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Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?

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Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?

#61

Post by kamaal »

elsewhen wrote: post #49
patmcc wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certainly it's good to increase your revenue, but saving money is often much more valuable; a dollar saved is $1.4 earned, assuming you live somewhere with a high marginal tax rate.

this is true, but the most you can save is 100%, but earning potential is generally unbounded. if you do not have marketable skills, then saving may be the only way to go, but if you can develop a valuable skillset, you can earn significantly more than you can save.

Firstly they are not mutually exclusive.

Secondly, though there is no upper limit to how much you can earn it rarely works that way in the real world. People who are not saving money are doing it for many psychological reasons, like being unable to resist the temptation to spend on things. And most of the times they don't like it after they do it.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?

#62

Post by drinchev »

kaolinite wrote: post #32
drinchev wrote: post #15

My father always says : "saving money is the beginning of being poor". So I always try to save money by thinking how can I make more. These days money = time is a strong equation, so just don't loose your time and use it in a way to make money. Stop thinking about saving money and spend your thoughts on revenue stream. That's why I rarely use services like that and don't count the pennies ( I'm neither rich nor bragg…

I used to use this excuse to justify ridiculous levels of spending. My time is valuable, etc. It's definitely true for some people but probably not most and certainly not me. Unless you actually are earning more (and saving it too, not just spending it) as a result of this mindset, I'd recommend reconsidering.

I find it more like a mindset than an actual excuse.

E.g. I want to buy a Tesla and I don't have the money. I say to myself : "Now it's not the time." instead of "Let's save some money!".

If you have millions and you want to buy 10 cars, then I think you have a problem with your ego.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?

#63

Post by onion2k »

tue4Iezi wrote: post #58
onion2k wrote: post #27

I read a lot of philosophy books. They taught me to think deeply about the things that make me happy, and it turns out most of the things that make me happy are essentially free (reading, coding, etc). I doubt it'd work for everyone, and it would be tricky to turn in to a Chrome extension, but something that put a Stoic quote in to Amazon's checkout page might help people.

Any book recommendations on this?

Anything by Alain De Botton but especially "Consollations of Philosophy" and "Status Anxiety", "How To Live: Micheal De Montaigne" by Sarah Bakewell, and "Philosophy for Life" by Jules Evans. None of them are hardcore academic works; they're just really interesting introductions to how philosophy can actually be useful.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?

#64

Post by tedmiston »

ap0 wrote: post #44
tedmiston wrote: post #38

1. Fatwallet Until it was acquired a few months ago I was a longtime user of FatWallet to make a few percentage points back on the dollar at many stores. 2. Jet Anywhere Jet.com has an incredible cash back program called Jet Anywhere. While the number of stores is small, the percentages are very strong. For example, 20% back at Nike or Saks Fifth. What I'm getting the most out of though is plane tickets. Flight purch…

What card are you using with universal 2% cash back?

I'd prefer not to list my specific card provider on a public discussion board out of security consciousness.

That said, NY Times ran an article on "the holy grail" 2% cash back credit cards last year [0] which includes four:

- Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard

- Capital One Venture Visa Signature

- Citi Double Cash MasterCard

- Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express

[0]: Credit Cards With 2% Rebates, While (or if) They Last http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/your-money/credit-and-debi...

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?

#65

Post by iamdave »

fakename wrote: post #51
iamdave wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On that note though, while I realize there are plenty of apps that will do this sort of thing for you, I really wished there were that did it with this level of simplicity. And I don't mean create an account for Mint or Level or any of the other bountiful budgeting services out there and merely export to a Spreadsheet. I (personally) literally only want something that can connect to my accounts, see a transaction, an…

I record all my spending manually with Expense Manager [ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.markushi.ex... ] Dead simple. Add an amount, give it a category, add a note (optional). See trends, exports to excel. Every attempt to use mint, level, etc has resulted in confusing duplicated entires or entries that don't show up until I've forgotten what they are.

This is perfect. I have one of those phone case/wallet combos and cards are right there with the phone so I can quickly enter purchases.

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?

#66

Post by suranyami »

kamaal wrote: post #60

1. Learn cooking: Saves a lot of money, healthy and a lot of long term advantages. 2. Learn to do the 'beginning with the end in mind': A lot of us here in India go and buy a plot on a reasonable loan, and then try to clear it off within 2-3 years. This way you get to acquire a resource, make a investment, and are forced to save up every month to clear the loan. This is more like forced savings. Repeat this for a lon…

This is a great set of suggestions.

On the cooking side of things, I found I was spending a lot of money buying lunches. Sydney is a VERY expensive city: a 'cheap' lunch in the CBD costs at least $7. So, we're talking about saving at least $35-50 per week. Over a year, that's approx $1500-2000 per year. And often, it's not as good as things I like to make for myself.

So I cook double-or-triple the quantities of recipes on the weekends... I take pride in making complex curries, slow-cooked casseroles and the like. Usually, doubling or tripling the quantities does not change the cooking time significantly and there are economies of scale with the costs as well.

Then, I package up the extra into lunch and dinner-sized portions for myself, wife and family for the week in the freezer.

This way, we all get cheap lunches (cost approx $1-2) and gain extra time at dinner during the weekdays (no cooking! just re-heat and add rice/salad/veges).

I'd say that as well as saving $1500-2000 per year, it's also saved us an hour or 3 every single week. Frankly, it's worth it if just for the time saved.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?

#67

Post by fleitz »

patmcc wrote: post #23
drinchev wrote: post #15

My father always says : "saving money is the beginning of being poor". So I always try to save money by thinking how can I make more. These days money = time is a strong equation, so just don't loose your time and use it in a way to make money. Stop thinking about saving money and spend your thoughts on revenue stream. That's why I rarely use services like that and don't count the pennies ( I'm neither rich nor bragg…

Certainly it's good to increase your revenue, but saving money is often much more valuable; a dollar saved is $1.4 earned, assuming you live somewhere with a high marginal tax rate.

The people who spend the least are the poorest. If you we're thinking about putting your money into something worthwhile you'd very likely get a tax credit, also here's the kicker, the most you can get your expenses down to is $0, what you can get your income to is limitless.

Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?

#68

Post by hacknat »

drinchev wrote: post #15

My father always says : "saving money is the beginning of being poor". So I always try to save money by thinking how can I make more. These days money = time is a strong equation, so just don't loose your time and use it in a way to make money. Stop thinking about saving money and spend your thoughts on revenue stream. That's why I rarely use services like that and don't count the pennies ( I'm neither rich nor bragg…

I agree, I have a set amount of money that comes out of my accounts to go to my retirement account (well over 10% of my income), but it is my only abstract use of money. I really don't care where my money goes after that. I obviously use some of the rest to shelter, feed, and clothe myself, but the surplus gets spent (I have a 3 month savings reserve that I will replenish if I ever have to tap into it), other than that, what should I be saving money for exactly?
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