The "luxuries that I give up to save some money" thread. - Page 5

My room in a 3 bedroom townhouse with all utilities included is $730 per month, which is pretty expensive for a college student. That means the whole apartment is $2130 per month divided three ways. Still not cheap.

Everything is relative. Up here, $1250 a month is very cheap, especially for the location and size of my place. $650 a month might get you a shack on the edge of town, or a basement in the worst part of town imaginable. Of course, the incomes in this area also match the rent prices, otherwise the whole system would collapse. ;)

I'm just thankful I don't live in Toronto.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aynjell 

1250 a month is not cheap. I pay 650 for a 2 bed room, with heat/ac included. Electricity is another 40$.

I think my biggest saving is not owning a car while I can easily afford a nice one (I live in SF city)

I use zipcar if I need to get out of town.

I think I am still fairly careful about my money comparing to many people in their mid-twenties.

But, i am a bit of impulse buyer, clothing, books, cds. Going to concerts is also a big part of my spending.

I am also used to spend 30, 40 dollar just for my own dinner..

All those things really add up.

My 2011 new year resolution definitely includes, more controlled spending and setting up saving goal. 

Be warned if you try to buy a smartphone unsubsidized on Ebay with the intent of avoiding a data plan. Your phone provider will know it's a smartphone from the IMEI and probably force a data plan you don't want or need on you. 

Evil? Yes, 100%. If you want to use your provider's voice service with your OWN smartphone you are also forced to pay for services you didn't ask for. I'm voluntarily paying the $15/month for my data plan since I get infinite free SMS via Google Voice but this practice still agitates me.

No, I have a T-Mobile Nexus One on AT&T so they didn't force me into a data contract- my phone is only EDGE capable on AT&T's network. As a sidenote, EDGE is often called 2G when it's actually an ITU accepted 3G standard. It's still relatively slow compared to what is usually called 3G in the US.

6 months after I bought my phone AT&T launched a reasonably priced plan I can actually afford ($15) and I sprung for it since I would finally be able to have SMS service as well at no additional cost. Google Voice routes text messages via WiFi or cell data so the carrier can't charge for them. I never had a data or texting plan during the 3-1/2 years I used my old HTC Wizard (Windows Mobile 5, 6 then 6.5) smartphone and for the first 6 months on my HTC Nexus One (Android), WiFi only wasn't a problem on either.

I mostly use the data plan for weather updates, email, Google Maps GPS and occasionally the aforementioned texting so EDGE is actually plenty fast.

Your plan sounds like a good one. Prepaid is probably the way to go if you want WiFi only with an iPhone.

About 8 years ago I gave up my 28ft CrownLine boat, which I kept docked at a marina 8 months out of the year so I could live on it.  It had cable TV, slept 6, microwave, fridge, toilet, shower, cooktop etc.  That was my Toy of Toys for about 10 years.  Let me tell you, nothing beats having a boat, being single and young.  The sins I committed on that boat could only be equaled by the entire city of LasVegas...

After that I purchased a Suzuki M109R motorcycle but gave that up too. 

I need to cut down on hot pockets.....it's all I've been eating for the last couple of months. Selling a couple of IEMS I don't use would be nice as well as selling my S9 I think I'll keep that though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackbird 

I think I'm spending too much money on drinks(not alcoholic)/tea. At $2/16oz, it adds up quick. I reckon I must have spent at least $100 on bottled teas last year. 

Perhaps I should consider getting one of those aluminum vacuum bottles that keep drinks hot/cold? That way, I could just bring my own drinks around, and they are more likely to be healthier (I HATE soda!).

 

Does anyone have experience with vacuum bottles?

This might just be what you're looking for:

http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Nissan-12-Ounce-Stainless-Steel-Tumbler/dp/B00004S1CV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294549242&sr=8-1

It's a vacuum bottle with a tea infuser. I've found that it does an excellent job of keeping hot things hot and cold things cold.

I did just buy an Ingenuitea for home use though. The problems with the Thermos are that the tea infuser is comparatively small and doesn't allow some teas to open up as much as they could. Also, the thermos works too well- if I brew tea in it I have to leave the top off for ~20 minutes while intermittently blowing on it to get it to a drinkable temperature or pour it into a different cup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Confispect 

I need to cut down on hot pockets.....it's all I've been eating for the last couple of months. Selling a couple of IEMS I don't use would be nice as well as selling my S9 I think I'll keep that though.

dang...hot pockets are nasty

I only buy disposable non durable goods once...

Like lets talk toaster ovens..

 You might go through 3-4 of these in a  lifetime.

Cameras... same deal possibly 10 of them

Electric Shavers....  up to 8-10 of these

Heated blankets  3-4 of them

Table top fans  3-4 of those

Landline phones 5-6 of these

vacuum cleaners  3-7 of these 

Inflatable beds  3-6 of these

Bathrobes  3-6 of them

Clock radios  2-4 of these

etc..etc..

They get outdated, break, burn out...whatever...

So instead of looking for the best deal each time (takes time which is worth $$$ too) I instead pay a small premium to buy them ONCE.

IF for any reason I don't like it... its outdated, doesn't work as well but still wroks, breaks, etc....

I call Hammacher Schlemmer...order their tested best items,,, and buy with confidence.

My biggest purchase...  a $600 programmable electric BBQ. its great... but if it ever breaks.. it will transform into a camera... or cash back.

from their website...

"Items that we sell are guaranteed for their normal life under standard non-commercial use. Should any product ever fail to meet your expectations, for any reason, simply return it with proof of purchase. We will replace it or refund the cost of the item less the original shipping and service fees."

I tape the proof of purchase to the backs or underside of all the products.

Also when I cook there is near zero waste.  For instance.. I buy 5 whole chickens. I cut off the white meat from 3 of them to make fahitas, two more make breaded chicken cutlets, and the rest goes into chicken marabella, the backs become soup. Out of 12.5 lbs of chicken less than 4-8 ounces is wasted (bones) which is after all the soup meat is stripped off after cooking..

Chicken Marabela

Ingredients

2 chickens 21/2 lb.each quartered

1/2 head garlic peeled/pureed

1/8 cup dried oregano

coarse salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup pitted prunes

1/4 cup pitted olives

1/4 cup capers with capers with juice

3 bays leaves

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup white wine

1/8 cup cilantro parsley finely Italian parsley

Marinade

In large bowl combine chicken, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers, bay leaves

Cover and marinade overnight.

-----

1.5 lbs of chicken tenders > > > progresso bread crumbs > > > 2 eggs beaten > > > butter > > > holland house cooking sherry > > > olive oil > > >  > > > Start boiling the water foir rice now. > > >  > > > TAke chicken tender- cut slits almost all teh > way > > > through- skin side down about 1 inch apart. if > > using > > > cutlets make them no thicker than 1/2 inch and > > score > > > as cubes almost all the way through. > > >  > > > dip in egg batter > > >  > > > dip in bread crumbs- make sure to get in between > > > the slits. > > >  > > > now dump riuce in boiling water-  > > >  > > > Melt butter in slippery skillet 4 pats. > > >  > > > When butter is almost melted- dump chicken op > top > > > of butter and flip IMMEDIATELY. > > >  > > > Now with both sides soaked in butter- wait until > > > it sizzles- use medium high heat. > > >  > > > When you hear butter boiling add dash of Virgin > > > olive oil. > > >  > > > Immediately splash with two table spoons sherry > or > > > more. > > >  > > > Flip after 2 minutes. > > >  > > > start peas. > > >  > > > hit with more Sherry reduce heat to medium > > >  > > > flip after 3 minutes > > >  > > > hit with more sherry > > > flipp and cook 2 minutes more. or until golden > > > brown > > >  > > > that's the recipe for triple flipped drunken > > > chicken Alsias spoon cut chicken a white trash > > > ingredient dream! Nothing fancy there unless you > > > consider supermarket salty sherry fancy...Yum..

Soup hack 4 -5 chicken backs with cleaver to expose marrow, add salt peper, oregano basil, transulcent thin yellow onions

cook in boil water enough to cover chicken with 4 inches of water for 80 minutes...add carrots,  cellery, 

cook 20 minutes

remove chicken from bones by straining and stripping it off by hand

add chicken back to broth,,, cook 30 minutes to boil it down- add cilantro stems..cook 1 minutes add cilantro leaves and serve.

Makes about 30 meals if you included the fahitas... plus you can freeze the soup and fahita mix...and you can freeze the marabella before cooking,  very convenient.

Beer

Interesting thread!

I think three of the biggest savings for me were getting out of debt over 11 years ago, cutting up my credit cards 11 years ago and stopped owning a car 15 years ago.. I miss none of them!

I don't smoke and probably have two or three bottles of good beer a month. I am a lifelong vegetarian ( food allergies!) so save on buying meat dairy and fish.

I am not married (divorced) and have never had kids so there is another huge saving!

I never buy full price for clothes (everything goes on sale eventually!) and tend to buy good clothes that last a long time (great thing about getting older, you don't care as much about fashion and designer stuff!)

I have an old TV and DVD player but no cable (hate TV due to endless commercials, if I like a show I usually get the DVDs from the library to watch)

I guess all of that adds up to good savings and my needs are simple, good music and a nice watch, that's about it!