• 💖 [Donate To Keep MyPTSD Online] 💖 Every contribution, no matter how small, fuels our mission and helps us continue to provide peer-to-peer services. Your generosity keeps us independent and available freely to the world. MyPTSD closes if we can't reach our annual goal.

What's your favorite way to save money?

Just like it sounds! I've been looking for ways to reduce my expenditures. I don't spend much on "extras" so I'm looking at your favorite ways to save money on the essential stuff in life, the sort of stuff that you can't not buy or have.

Here are the ways I work to save:

I only air condition my apartment to 26* C (that's about 79F) in the summer. Heat is included in my rent so that's not an expenditure in the winter.
I've started to cut sponges in half as they get gross faster than they wear out. Package goes twice as far! (But do you have a non-disposable suggestion other than rags?)
I'm thinking that if I cut up a bunch of old tshirts into squares, I can use (and wash) those instead of buying disposable kleenex.

I would love to hear everyone's tips and strategies. Bonus points if they are for reducing costs on things like household goods or food.
 
I buy generic brands of spaghetti (which I love) and place the food on toast without butter / margarine. If I make soup, I likewise never put butter / margarine on it. Any stale bread I will keep to put in soup or as a base for jelly crystals. When growing up, if we had no breakfast cereal, my mom would use bread with hot milk poured over it and topped with jam. And if I burn my toast, I simply scrap off the charcoal before eating (though charcoal is good for your teeth and digestion). When I receive mail, I reuse the envelopes and any unfranked stamps. Kitchen sponges cut in half are a good idea and these can be soaked in bleach after use to keep them sanitize. Old tea towels make excellent rags but only if 100 % cotton (if not, they generally do not soak up liquids as efficiently as you would like). I have curtain material covering all my doors (internal and external) as these keep the warmth in and the cold out or vice versa as they cover in gaps surrounding the door frame, as well as draft stoppers along the door's base. To save on cleaning materials, I buy inexpensive things like generic toothpaste, to clean my kitchen sink and hand basin. Generic shaving cream makes an excellent window cleaner and will stop your mirrors from foggy up in the bathroom. There are some excellent Reader's Digest books on the market (or available through secondhand book dealers) which are worth buying e.g., 99C Solutions (ISBN: 978-1-62145-566-1) which I highly recommend. This book contains a wealth of cost-saving ideas and is an interesting read, to boot. I take my keep Cup (Thermos cup) when I go out as this saves on buying coffee and I take cordial in a bottle on hot days (with glucose powder added for electrolytes). Burning one lamp in the lounge beats having overhead lights on. Lastly, I always look through Op Shops /Thrift Shops before I buy new.
 
Last edited:
our biggest savings on household stuff are realized by making accurate and complete grocery lists, and getting as much of the stuff we need that comes in a can or isnt food delivered so we dont have to drive around locating it. We are pretty rural, just getting gas in my truck costs me about 12 bucks worth of gas, so yeah, we try to minimize the trips and maximize the amazon prime membership and such. Personal favorite way to save? I like feeding the woodstove with free wood, gas for the saw and the splitter balanced against paying for all that heat? Feels like free heat to me.
 
These are all excellent!

these can be soaked in bleach after use to keep them sanitize.
This is a great idea, too. I would love to use fish rags and just wash them in the laundry, but I never make it to the laundromat often enough (and then I just have smelly dish towels hanging out unless I dry the dirty towels in the bathroom - gross).

@enough your tips are excellent but different from my life as I live in an urban center, I’m an apartment, and struggle to do any kind of bulk shopping as it means carting things in city buses. So opposite issues as you ….
 
I used to be very interested in FIRE movement, specifically Early Retirement Extreme-book & forums and got several good money habits out of that. It was very helpful for me. Every month I write down my income and expenses and make a budget. I get my money in three installments so I need to figure out what to pay and when. We have four adults in the house so I manage the household bills and keep track on them, figuring out how much each person must pay towards the house costs. I also keep my old budgets so I can predict future bills for next year.
I meal plan every meal we eat. It has been the most impactful change I have made. First I make a list of meals we're going to have, then the grocery list based on that. If there are good sales on something, I include it as a meal. For my bad days, I keep a few emergency meals in refigerator because I hate cooking and if I'm very depressed/anxious, cooking is not going to happen.
Theresa on dis-sos.com has budgetting advice for people with DID, and I've found it very helpful. I got the 'bad day meal' idea from her.
 
I’m getting a lot better at budgeting, but the main problem for me is the ratio of money in to money out. Rent and basics just cost so much and I make so little right now.

For my bad days, I keep a few emergency meals in refigerator because I hate cooking and if I'm very depressed/anxious, cooking is not going to happen.
This is very helpful, thank you. I’m trying to build contingency into my budget, so that if I have a bit of a bad spell it’s not as disruptive , and this is a great idea for that.
 
I ended up writing out a budget for myself and I find that I am sticking to it. Instead of buying things on line, I go to a shop instead and pay either cash (in full) or do a lay away, paying the installments off in cash and only from any extra money (after rent, food and bills). I do appreciate the difficulties with getting budgeting right.

Back in November 2021, I lost my partner to suicide and as we paid half of anything, I now found myself spending near to on $700 extra per fortnight in rent, fares to work, food and utilities. This was extremely financially difficult whilst dealing with the emotional and mental fallout of my loss. And spending $230 per month to see a therapist can still add to this. Then in the first 6 months I was buying things on line as looking forward to receiving a parcel each day gave me a reason to live - but I got into debt to the tune of $4000 (which was well, well beyond my means). Taking stock of this, I contacted my creditors and eventually paid it all back and now I live within my means though it still be difficult at times to do so.

Now I can go often a FULL WEEK without spending 1 Cent, but it took a lot of time, patience and effort to be able to discipline myself to this extent.

I trust that you are able to continue budgeting and saving on the little things that we take for granted.
 
Back
Top