This topic was on reddit a few weeks ago, so I'll copy what I wrote back then.
Spoiler!
I was assigned by HR to work from home permanently (my request) so I spend way less on gas, parking, car maintenance or anything else work related that costs money. I couldn't care less about team building taking a hit, not attending corporate social events or other corporate gibberish that tries to get me in the office for no reason other than to be there. I'm certain there is some kind of tax credit the company gets the more people are physically at the location. Don't care. I'm not going. This has been a HUGE source of savings.
I cut down on a lot of entertainment expenses. Would rather host people at my house than go out somewhere. I subscribe to GamePass for my Xbox and do console sharing with a friend instead of buying games outright. I buy a THC 510 vape pen cartridge that lasts me almost 2 months, instead of buying flowered bud that costs way more. Cheap alcohol? Don't give a ####. $16 for a bottle of No Name brand literally called "Vodka" tastes just fine when mixed and does the trick.
No more cable or streaming services, other than an IPTV subscription which is better and cheaper. Recently renewed my Amazon Prime subscription plan as a student plan and was given a 50% discount, without question. Doing side gigs such as online surveys (Airmiles to pay for gas) and online AI gig work (Mturk, Prolific) that adds a couple hundred dollars a month. Wife does the PC points health app daily for both our PC accounts and that adds PC points to use at Superstore. These all don't pay a ton individually, but it adds up together. At one point last year we were supplementing our income by almost $800/month.
Did some DoorDash and other food deliveries for a bit, but it's now way oversaturated and mostly a waste of time. I'll do Instacart on a random weekend and can get $100 out of it on a good day. We are buying meat in bulk at Costco once per quarter so that weekly supermarket trips are only for basics such as veggies, milk, eggs. Never buy meat outside of those quarterly Costco trips. Swapped my credit card for a cashback card. Use it all the time and pay it off as soon as I get home. That will add up to an extra $1000/year.
I am one of the lucky few who has gotten consistent pay increases since we moved back to Canada a few years ago, we have no kids, dual income and don't buy luxury items any more. I am not going to crap on OP's situation, that is easily many of us, but things like $7 strawberries would no longer be a thing in our household. We have talked about kids in the past, but now the conversation has shifted to why do we need kids in this world of rising costs, political turmoil and a world on the verge of another large war. I couldn't care less about declining populations or Canada needing x amount of people in 30 years. Want people to breed more? Fix this crap.
The government isn't really doing much to step up. They could have kept on the rebates at the pump, energy utilities, and other rebates that "expired", could have marketed it as Danielle saving the day. Instead they decided to reinstate everything all at once. F'ing shooting us in the foot when they have the power to make a difference. Not to mention things like property tax increases. How about freezing that #### for a while, instead of more hands in our pockets? Frustrating to see how Loblaws gouges us all, but the government at all 3 levels has power to do more and they simply don't.
Unethical life pro tip: I have witnessed people stealing food at stores on a more regular occurrences. Last week we saw a lady get busted at the exit door after she slipped something in her purse. The worker was trying to get her to come with him and she simply walked away. I have seen people "forget" they had bags of potatoes or TP at the bottom the cart. Random empty boxes of advil and other packaged items in random spots on store shelves, probably ripped open and contents shoved in their pockets. I am not advocating it, but I will never call someone out for doing what they have to do at one of the large grocery chains to help their situation.
And finally, there is something to say about people shooting themselves in the foot. I am not blind to what is going on with rising inflation and stagnant wages across the board. But since we are all living in this reality, we have to adjust spending accordingly. I know a couple that bought a brand new SUV recently for no other reason than they "needed a car". I tried to argue with them that they are better of buying a used car given their situation, but the wife refused to accept my advice. She makes barely over minimum wage, he makes $22/h. That didn't stop them from buying a new $60k Toyota last month. Plus insurance, they are paying well over $1k/month for a car they can barely afford. I know another guy who bought a brand new Murano for just under $70k, while working as an Amazon driver. Now he has to run his nice new vehicle into the ground doing door dash and other delivery services during evenings and days off. His montly payments and insurance run him $1.7k/month. Seems that if you call these people out in threads like this, you are labelled as unempathetic, but there is something to say for people putting themselves in predicaments like this. Again, I am not blind to what is going on with rising costs and low wages, but what goes through some people's minds to think they need high end expensive items like this when they can't afford it?
Last edited by Huntingwhale; 04-17-2024 at 08:41 AM.
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This lasts 2-3 days depending on your kids feeding.habits. you can do that math.
One of the best days as a parent is when your kid grows out of diapers and you can stop wasting money on those. It feels like you won the lottery at that point.
My only response would be I've seen so many people cut costs, save money, be very prudent with their money and then just get sick and die at a relatively young age. My grandpa was like that and passed away at 64 without ever having lived a somwhat normal life. He would just save money and buy the slashed down vegetables and other food products. Then he died.
I just can't live like that. I don't want to be prudent then one day I can't do the things I love even if I could afford to easily. While it isn't easy right now I rather live like this then the way my grandpa did.
Everyone has their priorities and almost no choice is wrong.
Oh I agree. I have no issue with people who spend every $ every paycheck. I have no issue with people who save ever $. And I fully understand the plight of affording general living standards on a single household working class income.
Unfortunently there is no actual 'solution'. Other then want higher taxes and 'free' stuff' - And I would strongly suggest no one sits around hoping for the government to save them
My only response would be I've seen so many people cut costs, save money, be very prudent with their money and then just get sick and die at a relatively young age. My grandpa was like that and passed away at 64 without ever having lived a somwhat normal life. He would just save money and buy the slashed down vegetables and other food products. Then he died.
I just can't live like that. I don't want to be prudent then one day I can't do the things I love even if I could afford to easily. While it isn't easy right now I rather live like this then the way my grandpa did.
Everyone has their priorities and almost no choice is wrong.
So you're clearly cognisant you blow money on unnecessary luxuries (in the tens of thousands of dollars per year), yet the OP cries foul about a cost of living crisis. I'm struggling to conflate these two concepts.
You even used the word 'survival'. Is it essential to the human body to lay on a beach in Cancun for a month?
One other thing : Saving, Budgeting and investing is addictive
So many people don't budget, don't shop good grocery deals, don't get the best cashback (I have 5 no fee CC's to maximize returns and pay them all off monthly) , cut back on impulse Starbucks, Food Delivery, etc.
But small amounts add up.
If you could save 5$ a day on aggregate ($150 a month) and get a fairly average 7% ROI, over 20 years you have $75K.
It won't help someone who is truely day to day on expenses (The only thing someone in this situation can do is increase their income - Harder done then typed I realize)
BUT : Sooooo many people just don't think 5$ here and there matters. It adds up. It adds up A LOT.
Sit down. Do a real budget. Play with a saving calculator.
Once you start 'saving' and investing you will be surprised how quickly it becomes addictive and you view spending $20 a month on Doordash (Because you've had a couch beer/joint and dont feel like getting up and making something) as removing $10,000 from your Net worth 20 years from now.
Its a change in mindset. The first step is audit 3 months of spending.
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What's saved me money is spending money on quality items and having them last a long time, particularly in clothing and tools. Buy for life, save $$$.
Also, being open to second-hand products (when I even need products) has opened up a world of savings, especially if you're a DIY'er who doesn't mind maintaining things.
Bonus points to police auctions for buying things for pennies on the dollar.
I've been desperately trying to blow all my savings on a vacation / retirement / work from home place for like 5 or 6 years now. I finally might be getting a foundation poured this year. Then I won't have to worry about finances anymore because I won't have any more money left. Problem solved!
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
I've been desperately trying to blow all my savings on a vacation / retirement / work from home place for like 5 or 6 years now. I finally might be getting a foundation poured this year. Then I won't have to worry about finances anymore because I won't have any more money left. Problem solved!
Ah, and now a criminal lawyer is also unable to buy bread in this economy.
Or did you mean a lawyer who is also a criminal. I don't think I'm one of those, but not being a criminal lawyer, I couldn't say for sure.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
I am talking about the expensive travel to another country all-inclusive vacations, not the spend time with your family camping trips (although they certainly aren’t cheap anymore either).
Tell me about it...My overpriveleged vacation this year is a 12 day road trip to Badlands National Park and come back thru Black Hills, Yellowstone and Glacier. Tent sites at some places were touching $100 U.S a night. The ones I settled for are between $22 a $60. Even this trip will likely end up being $3000 for the 4 of us. I guess I could take the food part out since 80% of our meals will be like eating at home. I am spending a bit more on fuel because my vehicle is an 06 Chev Silverado.
So I'm sure the budget police will be happy to tell me I'd save money and get my vacation price down if I replaced it with a Tesla or a Hyundai Electric vehicle that only requires 70 grand up front plus another 3 to add an electric charge port to my house, than let's spend 35k to add a solar system...so in 15 years I can pay off all those loans and need to replace it all again as these will be obsolete and useless.
__________________ "Some guys like old balls"
Patriots QB Tom Brady
$650 a month on formula? You’re having us on. Was it produced from lactating pandas?
I believe it. We have a special needs daughter and have tried every formula known to man including specialty German stuff. Wife tried dairy free and all the different kinds of diets as well while pumping and our daughter couldn't tolerate it.
The only one that worked was Neocate that costs roughly $60/can that would last 2-3 days. Alternative was she would have severe reflux, aspirate and go back to the hospital with aspiration pneumonia.
Now the Alberta government has a program called FSCD to help, however we applied shortly after our daughter (16 months now) was born and are still on a wait list for a contract. We have been approved, but no case worker yet. And they don't back pay so we can't recoup any of it.
Last edited by 3thirty; 04-17-2024 at 09:17 AM.
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One other thing : Saving, Budgeting and investing is addictive
So many people don't budget, don't shop good grocery deals, don't get the best cashback (I have 5 no fee CC's to maximize returns and pay them all off monthly) , cut back on impulse Starbucks, Food Delivery, etc.
But small amounts add up.
If you could save 5$ a day on aggregate ($150 a month) and get a fairly average 7% ROI, over 20 years you have $75K.
It won't help someone who is truely day to day on expenses (The only thing someone in this situation can do is increase their income - Harder done then typed I realize)
BUT : Sooooo many people just don't think 5$ here and there matters. It adds up. It adds up A LOT.
Sit down. Do a real budget. Play with a saving calculator.
Once you start 'saving' and investing you will be surprised how quickly it becomes addictive and you view spending $20 a month on Doordash (Because you've had a couch beer/joint and dont feel like getting up and making something) as removing $10,000 from your Net worth 20 years from now.
Its a change in mindset. The first step is audit 3 months of spending.
Tell me about it...My overpriveleged vacation this year is a 12 day road trip to Badlands National Park and come back thru Black Hills, Yellowstone and Glacier. Tent sites at some places were touching $100 U.S a night. The ones I settled for are between $22 a $60. Even this trip will likely end up being $3000 for the 4 of us. I guess I could take the food part out since 80% of our meals will be like eating at home. I am spending a bit more on fuel because my vehicle is an 06 Chev Silverado.
So I'm sure the budget police will be happy to tell me I'd save money and get my vacation price down if I replaced it with a Tesla or a Hyundai Electric vehicle that only requires 70 grand up front plus another 3 to add an electric charge port to my house, than let's spend 35k to add a solar system...so in 15 years I can pay off all those loans and need to replace it all again as these will be obsolete and useless.
Holy crap! We camp for most of our vacations, but sites are at most, $33 a night. I guess I should be grateful for well-funded state parks here? (Oregon). 31 nights over the summer and the total for our sites is roughly $800.
Oh great, now we've got the posts justifying stealing food. The mental gymnastics in that post are gold medal-worthy.
Probably my post you are referring to, so care to break down what award-winning mental gymnastics I am jumping through? I never justified stealing food, just stating that I saw evidence of people doing it and high unjustified costs can lead certain people down that road.
If it's not my post your referring to, then nvm, carry on .
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