Which extreme cheapskate hacks/habits did you keep?

[ertyu]

This question pertains in particular to money-saving behaviors and tactics that seemed extreme to you when you first picked them up, and you either would’ve never picked them up for reasons other than saving money or you actively found them unpleasant but did them specifically to save.

Which of these did you actually end up keeping even when you no longer needed to save this hard? What ended up being worthwhile about them?

[7Wannabe5]

The only thing that I can come up with is “haggling.”

[jacob]

I suppose to a large extent the answer is all of them, since my initial spending reduction was cold turkey and all the way down to $6k/yr w/o having developed any non-consumer skills. Now they've just been internalized so I don't even think about them as tactics. A key example would be to "buy nothing". This was originally seen as a finite challenge on par with running a marathon. Now it just feels like the sensible thing to do at all times.

In a general sense, I switched my philosophy from "bigger is better" to "small is beautiful". Overall though, humans easily and hedonically adapt to pretty much anything above a rather low absolute standard which I've never hit, so "unpleasantness" is relative. I prefer to deal with unpleasant change using the crowbar method to adapt as quickly as possible rather than by dragging baby steps.

I still find the reduced resource footprint worthwhile. Having more money means I no longer think about the $ number when I spend. Spending has always been of secondary concern to how much ecological waste I would be generating, but it's faded into the background now. Money is more like oxygen now than a limit. Lack of waste is generally aligned with lack of spending, but not always. For example, one thing I do is to buy parts to fix things to keep them out of landfills ... and then I give them away because "small is beautiful" and "I don't need the clutter".

[Seppia]

I don' understand the question well maybe, but at the very beginning all the cuts in expenses were a little bit painful, and none are right now.
We are now at 1.5 JAFI per person* + rent** and we never feel deprived.

I guess the area in which we're the most extreme is food. I always cook at home (save for maybe 2 takeaway pizzas for DW and I twice a month for a grand total of 16 euros), and we spend less than half the normal budget for a middle class single person to feed a family of three.

*not counting the kid, otherwise we'd be at 1, but counting a 5 month old kid feels like cheating since he costs almost nothing. I really don't get how people can say with a straight face that newborns are super expensive. We got a $900 baby bonus from the state and it more than covered his expenses so far.
**I separate rent because we own a small place in our hometown that would be our home if we were ERE'd. The only reason why we rent is we have to live in a different city due to my work

[jacob]

I really don't get how people can say with a straight face that newborns are super expensive.

It's those "Baby Mandarin" classes that all add up.

[ertyu]

@Seppia, the question was about strategies or behaviors that were initially unpleasant and you didn't implement them for their own sake.

Implementing for own sake would be something like learning about wim hof, deciding he's a badass, and that you would like to be this kind of healthy badass, too -- and incidentally, this also saves money, yay.

Example of the types of behaviors I was asking about would be, "must save shit's bad what to do well fuck cold showers it is, I guess, let's see how people even tolerate this horrible hateful thing... ha, this wim hof guy sounds like he's got a method, ok, let's hope this will make it suck less..." --- and then eventually getting used to the cold showers and realizing they make you feel invigorated, and deciding to keep taking the cold showers even after you are well off enough to not strictly need to save in this particular way anymore.

[Sclass]

...you actively found them unpleasant but did them specifically to save.

Which of these did you actually end up keeping even when you no longer needed ...,

These two requirements make this question interesting.

Does taking pleasure in saving money count? Just asking because the reasoning becomes circular if the job is really unpleasant.

Landscaping, self medicating, plumbing, HVAC etc. I haven’t given in on most of the DIY stuff I did when I was poor. I don’t do it for money savings anymore. I just wouldn’t be happy paying for something I can do myself with tools I’ve already invested in.

My lawnmower broke last week. I’m waiting for a gear case in the mail to repair it myself. I hate doing this but if I took it in the mower would be totaled given the cost of the part at $199 not including labor.

Last week I fixed a toilet, snaked a storm drain, trapped a rat, mowed a lawn (before the mower broke), cut hedges by myself. I hate that kind of work but I hate paying to have it done even more.

I left out fixing my cars. I started out doing that because I was just a poor kid without a car in the beginning. Now I can afford a nice new car and professional service but I’ve grown to enjoy the hobby. I hate letting anyone touch the workings of my cars and motorcycle. I still dutifully return my worn brake pads to Autozone for their “lifetime” warranty. Even though I don’t own the same cars anymore, I own the same model so I can continually use my old warranty to get free brake pads whenever I change them. (Hack is standardizing cars). I just have to remember the year and make of the car I originally registered the pads under twenty years ago. Cheesy hack but I still do it even though I can afford $20 brake pads. I rationalize it under long term share holder benefits.

[Lemur]

@Sclass

+1 on picking up DIY skills...I am making it a mission to never see a car mechanic. I recently fixed wheels and control cable on lawn mower...For vehicles, I find if you maintain them right you can keep them well past their expiration date. I know a friend who has a 92 Ford Ranger with 700,000 miles on it that is still running strong. Real life example, I had a 04 Civic but the timing belt snapped...(I should've maintained that and replaced it every 75k miles per the manual) but because the timing belt snapped the engine was damaged and then I was at a point where the repair was outside my skillset and tools. I had no choice but to take the car to the mechanic...and I lost an arm and a leg on that fateful day. Had I just maintained it properly, I probably would still have my Civic right now and this was four years ago.

As far as hacks are concerned ...well I guess I do a few "quirky" things.

These came natural to me:
- I can keep dish soap to last a very long time...as well as toothpaste.
- I can't actually remember the last time I bought clothes lol. I'm still wearing shorts and shirts and I wore in high school. I always clean clothes on cold ...I think that maintains them. Any other clothes were likely Christmas presents, my spouse got it for me, or picked them up for free running 10ks or volunteer activities. I have bought work clothes though...usually after much thrift store look outs.

These were unpleasant at first?

- Buying beans / lentils in bulk. It took until I found good recipes and upped my cooking skills until this became tolerable.
- Turning off Heat/AC during the day (but back on at night).
- Not leaving water on while taking a shower.

All I can think of for now.

[Frita]

These days I just live my life with little to no effort in being frugal. As I have gotten older, I have tried many hobbies and downsized to a few. I am more comfortable not being busy or productive all the time.

[Seppia]

...you actively found them unpleasant but did them specifically to save.

If this is the premise, then none. I've never done anything that I considered really unpleasant.
I like the concept of "earning", so I'm willing to go though some hardship if I clearly see the prize, but I'd never be masochistic.

[Alphaville]

avoiding restaurants started as an exercise in frugality and eventually turned into an exercise in anger management.

i can now cook better at home for 1/10th of the cost, and so...if i want to splurge, i’ll splurge in quality ingredients.

restaurants just piss me off these days

[Sclass]

..I am making it a mission to never see a car mechanic.

This is actually an achievable goal these days. Certain cars are quite durable and reliable. If you are a little proactive about finding the flaws in your car before they become a problem(or before you buy for that matter) and dealing with them, you may never see a mechanic aside from emissions, tires and alignment.

The trick (I’ve mentioned this before so skip if necessary) buy a several year old model of car that other people have discovered all the problems on by driving theirs long term and discussing them online. Now you know what you’re in for. If it is easy to fix stuff that will inevitably break you can just proactively replace the offending parts now.

It’s like magic when the car loses all its Achilles heels. Having others’ experiences to go from is like cheat notes. Sometimes on popular issues companies like Dorman will come up with updated parts that are better than the original. Using this trick you can pick your battles and fight them with minimal tooling. It is actually easier than say buying a random car and dealing with issues as they show themselves.

Then you standardize on your favorite model. I have a garage full of parts for Mercedes diesels. Once you do one repair you can draw dividends on your knowledge and fix your other car. I know all the bugs and the fixes for the 1982-85 MB diesels. Piles of parts bought on sale or in bulk. And I only have one set of manuals. The lifetime brake pads at Autozone make sense if you have owned four of the same car over a twenty year period. The last time I paid for Mercedes pads was in 2004.

I know, it’s going off the deep end to save money but I think that’s what this thread is about.

There are some models like your Honda Civic where people have seen it all...and posted it up. Civics are pretty good cars and once you deal with the known weaknesses you’re solid for a long time. One day I’ll put my 2008 back on the road...but I’m afraid it’s so reliable I’ll get bored. Seriously.

Yeah, my mower broke right where the power propel cable attaches to the gear case. A piece of sapling whipped around down there and grenaded the lever and gear case. I’m out $200. It would be easy to go down to Home Depot and get another mower for $450 and leave the old one on the curb. Financially I’d never feel it...but it’s against my wiring.

Restaurants are funny now. I’ve learned how to cook a lot of my favorite ethnic foods during the pandemic. Like I know how to make desi pizza now. Amazing what getting locked down does. My trash cans are almost empty this garbage collection day and my credit card balance is 1/3 normal.

[Alphaville]

The trick (I’ve mentioned this before so skip if necessary) buy a several year old model of car that other people have discovered all the problems on by driving theirs long term and discussing them online. Now you know what you’re in for. If it is easy to fix stuff that will inevitably break you can just proactively replace the offending parts now.

that was a brilliant post and tons to ask from it. and not to derail the thread or anything but would you mind naming some of these reliable & fully debugged models of cars that could last forever? or point me to a list somewhere? i’m looking (maybe) for a small city car with manual gears.

also curious re: MB diesel: i know those cars are legendary, and while diesel is a much more reliable technology than gasoline powered, i often can’t stand the smell of diesel emissions and will get headaches from it (e.g. in a duramax ranch truck i used to drive). do you ever experience that in other diesel cars?

[flying_pan]

Buying clothes/shoes in thrift stores. It looked really weird at first, but after doing it for some time:

1. it is environmentally frendlier than buying any new clothes
2. you can find good stuff

Especially athletic shoes. They are my favourite for walking, but they wear out relatively quickly. For some reasons, thrift stores here are full of them, maybe people try to "get in shape", but then abandon idea and have no application for them?

[Frita]

For some reasons, thrift stores here are full of them, maybe people try to "get in shape", but then abandon idea and have no application for them?

So that’s what it is. Earlier this week my teen and I went shopping for some black athletic shoes for his new job (washing dishes). We picked up a brand new pair of Nikes for $10 plus tax. There were several choices of new ones from which to choose. We were surprised that they weren’t more used. Now we know.

[IlliniDave]

I'm very close to what Frita described, I really don't go around working at being frugal, I just sort of am, at least relative to the overall population. A while back I experimented with pushing the boundaries, not so much because I needed to save more, but to get to know myself better to help set retirement income targets. It's helpful to know how low you can go with regard to spending and still feel content, and how high you can go without hitting the point of diminishing returns for that matter. I styled the approach after YMOYL and spent some time tracking expenses without changing anything, reviewed it and continued spending I felt okay about and reducing/eliminating that which I didn't.

More to the point of your question, the one thing I did that was initially annoying was targeting my grocery shopping around sales. I'm one of those folks who generally does not like shopping. When I want something I go buy it and pay little attention to anything else. My local grocery has a lot of BOGO deals every week, and one day I decided to go two weeks eating only BOGO stuff as an experiment. Overall the outcome wasn't great, but to this day I always take extra time in the store (pre-pandemic) to check out the BOGOs and often get things for the the future or changing my weekly food plan on the fly.

[Sclass]

@alphaville

I’m not up on the latest cars. I just haven’t kept up. There are a lot of good videos on YouTube by mechanics. I like this guy. You want guys who fix a lot of cars. You’d be surprised what they say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwuCtBfNVQ4

You can ask your neighborhood mechanic. Or I’ve found tow truck drivers know a lot...at least which cars that will leave you stuck on the side of the road.

Taxis are often good. Like gen 2 Prius or crown Victoria LTD. they get a lot of miles and reliability is a big deal for cabbies. A Mercedes diesel is a taxi btw.

And yes, my cars stink. They pollute. I adjust their injection to limit this but it is a compromise. Too much soot or too much I burnt fuel. You have to choose. I err on the soot side and stay off the throttle. I do not recommend these cars to anyone. It is the realm of a few crazies.

Sorry to derail the thread.

My thoughts on thrift shops is it really depends on your locality. Back in Silicon Valley it was thrift store paradise. Rich people were always tossing good stuff and nobody wanted thrift store items. Then 2008 happened. The Goodwill got crowded and picked over by a new generation of struggling poor. I moved to OC CA and here the thrift stores suck. It’s like low yielding ore. Trashy donations and too many poor people picking everything of value. This has even driven prices up to the point where it is stupid to buy used. Just my local experience. Sad because I used to love this stuff.

Same for church rummage sales. They get hit by people carrying bar code scanners who grab anything that looks flippable on eBay. Think of a whole room of Egos doing something for nothing. Nothing wrong with it but the ore gets mined out.

[Alphaville]

@alphaville

I’m not up on the latest cars. I just haven’t kept up. There are a lot of good videos on YouTube by mechanics. I like this guy. You want guys who fix a lot of cars. You’d be surprised what they say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwuCtBfNVQ4

You can ask your neighborhood mechanic. Or I’ve found tow truck drivers know a lot...at least which cars that will leave you stuck on the side of the road.

Taxis are often good. Like gen 2 Prius or crown Victoria LTD. they get a lot of miles and reliability is a big deal for cabbies. A Mercedes diesel is a taxi btw.

And yes, my cars stink. They pollute. I adjust their injection to limit this but it is a compromise. Too much soot or too much I burnt fuel. You have to choose. I err on the soot side and stay off the throttle. I do not recommend these cars to anyone. It is the realm of a few crazies.

Sorry to derail the thread.

eh, i think all threads get derailed here hahaha. covid thread becomes boogaloo thread, etc.

i wasn’t asking about new cars necessarily but i guess parts become scarce eventually. GREAT idea in looking for taxicabs—much appreciated! the prius looks interesting.

i don’t/won’t drive a lot, so pollution isn’t a big concern. i do get diesel headaches though, even with modern engines, and passing out on the highway is a big no-no in my book

i had a crazy friend who once owned a mercedes diesel btw. great guy, unfortunately no longer among the living—the mercedes had nothing to do with his demise though, lol. he bought that car cheap, fixed it up, and sold it for a bunch of money.

[fiby41]

Not eating unless hungry.

Earlier licence to ride one of these was given sparingly. Now almost anyone with a driving licence can get one. When I get a job I'd like to commute to work in this and have fare in the backseat to cover for the CNG.