How to save large amounts of $$$

[All4MyDaughter]

The answer is obvious.

If you have secrets, so could your wife.

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[xiphoid2010]

If you have secrets, so could your wife.

Oh, I'm sure there are other things she hasn't told me about, but I know she's telling the truth saying she doesn't have any sexual secrets before we met. She had proof.

 

[sakigt]

Another point I've realized: Don't sacrifice your food quality too much. Your health is worth everything. Low-priced processed foods at discount grocery stores are not a good way to build and protect your future health. Try to buy all fresh and unprocessed foods. It is more expensive, but highly worth it. I also have a high-powered blender to make super-food smoothies everyday. My weight is under-control, on no medications, my labs look great, and I have tons of energy. The processed and refined foods will eventually catch up to everyone.

Eat healthy, stay fit, and do some of the things you love to do even if they cost you a little extra money. Nothing is more expensive than having a prolonged illness or a hospitalization. Fitness clubs are extremely reasonable these days: there are several in my area for only $10/month. I personally like a gym with a sauna and a pool so I pay a little bit more. If you have stress, injuries, or other ailments it is often highly worth it to invest in things like massage, chiropractic, or acupuncture. The price may seem high, but if you learn to manage your health without drugs now it will pay off in spades later. Some of the cheap Asian massages (non-happy ending variety) around here can be extremely rejuvenating. It helps take the edge off of the stressful daily life of a pharmacist.

Just my two cents, but I've always believed in balance.

Thats what I was thinking while reading the Aldi comments. I buy organic when its the "dirty dozen" and buy humane antibiotic free poultry when possible. When we eat steak (which is monthly, usually) its the same standards. Bulk organic rice, quinoa are our grain staples but we do boxed mac and cheese sometimes. Eggs and dairy are hormone, antibiotic and range free (when possible....easier with the eggs). Were definitely not perfect, though.

That being said our food/diapers/etc budget it pretty good. I spend about $650-$800/mo to feed 2 adults and a toddler.

 

[BenJammin]

I shower twice a day and do all of my laundry in the apartment and my water bill has never been over $30 a month. You're doing something wrong if you are actively trying to cut your bill.

 

[xiphoid2010]

I shower twice a day and do all of my laundry in the apartment and my water bill has never been over $30 a month. You're doing something wrong if you are actively trying to cut your bill.

Mine is almost $100 a month. 2 kids and keeping the lawn green are a big chunk of it.

 

[confettiflyer]

We're perpetually in a drought and our water bill is cheap. I think even in college in so-cal a condo of 4 people + significant others here and there we never broke $40/mo.

Then again the water district we were in had an extensive grey water system for non-personal use that kept utilization low.

I don't do any crazy conservation measures...but I'm not being wasteful, either. Probably because habits from our last drought have stuck.

 

[xiphoid2010]

We're perpetually in a drought and our water bill is cheap. I think even in college in so-cal a condo of 4 people + significant others here and there we never broke $40/mo.

Then again the water district we were in had an extensive grey water system for non-personal use that kept utilization low.

I don't do any crazy conservation measures...but I'm not being wasteful, either. Probably because habits from our last drought have stuck.

When we were living in an apartment, it was $30-40/mo too. Can't say we use that much more water inside a house, so that must mean ~$50/mo is for watering the lawn and garden. >_<

 

[Momus]

Mine is almost $100 a month. Keeping the lawn green are a big chunk of it.

Fixed.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Ours is about $60 a month. We don't water the yard.

 

[confettiflyer]

When we were living in an apartment, it was $30-40/mo too. Can't say we use that much more water inside a house, so that must mean ~$50/mo is for watering the lawn and garden. >_<

Dude, desert landscape is your friend. Or get an artificial lawn. Grass is overrated.

 

[xiphoid2010]

Dude, desert landscape is your friend. Or get an artificial lawn. Grass is overrated.

Pretty sure our HOA doesn't allow that, besides I like my lawn and my wife likes her garden. My kids love to play with water and take bubble baths.

When comes to saving money, focus on the biger savings that doesn't lower the quality of life, don't fret the little stuff that you enjoy.

 

[confettiflyer]

Pretty sure our HOA doesn't allow that, besides I like my lawn and my wife likes her garden. My kids love to play with water and take bubble baths.

When comes to saving money, focus on the biger savings that doesn't lower the quality of life, don't fret the little stuff that you enjoy.

Grass makes me sneeze.

 

[xiphoid2010]

Grass makes me sneeze.

Flonase is your friend. Who wants to walk on dirt in their yard?

 

[confettiflyer]

Flonase is your friend. Who wants to walk on dirt in their yard?

Yards are overrated. Concrete and rocks ftw.

 

[Pharmist1720]

Is this student loan refinancing thing for professionals legit? Anyone with any experience? I am very interested after reading the website in refi-ing for a sub 4% interest rate when I currently have ~200k at 6.5-7%

http://www.drbank.com/student_loan_information.html

Have you talked to this bank about refinancing or started the process? I've read some reviews on them and they're mostly terrible. Apparently customer service is awful and the process takes awhile. But I figured it'd be worth for rates that low.

 

[cnicolef08]

Have you talked to this bank about refinancing or started the process? I've read some reviews on them and they're mostly terrible. Apparently customer service is awful and the process takes awhile. But I figured it'd be worth for rates that low.

Interesting.... I didn't really do anymore research into myself after I decided that I wanted to just aggressively pay off my loans quickly. Plus I was a little weary about that 9% max variable loan rate but I guess since I'm trying to pay back loans quickly, that's a benefit because perhaps the rate won't increase too much within the allotted 3 years that I've given myself to repay my loans. I may have to try and speak with someone myself and get a feel for them. Don't want to write them off just because somebody else had a bad experience.

 

[Stroganoff]

Quoting from Page 1:

Gotcha. Guess I was interpreting it as they would match a percentage of your 6% contribution, not that they would match anything up to 6%.

Your interpretation is correct, and that's also Momus's explanation.

It's 25% of up to 6%, so no matter what, 6% will "max" out your free money from your employer. It'll just be 0.25 * 0.06 * (your gross salary) = yearly maximum match. One caveat is the vesting schedule of your employer match. Some of them don't vest until 1, 2, 5+ years of employment, and if you resign, you forfeit a portion of the employer 401k match.

 

[Stroganoff]

(Some silly goose admin featured this thread on Facebook today, which is why I'm touring the Pharm forum. I'll try to add new material.)

I can vouch for Ting for cell phone service. Been with them about 13 months. BEST CELL PHONE COMPANY EVAR. If you guys remember "Tucows.com" back in the 1990's and downloading software from them, it's the same parent company. If you call them, someone answers in 2-3 rings, and they're nice too! And they speak English! I love their pricing model, where you only pay for what you use, and minutes/texts/data are separate "buckets". Caveat: Sprint network, so check coverage in your area. But lots of pros. Free tethering, and 4G LTE is decent. Downsides? You have to buy a new phone in full (or buy used), so if you're the type who likes a "free" subsidized phone, this is a shock. I got my HTC One for $550, whereas that cost would be spread out on a traditional 2-year contract plan. My monthly bill is like $12 + tax, but I do all my voice on another cell phone. (PS. PM me for a referral code so we both get like $25. And even without this referral code, I still like Ting, hands down.)

Republic Wireless is highly recommended on all the geeky finance forums and blogs, and some of their plans are $10/month or $25/month. Different pricing model however, and they piggyback their voice technology over the data network and prefer that you use Wi-Fi. So see if they work for you and read reviews. They're definitely interesting however.

And not that I have experience with this at all, but I read about people who don't have cell service at all but use an old cell phone and port their phone number to Google Voice for like $2.50 per month or something, but you have to be on a Wi-Fi network. I mean, if y'all are having e-peen pissing contests.

If you guys have Cable Internet (maybe without the TV service), buy your own cable modem. I have the Motorola Surfboard SB6141 (white retail packaging, avoid the black OEM packaging). It's down to like $68 on Amazon. Otherwise you would be paying like $7/month in rental fees to Comcast/Time Warner. This only saves you $70-80/year, but it adds up. (PS I can vouch for the speed and quality of this modem. It's been reliable and fast, and it's the current latest one I can find.)

*** I haven't vetted this yet, but it seems popular on the geeky finance/tech blogs*** - There's a company called FreedomPop that gives you a free 4G hotspot (and free cell phone service too). I'm cautious and I'm still wondering what the catch is, honestly. Buyer beware? Maybe it's ad-supported?

 

[Stroganoff]

No More Harvard Debt - I linked the relevant blog post, which is a summary of him finishing. Basically this dude got his MBA and paid off $101K of student loans in 7 months. The link summarizes how he did it. (He kind of got a huge head start by cashing out his 401k...) Still an interesting read.



I actually am too lazy to read a lot of blogs now. Maybe a little White Coat Investor, but not much else. The only finance blog I regularly read is Mr. Money Mustache. I linked the "summary" post if you're new to his blog and what it's about.

It's about the concept of financial independence (formerly known as "early retirement"). People often confuse "early retirement" with you doing NOTHING and turning into an old person, but the gist of financial independence is you have enough saved up that you can live off your nest egg for the rest of your life without having to worry about working to survive and pay your bills. Travel? Go for it! Work part-time for fun? Go for it! Volunteer? Sure! Continue working full-time because you love Pharmacy or whatever your job is? Sure!

Basically the gist is how he and his wife (both software developers) worked their asses off from age 22-30, saving like $80K+ per year, and hit their first $1 Million by age 30 and quit their jobs. Now they travel, blog, do part-time work, and still make money and enjoy life.

I dunno... I'm 10+ years behind AND 6 figures in debt, but if I can earn my first Mill by 40 (not counting what a potential wife can earn), it'll give more breathing room and options.

Just throwing the idea out there. It appeals to me.

The math works, and like a good engineer, he has some of the math to prove it and enough curse words to keep your interest. It's just the "attitude" and "implementation" of frugality is hard for many people to swallow.

It's unrealistic for me to bike to work (I'd get killed on the Interstate), but still 90% of his ideas are good.

 

[confettiflyer]

Don't do what I did today and blow $200 at Whole Foods for random delicious crap.

What's worse is after I got home, i had to go to a regular grocery store because I really didn't have that much "meal" food.

Ugh.

But damn this is gonna taste great.

 

[xiphoid2010]

*** I haven't vetted this yet, but it seems popular on the geeky finance/tech blogs*** - There's a company called FreedomPop that gives you a free 4G hotspot (and free cell phone service too). I'm cautious and I'm still wondering what the catch is, honestly. Buyer beware? Maybe it's ad-supported?

FreedomPop have a free 500 MB per month plan, where you can get another 50 MB for each friend you link, up to 1 gig of free data total. I got my wife one of the 4G usb receivers (free for a refurb unit) so she can have it with her laptop in case she needs to access her MBA class stuff but isn't near free wifi.

Part of the reason why they are doing this is that the free refurb receiver + plan use Sprint's WiMax 4G network. Sprint will sunset WiMax sometime in 2015, so I guess they might as well give it out for free and hope some of the people will like it enough to convert to paid customers.

Personally, I think it's convenient as a back up option, since 500 MB or even 1 gig of data is enough for significant use like streaming videos. And if you have an android phone, you can always root it and get a tethering app use your cellphone data. But pugging in a free usb receiver, and not worrying about your phone running out of juice, is just easier.

 

[Old Timer]

I'm a new poster here so please be patient with me. I've recently become slightly obsessed with reading through old posts and I've noticed a LOT of people mentioning the amount of money they have saved for a house purchase, cars, etc. How in the world were some of you able to save that much money? Especially being only a few years out of school? The older crowd I can understand but I've seen people who are maybe 3-4 years out with 100k+ saved? I don't even want to mention my piddly savings amount. I do contribute to my 403b but right now only 6% to get the match from my job. I recently opened a high yield savings account with Synchrony at 0.95%. What else can I or should I be doing? Also, I think you should know that I am in the process of moving back home with my parents to pay off my loans more quickly. With my current plan, I should be able to pay off ~160k in 3-4 years. I'm pretty much throwing my entire monthly income at my loans (only bills are a cell phone and credit card with ~$900 balance).

Four pages on drivel. You want to get lots of money? Spend less than you make. While you are building up your nest egg, learn something about investing your money. Once you have 6 mos of income saved up, use that knowledge of investing and start investing your money.

 

[Momus]

Is anyone so cheap they find other ways to watch movies that are currently in the movie theatre? Please PM me if you have a way that's 100% "legal" of course.

1. Download Utorrent
2. Sign up for VPN services
3. Go to piratebay.org or http://isohunt.to/
   
4. Profit!

http://movie25.ws/ streaming option, not for me. I like to have a 1080p copy but will work for most.

 

[EML9255]

Don't do what I did today and blow $200 at Whole Foods for random delicious crap.

What's worse is after I got home, i had to go to a regular grocery store because I really didn't have that much "meal" food.

Ugh.

But damn this is gonna taste great.

This made me laugh because I just got back from trader joes and then was like shoot I'm gonna need to go to harris teeter too

 

[owlegrad]

Yes. Its decent. I got me some bananas.

If you plan on hopping at Aldi's some time, read up on it. There is a process. Its very different. It's run like a German grocery store, not an American grocery store.

Just tried the $3.49 sushi at Adli. Bleh, won't make that mistake again! I was so excited too.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

Saving really comes down this - lifetime discipline

1. There is more control over how much you SPEND opposed to how much you MAKE.
2. Saving, hardcore- really depends on how far you're willing to go to save money. If you don't value your free time, you can save a lot.

 

[pezdispenser]

2017 update on cell phone plans.

$1 for 12 months unlimited (then $50/mo) on Virgin Mobile (Sprint network) when you buy an iPhone. iPhone SE $280, iPhone 7 Plus $770.
Plans | Virgin Mobile

Xfinity Mobile (Verizon network)
www.xfinitymobile.com
If you have Comcast Xfinity internet, you can get up to 5 unlimited talk and text cell phone lines with no per line fees. Then the data is either $12/GB (pooled) or $45/line unlimited. I have the $12/GB plan with my Mom because we mostly use wifi, so last month we used 1GB costing us $16.54 altogether.

You do have to buy a phone from Xfinity however. Galaxy S8 $532, iPhone 7 Plus $770, LG X Power $132 (what I have, battery lasts 2-3 days).

 

[Rainbowdash]

Interesting resurrected thread. We do shop for some things at Aldi and have Republic Wireless phones. BTW, Aldi does carry some organic items. As far as ethnic stores, Russian stores are also not bad. Can purchase farmer's cheese, dark sourdough bread, certain cereals such as millet, barley, buckwheat at quite affordable prices.

 

[Pharmypharm]

There is really no secret:

(1) Pay off your student loan as soon as you can. You said you owe 160 k? If the interest rate is 6.8%, that is 160 k x 0.068 = almost 11 k in interest for the first year!

(2) Cut cost. I hate to say it but living with your parents is a good start. Not only would you save money but it would also free up some of your time. You can use it to work OT, pick up a shift at another hospital or even start a business

(3) Take advantage of retirment fund like 403 k, 401 k especially when there is company matches

(4) Spend your money wisely. Do you really need cable? Eat out every weekend? Take 2 or 3 vacations a year?

Often I would see my friends "reward" themselves for working so hard and for all the stress they are going through. But by spending more and more money, they don't have a choice but to continue working which causes more stress and therefore, they need to continue to "reward" themselves.

I was careful with my money. I didnt want to pay more student loan interest than I have to. I paid all of it off in 3 years. Honestly, it wasn't hard at all and it was probably the best financial decision I have made so far.

If you don't mind - how much of loans did you have? Also, how did you pay them off consistently?

 

[BMBiology]

If you don't mind - how much of loans did you have? Also, how did you pay them off consistently?

About 150 k. I did it the old fashion way - I worked and saved.


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[genesis09]

Just tried the $3.49 sushi at Adli. Bleh, won't make that mistake again! I was so excited too.

You can get sushi at Aldi? In my area, you can get sushi at Trader Joe's. You can get some cheap wine at Aldi.

 

[owlegrad]

You can get sushi at Aldi?

Yes but I don't recommend it! It's a prepacked item, not made in store. It's bad.

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

Easiest way to save money: automation

I have $1500 deducted from my paycheck to max out my TSP before it is directed deposited. I also have another $1000 automatically diverted to Synchrony Bank savings account. So $2500 I automatically save and don't miss because I never see it in my checking account

 

[owlegrad]

Easiest way to save money: automation

I have $1500 deducted from my paycheck to max out my TSP before it is directed deposited. I also have another $1000 automatically diverted to Synchrony Bank savings account. So $2500 I automatically save and don't miss because I never see it in my checking account

Wow I don't mean to get personal but how much does that leave you with?

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

Wow I don't mean to get personal but how much does that leave you with?

A little less than $5000/month.

 

[oldnews]

A little less than $5000/month.

That's compensation for:
1. Living in places where no one wants to live(for example: Mescalero, NM, Chinle, AZ, Eagle Butte, SD) i.e. in extreme remote places, or if living in a town having to spend 3 hours of the day commuting in a government vehicle (like living in Tucson, AZ and traveling to Sells, AZ everyday).
2. Not having many options of working in more desirable locations such as the Phoenix IHS, due to lack of openings or the volume of other Commission Corps applicants or Indian preference applicant pharmacists fighting for these spots. Or, if a position is located near a more desirable area you're limited to work in facilities that most people might not want to work i.e. a prison with the BOP agency.
3. Limited or no social life in many of these places. No opportunities for dating or finding a significant other due to remoteness or commute time or only being able to make it out to the city only on weekends.
4. Career suicide. Working in environments with profound incompetence. You see a lot of this in undesirable areas because the practitioners aren't easily replaced, an example of this is a dentist that washed his instruments with soap and water because the autoclave broke. For other examples simply google Pine Ridge, SD IHS hospital deaths or google "IHS hires troubled doctors". They also hire pharmacists with records as well, even as a chief pharmacist, lol.

 

[owlegrad]

A little less than $5000/month.

That's pretty amazing, congrats!

 

[Digsbe]

Just tried the $3.49 sushi at Adli. Bleh, won't make that mistake again! I was so excited too.

I live within walking distance of an Asian market (Korean primarily) but they prepare sushi daily and you can get 8 pieces for $3.50. It's actually not that bad.

I get my shopping habits from my mother. I buy most stuff at Aldi, buy in bulk or sale items at Costco, and buy only a few things at chain grocery stores (unless there is a sale).

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Just read thru the entire thread. Good tips, good laughs (selling your bunghole for loans), etc.

Will be shopping at Aldi from now on. Keep the helpful tips coming.

Also, let's discuss cheap (yet good) coffee. I always make mine at home, but since graduating I have stepped up from Folgers/Maxwell to Dunkin, etc. I buy at Sams Club in bulk to save a little more, but I may just go back to Folgers... time to pinch pennies. Any other good coffee recommendations that won't break the bank?

 

[pezdispenser]

Just read thru the entire thread. Good tips, good laughs (selling your bunghole for loans), etc.

Will be shopping at Aldi from now on. Keep the helpful tips coming.

Also, let's discuss cheap (yet good) coffee. I always make mine at home, but since graduating I have stepped up from Folgers/Maxwell to Dunkin, etc. I buy at Sams Club in bulk to save a little more, but I may just go back to Folgers... time to pinch pennies. Any other good coffee recommendations that won't break the bank?

I use Lavazza Crema e Gusto espresso coffee. Around $15 on Amazon Subscribe & Save for 4 x 8.8 oz packs (1 kg). Each pack makes about 20 shots.

It's ground for espresso machines and I use a De'Longhi EC155 that I got 6 years ago for $40 and it still works fine (I also have a Keurig that stopped working after a couple of years). It also steams milk to make lattes and cappuccinos. If you get some other coffee, make sure it's ground finer for espresso machines. Regular pre-ground coffee is usually too coarse because it's made for percolators or drip brewers so it will come out very weak in an espresso machine.

 

[Charcoales]

I just get $1 mc'd coffee, don't feel like I'd use ground coffee enough

 

[BMBiology]

I get what you guys are doing but living a penny pitching lifestyle is not going to make a big difference.

If you want to save then cut back on the big things in life like a new car, a big house, a fancy vacation. That is where your money is going, not cheap razor blades.

Focus on the big things like spending quality time with your family and good friends, finding a good job. Work less if you can. Even if you have $1.5M, what is the point if you are working at a job that you hate? What is the point if all you do is work? What is the point if you don't have someone to share it with?


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[6GodPharm]

I get what you guys are doing but living a penny pitching lifestyle is not going to make a big difference.

If you want to save then cut back on the big things in life like a new car, a big house, a fancy vacation. That is where your money is going, not cheap razor blades.

Focus on the big things like spending quality time with your family and good friends, finding a good job. Work less if you can. Even if you have $1.5M, what is the point if you are working at a job that you hate? What is the point if all you do is work? What is the point if you don't have someone to share it with?


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Agree 100%. Saving 50 cents on coffee lol

The way I look at it loans should be the #1 thing. 401k should be maxed out from the start. Each paycheck I have set automatic 1k goes directly to savings and rest goes into checkings account. Once my loan is payed off, I will set 3k to go into savings and the rest goes into checkings per paycheck. I go on vacations twice a year (so I don't go completely insane) but its back to the grind when I get back.

 

[gwarm01]

If you want to save then cut back on the big things in life like a new car, a big house, a fancy vacation.
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I allow myself the car, but these are the traps that catch most people. I can't tell you how many people I've seen that, upon graduation, immediately bought the largest house they could get a loan for. Just empty space to fill just junk in my opinion. People raised entire families in much more modest houses a generation ago. When did we all get tricked into thinking you have to have a 3000+ sqft McMansion?

 

[pezdispenser]

I get what you guys are doing but living a penny pitching lifestyle is not going to make a big difference.

If you want to save then cut back on the big things in life like a new car, a big house, a fancy vacation. That is where your money is going, not cheap razor blades.

Focus on the big things like spending quality time with your family and good friends, finding a good job. Work less if you can. Even if you have $1.5M, what is the point if you are working at a job that you hate? What is the point if all you do is work? What is the point if you don't have someone to share it with?


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I think there are times when you should be frugal like when you are a student or a new grad laden with debt. My main advice is to minimize and avoid debt because it makes you much more 'loose' with your money and spending. So being frugal goes hand in hand with avoiding debt.

However, once you have paid everything off, by all means, spend your money and time doing things you enjoy. This is of course going to be different for everyone. I happen to like having a nice house and designer furniture like Herman Miller chairs, and I like cars so I have an Audi and a BMW and take them on road trips all the time. But everything is completely paid off including the house so no one can say I can't afford it.

 

[BMBiology]

I think there are times when you should be frugal like when you are a student or a new grad laden with debt. My main advice is to minimize and avoid debt because it makes you much more 'loose' with your money and spending. So being frugal goes hand in hand with avoiding debt.

However, once you have paid everything off, by all means, spend your money and time doing things you enjoy. This is of course going to be different for everyone. I happen to like having a nice house and designer furniture like Herman Miller chairs, and I like cars so I have an Audi and a BMW and take them on road trips all the time. But everything is completely paid off including the house so no one can say I can't afford it.

I remember meeting up with my friend at a popular bar. I drove straight to the valet and dropped off my college car while he circled the parking lot for 15 mins in his new Mercedes.

What is the point of driving an expensive car when you are living a cheap lifestyle?

I still see it all of the times....techs sporting LV belts with their matching Nike shoes. Who are you trying to kid? Everybody knows you are making $12 hours a hour.

Look, I am not against spending money on things but if you are going to buy all of these expensive things, you better live that lifestyle too.

It is just funny how things turned out. Now that I have the money, I care less and less about things and what others think. I guess I got nothing to prove.


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[Momus]

My wifi is shared by two of my neighbours, they pay me and I pay 0. Never rent a modem/router from internet provider. Buy your own modem and router.

10 referral credit from cricket/yr. Making my cell phone bill $14/mo for 4gb data.

Liability car insurance only $32/mo.

NO cable TV, just free internet. See above.

I eat left over, my coworkers bring me food they are about to throw out coz they think it's bad. It's a perfectly good food, they just don't like to eat fridge food for a day or two, my techs always throw away food... Free food for me.

$1 toothpaste last me 6 months, 1 big shampoo last me 2-3 yrs, same disposable razor for 2 yrs. I don't grow a full beard just a mustache and some chin beard. I use hydrogen peroxide + baking soda to keep my teeth whites.

Cut my own hair, $20 saved every 2 months. Always consistent, no one fu3ks up my hair anymore

Always look for deal, never pay retail ever. A simple Google search of slickdeal will get you 20-50% discount.

Brownbag my lunch, buy groceries when they are on sale only. Buy and cook in bulk to save gas, time and electric.

Free all music/blueray movies with VPN download. Netflix friend's account, Amazon prime co-worker account.

Caffeine pill 200 mg/5 cents instead of starripoff coffee or energy drink if I get tired.

I go to Walmart and pick work shoes that costs $25 and less. Replace them every 2 yrs lol.

Rechargable batteries. AAA and AA.

Charge $2 max on my discover card monthly. They reimburse me for $2 credit/mo. Free $2/mo. Better balance rewards from bank of america gives me $30/every 3 months.

Keep many reusable bags on my car so I don't have to pay 10 cents for a bag to carry groceries. Fu3k CA.

I don't buy plastic bottled water ever. Drink filtered tap water. Bottled water is a waste of money. Most of the bottled water comes from municipal tap water.

Ally bank gives 1.15% interest saving account, free atm fee pull $10/mo reimbursed.

Vanguard gets more than half my net paycheck every 2 weeks. 95% stock (70% domestic/30% international with 30% to small cap value) and 5% CA municipal bond.

I never pay a cent of interest since I turned 18 to credit card company. I have 7 credit cards each giving me 1-5% cash back.

9 yr old Honda accord car, looking to keep for another 11 yrs until fully automated car with no steering wheel become the norm.

I always look up YouTube first whenever anything need fixing, never throw stuff away before trying to fix it myself.

I max out 401k yearly and normally I'd max out early in February since stocks has 60% positive chance in any given year. It makes sense to invest as early as possible.

I do backdoor Roth IRA 5.5k/year. All going to vanguard REITS.

I do my own taxes using Turbo Tax. This is controversial but I pirate the damn software for the past 7 years or borrow the disc from a friend. Saved me $50-60 each year lol.

I visit thrift stores you can pick up great clothes, and many items at 10-20% their original price.

I make my own washer fluid, water + a teaspoon of dish soap. Change my own oil, buy wipers at eBay for <$10 for a set.

Overall, I only spend about $800-900/mo including shelter, food, utilities. If I go out to eat with friends I don't put a limit for that. But, the rest the stuff people buy are just junk to me. Frugality is nothing to be ashamed of. Put a big smile and boast how cheap you can be and just laugh at *****s spending their money for stuff that doesn't matter (don't do what your techs do). I don't waste a lot of my time = money. Profit!

 

[owlegrad]

Eh stealing is nothing to be proud of though.

 

[Momus]

Eh stealing is nothing to be proud of though.

Haha who hasn't admitted downloading music for free? I just take it a step further

 

[BMBiology]

Haha who hasn't admitted downloading music for free? I just take it a step further

This is what I don't get about you. If you are happy with being cheap and living on $900 a month, then why not quit your job or at least work less? Why keep on working when you obviously do not need to?

3/10 satisfaction. I'm only doing it for a steady paycheck. Just treating it like prison, do your time and get out. TBH, the $$$ is not even that great around $150k/40h work week with a couple OT here and there. Best years with OTs were ~240k; but nowadays I am just too darn lazy to start anything else or even do any OTs. This job can make you really lazy since the pay is just enough to raise a family decently, nothing frivolous. Once you get comfortable, you are "stuck" and become lazy.

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