Frugal Living Ideas
- Thread starter Singo
- Start date
Too needy, that's the problem had one of these, spend your life cleaning the suckers. That's where nespresso/capsules come into play, no work, good coffee.
There's a thread on this, I am not a coffee snob, but I don't like dish water either.
I know very little about solar panels so I may be completely wrong, but I think it might take a long time to get your money back.
The impression I get is that most people get them installed for the environmental aspect but by the time they start earning their keep money-wise, you have to take into consideration the opportunity cost of having the money tied up for all that time rather than being invested elsewhere.
So it ticks one of your boxes (sustainability).
Maybe someone who has solar panels could comment.
The impression I get is that most people get them installed for the environmental aspect but by the time they start earning their keep money-wise, you have to take into consideration the opportunity cost of having the money tied up for all that time rather than being invested elsewhere.
So it ticks one of your boxes (sustainability).
Maybe someone who has solar panels could comment.
Fifth,i have many people on the field saying there installation will pay off in 30yrs lol.
What percentage do you get back when you put back into the grid?
Find out the answer and that they well be your question?
Most veggies and fruit are cheaper to grow but can be labour intensive - the taste is worth it of a home grown tomato.
Our plans for the new place (bit of a tree change) are
- veggie patch
- chickens (eggs + manure + they eat scraps)
- couple of goats or Dorper sheep (not for eating but to help lawn mow)
- solar HWS
- solar panels (they are getting pretty darn cheap now)
- instantaneous HWS backup to Solar HWS so that only what is required is heated
- rain tanks (we may or may not get access to mains reticulated water system)
Food is a big expense and I've found a number of awesome sites about menu planning and doing meal prep in bulk then freezing. For example, heaps of people buy all their fresh F&V then prep into family meal portions and freeze then take out as required for a crock pot or slow cooker meal.
The genius in this is that all the F&V is done when it's freshest, there is no mouldy veg at the bottom of the crisper drawer and it's done and out of the way. Whilst most of the sites are US and some of their ideas on nutrition are suss there is some good ideas
http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.ca/2011/09/freezer-cooking-slow-cooker-meals.html
Last edited:
To add my couple of things to the thread:
- Never pay a cent of interest on a credit card. I have all mine setup with direct debits so the full statement balance is paid off on time all the time
- On a similar note, you can arrange direct debits with certain services (e.g. watercorp) to avoid paying a credit card surcharge. Never pay surcharges on bills etc
- Make the most of credit card reward points - these can give you ~1-2.5% discount off EVERYTHING you pay for on the credit card (including mandatories such as rates and insurances etc)
- Similarly, make the most off loyalty programs (but do not let them change your spending behaviour)
- If you use paypal, link it to an AMEX credit card - this allows you to pay for things by AMEX when ordinarily a website would only take Mastercard or Visa.
I've also got loads of obvious tips such as cooking / prepping your own meals.
I like optimising things though, so like toying around with the numbers (e.g. optimising rewards programs etc)
Thanks for the suggestion - looks like an interesting site.
- Never pay a cent of interest on a credit card. I have all mine setup with direct debits so the full statement balance is paid off on time all the time
- On a similar note, you can arrange direct debits with certain services (e.g. watercorp) to avoid paying a credit card surcharge. Never pay surcharges on bills etc
- Make the most of credit card reward points - these can give you ~1-2.5% discount off EVERYTHING you pay for on the credit card (including mandatories such as rates and insurances etc)
- Similarly, make the most off loyalty programs (but do not let them change your spending behaviour)
- If you use paypal, link it to an AMEX credit card - this allows you to pay for things by AMEX when ordinarily a website would only take Mastercard or Visa.
I've also got loads of obvious tips such as cooking / prepping your own meals.
I like optimising things though, so like toying around with the numbers (e.g. optimising rewards programs etc)
Thanks for the suggestion - looks like an interesting site.
Firstly I'd like to point out I live a fairly luxurious lifestyle, live in a nice house, good car, eat out a fair bit, travel etc. However overall my living expenses are very low. How do I do this?
I am conscious of minimising my core living expenses, which I categorise into housing, transport and food. By minimising these expenses (in my case to around 25kpa) I've found as long as you don't extravagantly spend in other areas, you can save a lot.
I've minimised these mainly by moving from my principal residence and rented it out, and moved to a house with a few friends (but likely soon to be moving in with girlfriend) much closer to the city (where I work). This has significantly lowered housing, utility and transport expenses. I don't drive nearly as much, my rent is lower, and I can walk to and from work if I want.
I've also lowered food expenses by making work lunches, being conscious of how often I eat out and when I do look for great food at good value (urbanspoon, entertainment guide etc help a lot), and not buying an expensive coffee every day.
With these few changes, I've even surprised myself at how low my expenses are while not really feeling like I'm missing out on much
I am conscious of minimising my core living expenses, which I categorise into housing, transport and food. By minimising these expenses (in my case to around 25kpa) I've found as long as you don't extravagantly spend in other areas, you can save a lot.
I've minimised these mainly by moving from my principal residence and rented it out, and moved to a house with a few friends (but likely soon to be moving in with girlfriend) much closer to the city (where I work). This has significantly lowered housing, utility and transport expenses. I don't drive nearly as much, my rent is lower, and I can walk to and from work if I want.
I've also lowered food expenses by making work lunches, being conscious of how often I eat out and when I do look for great food at good value (urbanspoon, entertainment guide etc help a lot), and not buying an expensive coffee every day.
With these few changes, I've even surprised myself at how low my expenses are while not really feeling like I'm missing out on much
Here is a list:
Reuse everything.
- you buy a bottle of pasta sauce, you will soon have a new bottle for storage
DIY everything.
- do not throw away any good PKG materials, try to reuse them, combine them and new ways, to create wall art / frames / mirrors etc...
Why buy them for hundreds of dollar when you can make your own?
Fix everything.
- that split in your pants do not equal them been in the bin, patch it up and you'll be right to go
Save everything.
- You never know, your junk today can be of your treasure tomorrow
Look at the hipsters, apparently can be trendy to use old junk?
Grow everything.
- you may even earn yourself a few extra dollars
Negotiate on everything.
- everything comes with a price, and that price is set by someone, why pay for RRP?
Find new ways.
- there is always a cheaper deal out there, always!
Reuse everything.
- you buy a bottle of pasta sauce, you will soon have a new bottle for storage
DIY everything.
- do not throw away any good PKG materials, try to reuse them, combine them and new ways, to create wall art / frames / mirrors etc...
Why buy them for hundreds of dollar when you can make your own?
Fix everything.
- that split in your pants do not equal them been in the bin, patch it up and you'll be right to go
Save everything.
- You never know, your junk today can be of your treasure tomorrow
Look at the hipsters, apparently can be trendy to use old junk?
Grow everything.
- you may even earn yourself a few extra dollars
Negotiate on everything.
- everything comes with a price, and that price is set by someone, why pay for RRP?
Find new ways.
- there is always a cheaper deal out there, always!
Buy meat by the whole body.
Full lamb carcass or a side(1/2) of beef.
Going for around $8/kg at some butchers.
Home grown eggs. After purchase of chooks and feed our eggs cost $2/doz and the best eggs. Wife and I go through about 3 doz a week.
Reminds me, must sharpen up the axe, couple chooks gone off the lay.
Anything on special, I mean proper discount, buy meaningful amounts of until it's on special again. Obviously stuff that lasts.
Full lamb carcass or a side(1/2) of beef.
Going for around $8/kg at some butchers.
Home grown eggs. After purchase of chooks and feed our eggs cost $2/doz and the best eggs. Wife and I go through about 3 doz a week.
Reminds me, must sharpen up the axe, couple chooks gone off the lay.
Anything on special, I mean proper discount, buy meaningful amounts of until it's on special again. Obviously stuff that lasts.
Grow everything.
- you may even earn yourself a few extra dollars
Including a beard. Cheaper and very fashionable
Frugal?
Hiya
I have started to keep track of my monthly expenses for the last 12 months...i was actually surprised that food /household expenses are NOT my largest expenses...
My kids actually are my biggest expenses...for eg. last month alone i spent 6K on them
braces for 3 kids are 7K each but spread out over 1 and half years tho...music tuition $500 a month...extra tuition as son sits for HSC soon...$150 a week....school expenses appear and disappear like magic...petrol to drive them hither and wither hurts too
What to do? You can't bring up your kids with crooked teeth and no musical ability can you?
Hiya
I have started to keep track of my monthly expenses for the last 12 months...i was actually surprised that food /household expenses are NOT my largest expenses...
My kids actually are my biggest expenses...for eg. last month alone i spent 6K on them
braces for 3 kids are 7K each but spread out over 1 and half years tho...music tuition $500 a month...extra tuition as son sits for HSC soon...$150 a week....school expenses appear and disappear like magic...petrol to drive them hither and wither hurts too
What to do? You can't bring up your kids with crooked teeth and no musical ability can you?
I'm working in the field. Let's do the calculations.
We'll assume you get 4kWh/day/kWp and pay 28c/kWh. And let's say you're using 70% of your generated electricity and get a FIT of 8c/kWh and the price for a 5kW system is $6k.
So it's 6000/(5*365*4(0.7*0.28+0.3*0.08))=3.74 years.
Not ages in my books! Plus you get free electricity for another 20 years after that.
Definitely worth it for me, I put 5kW on my roof and it cost me $5700, including a full meter box upgrade.
