I hate budgeting, I take out the essential payments (including savings) and live on what is left. If I end up with £100 for a month’s food that’s all I spend. Can’t be doing with the X amount for this and that every month. Ultimately, it’s all about what works for the individual.

From my reading of frugal/lifestyle US sites it is clear that the freedom from health worries is a real blessing. I have never had to think twice about seeking health care for either myself or my children and for that I am grateful.

1. Libraries: Not just for books, but for movies, CDs, journal/news articles, etc. Many towns and counties have networked library systems which allow you to reserve books in advance from any library in the system via the web. I know that LA, NYC, and parts of NJ do this. It’s been a while since I’ve had cable movie channels, been to a Blockbuster, used Netflix, or seen a movie at a theater and I don’t feel deprived one iota.

2. Get yourself on a workout schedule. This can be as simple as walking / running outside (if the weather is nice) or doing a 30min-1 hr stretch every night or every other night. By rigorously sticking to this schedule, I’ve not only improved my fitness but it has the additional benefit of preventing me from wasting money (and time) shopping on the web, or going out and throwing away my hard earned cash.

3. If you’re fortunate enough to live in areas that have free food tastings at groceries or dining establishments, hit those up. Usually, this is only satisfying enough for a snack (don’t be greedy), but hey, if it’s free, it beats spending a couple of bucks on a snack.

4. Learn to sew. You can mend holes or adjust hems yourself.

5. For theater fans, many cities have free theater nights. Do a search on the web for your city. Many will also give free seats to those working as ushers.

6. Volunteering. When I was unemployed for a few months, I volunteered to be a kitchen assistant at a local cooking school. I had to be in class an hour earlier and an hour later to clean up, but I got to learn some cooking techniques (by watching) and also got a free delicious meal. Granted, it was tiring (think of cleaning up and doing dishes for all the cooking for multiple entrees for 10-16 people), so the meal was well-deserved!

7. If you have friends with Costco or BJ’s Warehouse cards, try going with them on their shopping trips if you don’t have a membership yourself. Be careful not to buy huge quantities of things you’ll never use or finish, but for toilet paper, paper towels, etc., it’s great.

1. I didn’t even pretend that I had a large income.
Therefore no one expected me to go to tupperware parties
or spend $300 for a wedding present I could not afford.

2. I didn’t expect anyone to be obligated to go to any tupperware
parties or buy me huge expensive presents.So there wasn’t a
problem with reciprocity.

3.The friends I had were true friends and we didn’t have a
financial basis for our friendship.

4.I was taught by my Grandparents that money did not make the
man.and I believed it.

5. My gifts to others consisted of my time. I helped a friend
prepare for her wedding by arranging the flowers for the
tables at the wedding dinner. I often made chocolate chip
cookies when friends were having a rough patch. The teapot
was always out for tea and sympathy. Christmas gifts were
home made fudge,breads and jams ect. No-one ever
complained either.They even appeared to enjoy homemade
goodies.

I guess I was lucky because I never felt poor and I believe no one thought I was being cheap.I still have those same friends and they
are all wonderful people. I suppose the people that would have only wanted my friendship if i could contribute financially to their well being just went away.

And really, what kind of family would only want you if you could both dress properly and cough up a $300.00 gift?

If money is the sole basis for a happy life we are all going to be in trouble as i have a feeling times will be tough ahead. Being poor in spirit is a greater tragedy don’t you think?

I support my husband and myself by being careful.
We have a small garden in our backyard. I go to the thrift shop and yard sales for as many things as I can.

I also shop at places like Big Lots for some stuff. In other words, I am careful, watch every cent, and shop for food carefully, using sales and/or coupons whenever possible.

It isn’t easy, but we make it.

Resale shops (compare the shops as some are better value than others) and freecycle. Local, non-chain grocery stores & Aldi with planning out meals. Shop the chain stores sales and special loss leaders. Spend more time with family & friends. Find the free admission events for entertainment (check with your local library to find free passes to museums and such) and save up to treat yourself now and then. My favorite going out treat was finding the pubs that would have weekly specials and find one where I could treat myself to a huge burger or fish fry for about $5 (including a drink). (I would always put $5 each week aside to treat myself to a non-essential. Totally surprising how many purchases can be avoided by asking yourself “Is this really necessary?”) Make your own beauty products/household cleansers when you can. Most are surprisingly simple and cheap to make. It is more of a change of lifestyle and finding ways to accommodate a savings plan as well.

tinyurl.com/2f272l

just wondering for those of you who posted above how much do you spend on the baisics rent heat etc and how much does that leave you left over?

As an aside for the first time ever foodbanks and soup kitchens are appearing in Germany. Cuts to the generous welfare state combinded with food inflation is creating a new class of poor.

1) Observe a lifelong boycott of television.
2) I love theater but don’t want to spend money on tickets. So I have worked as a volunteer usher for years. Great fun! See all the plays for free. Community theater is cheap and fun also.
3) Get to know your library. Knowledge is free. You can be an interesting and fun person without spending a lot of money.
4) Got rid of my car six years ago. I love my bicycle and it saves me money. Bicycle or take bus into work.
5) Avoid bars and restaurants. Invite friends over, cook simple meals, enjoy conversation, music, company.
6) Get a rice cooker, and buy your rice in twenty pound sacks. You can eat healthy and cheap with a little imagination.
7) All the skrimping and saving in the world won’t do any good unless you have some income. Keep your skills up-to-date and get good at making money as well as saving money. Here’s an example: my aunt was getting too old to push a lawnmower. She bought a riding mower, and paid for it by cutting the lawns of her neighbors. She has a wonderful time doing it.

Her comment was to shut down your internet, yet that is the ONLY way I can make any money. Selling online has become my only way to get any money for anything. But not enough to save. Day to day only.

She also said: “I read an analogy recently that I liked.. if a person were told he or she had a few months to come up with a few thousand dollars for a surgery to save their child’s life.. they would become a saving madman or a saving madwoman.” Well if that applied to me, I’d have to stop paying my mortgage and not have a vehicle (which by the way I lived for 8 months without one out in the country) and forget any food. I am just glad that is not something I will ever have to worry about.

She also said: “People who want to earn more always find a way. People who are lazy will always be poor.”

No, Ann people like you always say things like that when you haven’t worn the shoes! I lived the “cushy” life like you at one time too. But through no fault of my own, divorce, ended up without much of anything. It can happen to anyone. I am definitley not lazy. I do more physical work with my limitations than you probably would even THINK of doing. I wash my clothes by hand, I make all my own food from scratch, grow a massive garden and can or dry it all for the winter months. I cook and heat with wood. If that is being lazy than what should I do different?

I am sorry if I sound angry, but these yuppie types answer questions like that and have no respect for other people.

After so many years, when i did land a job with money … I quit because I didnt have time to walk, visit friends, or go the movies. Que sera sera. This wont work if you have huge debt though. Presumes you are at $0 debt and $0 extra cash.

We grow most of our own food, which I can or dry. We generate our own electric with solar panels. We cook and heat with wood, which we get in the woods.

It is still a struggle every month for us to survive. I keep trying everything I can to fix my health problems myself, so maybe I could do something to earn more money. We make too much money for any sort of help. But not enough to pay for living expenses. Especially food. And clothing. I bought my first pair of shoes last month at Walmart for less than $7. & was so excited!

It sucks and yes, I am bitter. But I tried desperately to get a job and nobody would hire me because I had been a stay at home mother. Now, I cannot work because I have very painful legs and can barely walk most of the time.

We do not have any real debt except for a vehicle payment and a small mortgage. No tv, cable, dinners out, smoking, drinking, games, going to movies, etc. There is no where left for me to cut my budget. I have done everything anyone suggests. Just need more money. I keep trying ways to get it in! Won’t give up yet.

The co-op also has a free pile, and though I’m not proud of this, I’ve sometimes raided the free pile for clothes and bring them to goodwill, to get a little money. Although this isn’t the most ethical thing to do, like stealing coins from a water fountain, the pile is free, it’s open to everyone, and there’s nothing that rules against using the clothes in the pile however you see fit.

In the bay, there are a lot of places that will try to compensate you by not paying you, i.e. asking you to volunteer at a show to get in for free, or work somewhere for free books. While I could do this in high school, now I pretty much refuse to do it, since my responsibilities are great enough as is. Of course, these are all the cool jobs, but if you work hard and study hard you can get even cooler jobs that pay.

Generally I spend $20/week on anything, mostly food and miscellaneous expenses (i.e. the odd concert). My father had the presence of mind to start a mutual fund account for me in middle school, and, when he was later disabled, to deposit my social security checks (as a dependent) in said account. I haven’t touched it yet, and don’t plan on it for a while, but generally I deposit 30-45% of my monthly income in the account, depending on what other expenses are for that month. Because rent and food is together, and I take public transportation, I don’t need that much spending money.

I come from an upper-middle-class background, which makes a few people (who are older and more in debt) resent me because they think I’m filthy with money (not the case!). And yet, they eat out a few times every week, have cable, and go drinking every week-end. I don’t deny that I have advantages other people didn’t have, but I’m neither directly nor indirectly responsible for their financial circumstances, and their quality of life is probably better than mine in most ways. Class works in strange and subtle ways though.

I lived on a low income for 6 months. it sucked. but in no way did it pose a
‘stay alive’ issue. In fact, crime is hardly ever needed to ‘stay alive’ in the western world, for anyone. A person living on the federal poverty level (=10k/yr), or basically working 20 hours a week at minimal wages, is unlikely to starve or lack shelter, or even basic health care (once your bills reach a high enough level, there is medicaid, social helpers help, or just not paying the medical bills – which would not prevent you from receiving care).
People choose crime to have a better standard of living. To have a car and not take the bus. To eat tastier food. to eat out. to go to a bar and drink with friends. All are reasonable expenses, but none are, as the writer put it in her own defense “to stay alive”. Rather, say, she chose crime to have a more comfortable and fun life.

Faced with an enormous debt and an unhealthy lifestyle, things just looked completely hopeless. But I was forced to change, and now I’m so much happier that I can’t imagine what I was thinking a few short years ago. I ditched the cellphone ($1200 saved per year), traded cable for Blockbuster.com ($480 saved per year) moved into a cheaper apartment ($3000 saved per year), put myself on a strict grocery budget instead of eating out ($2000 saved per year), and let my hopeless credit card debt sit unpaid for a year or two. Once the credit card companies were treating me like a “hopeless debtor,” I was able to negotiate payment terms with them that seemed less hopeless, and thereby settled for less than half what I owed.

My credit score is in the toilet, but I have paid off all of my debt over the last couple of years, and am living below my means.

I see my friends in similar desperate situations, but telling them to downsize their lives is completely fruitless. The thought of giving up my cellphone and cable used to give me the willies, but compared to the dread of answering the phone (debt collectors on the prowl), giving them up has proven to be small potatoes.

I can now technically afford a cellphone, more frequent restaurant trips, and cable, but my girlfriend and I agree that we would rather save for our future and take real pleasure in the less expensive entertainments. For example, we used to spend about $30 on a night at the movies (tickets plus concession), but instead, we now participate in the “Five Buck Club” at Kerasotes and smuggle in candy to reduce the cost to $10.

As I keep repeating to my friends: It’s nto about depriving yourself, it’s about getting good value for what you are spending. I have as much fun every week as I ever did. The difference is that I’ve stopped wasting money for convenience’s sake.

I’m a medical transcriptionist, and trust me you are saving a lot more than that if you don’t smoke.

I picked up work babysitting for wealthy families that paid well above average, and because I could eat whatever I wanted from their kitchens, I was able to eat well (fresh organic produce, etc.) for free. When I ate on my own, it was peanut butter sandwiches and baked potatoes. I didn’t need cable because the upper-class families had premium packages and DVR. I also babysat for older children (10-year-old boys) who entertained themselves (video games) and wanted little to do with me or any adult, so I could do school and freelance work while I was babysitting.

The second year of school, I moved out of NYC 20 minutes by train north to save $500/month in rent, even after accounting for commuting costs.

I also adopted virtually free hobbies – reading from the library or at Borders, playing cards, writing, running instead of the gym – which years later are still my hobbies.

After school ended, I moved out of NYC. To me, it’s a great city, but I couldn’t take advantage of all it has to offer because I wouldn’t have been able to afford it.

Obviously, this absolutely requires that you team up with someone who you totally trust, who has similar life goals and (if applicable) childrearing values, etc., etc. But if you can find that person or people, it’s a godsend.