In 2022, food prices increased by 9.4% on average in the year to April. This marked the largest rise in 40 years.
Rising inflation is making life more difficult for many as people struggle to afford necessities such as groceries, gas, and rent. And earning to manage your finances and planning ahead is becoming crucial in order to survive.
Luckily, often it starts from simple steps and changes in spending habits. This thread has people sharing simple and useful financial life hacks they swear by, so you may want to get your notes ready!
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Inherit a large amount of money. It’s the secret they don’t want you to know about
Adjust what you think your zero is. Everyone has that "oh s**t I'm broke" number-- I just inflated mine so I think I'm broke when I'm not. If I have $1000 in my bank account, I treat it like $0. $1050 is treated like I have only $50. It's weird, but it's been working so far.
Don't spend money you don't have! It's a revolutionary concept, I know, but it really works wonders.
Eat before you go to the store and always make a list and stick with it.
Every time you get a raise, hide it. Increase your 401(k) contribution, or put it into an IRA, or invest in stock, or just put it aside in savings.
In other words, don't get used to a higher level of consumption. This is especially important when you're young.
Yeah, but you really need to get to a point of consumption where you’re living, instead of just barely existing. Problem is, so many people are barely scraping by, living hand to mouth, one paycheck away from living on the street, even though they’re exhausting themselves working multiple jobs. Once we get people being paid livable salaries for ONE job, then we can advise them to put any increase in their salaries into savings and retirement.
This ^ I work TWO full time jobs and according to the newly released statistics, I still fall about $5,000.00 short of the lowest number for middle class. In ARKANSAS.
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Followed by a "if you were already surviving before the raise". Many people would use said "extra money" to actually get medical aid or something.
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Don't have to hide it. It's usually so small that the taxes eat most of the difference it made 🤔
We call that living below your means... unfortunately, most people don't have the luxury to do so.
I wish I could upvote this 100x! There's value in spending some of your money on things you enjoy, but don't sign up for a $900 car payment because you got a raise.
This is a good idea in principle but it assumes a decent living wage to start with. If you're on bare minimum and get a raise that takes you closer to livable that raise cannot be saved.
Doesn’t work when you have growing children at home…that increase somehow always seems to be exactly what is needed to cover the new clothes they just got but grew out of in two months (or tore up on the playground), the extra food since they’re always hungry now and of course all the stuff they broke around the house! It never ends…
Did you forget about the part where this article opened by saying that food prices increased nearly 10% during the first few months of this year?
....or better yet, get the raise and spend it because it doesn't keep pace with the rate of inflation. Honestly, this idea would be great if expenses stayed the same for everyone. But they don't.
I’ve been doing this for years but not this year due to inflation.
My absolute favourite Oscar Wilde quote, anyone who lives within his means lacks imagination.
Unfortunately most raises barely, or don't, keep up with inflation and the cost of living so it's hard to put that raise into retirement because it means you would be living on less. If your budget is already tight, living on less might not be feasible.
Ask for small bills only, no dye packs or silent alarms
When you spend money think "Is this worth x amount of time that I spent at work?"
Don't cosign anything for anyone
Understand the point here. Did it for my stepson to buy a house. He qualified but they didn't like the fact he was in construction and the hours varied. He sold that house after five years for more than 40k more than he bought it to leverage his family into a more suitable house. Hate to think how many people get stuck in rentals and can't start earning equity because of this sort of thing.
Small hack:
If you pay your car off, continue paying your car payment into a new account.
This payment is already in your budget, so you should be used to it.
This new account is handy if you have any car-related repairs you need to make, like having to replace your fuel pump.
When you need to buy a new car, you can either buy it out right or you have a substantial amount to use for a down payment.
And don't buy another car right when you pay off the other one. Lots of people just keep a car payment instead of continuing to drive the one that's paid off.
Pay your credit cards in full every month. Don’t overspend. No exceptions.
I started thinking of things in terms of hours worked instead of money. Let's say you make $15/hr. Eating McDonald's after work costs $10, doesn't seem like much. But thinking "I worked 40 minutes for this" has a different psychological effect on me. I'm less likely to buy things with my time than I am with my money, if that makes sense.
Every time I want to buy something big or expensive, I ask myself one question:
Do I NEED this, or do I WANT this?
Both answers are fine, I think it's just important to know WHY you spend money. Beeing mindfull of things is always a good choice in life.
Also sleep on it...9 times out of 10 it was an impulse purchase and I realise I don't need it.
Banks are not your financial advisors, don't take their advices. They are a business and think about their profit.
In Canada a financial adviser is regulated and acts in your best interest. Banks normally do not have financial advisers, they have financial advisors. A financial advisor acts in their employers best interest. Check for the "er" or "or" before you invest! Edited for source and additional details. It looks like in about 2017 Canada had about 121,000 registered financial professionals. 4,000 of those could use the title financial adviser. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bank-s-deceptive-titles-put-investments-at-risk-1.4044702
Our biggest money saver is cooking our meals at home. We bake bread 3-4 days a week ($0.50/ loaf) and grow lettuce, peas, cucumbers, and herbs by a window all winter.
Feel great, more money in my pocket!
Great idea, but 50 cents for a loaf? In Belgium, quality bread costs less at a normal bakery than making it by yourself.
Always bring your own water bottle!! Ive live off from refills for 6 months and saved a lot of money
I've found recently that I do better with my finances when I check my account on the app every day. It's almost addicting seeing my credit balances lower. I also notice that if I haven't checked it in a few days I've been making bad financial decisions. It's all mental at this point but it's helped since I started doing it last October
That's what happened in the old days when you had your money in cash in your wallet. Every time you opened your wallet to pay, you instantly saw how much you had left. Nowadays you just swipe a card and nobody tells you what remains in your account.
Young people should not be ashamed to live at home for longer. It's crazy how much debt some young people are in, and they could be in a lot less debt if they just stayed home longer.
I know Boomers normalized bragging about kicking your kids out of the house at age 18 and leaving them with no support even though their own parents often helped them buy their first house (yes, that's actually true, and Boomers would prefer that you didn't know this), but that's really not OK.
PS. I'm 53 years old. This post was not made out of self-interest.
This is more of a western thing. It's completely normal for people to live at home for much longer than the age of 18 in other countries. And with housing being as expensive as it is in the U.S. right now, there's nothing wrong with not going into debt and making a smart financial decision.
If you are good at sometime - don't do it for free.
I can plant gardens and mulch them. It's relaxing, fun, easy and rewarding. Some people want a nice garden with edges and mulch. Takes me a few minutes to pick out some perrenials, and order them, with a bulk load of mulch and soil. I can drive it to a house, unload, cut out a garden and install the new one within a few hours, then go to a spot and unload to scrap I dug out (grass usually).
I did this for free for a buddy. His neighbour wanted the same, and I said we could do it. They paid me $500 for a few hours labour and the materials. Now I charge $500 and walk away with $350 profit for a few hours, for the same work I was doing for fun on Sunday mornings.
get a credit card with good rewards and route every purchase through it. pay it off in full each month and enjoy your free money while simultaneously giving credit card companies the middle finger.
When you have a partner and share finances, but you have different styles of managing money, it’s a good idea to keep separate accounts.
When my wife and I got married, we agreed that any expense over a certain amount, we would have to discuss and agree to. That amount is fairly low.
Low-fee market index funds are the best investment.
When you are considering a purchase, give yourself at least 24 hours, if possible, before pulling the trigger.
One of my friends does this. Her and her husband have a joint account they each pay a certain amount into, then anything extra goes in their personal account, to spend however they want.
Buy better quality clothes but on sale. Shop at stores like TJMax and Marshall's, especially if you live in a bigger city next to large malls. They get all of the good stuff that they didn't sell in the mall that season. This way, your clothes will last longer.
Set up an auto transfer to your savings and forget about it. You'll have a savings account in no time, and it doesn't even have to be a big amount.
in our country we have a type of account that does this but ALSO puts a time limit on the savings so you can't dip into them, it's called a "call account"
Meal prep!
I cook a big batch of chilli & lemon pepper chicken etc on lazy Sundays. Store all that in Tupperware in my fridge. Then I just cook some rice or boil potatoes etc as needed.
Means I can buy my food in bulk since I cook it all in one go and also less food gets wasted. I still eat & cook smaller different meals occasionally, but 75% of my meals through the week are like this.
As an added bonus, I'm less inclined to order takeout because I've got meals in my fridge I can just heat up if I'm lazy. I've found that it's not really the takeout food I want, I just don't want to have to cook.
You’re lucky to have “lazy Sundays”. So many people are struggling and working multiple jobs to squeak by, so have no “lazy Sundays”.
You'll never be able to afford to retire, so just make sure your diet and habits will kill you before you get old!
Win the lottery as much as possible.
Still trying, but they refuse point blank to draw the numbers I have selected
I always go for the no name brands when shopping for groceries. Nine times out of ten, they're cheaper than the name brand things, and I really can't tell the difference between them.
I also try to get to the grocery store early and raid the 50% baked goods, and put them in the freezer.
But always read the ingredients. I just bought a noname yogurt the other day and it tasted awful. Read the ingredients and water was the second one.
Not sure it applies so much today, but my wife used to overstate checks written and understate deposits to the nearest 10 in her check register.
So if she had a check for 16.75, she recorded it at 20.00
And if she had a deposit of 16.75 she recorded it at 10.00
Then every year she would true up the balances in her checkbook. She would have a few hundred more than expected, and this would pretty much assure she wouldn't bounce any checks.
Eat before you go shopping
ooof I am bad with this. I always go on an empty stomach and come home with garbage.
Rotisserie chickens from the grocery store are usually a really good deal & make for a good middle ground between eating out & cooking dinner
Automate your savings to pay yourself first.
Don’t buy anything on your credit card you can’t pay it off on the same day.
Set a new zero. My checking account has $531. $500 is my 0, so I only have 31 to spend/save as I please.
I do this and it works well. I call it my buffer. Means if I have an emergency payment there should be enough to cover it.
Stop eating.
Start photosynthesizing.
Calculate everything to cost per year, makes you much more aware of those small expenses that pile up. This goes not only for subscriptions but also for things you buy out of habit.
For instance, buying a coffee at the station each work day will costs you around: 21 work days in a month times 12 months in a year times 2 euro is around 500 a year. So nope to that.
This is why, despite hating having to deal with ads etc, I haven't got spotify premium.
Learn to cook. There are plenty of free resources on YouTube. It’s healthier and cheaper than eating out. It’s a lot of fun too.
I still don't enjoy cooking as such, but I do get excited about what I have been able to cook. Trying so many things I have never had before as well as using well-loved recipes I have borrowed from my mum.
In this climate? If you can survive without it, don’t buy it.
My take here is avoid buying clothes, and get practical stuff that can be dressed up or down. For example, for men, get three grey or black trousers, three grey or black or white shirts (collared, long sleeve). You can then tuck in, or roll sleeves to go casual or formal. Black shoes, black belt. Result: no strain in getting dressed and deciding clothes, no money wasted. If you want colour, just get a few coloured shirts and rotate them. Lastly, because men's baseline fashion has been the same for 30 years, just buy two of whatever, e.g. shoes, belts, shirts, etc., because if they fit and work for you, chances are when one wears out, the shape/cut won't be available anymore.
If you are young and healthy and have access to an employer sponsored health plan, go for the high deductible insurance option and invest the savings in an HSA. Triple tax advantaged savings account.
depends on country. In my country health insurance is there to empty your bank account.
Contribute the max match to your 401k. It's free money and it grows tax free.
Think of your future self as a different person you need to help. Every time you’re able to save back even $1 it helps your future self out.
I like to not spend $10 bills, whenever I get a $10 I just save it and once it gets up to $500 I deposit in the bank and buy something nice with $250 of it and save $250 of it.
Those who understand how interest works make interest.
Those who do not understand how interest works pay interest.
Cut down on the eating out. Once a week max. It’s just not necessary, we’re just lazy.
Mainly always maxing out my Roth IRA. I feel like not enough people do this.
That is hard to do for most people. Between mortgages or rent, child care costs, rising costs in general, etc., maxing out retirement contributions is a dream for most people these days. Heck, saving up 3-6 months of living expenses feels daunting.
Marry a successful accountant. Works like a charm! Highly recommend.
Minimize your fixed costs. Before you spend, get in the habit of asking if the purchase will increase your well-being or if it is an impulsive buy.
Will this chocolate increase my well-being? No. Is it an impulse buy? Yes. Is it still a necessary expenditure? Also yes.
Go to free workshops or presentations offered at your college. Most have free food. I ate pizza for weeks just be going to Windows 95 presentations years ago.
Dont own a car and dont have children. Those 2 things will take your paycheck faster than you can blink.
Or, conversely, own a car and take care of it. I have a 13 yo Prius and I've treated it like my bff since I bought it. Fresh oil, good tires, drive carefully. He's still going strong!
My top go-to list:
- drink water
- make coffee and tea at home if you want something fancy
- bulk prep meals (and freeze for later use). Things like: beans and rice, chili, stir fry, pasta dishes, soups/stews, etc. I use Google to sort out ideas.
- buy in bulk, when able, especially for dry store foods like lentils, beans, rice, pasta. I like to go to Asian and Polish stores for big bags of ingredients and for cheap spices. I used to also shop at local Mexican shops back home. Great for good cuts of meat and fresh food.
- library for books, CDs, DVDs, and resources on free local events to attend.
- walk or take the bus when I’m able
- grow a garden (simple things like lettuces, potatoes, tomatoes are excellent for fleshing our daily meals.
- buy eggs over meat (I’m not a big meat eater at all) eggs are cheap, can be purchased in bulk, and can be used in tonnes of recipes - pastas, stir fry’s, as sandwiches, boiled and fried, in salads, etc. they’re very versatile and are a heck of a lot cheaper than other animal-based proteins.
- buy milk, butter, and cheese in bulk or on sale. All can be frozen and are easy to split and store.
- buy powdered laundry detergent and wash your clothes on the coldest setting when able. Lately, we’ve had to use those liquid pods in my house and they’re such a waste! They never fully disintegrate - even on recommended settings.
- forage. No joke, I like to hit up some spots I know of for raspberries, blackberries, and dandelions. Berries are great to wash and bake, to freeze, or to make preserves. Dandelions can be used from root to head for salads, coffee, salads (they’re delicious in a warm salad), soups, teas, etc. Google is excellent for providing more information on how to clean and keep these ingredients. Plus, local groups may offer foraging classes for more - mushrooms, other local flora make for some excellent ingredients and foods.
Drink water and learn to cook. A lot of communities also have pantry donations and co-ops where you work off your debt for the groceries. But right now where I am a pound of rice, a pound of beans and a stock will run you about 5-10USD. That can go a long way.
What did people do during WWII in America? Recycled or reused or traded items. Ration cards for food or shoes or tires made life complicated. We now need to get back to being practical. Do we want or need an item?
My grandparents are litrealy millionares (mabye 4ish, probably more) however they live like a pair of paupers. Cut coupons, never buy nice clothes, never go on holidays or have nice meals out. They buy s**t gifts (if any) drives a beat up car. Makes you think, what's the point in having money if you aren't going to enjoy it. He still uses pots and pans from a wedding gift approx late 1960ish. My grandmother was a headteacher at a school in her working life, so by her own rights she made a good living and has a good pension too. He owns a plant hire company, plumbing company and he owns rentals too. However he's tight as f**k with his tenants and does the bare minimum. He would pull a muscle to pick up a penny from the ground. So I have found out that being a tight as is a great hack. I have no idea about Inherentance etc, he will probably want his cash buried with him. But here is an example of his greed, his dogs insurance would not cover a bill for an operation on a tumor, i duno the reason behind it. Think it was like 3 grand. However he refused to pay the 3 grand and opted to get the dog put down that he had for 8 years. As that was the cheaper option even though the prognosis with the operation was like guaranteed success. 3 grand to him was like finding change down the back of a sofa, but he is so cheap he would do this. Btw this was a family pet and not a working dog or anything.
Inherit money from others. I know so many people who have this as their plan. They work s**t jobs and have no money of their own, but give me tons of financial advice.
Index Funds at a early age. I planned to save every penny I had for 9 years with the goal of saving 500k. It took 12 years. I’ve rolled that fund twice now.
Take risks. Profits over salary
In a nutshelll : "don't be poor in the first place but act like you are". Who would've thought ?
Yes, and "save money by spending less". Wow, what an amazing 'hack'.
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Up next: Don't spend money you don't have. Wait, that's not a life hack. That's just common sense.
Honestly I'm so surprised every time you people complain about not making enough money to buy their lunch everyday. How do they not realize buying food at a grocery store and making your own lunch it so much cheaper?
Because a lot of people see the initial purchase and panic. Also, a lot of these people don't freeze anything, apparently. Like that person that commented that buying a loaf of bread isn't cheaper because they live alone, so buying a sandwich a day is. You just freeze the bread. It's fine. And the bigger grocery bill typically goes for the whole week, not just a single meal, but again, people don't look at it that way.
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When I want to buy something new (especially online) I wait 2 days. If I still want it in 2 days, I can have it. Most times, I don't want it anymore.
I've learned that making a meal plan and grocery list for the week saves me lots of money.
One thing they missed was shop around for better interest rates! I have a few different accounts based on what they are paying on interest. You shop around for cheap interest rates on loans, why wouldn’t you look for higher interest rates on savings? I utilize this in conjunction with having a credit card I pay off every month so I keep my money longer, therefore more interest, and rewards back. And I also ask small shops if they give discounts if I pay with cash and many do because their credit card fees are high
The majority of those "hacks" assume you have enough money to start with.
None of these address a basic issue. Go into your boss's office and demand to be paid what you're worth. If you don't get it, find a job where you are.
Hell yea' save every coin you get... and have fun with cocaine and hookers every weekend. ^^
OK so I'm paid enough to eat at a fancy restaurant daily. I don't, but I can. I have two cars, two houses (still paying off three of these four assets). I have bitcoin and american shares. But African here. How did I do it? The following is NOT advice, it is just what I did. 1. Develop useful skills, especially management and IT and advanced research. 2. Make friends with rich people and powerful people. 3. Get a good credit rating so the bank will allow you to buy assets; the way you do this is buy on credit, let the bank get their interest pound of flesh, pay off, etc. Rinse repeat. 4. Flip houses. Buy cheap, fix up, sell high. Watch out for bear markets though. 5. Invest in tech, especially 4IR tech, and weapons stocks and precious metal EFTs. I despise warmongers but you can bet their stocks go up. 6. If x happens in the news, buy/dump whatever is relevant E.g. if they declare the war in Ukraine is over, dump the weapon stocks. 7. If you are facing bankruptcy, dump all asset debt and put sale money into savings as a temp salary. DO NOT pay off other debts, give them monthly debits and keep the profits safe.
Spoken as someone from flourishing roots. Many people have management/IT skills, they end up in entry level office jobs waiting for a chance to move up. To make friends with the rich and powerful you need to be in their lifestyle at least to a degree. Good credit allows you to invest or buy property but when you can't make enough to eat or warm your home what exactly are you going to invest? I can't afford a first home let alone flip homes for profit. It is also flipping starter properties that has fed the growth to make them unaffordable to the lower class that need them. I am happy for you that you were lucky and experienced this but it is unattainable for most.
Load More Replies... In a nutshelll : "don't be poor in the first place but act like you are". Who would've thought ?
Yes, and "save money by spending less". Wow, what an amazing 'hack'.
Load More Replies... Up next: Don't spend money you don't have. Wait, that's not a life hack. That's just common sense.
Honestly I'm so surprised every time you people complain about not making enough money to buy their lunch everyday. How do they not realize buying food at a grocery store and making your own lunch it so much cheaper?
Because a lot of people see the initial purchase and panic. Also, a lot of these people don't freeze anything, apparently. Like that person that commented that buying a loaf of bread isn't cheaper because they live alone, so buying a sandwich a day is. You just freeze the bread. It's fine. And the bigger grocery bill typically goes for the whole week, not just a single meal, but again, people don't look at it that way.
Load More Replies... When I want to buy something new (especially online) I wait 2 days. If I still want it in 2 days, I can have it. Most times, I don't want it anymore.
I've learned that making a meal plan and grocery list for the week saves me lots of money.
One thing they missed was shop around for better interest rates! I have a few different accounts based on what they are paying on interest. You shop around for cheap interest rates on loans, why wouldn’t you look for higher interest rates on savings? I utilize this in conjunction with having a credit card I pay off every month so I keep my money longer, therefore more interest, and rewards back. And I also ask small shops if they give discounts if I pay with cash and many do because their credit card fees are high
The majority of those "hacks" assume you have enough money to start with.
None of these address a basic issue. Go into your boss's office and demand to be paid what you're worth. If you don't get it, find a job where you are.
Hell yea' save every coin you get... and have fun with cocaine and hookers every weekend. ^^
OK so I'm paid enough to eat at a fancy restaurant daily. I don't, but I can. I have two cars, two houses (still paying off three of these four assets). I have bitcoin and american shares. But African here. How did I do it? The following is NOT advice, it is just what I did. 1. Develop useful skills, especially management and IT and advanced research. 2. Make friends with rich people and powerful people. 3. Get a good credit rating so the bank will allow you to buy assets; the way you do this is buy on credit, let the bank get their interest pound of flesh, pay off, etc. Rinse repeat. 4. Flip houses. Buy cheap, fix up, sell high. Watch out for bear markets though. 5. Invest in tech, especially 4IR tech, and weapons stocks and precious metal EFTs. I despise warmongers but you can bet their stocks go up. 6. If x happens in the news, buy/dump whatever is relevant E.g. if they declare the war in Ukraine is over, dump the weapon stocks. 7. If you are facing bankruptcy, dump all asset debt and put sale money into savings as a temp salary. DO NOT pay off other debts, give them monthly debits and keep the profits safe.
Spoken as someone from flourishing roots. Many people have management/IT skills, they end up in entry level office jobs waiting for a chance to move up. To make friends with the rich and powerful you need to be in their lifestyle at least to a degree. Good credit allows you to invest or buy property but when you can't make enough to eat or warm your home what exactly are you going to invest? I can't afford a first home let alone flip homes for profit. It is also flipping starter properties that has fed the growth to make them unaffordable to the lower class that need them. I am happy for you that you were lucky and experienced this but it is unattainable for most.
Load More Replies...