So What Are You Doing To Save Money?

UnscathedFlyingObject · Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:54 am

Just wondering how extreme it can get around here. I'm saving a bunch of moneys by taking the DIY approach by:

- Cutting my own hair now. It cost me like $13 a month around here, so it's huge savings in the long term! A hair clipper costs less than $20 and it's a cinch to use. If you're like me and all you need is simple all around short haircut, don't bother going to the barber. You can do a very decent job by yourself.

- Prepping my own lunches and bringing my own snacks. At my previous job, I was peer pressured to waste a gazillion eating out with co-workers, but now I mostly bring my own stuff. HUGE SAVINGS. Food costs in the city are like rape.

- Not buying any new games. I broke the rule like 2 times last year for "need to play nao! games." I'm picking stuff at half price or less. RE4 Wii, HotDC, and GoW2 for $10 each. Cha Ching!

More to come!

Aru-san · Post by **Aru-san** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:57 am

Saving my allowance and report card money.

20 bucks a week for allowance.
80 bucks to come for my report card.

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 2:12 am

Buying ps2 games instead of xbox 360 games or ps3 games (okay bad joke).

robivy64 · Post by **robivy64** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 2:43 am

PCB collecting does not allow for this "saving money" you speak of.

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:43 am

Buying a 500$ expresso machine so that I can make them myself.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:45 am

-Cutting up my wife's credit card
-Making her go give handjobs at Dogenzaka... the Chinese girls need the competition anyway.

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:49 am

GaijinPunch wrote:-Cutting up my wife's credit card

trivial · Post by **trivial** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:50 am

I've decided I only ever liked espresso in the company of expensive candy. It's like I was kidding myself about not wanting sweetener.

I'm not really doing anything new to save money. I buy all I can stand to at thrift stores.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:57 am

GaijinPunch wrote:-Cutting up my wife's credit card
-Making her go give handjobs at Dogenzaka... the Chinese girls need the competition anyway.

I take she doesn't read the forums

.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:09 am

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote: I take she doesn't read the forums .

She wouldn't even know where to start looking, how to search, etc. etc. It's pretty nice.

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:19 am

I try to cut down on how much I drive my car, and if I have to drive somewhere, I don't use the A/C unless I really have to, like if I'm about to go on the highway or something. I've also changed the way I drive too, I obey the speed limit even if everyone else around me is zooming right by me. Well, I'm not going to be the one to get a speeding ticket now am I?

Haven't bought any new games, nor do I really plan on doing so. There's not really much new stuff out there that really interests me right now anyway; most new games are not even rent-worthy. Besides, Fallout 3 is still entertaining me at the moment and I've also got GTA4. Of course, I really play as much anymore because I'm focusing more on my college courses.

I copied my parents CD collection so I wouldn't have to buy any CDs, now I have pretty much every classic rock song available on my computer. My parents have good taste in music.

I stopped eating out and using the vending machines at school, it's just cheaper to drink water, plus it's better for you!

Of course, I'm unemployed at the moment, so that kinda forces me to save money, but I hope I get another job soon. I can't believe those jerks at Dell laid me off on December!

Domino · Post by **Domino** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:21 am

* After spending $150 on LDs I have to hold off spending for awhile.
* Download movies from the internet (going to movie theaters by yourself is boring and honestly not many good films nowadays).
* Buying one Anime DVD a week that's $10 or less before shipping.
* Eat more on campus.

My hair stylus place cost me $31 every five weeks ($26 for the hair, and $5 tip). Crazy money but hell they do a fantastic job with my hair.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:41 am

FatCobra wrote:I stopped eating out and using the vending machines at school, it's just cheaper to drink water, plus it's better for you!

At my previous job, we had free coffee for all and oh god how much coffee I drank. My new job has downgraded me to a water cooler, but that's cool. All that coffee was turning me like the coffee kid from South Park.

FatCobra wrote:I can't believe those jerks at Dell laid me off on December!

I used to call Dell all the time in one of my previous jobs. Surprisingly, ppl were really helpful most of the time and they didn't send my call to India. Nothing against Hindus but talking to someone who barely speaks English in English is impossible.

GaijinPunch wrote:
UnscathedFlyingObject wrote: I take she doesn't read the forums .
She wouldn't even know where to start looking, how to search, etc. etc. It's pretty nice.

What if she walks into you being a total jerk on the internetz?

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:46 am

Not spending a dime on anything.

Of course, being flat broke helps this process along, but it also means I'm really only breaking even

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:14 am

Let's see...

Using laptop instead of desktop for teh internets. Less watts per hour.

Sticking to my promise of being a pirate SOB and not give Sony any of my moolah.

Recording the music from Spiralfrog.com (legal and free music service) via my computer's digital out into my Minidisc.

Bringing my own salad at work and paying only for a sandwich or soup.

Buying a monthly bus pass instead of paying 2.50 every day for transportation.

Using Skype to talk to friends and family instead of paying long distance or using my minutes.

And some other means, but they are so borderline illegal, that I may risk getting booted from the forum.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:15 am

Save money???

No seriously, I try to save a bit on food by cooking at home a lot and having the dependable pb&j for lunch. I don't have the new consoles or anything--but it hardly compensates for my tastes in expensive beer, scotch and *gulp* running a record label (the least lucrative 'business' there is to run--see an earlier post about copying cds...)

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 7:32 am

Well, when it comes to games, I can't even remember the last time I bought a new, shrink-wrapped one at retail stores. I just wait to find them used. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't: I'm still trying to find an used SIE or an R-Type Tactics.

Also, I'm progressively switching on the homebrew / freeware camp. My most played game of 2008 is MeRAMAN's Tetris.

t0yrobo · Post by **t0yrobo** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:26 am

The Coop wrote:Not spending a dime on anything.

Of course, being flat broke helps this process along, but it also means I'm really only breaking even

Ain't that the truth. I should be getting a job real shortly here so saving money won't be quite as much as a concern, there's plenty of things I'll be needing that I haven't been able to buy though.

I just can't wait till winter is over so I can quit paying heating bills.

jochen · Post by **jochen** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 9:00 am

If you want to save a lot of money ....

use your hands ... you don´t need a girl friend or a wife.

Surely life will be much cheaper then ....

... and absolutely boring.

Jochen.

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 9:12 am

Not buying what I'm not in need of.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 9:19 am

Specineff wrote:Let's see...

Using laptop instead of desktop for teh internets. Less watts per hour.

Yeah, when I finally get the Core i7 / Radeon HD 4870x2 machine working, it'll probably remain off most of the time unless I can underclock it. It's a shame 'cuz I wanted to use the new parts for organizing some files - well, I suppose I can do that anyway. It won't become a general purpose machine - got a C2D E6600 for that, and the laptop is nice too.

That could save a hundred bucks over the course of a year, easily.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 9:36 am

havent bought anything off yahoo for a few months.. thats plenty enough.

CIT · Post by **CIT** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 9:44 am

Yesterday I was at the supermarket. To save money I bought the €0.39 mustard instead of the €2.49 one.

Tastes like crap.

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 9:47 am

CIT wrote:Yesterday I was at the supermarket. To save money I bought the €0.39 mustard instead of the €2.49 one.

Tastes like crap.

This is why i never bought the cheap soy sauce.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:42 am

I'm buying the odd Cave kit here and there, bought myself a 1080p Sony Bravia for Xmas. I'm restricting myself to only two holidays a year in Asia.

The savings are adding up already.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:55 pm

What if she walks into you being a total jerk on the internetz?

She does all the time.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:07 pm

neorichieb1971 wrote:I'm buying the odd Cave kit here and there, bought myself a 1080p Sony Bravia for Xmas. I'm restricting myself to only two holidays a year in Asia.

The savings are adding up already.

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:16 pm

i too will be cutting my own hair

i've got a bit of a mullet goin' on now, so i should probably go for the skin-head some time this month.

trying to stick to my 1 pcb a year rule.

with my savings, plus selling one of my guitars and a couple of cave boards, i could probably go for a year if i find myself out of work (likely possibility)

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:29 pm

I almost never go to the cinema these days and rather watch movies via the Amazon DVD mail service. It´s cheap, most movies go to DVD quickly anyways, and as a positive sideeffect I don´t need to watch TV ever again OR buy the DVDs.

On the last movie I´ve seen we came too late and had to sit in the front row. I´m glad I don´t have to do this shit on a regular basis, and I don´t have to sit next to idiots who keep talking during the whole movie. Plus I can watch the occasional turd or two without feeling like I just wasted a lot of money on something bad. This also gives me the opportunity to catch up on old favourites or watch ten episodes of King Of Queens in a row.

Seriously, I really wonder why people go to cinemas at all these days. If I want to get out of my room I´d rather drink a beer or chat with friends than sit in yet ANOTHER room and have to keep my mouth shut for hours.

KBZ · Post by **KBZ** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:34 pm

working at a restaurant where I ear for free everyday.

I'm still buying things though, but I it's mostly mvs carts and other sought after console games that tend to not lose much of their value..... right?

I can quit whenever I want baby!