Living cheaply

[hongi]

Please give tips on how to cut down money.

I borrow an electric shaver and just shave my head myself. Bare heads save me the hassle of doing up my hair, it takes longer to grow back to a level that I need to cut and of course, I don't have to pay someone else to do it.
I'm using baking soda instead of buying shampoo now. It's worked fine for me so far.
I'm also cutting down on eating out.
I've heard about dumpster diving outside of supermarkets. How do I go about doing this?
I catch the train, but I'd rather ride a bike if only my university wasn't so far away. But of course, this may be preferable for others who live relatively close to their workplace.
What happens if I leave things plugged in their sockets but turn off the switch? Do I have to take the entire cord out and all?

[salm]

Share your apartment with other people. Saves you several 100 bucks a month.

[Alferd Packer]

(Re)discover the public/university library. I dunno if you're a big reader or not, but nothing beats the library for free entertainment. Scrap your cable/satellite TV and read a good book or three, instead.

[Enigma]

Unplug any electrical appliances that you do not use. Even turned off they use up electricity. Replace regular light bulbs with the energy saving ones.

[Serafina]

If the quality in your area is okay, drink tap water. But really only if the quality is okay.
For electrical devices, try getting one of those multi-outlet power strips with an on/off-switch - if you hit that switch, you actually cut the electricity just as if you unplugged it. Or get one you just unplug instead of unplugging several devices.
Dumpster diving is essentially based on the fact that supermarkets often throw out products that are still edible, because they don't want to sell things just before they expire. Those things are still edible, and many things are still edible after their expiration date (general rule of thumb: the longer it takes to expire, the higher you can go above the expiration date). There is a lot of food where you can check whether it is still good or not on your own, by smelling it or tasting small quantities. Also, check if there is a law against looting someones trash in your area.
You might also want to look into charities in your area. Those can offer free food and cheap clothes, furniture and other things, often regardless of your income (since only those with small incomes go there anyway).

[Simon_Jester]

Turning stuff off at the wall switch should be as good as unplugging it.

[Akhlut]

Buy generic foods. You might have to do some shopping around to find decent quality generic foods to replace any name-brand stuff you buy, but you should be able to find something to replace most name-brands. You could easily cut a grocery bill in half by doing so. Also, if your local grocery stores have a discount card, get it. It can save you $10+ per shopping trip if you use it.

Buy your food in bulk and freeze anything you don't plan on using immediately. It's a lot cheaper to buy 10 pounds of meat at a time then to buy 1 pound of meat 10 times.

Always always always buy over-the-counter medication as generics. Always. They are always the same formulations and they are always at least half the price, sometimes closer to a third or even a quarter of the price. You can save a shitload of money just on that.

Look for garage sales. You can get decent stuff for cheap and you can potentially pick up something very valuable for very cheap.

When it's cold, bundle up before turning up the heat or plugging in a heater. When it's hot, strip down before turning on the air. Get fans to supplement air conditioning.

[Elheru Aran]

If you're really that tight on money that you're considering dumpster-diving, look into social assistance. Might bruise your dignity a bit, but it's a little less smelly. Only issue with this is if your income is too high-- usually they don't care what your bills are, as long as you make above x level they figure you have enough money that you don't need assistance, no matter how much you're actually paying on bills. It's happened to me.

Library=good. Books, DVDs, etc. Maybe not the greatest selection, but that's what you make friends for-- we recently borrowed a volume of over 200 DVDs from one of our friends. Free movie watching for a few months! You can also give up Internet to use the library computers. No, you won't be able to pick up porn, but if you're honestly going to pare it down to the barest necessities, you only really need Internet for the occasional business transaction and email, unless you're taking online classes.

Food= inquire at local stores if they have a rack for day-old bread, discounted meats, fruits, veggies, etc. Also look out for any stores that may do a business in damaged foods, ie, cereal boxes that have been ripped but the bag inside is still good, dented canned food, that kind of thing.

[Rabid]

A word on dumpster-scavenging :

In France, supermarkets, or more generally all food-selling stores often pour bleach or other unhealthy chemicals on dumpsters' food. Why ? You can only guess. But so be careful : any food you find in a dumpster might be poisoned.

[salm]

In Germany you can only go dumpster diving for fresh stuff like vegetables. Other things like cookies are locked away. It´s still illegal to get the vegetables but i guess the penalties usually get dropped like most marihuana possessions.
At least that´s what a dumpster diver told me at a party a while ago.

Pouring bleach over the food just sound vicious.

[Dartzap]

Investigate local 99p/c stores. I was in ones yesterday, and they had some cracking deals in there, especially on canned goods and bottles (3 j20's for a quid? SOLD!)

[Rabid]

Pouring bleach over the food just sound vicious.

Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

[Enigma]

Wow, aerius. Someone wants ideas in saving money and you post something that fits more for testing than here. Congrats!

Hongi - As for eating out, don't. You'll save more money this way. As others mentioned, check out discount stores. Here in this part of Ohio, my in-laws, my wife and I like to do grocery shopping in grocery discount stores such as Save-A-Lot and Aldi. Milk there is cheaper than any other place and so are the eggs. Where other stores sell Chef-Boy-R-Dee (sp?) type canned foods ranging around a buck per can, Aldi's sells their brand for 0.69 cents each. Bread is also cheap, ranging around 0.69 to 0.89 for white bread and hot-dogs for 0.75 cents.

Shopping at discount grocery stores will save you money and you can pack your own meals for work without needing to eat out.

You mentioned that you take the train to work. How far is your job?

[The Romulan Republic]

(Re)discover the public/university library. I dunno if you're a big reader or not, but nothing beats the library for free entertainment. Scrap your cable/satellite TV and read a good book or three, instead.

I use the university library rather than buying new DVDs or even renting them.

Some things cost less if you buy them in large amounts, so I do that (if they're something that lasts and you use a lot, obviously). I try to take advantage of whatever deals the grocery store has. I also get pasta and bread a lot, because they're dirt cheap.

I also cut my own hair now. And I go to second run movie theatres a lot (when I go at all).

[Sam Or I]

Use Skype instead of a cell phone (It may be worth the purchase number.) WiFi hot spots are everywhere. 60$ for a number and subscription for a year. That was my monthly phone bill before I became really poor.

If you have an iPod touch, it is almost a cell phone. (I would guess you can do this with an andriod as well.) If you are looking for a job, a phone number is almost required.

[HMS Sophia]

Meh, start riding the distance. It'll probably hurt the first few times, but before long, the trip won't feel so long at all; it seems that muscles grow very quickly. Either that or your brain just gets used to it, but I find it only takes a week or two to get into a decent rhythm.

You say that without knowing the distance. For instance I would love to cycle to university. However, it's about twenty-five miles, mainly on motorways... I don't really want to cycle that.

[Iroscato]

It's pretty shocking what can be the big money bleeders for a person or a household. A few months ago, for example, my mum was paying about £40 a month for homephone, internet and TV combined in one. Now she has incoming calls only, uses her mobile for calls, selected a smaller TV bundle, and uses a mobile internet dongle. She saved about £20 a month, and her quality of entertainment stayed preciself the same level.

Obviously if you can't afford internet at all, just use a library or a college. Or, if you don't mind sort-of breaking the law, hijack a neighbour's wifi. Your choice.

[hongi]

Food is dirt cheap. Just start preparing it yourself - no eating out at all, buy ingredients rather than pre-made - and it will become a small part of your overall budget.

Veggies/fruit aren't exactly dirt cheap. But that's what I do now, I didn't realise how expensive it was to eat outside until I actually sat down and looked at the calculations.

Meh, start riding the distance. It'll probably hurt the first few times, but before long, the trip won't feel so long at all; it seems that muscles grow very quickly. Either that or your brain just gets used to it, but I find it only takes a week or two to get into a decent rhythm.

How much did your bike cost? My transport cost right now is less than $1000 p/a. Compared with your route, my distance wouldn't be a problem, just my psychological uncomfortableness with doing it.

You mentioned that you take the train to work. How far is your job?

About 20 kms?

[Broomstick]

Use Skype instead of a cell phone (It may be worth the purchase number.) WiFi hot spots are everywhere. 60$ for a number and subscription for a year. That was my monthly phone bill before I became really poor.

If you have an iPod touch, it is almost a cell phone. (I would guess you can do this with an andriod as well.) If you are looking for a job, a phone number is almost required.

Alternatively, if you don't have a computer, or a home connection to the internet, or need to use the phone somewhere other than your computer, and you don't have an iPod touch or smartphone or the money to purchase one.... you can get a pay-as-you-go cellphone plan for basic phone service much cheaper than any of the above (except for perhaps Skype), and you'll have much greater control over your phone bill.

[Broomstick]

Food is dirt cheap. Just start preparing it yourself - no eating out at all, buy ingredients rather than pre-made - and it will become a small part of your overall budget.

Veggies/fruit aren't exactly dirt cheap. But that's what I do now, I didn't realise how expensive it was to eat outside until I actually sat down and looked at the calculations.

In summer and fall my veggies are dirt cheap because I grow them - but that does take an investment of time and effort. Not everyone has the time, or a place to grow a substantial garden.

But yes, quality fruits and vegetables can be expensive.

Try buying frozen vegetables - they are often cheaper, particularly out of season, and the nutritional quality is essentially the same, sometimes even better.

[Broomstick]

Ha! I'm supporting two people on less than that - on the other hand, I often can carpool to work and I do grow a significant part of our food supply. And my rent is absurdly low for the area.

[folti78]

Use Skype instead of a cell phone (It may be worth the purchase number.) WiFi hot spots are everywhere. 60$ for a number and subscription for a year. That was my monthly phone bill before I became really poor.

If you have an iPod touch, it is almost a cell phone. (I would guess you can do this with an andriod as well.) If you are looking for a job, a phone number is almost required.

Alternatively, if you don't have a computer, or a home connection to the internet, or need to use the phone somewhere other than your computer, and you don't have an iPod touch or smartphone or the money to purchase one.... you can get a pay-as-you-go cellphone plan for basic phone service much cheaper than any of the above (except for perhaps Skype), and you'll have much greater control over your phone bill.

Second to that.

Especially recommended, if you have more incoming calls, than outgoing(and these are shorter) and don't travel too much outside of the country/the provider's coverage, otherwise roaming fees will be horrendous.

Also check whether there are some data plan attached to it, because that too, could be a pay-as-you-go one for highway robbery rates. Especially important, if you have a smartphone, because they are connected to the net non-stop, unless data traffic is disabled on the phone (Example: can't disable it on stock Android 2.1, unless you install some 3rd party app from the market). Even when they are not talking to some server, keeping the connection up generates some raw traffic.

Also on the long run, check the provider's pay-as-you-go plan regularly, because newer plans may have better rates for your current needs, but if you stick with an older no-longer sold plan, they can raise the rates sky high, to force users to switch. Of course it's only important if you intend to use the pre-paid plan for a longer time.

Depending on the provider, you can convert between pre-paid and subscription plans with some paperwork and for some cost. At least from pre-paid to subscription.

EDIT: possible downside that the provider's prices for the phones' themselves could be higher than phones sold with the subscription plans. but lower than the real market price of the phone.

[Enigma]

You mentioned that you take the train to work. How far is your job?

About 20 kms?

Try this, on a day that you don't work, take a leisurely bike ride to and from your job and time it. If you find it takes a bit too long then plan a different route and try again. Keep doing until you've found the best and shortest route and then stick to it.

You'll save money on train fair so that on good days you can cycle to work and on bad days just take the train.

[Sriad]

Dumpster diving works best for baked goods. If you have a nice bakery or bagel shop nearby it's very possible they throw out 10-20 kg of stuff every evening.

For produce, note prices and compare to farmers' markets. Sometimes there's a premium for Local-Organic-Whatever, but often there are a few amazing deals. And if you have space growing your own food is good too; I don't know your climate but in mine tomatoes and raspberries both have extremely good cost+effort:harvest returns and lend themselves very well to long term storage via canning. Generally, stick to vine-based food rather than root.

At the store, potatoes are an amazing low-cost food. You can have them plain with salt and butter (or more likely vegetable-oil based margarine; where I live it's much cheaper than real butter) or "splurge" and add cheese, sour cream, some chives and a crumbled strip of bacon or chopped slice of deli meat... still for well under a dollar a meal. For variety add your choice of spices or hot sauce.

If you're addicted to caffeine, make your own tea/coffee and carry a bottle of caffeine tablets if you get a mid-day craving. If your sweet-tooth craves Coke, make sweet tea by mixing a whole bunch of sugar and a teeny pinch of baking soda with a hot strong batch of black tea and pouring over ice. If your tap-water is questionable buy a filter.

[Sriad]

Oh, and if you MUST pick up some fast food due to time or w/e never buy a meal, instead get a Dollar Menu Feast. Take home two small burgers and an order of chicken nuggets to eat with your home-made french fries and sweet tea for half the price of a normal combo.