Advice Request: How do you save money on expenses?

An old saying is "Pay yourself first".

Stash $50 or $100 away right out of the paycheck...then you will have to cut back on something else because you simply wont have the money.

Have you cut the ty cord.

You can save on meals by adding rice as a side dish to almost every meal.

Tv

I'd be really interested to hear about insurance options like Homeowners and car insurance.

To be honest I know nearly absolutely nothing about my homeowners insurance. When I signed for the house there was some paperwork and that's the last I've seen of it! The cost is built into my monthly mortgage roll.
Apparently it's designed to be "out of sight, out of mind" and overly complex.

Between purchasing directly from a company to dealing with a broker, I'm lost on where to even start.

Haven't had TV in years. Thanks though.

Too many carbs, I'm a type 2 diabetic. I appreciate your suggestion.

Last Edited by SoberLife on 12/26/2019 11:20 PM

Nobody will really be able to help you until you list your monthly expenditures and we can see what you are spending your money on. Until then, all anyone can do is make obvious suggestions like stop eating out, make coffee at home and give up cable TV, etc.

I know a lot of people use coupons to help them stretch their pennies further. I'm interested in this but not sure where to start. Is there a website I need to be aware of?

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Try to google "cupons"...there are sites that let you print your own.

There are stores that offer "double cupons" (if it says 50 cents off that item they give you a dollar off).

I've seen people take a third off their grocery bill doing this.

You can save money by having auto and home insurance
with the same company. Find your mortgage papers and
take them to an advisor. There are different types
of mortgages and refinancing now might help if the
interest rates are lower.
Your insurance agent may be able to help you or send
you to someone who can.

Do you cook? Never eat out it's too much money and truth be told most eateries get the same ingredients as all the others. From the same suppliers. Get a slow cooker. A large one, and learn to like scouse. If sailors can live on it you can. Just buy whatever is cheap at the market and keep adding to the scouse. You don't have to go overboard (like you would at sea)with the duration of it. Make a scouse a week, it becomes very natural to eat for dinner/lunch and you get the hang of it after a bit.

Splurge and buy a nice warm outfit for indoors. I keep my heat on very low, but have a heavy, fuzzy indoor hoodie and wear longjohns and thick track pants and don't seem to get cold. Very similar climate to you I would suspect. I use the heat to drive off damp more then actually heat.Lowland maritime climate.

Always put money aside like buddy posting above me stated. Always. Put it away and forget it is there. Just forget it was/is part of your income and live with less while stashing aside. Try and figure out a passive (even if low income) income in some way. And don't fall for marketing ploys. And screw keeping up with the Jones'

I stopped giving a fuck, and it cost me everything, including the expenses.

Sorry , this is going to cost You about 30 bucks $$$ You cannot be diabetic without being low on Iodine ... fact ... You will need Lygols 2 or 5% Iodine and various other vitamins that compliment Iodine ... look into it ...

I've been doing that lately. I cook up a big pot of dry beans and a big pan of rice on Sunday, then all week I have that with vegetables and cheese. Lots of different ways to make it.

The number one way to save money is to never eat in restaurants. Buy groceries and cook all your own meals from scratch.

There's a psychology too about being grateful and appreciative for what you have so that you don't start feeling deprived when your budget is tight.

Eliminate or severely limit eating out. This can easily equal a mortgage payment.

Pay more than your mortgage payment, but first confirm the bank puts the extra toward the principal--not into escrow.

Confirm you have homeowners insurance, not the lender's insurance. Banks screw people this way regularly. It covers them, not you.

Create a budget, so you know where your money goes. I keep mine on an excel spreadsheet, carry very little cash so all debit transactions go on the monthly budget sheet. This way I see where I might be overspending and cut back.

Some study came out recently that intermittent fasting - or restricting caloric intake to a certain number of hours - can help with diabetes.

[link to www.fastday.com (secure)]

Create & follow a budget. You're welcome.

Side note, do enjoy life. Resist becoming miserly. A great way to do this is to show generosity in everything. Even if cash is tight, give some to others. If you attend a good church, give offerings. Inexplicably, this pays off in many ways.

Make more money somehow than you are now.

Financialpeace.com

Dollar stores. Comb them for items you already play more for.

Shop for insurance. Some sites let you compare but once they show you, take an actual peek at their competitors.

Ask at work and friends who they insure with.

Avoid coffee shops and find home alternatives.

Steal it from those who say theyre your enemy.

Almost that time of year to start a cheap & super healthy meals suggestions for those who overspent and overate during the holidays.

Just found a delicious beans, potatoes, barley, carrots, garlic, onions, hot sauce, and beef stew recipe to make in the crock pot or oven. Perfect if you're sick or have a delicate stomach. Impossible to ruin. Calls for beef stew bones or the cheapest cut of beef you can find that isn't hamburger. Need about 1 1/2 lbs and the end result is 4 solid quarts of food that lasts over a week in the refrigerator. Improves with age. Easy to reheat too.

Rice doesn't contain enough fiber to be filling. Forget top ramen and chemical-laden garbage.

Sigh, he won't listen, people ask for advice and then give excuses on why they can't do that.

use your hand to wipe. This alone will save you thousands over a lifetime.

For most people, after the cost of their housing, the biggest monthly expense is food.

Figure out economical ways to prepare your own food at home (avoid eating out).

I don't know your eating restrictions, so I can't offer anything specific.

Get a slow cooker and find a whole chicken on sale. About $5 slow cook it all day and season the top. For about $5 you can eat for 2-3 days. Same with a Chuck roast, put it in your slow cooker, sprinkle a packet of French's onion soup mix on top and put on low all day(8-9 hours) delicious and satisfying. That and some instant potatoes and you're good to go.

This is what I do too. Except, I use strictly cash when purchasing food. I use the envelope system with certain amounts of cash going into each expense. I only use the credit card for gas purchases. You get a percentage back when doing this. Always pay the balance off and keep it below 7% of the total credit line. This will give you an excellent credit rating. I don't like using the debit card because there is no insurance if your debit card gets hacked. Also, a criminal can steal everything linked to that debit card and wipe out your savings/checking account. Credit cards will only charge you the first $50 and then you don't have to pay.

Using the spreadsheet I'm able to come up with an amount that I need, every pay period, to break even. Any income above that goes directly into savings. Doing this method, I'm able to afford to deduct 20% of my pay to go towards a 401K plan with company match...

Last Edited by DuckNCover on 12/27/2019 12:49 AM

Eliminate or at least reduce monthly bills.
Verizon is expensive, dump them and get t-mobile
Get rid of cable tv & tether off the phone, you do not need to watch all those youtube videos
Depending where you live at put a either a window antenna with a built-in amplifier or an antenna with same.
Get rid of cable, you don't need it
No fast food. No fast food.
Go to an insurance broker and have them find you a better plan. They will.

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