The Unofficial Kiwi Poorfag Resource Thread - share recipes and resources for your area (both government and personal) here

[Spergerella]

Not sure if this was mentioned yet, but if you have a credit card that 'awards' you cash back, I suggest using it for everything that you are able and willing to pay back immediately.

I use mine for bills, groceries, etc, pocket the cash back and then pay off the credit card. This is not something to do if you have self control issues and are likely to rack up bills you can't pay.

 

[Kelly's Yeeted Legs]

Haven't seen this guy mentioned, but he does a llot of budget meals. Here's an example. His cchannel is fill of them, plus hilarious taste tests of dollar store food and why s lot of them are more expensive in the long run.

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

I'm an autist who eats like a 10 year old, but adding some frozen shrimp&veggies to your ramen is an ok way to make it slightly less horrible for you.

All my veggies scraps are bug food, and all produce that goes bad goes to them. Bugs are an excellent poorfag pet/hobby/autistic special interest/etc. They're just neat little guys.

Also the County health department sucks but it's better than nothing, it's how I get my meds and shit. If you need crazy pills or birth control or w/e and have no other options, try calling your county health department.

Agreed, they are fun to watch, especially the mealworm/beetle colonies. I'll never get over how busy the adults seem to be despite like not really accomplishing anything, but they always have somewhere to be, lol. They do love scraps. I just tossed mine some bell pepper stems and cores. I think I paid like $15 for the set of drawers and maybe $15 more for the larvae. I flake my own oatmeal from groats and a lb of groats makes a lot of oatmeal. It depends on your ambient temp how fast they develop. They do prefer around 75F, but mine did fine in the 60s in the winter, they just developed slower. I imagine you could use a plant mat carefully on it to heat them, but I am not sure it is necessary.

 

[Android raptor]

Agreed, they are fun to watch, especially the mealworm/beetle colonies. I'll never get over how busy the adults seem to be despite like not really accomplishing anything, but they always have somewhere to be, lol. They do love scraps. I just tossed mine some bell pepper stems and cores. I think I paid like $15 for the set of drawers and maybe $15 more for the larvae. I flake my own oatmeal from groats and a lb of groats makes a lot of oatmeal. It depends on your ambient temp how fast they develop. They do prefer around 75F, but mine did fine in the 60s in the winter, they just developed slower. I imagine you could use a plant mat carefully on it to heat them, but I am not sure it is necessary.

Yeah learning to raise/breed feeder insects if you have insectivores as pets is pretty much the ultimate poorfag hack for keeping beardies/hedgehogs/geckos/tarantulas/frogs etc. Not only will it save you money in the long run, you might even be able to earn money eventually if you end up with enough to sell.

Let me just say that dubia roaches especially will never last long if you know enough reptile/etc keepers.

 

[Aunt Carol]

Related threads:

Household tips & tricks:
https://kiwifarms.net/threads/household-tips-and-tricks.116767/

Home remedies:
https://kiwifarms.net/threads/home-remedies-folk-medicine-and-granny-cures.119956/

@toilet_rainbow consider putting this in the OP

 

[toilet_rainbow]

@toilet_rainbow consider putting this in the OP

Wow, this thread really grew!

Sure, I can add them later!

 

[Pillar of Autism]

Also, Arthur is right. Having fun isn't hard when you got a library card. Seriously, your local public library is not obsolete. The past decade and especially during covid, many public libraries have really ramped up their online offerings. Many of them have free access to streaming services, ebooks and audio books, free language courses and stuff all at the comfort of your home for the price of nothing, you just have to live in the district and it is easy to sign up, just show proof of address and fill out some forms.

Some libraries even let you rent other things like tools and whatnot. It is worth checking out.

Seconding the library recommendation. You can even sometimes get cards from districts you don't live in. Some places have regional cards available for a small fee. You can check out music and movies, some have 3d printers and cricuts.

If you live in the US they participate in inter-library loan programs. You tell them what book you're looking for that they don't have, they find the book, you check it out for the standard time period. As long as you return it on time there's no cost to you. It's been decades since I used ILL but I think there's a way you can pay to offset the shipping costs, but it's voluntary.

Another option for cheap books is Kindle Unlimited. Personally this is the system I went with. It's less than $15 a month for all you can read. There are hundreds of thousands of books available through this program. Not a lot of NYT best sellers or mainstream authors you find at the local bookstore, mostly independent publishers. The books can be amazing, or crap. Most of the ones I read have a couple typos in them. Usually quotes that don't get closed properly. But I read at least one book a day and I'm fairly picky in what genres I read.

If you're a TV watcher I suggest you pick one streaming service. You can easily nickel and dime yourself to death with these, so pick one with a lot of your type of content. There are genre specific ones, ones that give you access to different cable TV channels, general purpose ones, etc. I don't recommend Apple TV, unless you can get it for free for a few months (usually by buying a new device). They don't have a whole lot of content yet.

The library I go to has a section in the basement where they sometimes sell off shit that nobody has checked out for a really long time, and it's really cheap (the most expensive DVD there was 3 dollars). As someone who loves shitty sci-fi horror B-movies, that place is a fucking goldmine.

 

[Shek$il]

Possums don't have rabies. They cannot carry rabies. Possums are cheaper than dogs or cats, and make a friendly companion.

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

The library I go to has a section in the basement where they sometimes sell off shit that nobody has checked out for a really long time, and it's really cheap (the most expensive DVD there was 3 dollars). As someone who loves shitty sci-fi horror B-movies, that place is a fucking goldmine.

Oh yeah, library sales are amazing.

Local for sale/trade groups (mostly on Facebook) are a good way to pick up nice stuff for cheap. A friend of mine sells stuff through them. I got a printer/scanner for $10, the printer doesn't work but I just wanted the scanner. Antique porcelain dishes for almost nothing. Wall art for a dollar. Flannel sheets for $5 (excellent for poorfags in the winter - spend less on heating at night with those).

Garage sales and flea markets (if those exist in your area) are a fun way to spend a Saturday and you never know what treasures you might find for almost nothing. Growing up practically everything we owned came from those places. We owned a lot of stuff too. My dad found an $800 wood saw of some sort for $50. I found a huge desk for $25, just needed a couple screws tightened in a drawer. Books, magazines, toys, clothes. If you go just as their closing for the weekend you can offer just about any price and they'll take it because they want the stuff gone.

I don't recommend having garage sales to make money. There's a lot of hidden costs: labels, signs, permits, adequate loose change for people, the sheer time investment. If you're lucky you'll get a couple hundred dollars, but you'll spend days in preparation and the days for the sale sitting around doing nothing. Plus you'll end up taking a bunch of stuff to Goodwill anyway because no one wanted it.

 

[AGuntyPaajet]

If you are a poorfag learn how to Foraging:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk5KvJPikK00ec1IHgW2VJ-s2AKOvclJZ

Atomic Shrimp Budget challenges:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk5KvJPikK00j3VZri9pSyzd-i5Q7ktRU

 

[Android raptor]

Possums don't have rabies. They cannot carry rabies. Possums are cheaper than dogs or cats, and make a friendly companion.

Yeah but it's incredibly difficult to get their dietary needs right in captivity, and even then they only live like 2 1/2, 3 years.

Rats are the better choice if you want that kinda pet (just prepare for vet visits especially as they age, rats get tumors in particular).

 

[𝕺𝖑' 𝕯𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖘𝖔]

Re-dyeing faded clothes can bring new life to them. You can dye them with the original color or overdye them for interesting color effects. If they're cotton, all you need is procion mx dye (costs around $5-7 per jar on amazon) soda ash/washing soda, something to stir with (I use paint mixing sticks) and a clean plastic bucket. Non iodized salt is a good addition to help the fabric soak up more of the dye, but not strictly necessary. Wear rubber gloves the whole time you're handling any of this stuff, soda ash is caustic and dye will stain your hands obvi.

Spoiler: Steps

1. fill the bucket with warm water (around shower temp) and add about 1 cup soda ash and half cup of salt per gallon of water, stir it to dissolve.
2. Add clothes and let them soak for about 20 minutes. Make sure they're all fully wet, bundled fabric can have dry spots which will lead to blotchy color.
3. Take the clothes out of the bucket and add dye to the bucket, one small 2/3 oz jar per lb of dry weight of fabric. More or less depending on how light or dark you want the color. Stir to disperse it evenly. Add more water and soda ash if necessary.
4. Test the color with a small rag or a piece of paper towel to make sure the color is what you want
5. Put clothes back in and stir them around vigorously to get the dye to sink in evenly. Let them soak for up to an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. By the end the color of the dye bath should be more transparent. This means the fabric has absorbed most of the dye. You generally want it to look a shade or two darker than you want the final product to look, some of the color will inevitably wash out.
6. Either rinse in the sink until the water runs clear, or you can toss them right in the washing machine if you're only doing one color.
7. Wash on a hot setting with normal detergent and an extra rinse. Do separate loads for each color if applicable. Enjoy

 

[Water-T]

And if you’ve got an Aldi nearby, consider paying them a visit for pantry staples and certain proteins

Aldi has really great deals on fresh produce and meats

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

Yeah learning to raise/breed feeder insects if you have insectivores as pets is pretty much the ultimate poorfag hack for keeping beardies/hedgehogs/geckos/tarantulas/frogs etc. Not only will it save you money in the long run, you might even be able to earn money eventually if you end up with enough to sell.

Let me just say that dubia roaches especially will never last long if you know enough reptile/etc keepers.

I raise mine for chicken snacks. But every once in a while, my cats will be interested in eating them. No idea why because it is so random and a novelty to them. They just want a few to snack on (the larvae, never the adults) and then they are good for three weeks or whatever. Their pupae stage is sort of gross though. The first time I picked one up, I thought they were dormant. Well, yes/no. They mostly don't respond to stimuli except when they do and it freaked the shit out of me the first time. Now I know!

At anyrate, it is way cheaper than buying mealworms from China at the store. I know what I am feeding them and how they are raised and it is worth it to me for that alone.

 

[CumDumpster]

Some weird bicycling shit incoming.

Cars are fucking expensive. Real fucking expensive. So a bicycle is handy, especially if a commute is less than 20 miles (and most especially for those who aren't avid cyclists for distances of 10 miles... of if a bit on the heavier side, within 5 miles). It's a cheap way to get groceries, get to work if you have the fortune of working close, and requires very little in the way of expenditure. I know in many areas of Burgerland it seems untenable because of poor infrastructure, but recall that it's considered a vehicle and has rights on the road (just wear a helmet and outfit your bike with some cheap lights to make you more visible - high vis shirts help, too. Been riding for many, many years with zero tangles with cars - all of my accidents happen to involve a gravel bike, single-track and trees/boulders/jumps I shouldn't be taking). Just don't ride like an asshole, and you should be able to commute relatively safely. (If I could survive amongst the asshats of Norfolk, VA, you can survive as well.)

>helmet
I don't use a helmet, but I have an industrial tricycle (I regularly transport with mine, my town's small, but the roads aren't easy on bike wheels).
With more than two wheels, it's unlikely for you to fall over, and I only ever fallen onto my side twice on my old recumbent. I've gotten more compliments (especially when out on CRV collection rounds) than car tangles. It's tougher to stop when hauling something behind your cycle, as happens to me with my cart quite frequently.

However, there's quite a bit of sharp stuff on the roads that one should be careful of. Luckily, liners and mountain tires are good options for rough terrain (knowing my rough riding style and infrequent offroading events, I have both).
I'm unsure I need a bell as I usually strap a radio on and either listen to my audio player (HiBy R2, it usually shuffles through a playlist of all my card's contents) with it's Aux-in or what's in the air.

The only thing I may need is a bottle holder that can fit a 40-ounce jug. Having to drink at stops can be a bit cumbersome since I have to lay my jug in the cargo basket.

 

[NoReturn]

Die instead of using air conditioning.

Or instead of dying.

• Cold water on pulse points
• Ice packs/Techni ice on stomach or between thighs
• Fans fans a million times fans. Get a fan. I don't care if you get it from the dollar store and it breaks after two weeks, you need it for those two weeks.

Store a case of bottled water in the trunk of your car so that you never have to buy a beverage out of desperation while out and about.

If concerned about car plastic, fill up a bunch of glass or aluminum bottles and throw those in.

You can make a convincing seafood marinara sauce with a tin of crushed tomatoes, a tin of sardines (preferably in tomato sauce but sardines in oil will do), some mixed herbs and some garlic. Puree the sardines to maximize the value - the texture of pureed sardines bulks up the sauce and will fill you up quicker. Makes 3-4 serves.

Puttanesca is also a good one, and the name translated to English is "whore's pasta" because it was made with what they had lying around.

After making cheese like GargoyleGorl explained, you can use the whey (the liquid from straining it) in cooking. You can make fermented lemonade or other fizzy drinks with it, or mix it with flour to make bread, cakes, scones or pancakes.

Whey is also "whey". As in, the protein drink stuff.

Not sure if this was mentioned yet, but if you have a credit card that 'awards' you cash back, I suggest using it for everything that you are able and willing to pay back immediately.

Seconding this one.
Also, check if you have rewards. It sounds obvious, but if I had a nickle for every person I've met irl who had a rewards card and never cashed in the rewards, I'd have a dime.

Possums don't have rabies. They cannot carry rabies. Possums are cheaper than dogs or cats, and make a friendly companion.

Just don't expect them to last as long as a racoon or a cat.

 

[EyeBP]

Well yup I've def been a poorfag. Been through 2 ug degrees, honours and grad school to get my PhD and these are my best.

1) Even if u are poor u can buy pot seeds. Even if its a shit strain its easy to grow and easy to sell at a profit (there are lots who smoke even ditchweed in this world) and if u plow money from your initial grow back into a full hydro setup u will make dat paper and u can start selling bulk rather than a bag at a time. Thats how I funded my undergrad. There was less weed on campus when I left.....I will say though growing large quantities of hydro pot, trimming, curing and packaing it is more work than u think it will be. (in minecraft obviously feds).

2) Play a musical instrument and know the market. Buying 'broken' guitars, setting them up and doing simple fixes and flipping them has kept food on my table.

3) Rice. Omfg anything over rice makes a decent meal. Learn to cook it right though. No need to eat mush.

4) Learn to cook from scratch. I did from youtube and I can cook most things from basic ingredients. Saves so much. also no matter how freezer burned or crappy your meat is anything tastes good in curry.

5) Learn to code. There is no cost and it is easy to build a front-running trading bot with a bit of knowledge and that is a free money fountain most of the time.

6) Be able to sew. A small sewing kit costs next to nothing and replacing clothing can be expensive. Repair that rip. Get good enough and u can make your own as a possible income stream or just to save money.

7) buy top quality hiking boots or trail runners for shoes. They last so long in my experience that you would have spent more on cheap shoes over the same duration.

Fishing and/or hunting. All of that free meat swimming, flying and walking around and here's you buying poor quality and expensive supermarket protein like a sucker.

9) Catalytic converters. Under cover of darkness an auto scrapyard is a literal goldmine...

10) Stop driving ffs. cars and petrol are expensive. You can walk just fine and order anything u cannot get easily. if u can go full off grid even better. I haven't had a car of my own since I was maybe 21?

Just my top ones (i have loads more) but I am glad I learnt these as with the cost of living rn I need them.

 

[𝕺𝖑' 𝕯𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖘𝖔]

Well yup I've def been a poorfag. Been through 2 ug degrees, honours and grad school to get my PhD and these are my best.

1) Even if u are poor u can buy pot seeds. Even if its a shit strain its easy to grow and easy to sell at a profit (there are lots who smoke even ditchweed in this world) and if u plow money from your initial grow back into a full hydro setup u will make dat paper and u can start selling bulk rather than a bag at a time. Thats how I funded my undergrad. There was less weed on campus when I left.....I will say though growing large quantities of hydro pot, trimming, curing and packaing it is more work than u think it will be. (in minecraft obviously feds).

2) Play a musical instrument and know the market. Buying 'broken' guitars, setting them up and doing simple fixes and flipping them has kept food on my table.

3) Rice. Omfg anything over rice makes a decent meal. Learn to cook it right though. No need to eat mush.

4) Learn to cook from scratch. I did from youtube and I can cook most things from basic ingredients. Saves so much. also no matter how freezer burned or crappy your meat is anything tastes good in curry.

5) Learn to code. There is no cost and it is easy to build a front-running trading bot with a bit of knowledge and that is a free money fountain most of the time.

6) Be able to sew. A small sewing kit costs next to nothing and replacing clothing can be expensive. Repair that rip. Get good enough and u can make your own as a possible income stream or just to save money.

Sewing machines can be had dirt cheap secondhand. Mending by hand takes ten times as long as using a machine for less of a sturdy result. Look for pretested machines though, loads of ones that are useless for anything but parts are out there



Quesadillas are a godsend for cheap meals. Oil a frying pan, put on medium heat, place flour tortilla in frying pan, add shredded cheese and any finely chopped extras or shredded meat you have (I'm fond of pickled jalapenos tbh), fold over the tortilla, let fry for a few minutes, flip, lightly salt the outside of the tortilla (trust me) fry some more so the other side browns and serve with whatever condiment sounds good. Pasta sauce works well in lieu of salsa, especially if you put it in the microwave for like 30 seconds to heat up before dipping the quesadilla in it.

 

[EyeBP]

Sewing machines can be had dirt cheap secondhand. Mending by hand takes ten times as long as using a machine for less of a sturdy result. Look for pretested machines though, loads of ones that are useless for anything but parts are out there



Quesadillas are a godsend for cheap meals. Oil a frying pan, put on medium heat, place flour tortilla in frying pan, add shredded cheese and any finely chopped extras or shredded meat you have (I'm fond of pickled jalapenos tbh), fold over the tortilla, let fry for a few minutes, flip, lightly salt the outside of the tortilla (trust me) fry some more so the other side browns and serve with whatever condiment sounds good. Pasta sauce works well in lieu of salsa, especially if you put it in the microwave for like 30 seconds to heat up before dipping the quesadilla in it.

Thats true sewing machines can be bought very cheap used if thats your thing. Personally I hand sew as once u get good at it still takes longer but not that much longer and u can't carry a machine in your bag.

100% agree on quesadillas. Any tortilla based food tbh. Another good thing to add to cooking is worshtershire sauce. add somemof that and some peanut butter to chicken and its close enough to satay.

 

[Accept Only Substitutes]

Re-dyeing faded clothes can bring new life to them. You can dye them with the original color or overdye them for interesting color effects. If they're cotton, all you need is procion mx dye (costs around $5-7 per jar on amazon) soda ash/washing soda, something to stir with (I use paint mixing sticks) and a clean plastic bucket. Non iodized salt is a good addition to help the fabric soak up more of the dye, but not strictly necessary. Wear rubber gloves the whole time you're handling any of this stuff, soda ash is caustic and dye will stain your hands obvi.

Animal fibers and nylon can be dyed with food coloring and an acid to set the dye. Typically vinegar, but citric acid works too (unsweetened kool-aid packets).

Add the food coloring to water first, make sure it's dissolved well if using icing pastes, add a big splash of vinegar, add the fabric, boil until water is clear. Or mostly clear, the fabric might not take up all the color. Rinse throughly! If color runs in the rinse water boil it in more vinegar water.

Because food coloring is food safe you can use the pots you cook in for this.

May not work on silk, but wool/alpaca/mohair/other animal fibers work really well. This is probably not useful to most people, wool garments aren't ubiquitous anymore and run on the expensive side, but just in case you should know this.

If you knit finding ugly wool sweaters at thrift stores can be a way to get nice yarn for cheap. If the seams are surged then it's no good for recycling, the yarn will unravel into multiple short pieces.

3) Rice. Omfg anything over rice makes a decent meal. Learn to cook it right though. No need to eat mush.

If you have a microwave and a casserole dish you can make perfect rice in less than twenty minutes.

1 cup rice, 2 cups water. Microwave on high for about ten minutes.

2 cups rice, 3 cups water. Microwave on high for about 15 minutes.

If you're unsure about the time try cooking for half the time. If the rice is not fully translucent cook for a few more minutes. If you think the rice might be too dry add some more water. The times and amounts above work for me.

When the time is up if the rice is fully translucent but seems wet, cook for another couple minutes. Repeat that until the water is absorbed. Make a note of the time and the amount of water you used for next time.

Might take a couple tries to get it right but it's foolproof when you do. This works on every variety of white rice I've ever used. It does not work on brown rice.