Ways to save money everyday

I think "necessity" is not 'character building', when the rule of neccessity is lifted you go back to your old ways. Building character is only when you have a choice, then decided and act upon what is best and doing it despite short term pain. Yes I suppose that my useless double major in Genetics and Microbiology was a test of character (did I really waste 4 years doing that ?), however my point is that character is built upon our choices when we take decisive consistent action towards a goal. For a pathetic real life example of mine, my Benz E430 example, to be honest I want it so bad I can taste it (sunroof, the V8 rumble, the 3 pointed star, the status, the power etc) and since I luckily can actually choose buy it or not by choice is a test of my natural love of consumer goods vs. my desire to be financially independant in 9 years 2 months (1-June-2012). Being poor and not buying a E430 is just an exercise in reality. Being poor and not ordering a pizza delivery and drinking beer on Austudy payday is character building!

I love Kiyosaki's phrase that we shouldnt say "I cannot afford it" but to ask "how can I afford it"?. Jim Rohn says "Dont wish that things are cheaper, just wish that you are better!"
 
It's character building.

You may not choose to be poor, but you choose how you will deal with it and overcome it, - and that is the character building.

You can grumble and groan and complain, or you can make the best of a bad situation. It is how you deal with it and what you learn from it that is the challenge.

When i first moved to Sydney 12 years ago I was earning $180 per week, and I was paying $100 per week in rent. I would make a big pot of spagetti bolognaise each week and divide it into daily portions and freeze it. That was the only meal i'd eat each day, apart from a piece of toast and endless cups of coffee and glasses of milk to fill my stomach. New clothes, little dodadds, movies or any other sort of entertainment was strictly out of the question. I didn't have a car, so i couldn't even get myself a second job - I wouldn't be able to get there and back home again.

I'm not tight anymore when it comes to good food and wine, but I still have a problem spending money on myself - i feel terribly guilty about it. I like to see a big bank balance.
 
Being poor is only character-building if you're poor. If you're well off you don't get more character by pretending to be poor :)

However, I find that most things that truly give me pleasure cost little or nothing (playing with the kids, beautiful sunsets, my partner, good friends, etc).

It's the artificially created wants that cost. Trust me, I'm a marketer - the whole aim of marketing is to make people 'realise' that they need to worry about status/attractiveness and need more things. These days we are taught virtually from birth that money buys you the things that give happiness - true or merely a way to sell more things?

Make your own fun. If you don't know how, ask your grandparents how they did it.

Cheers,

Aceyducey
 
Joanna,

Don't know if you still serve the 'big pot of spagetti bolognaise' but I have a feeling there would be a very nice bottle of red to go with it. :D



:)
 
Great one liner Ace...

'Being poor is only character-building if you're poor. If you're well off you don't get more character by pretending to be poor'
 
HEY! HEY! Who's up for some spag bol and a few bottles of red at Joanna's place? :D :D

I totally agree with Acey, if your income is limited, you gotta be able to make your own fun cheaply. Trips to the local beach, camping weekends, dinner at home with some crazy friends, exploring Sydney's historical buildings on foot, feeding the ducks in the park, walking through posh suburbs just looking at houses and cars. Those are some of the things I do for fun - and for free!

Cheers,
Hob "No Frills" Goblin
 
Personally, I think being poor teaches you to be resourceful.

"Back when I was in tertiarry education..."

I had $20 per week. That was my income. I ran a car (a $450 Torana), drove to school (tafe), and went out once a week (disco! :rolleyes: )

You learn to run a car real cheap, car pool to keep costs down, and remember that wreckers are your friend......:D Sure learnt about cars.....

Now, I don't have to do that. However, I still don't like wasting money, but I'm not tight either.

Mind you, I still try to make best use of anything too. I find it amazing how many people throw things out and buy a replacement for something that only needs a little work....

Of course, resisting consumerism (Hey, I'm worth that, I work hard etc etc) is a constant battle......I'd hate to total up the amount I've wasted on doodads I don't even have anymore !!!

Cheers,

Simon.
 
Originally posted by hobgoblin
walking through posh suburbs just looking at houses and cars. Those are some of the things I do for fun - and for free!
Click to expand...

LOL! - I'm glad someone else has my hobby. Exercise & checking out the $$$ houses, it's great!

Jas
 
arrrrrrr, someone else does this too, we regulary DRIVE around on a sunday looking at homes and burbs.

I can here the kids now "do we have toooooooooo" (in that drone that they do)

Mr Ed.
 
Simon,

You had the $450 Torana too? I know what you mean about getting to know the wreckers well!

Ahhhh......what great memories........

I remember the old Torana breaking down one morning, in peak hour, just going onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Funny the things people yell/scream at you isn't it? I'm sure they must have thought I parked there intentionally.

Luckily for me the Bridge Tow Truck came along within half an hour(only seemed like 10 hours), towed me off the bridge and put me in a 'No Parking' bay.......told me that it would be ok as the parking police knew about this and wouldn't book me. Yup......I left to make a quick phonecall, came back and had been booked!

Did you ever break down on the bridge? Probably best to only be a once in a lifetime kind of thing.........although.......not for me.

Coming home late one night, in the middle of winter, the old Torana gave up yet again coming OFF the bridge. Tow rope in the boot was also a vital tool in the Torana armoury wasn't it? I won't dredge up further details of this particularly unfortunate memory, suffice to say, tow rope never was very strong was it? Hmmmm......I thought I'd blocked that one from my memory too :(

Breaking a windscreen was always fun too wasn't it? Of course you couldn't afford to replace it for a number of months so best to use a 99c plastic emergency windscreen with a bit of masking tape. Of course, after a few days you needed a bit more masking tape and......more.......and more.......

Then, one night you are driving along with the wind in your face and you see that the lights are out at the next intersection. Luckily for you there is a policeman directing traffic. You stop, he walks over to your car, you wind down the window, he looks at you, then up and down the car, then at the windscreen and says in the most sarcastic voice he can muster "YOU"VE GOT TO BE JOKING!".

Good memories indeed Simon........and thank you for reminding me of them. With a bit of luck I can block them out again quicker this time. :D

:)
 
Gee...

I remember taking to a metal piggy bank with a knife and prying apart the slot to shake the coins out to buy milk and bread (Staple diet of the broke...). I also remember fishing inside the backs of couches to see if there were any coins there... and in the backs of the car seats (often overlooked!!). Also have fond (!) memories of counting 1 and 2c pieces to make enough to buy milk.

It's these things that make you really appreciate being able to go to the shop and buy what you want. :)

It's also these things that make you NOT go to the shop and buy whatever you want.

My mum (the oracle) says: 'You can only spend it once'.

I did an interesting little excersise with someone once. I got her to show me her credit card bills for the past 12 months. Then I got a pen and read out each item. I said to her, tell me how much this item is worth now, and how much you have used it since you bought it.

Well, needless to say, LOTS of items got a "never got used" cross.. and many others were only valued at a fraction of their purchase price.

We then went through and added up everything that, given a second chance, she would not have bought had she known then what she knew now, and there was about 20k difference.

I then pulled open a local paper and pointed to a nice 200k house for sale. I asked her whether she'd like to own that house? The answer: "Of course, but I haven't got any money"...

I pointed out that, had she not spent the 20k on useless stuff during the year, she WOULD have the money.

Made my point, and she curbed spending. Unfortunately, however, the full point was lost and they used the extra to buy a huge PPOR... (At least it's real estate!!!)

asy :D

P.S. No torana for me... Mine was the ubiquitous Canary Yellow Toyota Corolla!!!
 
I know someone (who dosn't have the excuse of being a struggling student etc) who refuses to pay bar prices when he visits his favourite pub. Instead he goes to the bottleshop next door and buys two stubbies which he sneaks back into the pub. When these are finished, out again and sneak in another two. But my favourite is later in the night when he feels like some water - no way is he going to pay for a bottle from the bar. He goes into the TOILETs and fulls up one of his empty stubbies.

I also know a woman whose parents had poor childhoods so decided their kids would not go through the same thing. So they were given anything they wanted. Problem is she got so used to it she still relies on the handouts even though she is now in her thirties. She has changed careers several times - each training course paid for by her parents (massage course, photography course etc). Consequenltly she hasn't actaully worked very much and has no assets. But that's okay - she can always get money off Mum and Dad (and she does!!).

I know we are all different but you have to wonder sometimes...

Lily
 
Ahh Lily, sounds like a classic case of "economic outpatient care" (I think it was called) - as described in The Millionaire Next Door (I think)
 
As a first year apprentice i was earning $68/a week, paying about $1.90 tax. Some of my mates were working as storemen, forkies, builders laborers..etc..and were on adult money. It was tempting to throw in my apprenticeship but i stuck to it knowing my day would come. I dont know how i survived on that much but i did and moved out of home as a 2nd year on $92/week...wooohooo!!!

As a 3rd year i bought a HD Holden for $500, it was a real roughie but got me and some mates many times to QLD on surfing trips.

Once it broke down on Broadway in Sydney heading west on a Friday night at 6pm, and anyone who lives in Sydney knows what thats like, as i was sitting in the middle lane listening to the radio waiting for the NRMA and the announcer doing the traffic report said "Would that idiot who parked the #*@^box Holden on Broadway, MOVE IT!!" i suppose someone had rang up the radio station...haha

But theres a difference to living cheap because you have to (like hobs) and being tight because you want to.

My brother in law only buys one Sunday paper and swaps it with his father in law on Monday who buys the other one.

The father in law was bought up in the depression in England and still thinks the world is the same and has educated his daughter and son in law in how to be miserable tigh arses.

He also went to a wedding once and thought the food and drink was not up to standard so he went and got his wedding present and put it back in his car, but he stayed for dessert. Now thats downright mean cause he's not short of a dollar.
 
No, no, asy, it's a Canary Yellow Toyota Corona....
and it's still sitting in my driveway!
Although it's going to that great big caryard in the sky tomorrow morning.....
 
Hehe, mine went to the great car graveyard a few years ago...

My ex used to drive it to work, I had the good car due to my job...

He hated Automatics, and so he used to drive it as if it were a manual... He would drop it into 'low' to get more power, until one day when he literally left the engine on the road. :(

I was furious, the car would have gone on and on... But we had to buy another one... (It was beyond help)

So, Lissy, what are you replacing it with??

asy :D
 
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