Let’s get a list going. Like with a Target debit card you can get $40 cash back and it takes 1 to 2 days to be withdraw from your checking.
I’m not poor but this always helps everyone. Wait for a while before you buy the thing off your shopping list. Wait for a week and reconsider whether you indeed need it.
If the answer is still yes, buy it. It is a must do for expensive things. Never break this rule for any massive purchase like a car or something!
Food banks. Look at your local church, synagogue, or mosque. A lot of them do community outreach and have some kind of food bank.
If you’re skipping meals or you have $5 'til next Friday, the food bank is for you. Don’t feel like you’re taking something away from someone “more needy.” It’s you. You’re needy. Take the help. That was a hard lesson to learn in my 20s.
Eat rice and beans for every meal.
Don’t eat three meals a day
Buy tools from pawn shops and learn to service your vehicle or bike
Cold showers and dark rooms
Pick up a sewing machine from a thrift store
Basically DIY as much as possible. And steal anything you can.
Don’t put yourself into an even more miserable situation when it doesn’t even benefit you in a measurable way.
E.g. Lights/dark rooms: Let’s say you use a 5W LED light bulb (which should be bright enough to decently light most rooms). If you leave that running 24/7 for a whole year, that is going to cost you ~13€/$ (0,3€/$/kWh). You are not going to keep it running 24/7, you are not even going to run it half the day. It is not worth 5 bucks to spend the whole year in darkness, no matter how little money you have.Obviously turn off the light when you’re not in the room or it’s the middle of the day in summer, but be reasonable with yourself.
The same goes for food: Sure, buying cheap staples (in bulk if possible) is a great idea, but don’t try to save 5 cents if that means skipping on the salt, herbs and tomato paste which would take your 2/10 bland bowl of carbs to at least a 7/10 and give you something to look forward to.
Ride PT when possible. If you are poor, chances are you can get a concession card or even entirely free travel card.
Our PT system (Melbourne Australia) is privately owned and costs $5 each way. Consider not paying and paying a fine if caught - it often works out cheaper. Fines are $200, and I’ve only had my ticket checked maybe 4 times in 6 years. Odds are good!
Arent there any monthly/yearly tickets?
Buy the whole damn chicken, it’s always cheaper, protein for 4 meals.
Where do you live where you can afford chicken to begin with? I’m semi vegetarian just because of absurd meat prices.
In Portugal a whole raw chicken is around 3.5€, about 0.45% of a minimum wage.
Minimum wage per what? Month?
Apparently so. €760 per month is the minimum monthly wage in Portugal. Works out at less than €5 per hour if you assume 160 hours per month which seems very low. For reference, Ireland is €11.30. While cost of living is higher here you can still pick up a full uncooked chicken for around €5 depending on the shop.
Local supermarket here does 4 chicken legs for €2.55.
This is correct.
The kg of raw chicken here is currently at 2.34€ at the two biggest supermarket chains, a whole chicken is usually 1.5kg.
Pasta with cheese.
And beeing born in a wellfare state kinda helps ngl
Learn to fix things yourself. Mend your clothes, fix your bike or car, patch drywall, whatever. Learning to do things gives you the option of to save money doing it yourself. If you don’t learn, your only option is to pay someone else to do it.
Absolutely.
Changing the oil in your car only requires a spanner, pan, and household stuff like cloth rags. You can do it in your driveway faster than you can drive it round-trip to the dealership. I’ve saved heaps over the years.
House painting is a good skill. I knocked over $20k off my house build price by picking up a paintbrush. It was about 2 weeks of work and maybe $1k in supplies.
Learn computer maintenance. Like, how to format it and start over. How to diagnose and fix small issues. So many people buy new computers just because their old one is clogged with cruft. I fixed computers that others threw out, and avoided upgrade costs for decades.
Most importantly - learn to cook. Home cooking is so much cheaper.
Changing the oil in your car only requires a spanner, pan, and household stuff like cloth rags. You can do it in your driveway faster than you can drive it round-trip to the dealership. I’ve saved heaps over the years.
Are your car services limited to changing the oil? Because mine aren’t. They include all kinds of checks for degrading parts (filters, brake pads etc), and while I could possibly do all that myself if I had the time and could get hold of a shop manual for my car, I’d also need to acquire the parts first. On the other hand, my car doesn’t need changing oil outside of the 15000km service interval.
What you absolutely should learn is how to change a tyre. So many people don’t know how to do it and have to get assistance when they have a flat…
If you do have debts - try to consolidate them wherever possible. Don’t have more than one credit card adjacent means of payment (store credit cards or similar).
If you find yourself with extra money, try to pay off debts first, or at least make extra payments. Reducing debt repayments over the forward term can have a huge effect.
I know credit cards can be a slippery slope for some, so learn how to practice financial discipline before getting one.
That said, if you’re not paying with a credit card, you’re paying at least 2 percent too much for everything you buy except the things that can’t easily be paid for with a credit card.
That adds up big over the years.
Credit cards should be avoided at all times, unless you have the money to pay them off each month. Or if you’re getting zero-interest financing and you are able to stick to the plan of paying it off before interest gets added.
Getting into credit card debt is one of the most common and worst poverty traps. Getting behind on credit card bills can ruin your credit and take years to repair, which impacts your financial stability when it comes time to make a purchase with Real Credit such as a home or car.
My best poverty tip is to not buy expensive things that are unnecessary. Also cook your own food at home, and learn to repair anything that you value. I’ve saved thousands of dollars over the years by doing my own car repairs, and driving old cars long past having them paid off.
My neighbors living in a slumlord’s two bedroom apartment Rent to Own everything. The got a TV from Rent to Own so big it had to be delivered cause it didnt fit in their car … i got the cheapest roku pos tv at walmart for $50.
Their daughter when she comes over to play with my kids has told me about so many frivolous things from Rent to Own they probably pay more to Rent to Own per month than in actual rent for their appartment.
Evil predators. Should be illegal.
Don’t do drugs.
I had to stop drinking 5 years ago and holy shit the savings.
Get a chest freezer. It’s much more efficient for long-term storage than an upright fridge with a freezer because the cold air doesn’t spill out when you open it.
Toss your incandescent and fluorescent lights. Get LED bulbs (not smart lights, just white LEDs). Where applicable, install timer switches.
Fuck cars, get a bike. A simple, sturdy one, like an onafiets. They run on toast and determination.
Understand the difference between having enough money to buy something and being able to afford something.
Unsubscribe from music/video streaming services. Return to the seven seas.
Maybe engage in some light tax evasion.
Maybe engage in some light tax evasion.
haha made me lol
Decide how much you will spend each week and spend a little less than that, slowly over 3 months you will reduce your expenses. Buy clothes and wash them after 2-3 uses unless you live in super dirty/dusty/warm area. This will prolong clothes life significantly and added advantage is they come back in fashion after a while. I have a shorts which I use still after 10 years.
Why would washing my clothes more often prolong their life?
Do you wear your clothes more than three times without washing them currently?
Yes, I wash my clothes when they are dirty, greasy or smelly. Do people wash all their clothes after just one day of wearing?
