How Do You Cut Costs?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I must be doing it wrong. None of the providers offered me any deal when I had my unlocked, contractless phone. I'm still contractless, paying as much as I ever did.

You should be able to find better deals than if you are on a contract, financing a phone. I don't think anyone will "offer" you a better deal, but the BYOP plans are almost always better than a contract.

[Jason14h]

The easiest way to cut food costs while eating normal is buy what's on sale or close to expiry , not what you want that night !

Cheap pork ? Eating pork ! Chicken on sale ! Eating chicken!

You can still eat good meals and save a hundred bucks a month easy

[jammies]

The maid only comes every couple weeks instead of every week. Earlier today, I went to that Marcus ice cream place on 17th and went for the single cone instead of the double. Single cone! Like someone who'd get his taxes done by Locke!

[Party Elephant]

I found that snorting my cocaine with a $5 note works almost as well as a $100

[csnarpy]

Switched to light beer...

[Dion]

I buy my pop from the Superstore Liquor store

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by Party Elephant

I found that snorting my cocaine with a $5 note works almost as well as a $100

How does that save money?

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by gargamel

How does that save money?

This way, at the end of the night when you offer to one of your guests to go ahead and take the rest of the cheese home, if they take the bill too, you only lose $5!

[Jojado]

Don't necessarily buy the cheapest thing always. Quality can have long-term value...

Knowing that, make a list of all fixed expenses (rent / mortage, car payments, cable, insurance) and see if there's a way to decrease or eliminate any of those.

Determine the amount of money you'd like to save or put away for retirement.

From there, add up the cost of things that can fluctuate like food & drink, entertainment, leisure, and gas money. Look for savings here.

... basically, make a budget.

For me, I started brewing my own coffee and making as much food as I could at home. No more lattes and date squares from Starbucks. No more $13 wings and $8 pints of beer on Fridays.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Cutting cable
Bringing lunch to work/school
Get a crockpot so you can make a weeks worth of food at once.
Get used to cheap booze (or no booze at all)
Drink water, not juice/pop.
Get a bike.

This is lunacy! Have you seen the cost of bikes lately? I could buy a decent car for that kind of money!

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Haha that jumped out at me too. But it's not the initial cost so much as the bug biting you and you suddenly have to buy a bunch of bike stuff, not to mention the maintenance. I'm pretty sure he meant just a cheap commuter bike but once you start...

[Fuzz]

It took me 15 years of bike/car ownership to have a vehicle worth more than my bike. And combined value of all my bikes? Well, the bikes still win. And I don't even have that expensive of bikes....

[Gundo]

Wife left her job to stay at home with the kids so we did the following.

- cut cable from all channels to basic $80/mth savings
- cancelled Sirius radio $15/mth savings
- sold old car (X5) and bought a different car (Ford Edge) $320/mth savings
- dropped our landline phone $30/mth savings
- went on a $500/payday cash allowance broken down to the following $(250 groceries/$150 entertainment/$100 transportation)

By doing these things and strictly controling our variable spending we have been able to bring our household expenses down by roughly $1400/mth without really losing anything.

[Amethyst]

I know most people are against cash these days, but using cash means I spend about half as much on "extras." The cash is more noticeable to me than using a card, even if I were to check it online regularly.

[Gundo]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

I know most people are against cash these days, but using cash means I spend about half as much on "extras." The cash is more noticeable to me than using a card, even if I were to check it online regularly.

I think this exact thing has been the most noticeable in our household cost cutting. It's easy to tap away $20-$30/day on "stuff" during a 5 day work week that $100-$150 or roughly $400-$500/mth.

[taco.vidal]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

I know most people are against cash these days, but using cash means I spend about half as much on "extras." The cash is more noticeable to me than using a card, even if I were to check it online regularly.

My wife and I use the same credit card (same account, primary and secondary card). The card is used for almost all of our spending. Big spending, small spending, monthly pre-authed payments, gas, coffee, etc. Its all on this one account.

Its super easy to track spending. Everything is in one account. Its easy to track and its easy to analyze if you want to see where you are spending.

We both carry cash in case a merchant doesnt accept cards, networks are down, or other emergencies. But usually I end up carrying the same bills around for months as I rarely use any.

The other benefit is that the small spending adds up so if you use your rewards credit card for everything you buy, you end up getting nice cash back or rewards points.

Ill mention that we do carry other cards just in case a merchant doesnt accept a certain card or that the odd case that there is a problem with the main card.

[Amethyst]

You're not the first one to suggest that, taco, and I have done it from time to time, because it sounds good in theory, piling up credit card rewards. However, each time I have, I have spent an extra $200+ on little things each month, compared to if I used cash.

While looking up a credit card summary after the fact might show me what I spent the money on, actually watching the cash pile dwindle stops me from making the purchase in the first place. Do I really want to break a $20 and get all that change to buy a coffee? Oh, not much cash left, do I really want to go to the ATM for more? No, so I don't spend as much.

That might not work for someone who will just go and get more cash over and over, but I find getting the cash a nuisance (my bank isn't between home and work and I don't use other ATMS) so when I get it, I stretch it out as long as I can.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Gundo

I think this exact thing has been the most noticeable in our household cost cutting. It's easy to tap away $20-$30/day on "stuff" during a 5 day work week that $100-$150 or roughly $400-$500/mth.

Honest question: do you find taking a $20 bill out of your wallet, instead of a credit card, to be that much of a deterrent instead of tapping?

I pay for 99% of my purchases my credit card. I've never looked at my expenses and thought that I would cut my spending by $400-500 if I carried cash. I'd likely spend the same amount. I don't pay by cash because I like to carry a slim wallet, and I like to look at my online statement to verify my purchases. If credit cards became illegal, or charged fees, or some other reason I wouldn't be able to carry one, I'd still spend the same amount on goods and services. I just don't see how changing the method of payment would change my purchases at all. Do you tap the card and not think it's your money?

[Gundo]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

Honest question: do you find taking a $20 bill out of your wallet, instead of a credit card, to be that much of a deterrent instead of tapping?

Honestly, it 110% is for me. If I have cash in my wallet I know I have $20 or whatever the amount is to spent in order to keep our budget balanced. So instead of stopping at Macs and getting a Reb Bull a bag of chips I make sure I have some snacks from home and a couple water bottles. For my wife and I its a commitment to ensuring we are doing the right things financially so she doesn't have to go back to work.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Gundo

Honestly, it 110% is for me. If I have cash in my wallet I know I have $20 or whatever the amount is to spent in order to keep our budget balanced. So instead of stopping at Macs and getting a Reb Bull a bag of chips I make sure I have some snacks from home and a couple water bottles. For my wife and I its a commitment to ensuring we are doing the right things financially so she doesn't have to go back to work.

I just find that phrasing kind of funny.

"Dont spend too much money or you're going to have to get a job!"