Be a producer, not a consumer.
Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?
141–150 of 195 posts
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?
#142This app changed literally my life. YNAB! https://www.youneedabudget.com It takes time to get used to, but after 6 years on and off, I am using it for the last 8 months regularly, and I already saved enough money for the next 4 months in advance. This, and in addition, read https://www.amazon.com/Early-Retirement-Extreme-philosophica... You don't need more, trust me. But, of course, what these two have in common, is…
YNAB is good if it's just you or you're the sole manager of your account, but multi-user is hard to maintain, spent more time fixing syncing issues etc. I also don't like things that claim to solve money problems by asking you for money
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?
#143Since nobody else said it. STAY SINGLE!!! If it flies, floats or f ks it's cheaper to rent than to buy. If you can't stay single at least avoid kids... I know that won't be a popular opinion but the numbers don't lie.
Stay single, save money, die and leave your paper trinkets for someone who will actually spend it to raise another human being
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?
#144Frankly.. do boring things that don't cost you a thing. Stay away from vices (bars, pay to pay games, tech gadgets you don't need etc). Spend money on things that last, a nice bed, nice shoes, reasonable car, your family.
Live.. but don't waste.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?
#145For me the simplest solution is to have a second bank account I never take money from. Then every time I get my salary a certain amount gets moved to the savings account. I do not miss money I never really had. Additionally some days before my salary all my money above a certain threshold gets also moved to the savings account, so that I have the same money every month, even when I spent less. Also I have my I am poo…
I created a second bank account as soon as I went to college because I was too lazy to balance a checkbook. Now I actually have three accounts. Savings account for long term savings that 20% of my salary is deposited, a checking account where my rent is drawn from, and another checking account for general use where 80% of my salary is deposited.
It's probably not the best system but It's nice to have it all separated. It's a process if I'm going to take money out of savings and transfer it to my checking account so It makes me think twice on large purchases.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also, frugality reaps increased benefits as the income rises. If one can maintain the same cost of living while earning more money, you end up with huge % increases in discretionary cash that can be used for all sorts of great things: investing, philanthropy, starting a business, saving for future personal projects, travel, etc. Example: earn $100k, $35k goes to taxes, spend $50k a year = $15k discretionary. Increase…
Agreed, but there's also a fine line between frugality and being cheap. You should optimize what you get for the money, not lower your quality of life in an unsustainable way.
Of course, all things in healthy moderation. In the end it will come to what one is willing to do personally. But we shouldn't confuse "spending money like my coworkers or peers do" with "maintaining a good quality of life", even if there can be some correlation. I think most people will not have a problem becoming "cheap" (to me this word means: a person who expresses their frugality in a dickish manner)
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?
#147Instead of buying a house, bought a triplex. I save about $2,000 a month in rent/mortgage from this one decision, and it only taxed my willpower once. And I get to go out with my friends and loved ones as much as I want without running into any money problems.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?
#148Before I purchase anything, I read reviews, both positive and negative for balanced views. A lot of time negative reviews change my mind, even when product is rated highly overall. Though it is not intentional for me but I guess if someone is trying to save money, show them negative reviews first.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?
#149I like the CamelCamelCamel.com extension for amazon. It does something useful - shows me price history graphs so that I can see if that 40% discount is actually a discount or a sales tactic...and they also allow me to set alert for the stuff I buy in bulk but need regularly (toothpaste etc). The amazon prices seem to fluctuate enough to make this worthwhile.
Didn't Amazon block CCC because of the price history graphs? I could have sworn they were all blank last I used it.
Re: Ask HN: What's your favorite way to save money?
#150My 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 like to approach this from a perspective of if I save y many hours by buying some service or product, then if my time is valued at x per hour, am I making a profit? Once that is considered I also consider if I can make that money back. So instead of cleaning the house myself, I might hire a team to come do it. During the time they are cleaning my goal is to do some kind of work that helps me earn that money back ideally.
There was a time I bought a Mac book pro. I felt it would save me developer time and focus compared to my old HP laptop. So I set out to earn that money back in 6 months (did it in 4). I feel like this complete approach helps.