How to save money

[Shoreline Music]

Around here, paying someone to mow the lawn is about 10 times more expensive than a good lawnmower over the course of its life—especially with teenagers at home. I was surprised to read that someone above had the exact opposite experience.

Our favorites:

1) Eat at home. Cheaper, leftovers are free and tastier lunch at work the next day, less headache with parking and all the rest, and the meal is typically better. Plus, you're more likely to have the whole family around the table at home. Save thousands a year, and get better time with family.

2) Pack lunch—either leftovers or just homemade sandwiches and iced tea. Save thousands a year (and get more done at work since you're not waiting in line for your lunch).

3) If your car is up to it, drive, don't fly. I really hate flying—planes are made for small people—and have grown to enjoy a long road trip instead. I typically save at least $500 just on travel, and I'm happier when I get to my destination. If there's more than one person in the car, those savings are multiplied. As an example, I just flew from Durango to San Diego for the NAMM show and my dad's memorial service. Total travel time door to door was 9.5 hours. But the drive is 12 hours—not much longer. I really wish I had driven instead!

4) Buy a lawnmower (yes, I know this contradicts the advice above). In the long run, save thousands of dollars.

5) Only replace things that NEED replacing. My first computer lasted 11 years, and only needed replacing because of obsolescence, not lack of function. I keep phones, laptops, bikes, jackets, everything. It's quite freeing jumping off the upgrade bandwagon for all sorts of stuff, and could save thousands a year.

6) If you have the discipline and resources to pay it off every month, use a reward card for everything including health insurance, utilities, etc. I haven't paid for a hotel room in 5 years because of ours.

7) Occassionally ignore all of this and just enjoy yourself. If you never, ever let someone else do the cooking while you and your wife enjoy a conversation and laughter, or if you never, ever hop on a plane to Fiji or Paris, what's the point of saving all the money?

[PorkPieGuy]

Originally Posted by Shoreline Music

Around here, paying someone to mow the lawn is about 10 times more expensive than a good lawnmower over the course of its life—especially with teenagers at home. I was surprised to read that someone above had the exact opposite experience.


Buy a lawnmower (yes, I know this contradicts the advice above). In the long run, save thousands of dollars.

Ok, to clear this up, here's how the numbers work for me.

I have a guy who mows my yard for $40 every 10 days in the summer.

That's about $120/month for the months of May, June, July, and August. There are also a couple of random times he may do it in April, a couple of times in September, and maybe once in October. So for the summer months, that's $360. Once you add in the random times, let's just say an even $500.

The kind of mower I NEED costs about $3,000 (I have a lot of hills and quite a bit to mow). It would take me 6 years just to make my money back on the mower itself. This is not counting $100 a season in blades and about $80 for one belt. After 5-6 years, then maintenance costs start going up. Maybe, just maybe in 7-8 years I can start to make my money back, but I'll NEVER get those hours back that I used up sitting on a mower instead of spending time with my family.

At this point, I make enough money playing 2-3 shows to cover the entire cost of mowing for a season. I'd MUCH rather play an extra few shows to cover that cost and have my Saturdays back. I have an hour-long commute one way each day, and I try to get to the gym 3-4 days a week. On an average day, I leave my house at 7:15am, work 8-5, gym at 6, home by 7:15/7:30. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I don't get home until after 9 or 10pm. After all of this, I have to spend a few hours sitting on a mower and weed-eating my property? No way, no how. Plus, I'm not one of those stereotypical guys that gets joy out of yard work.

[dkstott]

Working in commercial manufacturing, there was rarely any opportunity or expectation for a pension fund.

So starting in my 20's, every time my employer gave me a pay raise, I increased my contribution into the 401K. If I got a 3% raise, I'd increase the contribution by 1%.

If I got a bonus, half of that went into an untouchable savings account such as a CD and sometimes an IRA.

By the time I retired, I was putting 26% of my salary into my retirement fund.

I couldn't spend what I didn't have.

[guitar george]

If you spend $10.00 per day for lunch and coffee, every day, that adds up to $3,650.00 per year from your net pay. If your overall tax rate is 25% you need to earn $4,866.67 gross pay just to buy lunch and coffee for one person for a year. ($4,866.67 x .75 = $3,650.00) That's a lot!

[mesa]

Go back to wet shaving. I pay $12 for 100 ct of Personna double-edged razor blades.

[fray]

Interesting topics, I work in a kiddie prison so dress code is relaxed as compared to my previous job in public education. I save $ by also using my son's golf pro shop throw away shirts....haven't had to buy a nice shirt in about 15 years. Down side is they are shrinking from to much "belly"....good thread.

[Nyghthawk]

First order of business is to make enough money not to live from paycheck to paycheck. "Hard work and perseverance" does not a savings account make unless the $$$ is enough to pay the bills and have some left over. I know. I worked for 25 years in blue-collar dead end jobs.

Secondly, buy a vehicle (used) that gets as much gas mileage as possible. In most cases you do not need an American made "road boat" (read monster SUV) to get around in. Live as close to your work as you can within reason. Money spent on gas is effectively thrown away.

Third, do not smoke. Drink minimally and only at home.

Fourth, do not join acoustic guitar forums!

[JCave]

Originally Posted by Nyghthawk

Third, do not smoke.

Amazing how quickly the cost of smokes adds up. Aren't they about 10 bucks a pack these days? Most smokers that I've known tend to go through at least a pack a day, possibly even two packs. 300 - 600 bucks a month just in cigarettes?

[Nyghthawk]

Originally Posted by JCave

Amazing how quickly the cost of smokes adds up. Aren't they about 10 bucks a pack these days? Most smokers that I've known tend to go through at least a pack a day, possibly even two packs. 300 - 600 bucks a month just in cigarettes?

My father was a college professor. He used to use cigarettes and gasoline as examples of market economics. His questions to the class, "How much would cigarettes have to cost for you to just quit?" The second was, "How much would gas have to cost for you to park your car?" He told me that most smokers could not give a cut off point. Neither could the drivers.

[Wadcutter]

Originally Posted by Jim Owen

Pack your lunch. I’m lucky to have a fridge in my office’s breakroom. Even if I didn’t, I’d figure a way to pack my lunch.

This doesn’t only save money but it also encourages community—I eat lunch with my colleagues every day. And we don’t spend that time talking about work.

Make your own coffee. The sticker price for coffee or tea from a chain is steep for a product that’s mostly water.

Buy used when you can.

I notice that a lot of y’all’s tips are also healthy—like walking instead of paying for parking. When I can, I take a free shuttle to my job.

Squeeze as many miles as you can out of your car.

Pack your lunch, amen. I can’t even believe the amount of money my daughter and her co-workers spend eating lunch at fast food joints or restaurants every work day.

[AmericanEagle]

Stop Buying More Guitars!

[AmericanEagle]

Originally Posted by fitness1

I don't drink, don't smoke, don't go out to eat (like hardly ever) don't buy fancy/name brand clothing. I don't drink coffee so I don't need to go to Starbucks. I drive a car that gets 40mpg combined. I live in less than 400 sq ft. I never got married or had kids. I could go on, but that's a good start.

That’s a great start.

[RP]

Originally Posted by AmericanEagle

Stop Buying More Guitars!

MODS: Isn't such seditious language grounds for dismissal from AGF????

[Dirk Hofman]

To me it's the bigger stuff that matters most. Buying a house which will appreciate significantly has been major for me. I bought a home in the bay area 7 years ago that's worth over twice what I paid for it, and I paid a lot.

Pay off credit cards as folks have said. Pay for everything with credit cards to maximize points, and pay it off every month. Or every week like I do.

Buy used cars unless you have a crazy good deal that makes more sense, which is rare. Keep your car for a long time, so invest in one you'll be happy with for 10-15 years.

Eat a plant based diet. Have you seen beef prices lately? Fish? Crazy. I spend half what I did on food before I moved to a plant-based diet. You'll be orders of magnitude more healthy as well, and that will save you and all of us a ton of money in health care costs, both in the short and especially in the long term.

Exercise regularly. Same as above, the more healthy you are as you age, the less your medical bills (and our insurance rates) will be. Not nearly as important as how you eat, but still a significant factor in reducing risk of disease.

I love the prompts to bring food to work, I'm determined to do that for a month and see how it goes. I spend a fair bit there, and could do much better.

Work your way through school and rely on loans as little as possible. Certain elements in our government have turned student loans into a predatory industry, and until that changes avoid it as much as you can.

Get an education. Total earning potential increases dramatically with vocational and University degrees. Keep learning as you move through your career. Make it a point to make time to gain skills.

Stop drinking if you do it, or limit your drinking as much as possible. Expensive as heck and contributes to all kinds of chronic diseases. In certain states there are far cheaper alternatives if you want to relax after work, which are far less detrimental to your health.

Originally Posted by RP

MODS: Isn't such seditious language grounds for dismissal from AGF????

I think the shunning should do the trick.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

as Robj says : "Spending less than you earn should be obvious" but is a very common error especially in these days of credit cards, online loan sharks, and the seeming need for instant gratification etc.

Also the confusion between good debt and bad debt - i.r god: house buying and education, and bad debt - buying unnecessary stuff (sadly like guitars) on credit.

Also it is frightening that so many don't seem to understand interest payments.

Most don't care about interest payments, whether they understand them or not. If they can make the payment and get stuff they want when they want it, now that's the American Way!

P.S. Going into debt for an education is not "good debt" anymore unless you're going to have a career in something very specific.
A bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts is a joke along with a multitude of other useless degrees.