Money Saving Tips - Discuss how you save money and spend less

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• Organic, whole foods, all-natural - none of this matters. You're paying more for no reason. Organic specifically is a title given to food that is very loosely regulated and means very little. A regular can of corn and an organic can of corn are all the same to your body and one costs 1/3 of the other.

Unfortunately this isn't true. It's also not true if someone says you must always eat organic. Sometimes it matters. Organic can mean different things from different certifications so might need to research individual products, but one constant is that it isn't spayed with pesticides.

Your body can only process out so many toxins in a day. There's lists out there with the worst foods for pesticide saturation ("dirty dozen" etc.). Something like a banana doesn't make as much of a difference if non-organic because you're going to peel off the part that was sprayed and not eat it. Grapes on the other hand are one of the worst and organic could make a difference. On the other hand, if you're sedentary and getting toxins from eating lots of processed foods and drinking lots of alcohol then paying more for organic grapes might not be a noticeable improvement in your health.

Broadly speaking being active and eating healthy is cheaper than not. Less illness and injury means less medical payments and missed work.

When it comes to vitamins, unless you've done bloodwork to see deficiencies it's hard to know what you're lacking. Big pharma would rather you be on their drugs so the doctors they own don't typically prescribe more than minimum vitamin related bloodwork. You might need to go to a naturopath for a full panel and pay out of pocket. Could be $300-400. But then you might be able to target your health naturally and cheaper in the long run.

Most people I see are lacking D3, various B vitamins, and magnesium. These are cheap to supplement. You can also get them through food. D3 is literally free, just go outside and get sunshine. A 20 minute walk every day fixes so many health problems it's absurd and that also doesn't cost anything.

 

[Mister Mint]

Organic can mean different things from different certifications so might need to research individual products, but one constant is that it isn't spayed with pesticides.

That's a common misconception. There are many chemical pesticides used in organic farming and the US Organic Standards doesn't even care how much you use. [source]

There's lists out there with the worst foods for pesticide saturation ("dirty dozen" etc.).

These lists aren't compiled by scientific organizations but, rather, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an activist group. [source]

You might need to go to a naturopath

Consider this added to my "don't do this" list. [rationale]

Broadly speaking being active and eating healthy is cheaper than not. Less illness and injury means less medical payments and missed work. /// D3 is literally free, just go outside and get sunshine. A 20 minute walk every day fixes so many health problems it's absurd and that also doesn't cost anything.

Agreed on this. One of the best investments you can make is basic investments in your own health.

 

[Balalaika Z Bree]

Most people I see are lacking D3, various B vitamins, and magnesium. These are cheap to supplement. You can also get them through food. D3 is literally free, just go outside and get sunshine. A 20 minute walk every day fixes so many health problems it's absurd and that also doesn't cost anything.

This. Eat meat, red if possible, and the fat that comes with it for iron, zinc, and B vitamins. Turkey and chicken are probably better for magnesium.

Most of us, especially those with indoor jobs or darker skin, should be on D3 for the winter, especially if we live far from the equator.

Exercise is worth it for the emotional and, if in nature, spiritual benefits alone.

 

[anustart76]

go to a naturopath

I seriously hope you guys don't do this. "Naturopathy" is just another form of quackery, like "homeopathy," another snake oil nonsense scam.

You might as well ask Gwyneth Paltrow to heal your cancer.

 

[Basil Julep]

You might as well ask Gwyneth Paltrow to heal your cancer.

It really depends on the kind of cancer. There are definitely kinds where a doctor will bill you for endless treatments that will give you an extra month of life but also make you unbearably ill the entire rest of your days (many of which you spend in the hospital for the infusions).

Having seen someone go through that, no thanks. It is a fate worse than goop and vagina scented candles.

Part of having cancer is just having someone to go to with that burden. For non-religious folks that's the doctor. I'd suggest a church but if the naturopath works for you it probably can't hurt.

Of course, if you have a highly treatable form of cancer, go see the doctor...

Oh I guess I'm in the money saving thread...yeah don't smoke, don't drink or drink moderately, wear sunscreen, don't be obese. Fuck cancer. Among other things it ain't cheap.

 

[SleepingBull]

I seriously hope you guys don't do this. "Naturopathy" is just another form of quackery, like "homeopathy," another snake oil nonsense scam.

It depends greatly on what types you're talking about, for what purpose, and what the alternatives are. If you're in a nation where a doctor telling you to eat less and exercise is grounds for their termination, there may be some merits in hearing out the alternatives. Sometimes you don't need $500 pills to cure your scurvy, but the hospital isn't going to get rich selling oranges, is it?

While you need to enter into the situation with the shrewdness usually required when dealing with an unregulated field, a lot of people have lately come to notice that the heavily regulated standard options are horrifyingly corrupt and at the end of the day equally negligent. It would be droll to point out that Thaliodomide does actually solve morning sickness when there have been literally hundreds of medications and procedures more recent than it that have turned out to be as bad or worse. Some of their promised miracles might actually be worth the massive costs and unknowable risks, but by the same token if you can get real chinese snake oil the Omega-3s within will do wonders as well.

I'm not saying go cold turkey if it's a true and honest or your one indulgence. However, maybe cutting your consumption in even half can help you even short term if you're truly struggling. If drinking a Red Bull every other day saves you $45 a month, then that's $45 you can spend or save on/for something else. Also better for your health in the long term.

It can also save a lot of money to come to terms with your indulgences and approach them in the most reasonable way. The gas station energy drink is a fine example: You could buy a single 20 oz can of Monster for $2.50 or buy the 4 pack for $8($2 a can), or, if you plan ahead, you can go buy the 12 pack at your local grocery store for $20($1.66 a can). Save over 80 cents a can by simply accepting you have a problem and buying in bulk. I'm quite certain cigarettes function the same way. Of course, this does require you to have the self control required to not increase your consumption due to having them on hand.

 

[bliblblblbbllb]

You generally want to go to a licensed dietitian if you want to figure out your vitamin shit/use food as medicine, not naturopaths. "Naturopath" and "Nutritionists" are both meaningless words.
Naturopaths and nutritionists can have any or no credentials and IMO you can DIY the research for supplements if you're not a retard....

You can also find general practitioners that are okay with supplements. If you go and say you want to get off your schizophrenia meds and take vitamin C instead, they're probably going to pitch a fit. But if you say you're not comfortable with the side effects from taking Zquill every night and are interested in herbal remedies or lifestyle modifications to sleep better, they'll probably give you recommendations (herbal teas, melatonin.) Specialists are, in my experience, even nicer about this. I.e. arthritis doctors will happily tell you what supplements they recommend for arthritis and what is bullshit. The only doctors that will really throw a fit every time are psychiatrists, for obvious reasons.

The issue with going to naturopaths, nutritionists, dietitians, whatever, is your honesty. If you report you eat veggies and organ meat all day long, but you still have low vitamin and iron levels, they might say you have some disorder and sell you tons of expensive products, when in reality you have lying bitch disease.

If you're fat or generally unhealthy, and just go to your GP and say "I think my diet is exacerbating xyz health symptoms, can you refer me to a dietitian to receive guidance?" you've got pretty good chances. If you don't have a GP get one. "Oh but I don't care about getting checkups" it's not about the check-ups. It's really hard to get referrals to specialists without a GP. Using the ER/urgent care for your primary care is ghetto. Get a GP.

For most people, I'd say start with a self-help-type book from a dietitian or other medical doctor, such as How Not To Die. I'm sure there's plenty of other books for diets to fight against specific ailments, and the library (and library genesis) are free.

---

I'm just honest with myself: I want to drink sugary drinks every day of my life. So I make them. With sugar. Actual literal table sugar is really not the demon that people make it out as. If you don't eat a diet full of processed crap and carbs, it's also not that bad macro-wise. It just is what it is: pure sugar.

I make big pitchers of lemonade and sweet teas of various varieties, and find this is the cheapest way to scratch the itch. A serving (with the amount of sugar I add) is about 120 calories, about the same as a redbull. It's incredibly cheap. The only thing cheaper are those liters of store-brand sodas they still sell for 99 cents, literally cheaper than water where I am.

 

[glass_houses]

So this fortnight I decided to trial a method of money management that my parents use. After paying all my bills, I withdrew a specific amount of cash from my account to cover petrol, groceries and misc spending money. People my age or younger usually do all our transactions electronically and it's actually difficult to find ATMs because the banks and the government want to phase out physical money. Some businesses, particularly in newer or more expensive suburbs won't accept cash anymore. Nevertheless, I decided to try the cash method, because it's worth a shot.

So far it's... going quite well? Having the set amount of cash in my purse is making it a lot easier to curb my spending in general and keep track of what I need vs what I want. At this stage, it's looking like I'll have food for the week, petrol in the car, and all the bills paid with no catching up to do next fortnight. Next week should make or break.

Okay. I learned that if I carry money, I will spend it. So my next move is to portion my cash, and what isn't necessary on the day stays at home.

I will always, always order takeaway on the Friday before payday, no matter what I tell myself or how much food I have in the fridge, and I need to actively budget for that.

Buying all my snacks for the fortnight in advance isn't necessarily cheaper, but it makes life easier and I won't have to go to the supermarket and waste petrol or money on something that looks nice or is on sale, but didn't intend to buy right then. I can also easily ignore snacks sitting in the pantry, but not having a snack available will make me want one with every single fibre of my being. When I was still on unemployment I used to buy a family packet of Tim Tams every fortnight, because I don't particularly like Tim Tams they'd last a lot longer than something I did like.

I also have to have a dedicated budget allowance for books, because I will always buy books.

Being a compulsive royally sucks, because I have to spend so much time tricking myself into not spending. However, acknowledging that I have a lifelong enduring problem and figuring out ways to get around it or mitigate it, instead of vowing after every purchase that next week I really will completely stop forever, seems to be a generally more viable approach. If my brain worked the way it should, or there was a pill that could make me 100% 'normal' then certainly I could live the same way as everyone else does, but it doesn't, there isn't, and I can't.


Our microwave died this week, which is going to make life a bit difficult for a while. We can get a secondhand one for $60 off of Gumtree, but housemate wants to buy one new. I'm currently trying to explain to him that we're much better off getting a good model secondhand than we are buying a shitty Kmart one new. Housemate is generally much, much better with money than I am, but he has trouble wrapping his head around the concept that the cheapest option sometimes costs you a lot more in the long run.

EDIT: grammar is a thing.

 

[WelperHelper99]

Our microwave died this week, which is going to make life a bit difficult for a while. We can get a secondhand one for $60 off of Gumtree, but housemate wants to buy one new. I'm currently trying to explain to him that we're much better off getting a good model secondhand than we are buying a shitty Kmart one new. Housemate is generally much, much better with money than I am, but he has trouble wrapping his head around the concept that the cheapest option sometimes costs you a lot more in the long run.

Buying something reliable, even if used, is better than a new piece of junk. Just look at a Toyota Camry. It's cheap, doesn't cost much new or used, isn't flashy, definitely isn't winning awards for horsepower, but it runs and does it with gusto. Repairs are cheap as well, every shop on the planet knows how to fix it. In short, the used reliable microwave is the way to go.

 

[sodaboard]

Save over 80 cents a can by simply accepting you have a problem and buying in bulk.

this can be extended to everything else as well. if you're a fat fuck Great American who eats at McDonald's every other day, or has constant cravings for fast food burgers/subs/mexican, and you've taken steps in the past to stop spending that has ultimately backfired with you just binging on as much trash as you can, compromise and buy the ingredients that make up those meals from your grocery store and make it yourself. it will be cheaper and healthier in the long run.

 

[Chuck 'n Geck]

buy the ingredients that make up those meals from your grocery store and make it yourself. it will be cheaper and healthier in the long run.

Just don't buy proccessed cheese if you actually want to go the healthy route.

 

[DeadwastePrime]

Just don't buy processed cheese if you actually want to go the healthy route.

i love processed cheese

 

[Chuck 'n Geck]

i love processed cheese

I don't blame ya, Mc's seems to use it a lot.

 

[glass_houses]

i love processed cheese

Every two or three years I get a weird craving for those plastic cheese flavoured Kraft Singles. I buy a small pack, consoom, and don't think about it again for another few years.

Which reminds me that I'm about due for it now...

 

[NoReturn]

this can be extended to everything else as well. if you're a fat fuck Great American who eats at McDonald's every other day, or has constant cravings for fast food burgers/subs/mexican, and you've taken steps in the past to stop spending that has ultimately backfired with you just binging on as much trash as you can, compromise and buy the ingredients that make up those meals from your grocery store and make it yourself. it will be cheaper and healthier in the long run.

If you get cravings for fast food, it isn't always just that the food itself is hyper-palatable. Sometimes you're lacking in iodine.
If you use non-iodized salt at home and don't have a lot of things like eggs or seaweed in your diet, then the only place you're getting iodine will be the iodized salt on McDonald's french fries.

 

[Balalaika Z Bree]

It really depends on the kind of cancer. There are definitely kinds where a doctor will bill you for endless treatments that will give you an extra month of life but also make you unbearably ill the entire rest of your days (many of which you spend in the hospital for the infusions).

Having seen someone go through that, no thanks. It is a fate worse than goop and vagina scented candles.

Part of having cancer is just having someone to go to with that burden. For non-religious folks that's the doctor. I'd suggest a church but if the naturopath works for you it probably can't hurt.

Of course, if you have a highly treatable form of cancer, go see the doctor...

Wow I think you've brought up a couple of biggies here.

The issue with a naturopath is if you go to one instead of to a suitable oncologist or other highly suitable practitioner of the best medicine you can access. I would be dead against somebody listening to a layman or anyone who does not diagnose and treat cancers for deciding whether they have a terminal or treatable condition. The 10 or even 5 year survival rate for many cancers is almost zero without severe interventions, and the earlier you start treatment the less chance of it spreading and demanding more severe treatments. Wasting days or weeks with this or that could be the difference between treatable or terminal.

That modern medicine is a substitute for religion for some is ghastly, shows the state of their souls and their desperate need of saving faith.

Sometimes you don't need $500 pills to cure your scurvy, but the hospital isn't going to get rich selling oranges, is it?

Scurvy is a strange historic condition, I do not think we can make our own Vitamin C, we need to consume it from animal or plant sources, but I do not know if the historic condition and the horrific general malnutrition observed recently in some people really is the same as the historic scurvy even if a lot of the symptoms are similar. The dank and brutal environment of the ships and dungeons where people used to get it back in the day is a major confounder.

Get a GP

Good idea, if you already have a good one try to keep them, if you have a mediocre one, try to get a good one.

You generally want to go to a licensed dietitian if you want to figure out your vitamin shit/use food as medicine, not naturopaths. "Naturopath" and "Nutritionists" are both meaningless words.
Naturopaths and nutritionists can have any or no credentials and IMO you can DIY the research for supplements if you're not a retard....

I think the dismal failure of health and the diabetic and obese epidemic has as much to do with terrible advice, yes from food pyramid shills, as it does with people not sticking to the advice. The "fat is your enemy" brigade helped to sell a lot of cereal and highly processed garbage, and a lot of drugs to handle the effects of said garbage. I think most dietitians will help if your diet is terrible (e.g. they'll advise you to eat less, cut out the worst foods and drinks) but may mislead you, even if you present with serious conditions. Some dietitians will advise against extreme low or zero carb diets for people with diabetes. I think what you want to do is go to an advisor that is evidence based, and has no issues walking through the evidence with you, obviously not line-by-line but willing to talk statistical significance and crucially what the limits and weaknesses of the study is. And who funded it!

I think "buy once and cry once" is less relevant than it used to be, now they make ICE cars much more complex so you need expensive modules replaced rather than simple DIY'able work. Planned obsolescence is the enemy of frugality and independent repair. To save money try to keep your old repairable stuff as long as possible, even if it means higher bills elsewhere (worse fuel economy etc.). You can buy many fills at the pump with the price of the interest alone on a car finance plan.

 

[ATI Escapee]

Bread maker. 5 ingredients and push start. Fresh bread. Its 10 dollars for 25lbs of flour and if you dont wanna buy your yeast just catch some from the air. Havent bought a loaf from the store in 7 months now. Saves like 15 to 20 dollars a month depending on your sandwhich habits. Plus, pizza dough. Also can your own jam from frozen berries, real easy nearly foolproof and botulism has a hard hard time living in canned (jarred) berries.

 

[WelperHelper99]

I'd say getting birthday/holiday cards at dollar stores. It's a small savings, but it's cheaper than Hallmark, and they're pretty funny usually

 

[ToroidalBoat]

"Don't grocery shop when hungry" really is a good idea.

 

[Catgirl Enthusiast]

Bread maker. 5 ingredients and push start. Fresh bread. Its 10 dollars for 25lbs of flour and if you dont wanna buy your yeast just catch some from the air. Havent bought a loaf from the store in 7 months now. Saves like 15 to 20 dollars a month depending on your sandwhich habits. Plus, pizza dough. Also can your own jam from frozen berries, real easy nearly foolproof and botulism has a hard hard time living in canned (jarred) berries.

During covid lockdown shit I kneaded fresh bread for my kids when everyone else in the country was starving for it. It was excellent wonderful bread the best bread but fuck did it take time. I spent half my day making fucking bread. A bread maker might make it easier, but a loaf of bread costs a buck fifty post covid. It was 79 cents pre covid. If you eat that many sandwiches I wonder about your health. Besides that, how is canning frozen fruit jelly cheap? And how is it even safe? Store bought fruit is expensive. When I was poor I would go out in the woods and pick black and dew berries to make jam. When a jar of jam only costs a couple bucks, is it really worth it when your ten dollar bag of frozen berries reduces down to a couple of cups and the effort of turning that into jam results in ten dollars worth of jam? BTW botulism loves canned foods. The only time you hear about botulism now days is in reference to canned foods or if your wife gets pregnant and the nurses tell her not to eat canned foods or feed them to her baby.

There is nothing like fresh bread or homemade jam, but it doesn't belong in a money saving thread. I could buy a month's worth of jam and bread with the labor that it took me to write this post.