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Anyone here cheap?

Lynx nkaf

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I need to work on my frugality, who here is cheap and not afraid to admit it?

What are some ways you save money?

What are some things you see people buy that’s a complete waste of money?

Why are you cheap? What’s the end goal?
I am frugal. Proud of it.

Some ways I save money is by only shopping clothing at secondhand stores, mending and altering myself, cooking at home and living in the smallest space with the cheapest shelter costs.

I don't understand people who buy brand new clothing or live in big squarefoot shelters.

My end goal is to retire between 3-13 years from now in order to just have fun writing, painting, cooking and baking, playing sports, hunting and fishing and growing a big bountiful food garden.

Great thread idea.
 

Xenom0rph

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What are some things you see people buy that’s a complete waste of money?
Expensive casual clothing...

I can understand buying a nice suit or a nice sport coat or nice pair of dress shoes.... But buying expensive casual wear is ridiculous.

I can easily spot someone whose fake rich just based on how they're dressed....
 

Robert28

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My grandma was the most frugal person ever. She died a millionaire ($3.5) and you’d have NEVER known it. She bought a stripped down brand new Carolla a couple years before she died, she’d buy the store brand groceries (not always but most of the time), she even taught me to keep $10,000 in an emergency account. Other ways I save money are to order water whenever I go out (not only free but healthy too), I bought used wooden furniture and refinished it for my house, I’ll buy a new truck and keep it 10 years BUT I’ll pay myself a car payment every month no matter what, I only buy clothes that are on sale. Once you start saving and learn how to do it, it becomes an obsession.
 

zekko

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I'm cheap, admittedly.
For me, it was more about paying myself first than specific ways to cut back.
Make a list of your expenses, how much you're bringing in, and how much you want to put back. See if you can make that work.
Then if you need to cut further, prioritize what you really need and what you can do without.
If you put money into retirement accounts, it reduces your taxes (unless it's a Roth). So you can save $100 but you really only see a reduction of $80 (or whatever the number might be).

I didn't feel like I deprived myself, I just made a plan to live on a certain amount and stuck with it. And as my income increased, I still lived on that same amount. Just make it a realistic amount.
 

cola

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Expensive casual clothing...

I can understand buying a nice suit or a nice sport coat or nice pair of dress shoes.... But buying expensive casual wear is ridiculous.

I can easily spot someone whose fake rich just based on how they're dressed....
So you don’t think it’s worth it to have a few nice shirts and shoes to wear to a bar or casual social event?
 

Lynx nkaf

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So you don’t think it’s worth it to have a few nice shirts and shoes to wear to a bar or casual social event?
"consignment shops" are the fancier way to say secondhand clothing shops. Some designer, nice things there. Hard to find these shops but when you do there's a ridiculous savings on same season fashion.
 

stovepipe

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I'm cheap to a point. Slickdealings in my blood. I love the thrill of hunting deals. It's become like a drug and a little side hustle. Last week I bought 3 tools that were on clearance, flipped them already and made $130. I mean its not much but for a couple hrs total of work I'll take it. I always look for coupons, I rarely pay retail, I wait for sales, if I see stickers on items at the grocery store or any store I usually buy it, if I dont need something right away I set alerts when I can on items.

Like today for example I was going to cook dinner. Went to the store and walked the isles to check for the yellow stickers they put on meat & seafood when it's a day or two before expatriation. Found 1lb tubs of fresh crab for $7.50 50% off that expire tomorrow and ground chuck meat for $1.50lb. I bought a few lbs of the meat, made burgers with one and froze the rest. Tonight I made crab cake sandwiches which cost me $5 with the corn and tater salad. That meal eating out would have costed me $30 with tip at the local place. I cook a lot which saves me tons of money. There is a store called Aldi in my area. That place is my go to for saving money.

I don't tip at places where the employees get paid hourly or don;t rely on tips. Sounds cheap but back in my day they didn't have tip jars every fukn where. It's like tipping everyone became a thing along the way which is horse chit. They look at you with anger if you dont tip them. MOfo I used to do the same job and never took tips, asked for tips nor had a tip jar. It's like society magically put tip jars everywhere! It's like everyone wants a hand out these days.

I don't waste my money on things I don't need. I don't buy expensive clothes, shoes, jewelry, watches, or anything flashy. I drive a car so beat up my friends are embarrassed to ride in. I just dont give af cause my car is paid off, insurance is $34 a month. I set up price alerts on sites to notify me when items I pick go on sale.

I've listened to some billionaire talk about saving money. One of them said something that immediately made me think he was talking about me. He said if you had $10,000 to invest in the stock market, you'd be lucky to make 5-10% in a year or possibly lose it. You're better off not taking the risk and learning how to save money on all the things you buy. That you would save way more than that $1000 you might have made or even lost in the stock market.

I will say it takes a long time to understand how the system works. Took me years to be where I'm at and i'm still average at best. The ones who make out like a champ are computer programmers who write scripts to auto buy items when they reach their desired price or when a hot item comes back in stock. I mean within secs of an item coming in stock it's gone. Writing script is where it's at but also takes away a lot of the fun for people like me. It's a massive advantage and I mean massive advantage to use scripts. Theres a guy on FB with a deals page. He throws bread crumb deal to bottom feeders like me. The good stuff he keeps for himself like last week he got an Ipad for $5.
 

Xenom0rph

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So you don’t think it’s worth it to have a few nice shirts and shoes to wear to a bar or casual social event?
A few are fine. But some guys squander their whole paycheck on designer clothes.

I respect the guys that drive 5 year old cars, wear t-shirts, basketball shorts and flip-flops while walking around with $4M in net assets.
 

Lynx nkaf

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I'm cheap to a point. Slickdealings in my blood. I love the thrill of hunting deals. It's become like a drug and a little side hustle. Last week I bought 3 tools that were on clearance, flipped them already and made $130. I mean its not much but for a couple hrs total of work I'll take it. I always look for coupons, I rarely pay retail, I wait for sales, if I see stickers on items at the grocery store or any store I usually buy it, if I dont need something right away I set alerts when I can on items.

Like today for example I was going to cook dinner. Went to the store and walked the isles to check for the yellow stickers they put on meat & seafood when it's a day or two before expatriation. Found 1lb tubs of fresh crab for $7.50 50% off that expire tomorrow and ground chuck meat for $1.50lb. I bought a few lbs of the meat, made burgers with one and froze the rest. Tonight I made crab cake sandwiches which cost me $5 with the corn and tater salad. That meal eating out would have costed me $30 with tip at the local place. I cook a lot which saves me tons of money. There is a store called Aldi in my area. That place is my go to for saving money.

I don't tip at places where the employees get paid hourly or don;t rely on tips. Sounds cheap but back in my day they didn't have tip jars every fukn where. It's like tipping everyone became a thing along the way which is horse chit. They look at you with anger if you dont tip them. MOfo I used to do the same job and never took tips, asked for tips nor had a tip jar. It's like society magically put tip jars everywhere! It's like everyone wants a hand out these days.

I don't waste my money on things I don't need. I don't buy expensive clothes, shoes, jewelry, watches, or anything flashy. I drive a car so beat up my friends are embarrassed to ride in. I just dont give af cause my car is paid off, insurance is $34 a month. I set up price alerts on sites to notify me when items I pick go on sale.

I've listened to some billionaire talk about saving money. One of them said something that immediately made me think he was talking about me. He said if you had $10,000 to invest in the stock market, you'd be lucky to make 5-10% in a year or possibly lose it. You're better off not taking the risk and learning how to save money on all the things you buy. That you would save way more than that $1000 you might have made or even lost in the stock market.

I will say it takes a long time to understand how the system works. Took me years to be where I'm at and i'm still average at best. The ones who make out like a champ are computer programmers who write scripts to auto buy items when they reach their desired price or when a hot item comes back in stock. I mean within secs of an item coming in stock it's gone. Writing script is where it's at but also takes away a lot of the fun for people like me. It's a massive advantage and I mean massive advantage to use scripts. Theres a guy on FB with a deals page. He throws bread crumb deal to bottom feeders like me. The good stuff he keeps for himself like last week he got an Ipad for $5.
nice finds
 

EyeBRollin

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I need to work on my frugality, who here is cheap and not afraid to admit it?
for starters, frugal =/= cheap.

Frugal spending is prudent spending. Purchases and investments are mostly limited to what is necessary or may be beneficial in the future. Frugal choices the price matches utility and value.

Cheap just means spending the least amount possible or not spending at all. A cheap bastard makes decisions on price, not value.

The two are not synonyms.

What are some ways you save money?
I keep a meticulous budget. I drive an electric car. I cook 18-20 of my 21 meals per week. I keep separate checking accounts for essential spending and discretionary spending.

What are some things you see people buy that’s a complete waste of money?
Lattes from Starbucks. Jordan’s. Luxury cars. Cigarettes. Drugs.

Why are you cheap? What’s the end goal?
Frugality is one of the keys to financial freedom.
 

Spaz

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Frugal people tend to be poor because they were frugal.

Well most of time.

OP, you must learn how to spend more because that creates more incentive for you to earn more and thus forcing you to open ur mind which in turn opens many possibilities.

I trust with this message you don't end up spending until you can't even buy a proper meal.
 

metalwater

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as always there are exceptions...

the first thing to do is figure out what your time is worth. some of the cheap things take more time... and becomes a loss. if you would not do anything else anyway, then every penny is worth it.

a simple list of cheap.
- fixer property (ugly). even better if for sale due to the seller having issues.
- all types of cloths. second-hand store. will find expensive items for cheap that are new or like new.
- cars/trucks/other equipment. second or third hand but from the luxury skew.
- other ppls wives; free
- wine for self
- travel (depending on time available)


don't be cheap on.
- gifts for others
- education
- wine for friends
- health


reason to be cheap.
- self-respect
- unless already billion+ is always better to have more power(money)
- image..
- filter
 

Lynx nkaf

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as always there are exceptions...

the first thing to do is figure out what your time is worth. some of the cheap things take more time... and becomes a loss. if you would not do anything else anyway, then every penny is worth it.

a simple list of cheap.
- fixer property (ugly). even better if for sale due to the seller having issues.
- all types of cloths. second-hand store. will find expensive items for cheap that are new or like new.
- cars/trucks/other equipment. second or third hand but from the luxury skew.
- other ppls wives; free
- wine for self
- travel (depending on time available)


don't be cheap on.
- gifts for others
- education
- wine for friends
- health


reason to be cheap.
- self-respect
- unless already billion+ is always better to have more power(money)
- image..
- filter
metalwater! lmao, "other ppl's wives; free"
snuck that into this list, lol, lol
 

metalwater

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metalwater! lmao, "other ppl's wives; free"
snuck that into this list, lol, lol
definitely just for humor. I would not, and I can be really expensive if caught.
 

Mike41090

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Good post. A few things I do that help me out tons is: I have an app that tracks all my bills and automatically pays them. In this app I opened up a vacation savings account where I put around $80 every two weeks in. It’s gotten to the point where I barely notice the dent in my bank account and the vacation account always increases. Another one is slowly put money here and there into my stock portfolio, especially during the coronavirus because stocks are very low. Other than that, I’m just careful with where I spend my money.
 

Mike32ct

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I need to work on my frugality, who here is cheap and not afraid to admit it?

What are some ways you save money?

What are some things you see people buy that’s a complete waste of money?

Why are you cheap? What’s the end goal?
Big ticket Item Savings

1. I also buy pre-owned cars. I've never owned a "new" car. I buy it one or two years old (at a sizeable discount off the new price), and I run it into the ground.

2. I have a small old house. It's not a chick magnet (more of a centipede magnet lol), but I only needed a 15-year mortgage. Will be paid off in 2022.

Saving a Percentage of Each Paycheck

1. Despite saving money on big ticket items, regrettably, I was the guy that would still piss away the rest of my paychecks. So I developed and successfully implemented a painless (and fun) way to transition from spender to saver.

a) Deposit Paycheck #1. Then write yourself a check for 1% of that paycheck amount. Deposit it into your savings account.
b) Deposit Paycheck #2. Write yourself a check for 2% of that amount. Deposit it into your savings account.
c) Deposit Paycheck #3. Write check for 3%. Deposit into savings account.

And so on and so forth until you get the target you want, say 10% (or 20% or more) of your income going into savings. It's totally painless because you are starting so small, and your budget can easily adjust as this "tax" slowly ramps up. (This can all be done electronically. Don't have to write and deposit physical checks.)
 

RickTheToad

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I hate spending money, but I wouldn't say I am cheap per se. I try to shop online where I can compare prices at shopping.google.com. I also use cash back sites and cash back credit cards to maximize my returns. I prefer to eat at home and cook rather than go out (when we were freely able); those I will splurge on sushi every now and then.

If and when I travel, I usually travel pretty cheaply on points and stay at nice hotels from Hilton on Marriott; courtesy of their point program. I gain those points by placing expensive items and business items on their respective credit cards and earn free flights and hotel stays. Pro tip, you book with points through Hilton or Marriott, there are no taxes or resort fees to pay.

I prefer to buy my clothes either from Woot or Amazon's brands, but I have several nice good quality clothes from name brands that I get highly discounted either online or through Nordstrom Rack.

Then again, on the real estate side, I do not mind spending $$$ to rehab a building and bring it back to life. I just dumped five figures into new siding, HVAC and upgraded appliances to help raise the quality of life of the tenants and raise my overall ROI.

Lastly is insurance. I price my insurance out every year. You'd be amazed how much one can save if they are on point with that stuff.

It's rare I find a lady that tracks money flows as much as I do. It only happened once, all the other ones are much looser with their money than I am/was. They always say you cannot take it with you and/or you make good money, why are you holding it? Very strange how the female mind works sometimes.
 

Lynx nkaf

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Big ticket Item Savings

1. I also buy pre-owned cars. I've never owned a "new" car. I buy it one or two years old (at a sizeable discount off the new price), and I run it into the ground.

2. I have a small old house. It's not a chick magnet (more of a centipede magnet lol), but I only needed a 15-year mortgage. Will be paid off in 2022.

Saving a Percentage of Each Paycheck

1. Despite saving money on big ticket items, regrettably, I was the guy that would still piss away the rest of my paychecks. So I developed and successfully implemented a painless (and fun) way to transition from spender to saver.

a) Deposit Paycheck #1. Then write yourself a check for 1% of that paycheck amount. Deposit it into your savings account.
b) Deposit Paycheck #2. Write yourself a check for 2% of that amount. Deposit it into your savings account.
c) Deposit Paycheck #3. Write check for 3%. Deposit into savings account.

And so on and so forth until you get the target you want, say 10% (or 20% or more) of your income going into savings. It's totally painless because you are starting so small, and your budget can easily adjust as this "tax" slowly ramps up. (This can all be done electronically. Don't have to write and deposit physical checks.)
that reminds of the trick I'm using to crush debt in Baby Step 2. I round up to the nearest 50 to make my balance jump down to the next number.
Ex that welder student loan was sitting at 3780 so I paid 190 to hit the 35 hundreds not the 3600 if I had only paid what I budgeted(180). I'm NOT hurting this week because of the extra 10! watch, I'll never just make 180 a week payments.
Its all mind games you play with.
 

Lookatu

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Put me in the frugal/cheap camp. Part of it is driven by single income supporting a whole family including 3 kids and not wanting to be totally enslaved by work. Working ~35 hour work weeks allows me TIME to do stuff with my kids/date/ hobbies. I'm not cheap though on gifts and tips for others. I'm not cheap on my hobbies.

Always weigh money with time though as you can't buy time no matter how wealthy you are. Also weigh money with your health because you can't do squat if working too much affects your health. Try to find a happy medium that works for YOU. :up:
 
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