell all your possessions and move to the Kingdom of Bhutan Pay $18 a month to rent a traditional Bhutanese rural house or up to $30 to rent in town. Get used to seeing penises painted on everything. Shop at the outdoor markets. Get used to a vegetarian diet, as the majority are devout Buddhists. Avoid tigers. (They're not vegetarian)
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Oct 13, 2015 10:52:29 GMT -5
Peeps - is it possible to have a conversation without getting all bent out of shape or snarking at each other? Cause, except for that nonsense, I think this is a really good thread. Im pretty sure a certain poster can't post anything but snark...
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Green Eyed Lady
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Post by Green Eyed Lady on Oct 13, 2015 11:28:08 GMT -5
I live pretty cheaply, hickle. As far as how I do it, it's because I'm obsessed with not being able to work. Like lots of others, I support myself. If I can't work for whatever reason, I can't pay my bills. I live cheaply so that I have something to fall back on in case of emergency. I'm not sure I could cut anymore from my grocery bills. My car is paid for. Some things I think I could cut even more are entertainment things like costly cable.
Also, I am having an insurance review. I think I'm over-insured. I think I could cut costs there. I do spend money on work apparel that I don't need to spend. I have enough clothes. I could take my lunch to work everyday instead of just 3 days a week and save eating lunch out. There are lots of little things I could cut that would add up to a good amount of money.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2015 14:02:41 GMT -5
#1 - move out of Massachusetts. That right there would enable us to live much more cheaply. #2 - sell all of DH's crap, er toys, I mean. He has crap sitting in boxes that he won't do anything with so why keep it. Then sell off my crap. Not that there's a whole lot that's worth anything. I do need to work on the cell phone plan as we pay a stupid amount. That and my FiOS internet. No cable, no landline. No Netflix or anything like that either. DH refuses to learn how to use a computer so no issues there. I'm not awake or home long enough to do much more than laundry. I'm sure we could cut our grocery/takeout bill down quite a bit if I actually put some effort into it. But that requires being awake so probably not. DH would be no help in that because he'll eat pasta all day and night if I let him. Which I have to boil as he can't lift the pot.
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