Author Topic: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?  (Read 16330 times)

Unionville

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I wondered if people had found new ways to save money, now that they are FIRE and have a lot of free time.  One could question "is the time worth the savings", but I found these savings worth my time:

-Being a hair model.  For women, haircuts are highway robbery. Around here easily go from $50-$150.  I go to a high end salon and pay $15  (their normal fees $125).  It takes longer but the entire experience is fascinating.  You learn a lot about the students, their lives, behind the scenes of what goes into the science of hair cutting.
-Going to the dental school: for expensive routine procedures like root canals and crowns, It's worth spending the extra time (takes about twice as long) to save $500-$1000.
-Movie Matinees.  Daytime weekday prices are the best.
-Free food at University public lectures.  I don't do this, but my husband does.  Daily my local university has visiting professors who give lectures and the school caters food to encourage people (open to the public) to come.  My husband said the math lectures have the best food.  He likes going to lectures, but discovered the food by accident.  Sometimes they have so much, he brings home food they were going to toss out and takes it down to the sailing club coop.  All on his bicycle of course.


If I think of more I'll add them...
« Last Edit: January 16, 2015, 02:50:47 PM by meteor »

arebelspy

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2015, 02:45:31 PM »
Any hobby that makes you money but takes some time.  Travel hacking is a good example.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Gone Fishing

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2015, 02:49:32 PM »
I'm planning to ramp up our gardening and preserving more than we already do.  If I can offset even $10 more a week in food purchases, that's $500/yr!

Jon_Snow

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2015, 03:14:13 PM »
I'm going to approach this a bit differently. Since retiring, I have found we are spending far less than I had planned for. I had figured we would keep to a $2500 monthly budget - with the exception of a bit of a spike during December holiday season (spoiled the nieces and nephews at bit) - we are spending just around $2000 every month.

Why is this? Well, I think it was the removal of intense job stress from my life. I have my job to thank for my current ER status - it paid me well for many years. But the STRESS...let me say I didn't cope with it well. I used food and booze to cope. Simple as that. Eating out/getting delivery A LOT - pizza, Chinese, fast food burgers, you name it. Beer...lot's of beer. I like the taste of beer - but I used it as a NUMBING AGENT. Between the eating out and booze that was probably $500 every month - this might be a low figure. That spending is completely GONE now. Only now removed from my working life by several months can I look back and see what a mess my life was in terms of my eating and drinking habits. My job was physically demanding - heavy labour type stuff. It's the only reason I wasn't 300 pounds. And tons of other "stupid" spending on things to distract myself from my job misery. Why stay in a job so toxic for so long? Good question, but when you are not very confident that you can be as good in some other career - and when you are paid well enough that you can see light at the end of the tunnel (a train?) - well, I decided to stick it out. Don't regret it too much.

The VERY DAY I walked off the construction site for the last time, I joined the gym around the corner and have not looked back...quite literally, I became a DIFFERENT PERSON when I ER'ed.

Our $2500 budget included $200 on alcohol, and $200 for eating out, $150 for "stupid stuff"...we simply are not spending this anymore.

Unionville

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2015, 03:38:30 PM »
I had figured we would keep to a $2500 monthly budget - with the exception of a bit of a spike during December holiday season (spoiled the nieces and nephews at bit) - we are spending just around $2000 every month.


Wow only $2000 a month!  Would you be willing to share your monthly budget?  I'd like to see how you do that.  Maybe I can get some ideas where to cut back. You must live in a tax free state or something.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2015, 03:42:33 PM »
I had figured we would keep to a $2500 monthly budget - with the exception of a bit of a spike during December holiday season (spoiled the nieces and nephews at bit) - we are spending just around $2000 every month.


Wow only $2000 a month!  Would you be willing to share your monthly budget?  I'd like to see how you do that.  Maybe I can get some ideas where to cut back. You must live in a tax free state or something.

I might very well post our full budget at some point...but here's a bit of a hint on how we do it. Our housing costs are just a touch above $300 monthly. We are mortgage free, with reasonable condo fees, with our monthly property tax only $88. Cheap utility costs too. It's all very ER friendly. :)

arebelspy

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2015, 03:46:42 PM »
I had figured we would keep to a $2500 monthly budget - with the exception of a bit of a spike during December holiday season (spoiled the nieces and nephews at bit) - we are spending just around $2000 every month.


Wow only $2000 a month!  Would you be willing to share your monthly budget?  I'd like to see how you do that.  Maybe I can get some ideas where to cut back. You must live in a tax free state or something.

Here's a whole thread on people living on about that amount: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/who-is-really-living-on-$25-to-30k-for-2-people-with-no-mortgagerent/

Check it out, it should give you some ideas.  :)

My personal numbers (cutting and pasting my comment from another thread):
Two adults, no kids, Las Vegas, NV.

Here is our 2011 Spending:
Quote
Monthly Average Spending 2011:
Housing (Mortgage + HOA): $462
Utilities (Electricity, Water/Sewage, Garbage): $51
Cell Phones: $48
Food: $309 (Groceries 231, Fast Food 29, Restaurants 49)
Student Loans: $266
Entertainment: $6
Travel: $263
Auto: $192
Shopping ("Stuff"): $143
Other/Misc (Financial, Health and Fitness, etc): $91

Total/mo: ~$1,831
Yearly budget: ~$22,000

Here is our 2012 Spending:
Quote
Monthly Average Spending 2012:
Housing (Mortgage + HOA): $492
Utilities (Electricity, Water/Sewage, Garbage): $44
Cell Phones: $89
Food: $264 (Groceries 227, Fast Food 16, Restaurants 21)
Student Loans: $195
Entertainment: $9
Travel: $31
Auto: $329
Shopping ("Stuff"): $62
Other/Misc (Financial, Insurance, Health and Fitness, Pets, etc): $224

Total/mo: ~$1,740
Yearly budget: ~$21,000

Here is our 2013 Spending:
Quote
Monthly Average Spending 2013:
Housing (Mortgage + HOA + Home Insurance + Property Taxes): $499
Utilities (Electricity, Water/Sewage, Garbage): $55
Cell Phones: $63
Food: $277 (203 Groceries, 33 Fast Food, 41 Restaurants)
Student Loans: $109
Travel: $55
Auto: $226
Shopping ("Stuff"): $74
Other/Misc (Financial, Insurance, Health and Fitness, Pets, etc): $200

Total/mo: ~$1,558
Yearly Total: ~$18,700

And a small quote cutting and pasting from another thread discussing this spending:
Here is our spending for the last 3 years (2 adults, Las Vegas area):
2011: ~$22,000
2012: ~$21,000
2013: ~$18,700

That includes our housing (mortgage, not rent) and student loans (both of which I technically could skip counting the principal part of those payments, and only count the interest, but I have included both the principal and interest amounts in the above figures).  Housing is about 6k/yr if you want to subtract that out and not count it to have an apples-to-apples comparison.

Additional income taxes paid above our withholdings (i.e. giant check we send to the IRS in in April) is not counted, though all other taxes (like property tax) are.

That counts lots of wasteful spending (we take vacations, have fancy electronics like iPads and laptops, unlimited iPhone plan, etc.) in there.  If we wanted to cut the fat, there's a lot we could trim.  But, as noted in the "frugal fatigue" thread, we spend as much as we want, whenever we want.

We did not mean to decrease our spending (actually were planning to increase it), it just happened, apparently (I was surprised when totaling the final numbers for 2013 a few weeks ago).

You may want to read that thread for more replies on low spending (which seems to be your question "what is possible?") - and then look at the ERE forum journals for really inspirational low spending to see what is possible.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

deborah

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2015, 10:15:52 PM »
Actually, I think it might be common for people who have FIREd to spend less than they thought. Both SO and I certainly have, as have a couple of other FIRE people I know. This despite having more than we need according to our budget. So we really are not trying to be more frugal. However, we are each spending about 1/3 less, so the change is quite significant.

Certainly we seem to buy cheaper food and have cheaper meals. Our PO box is at the local shopping centre, so we now go down and look at what is there each day. I guess this means we can get food that is on special, whereas when we were working, we only shopped once a week. We don't need good work clothes, and we don't eat out for lunch. I didn't think we did this much when we were working, but perhaps that isn't true.

Unionville

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2015, 10:56:01 PM »

Here's a whole thread on people living on about that amount: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/who-is-really-living-on-$25-to-30k-for-2-people-with-no-mortgagerent/

Check it out, it should give you some ideas.  :)

arebelspy-wow, what kind of health insurance do you have?  I also notice that my property taxes alone are the same as your entire mortagage and house fees.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2015, 10:13:39 AM »
850 sq.ft, in a suburb 25 minutes outside of downtown Vancouver. Another reason for the low property taxes is that we quality for reduced tax under a first time home buyers plan - which essentially means we will have a break on our property tax as long as we stay in our current place. 

If we had chosen to have kids, we would have had to move into something bigger - but for just the two of us, it's perfectly acceptable. And the low housing costs - well, it simply helped make my decision to ER a no brainer.

Joan-eh?

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2015, 10:42:30 AM »
850 sq.ft, in a suburb 25 minutes outside of downtown Vancouver. Another reason for the low property taxes is that we quality for reduced tax under a first time home buyers plan - which essentially means we will have a break on our property tax as long as we stay in our current place. 

If we had chosen to have kids, we would have had to move into something bigger - but for just the two of us, it's perfectly acceptable. And the low housing costs - well, it simply helped make my decision to ER a no brainer.
I didn't know about the reduced tax for her first time home buyers plan. Is that new? Only BC? And if you stay there/pay off mortgage- no change?
Nice find! Congrats!  Thanks for sharing!

arebelspy

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2015, 12:35:14 PM »

Here's a whole thread on people living on about that amount: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/who-is-really-living-on-$25-to-30k-for-2-people-with-no-mortgagerent/

Check it out, it should give you some ideas.  :)

arebelspy-wow, what kind of health insurance do you have?  I also notice that my property taxes alone are the same as your entire mortagage and house fees.

Work provides the healthcare. I have 5k premiums budgeted for FIRE for an ACA approved plan, don't expect any subsidies.

We live in a 400 sq. ft. condo, thus the low housing costs.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

roadtofreedom

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2015, 02:59:37 PM »

Here's a whole thread on people living on about that amount: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/who-is-really-living-on-$25-to-30k-for-2-people-with-no-mortgagerent/

Check it out, it should give you some ideas.  :)

arebelspy-wow, what kind of health insurance do you have?  I also notice that my property taxes alone are the same as your entire mortagage and house fees.

Work provides the healthcare. I have 5k premiums budgeted for FIRE for an ACA approved plan, don't expect any subsidies.

We live in a 400 sq. ft. condo, thus the low housing costs.

That's just 37 sq meters.

Too small, no?

Kris

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2015, 06:05:33 PM »
So, I just gotta say, this thread is super-exciting to read and lurk on, for those of us who are not FIRE yet.  Our goal is 3 1/2 years from now.

One question: for Canadian folks, I'm assuming you're posting your figures in Canadian dollars?

lifejoy

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2015, 10:58:40 AM »

I'm going to approach this a bit differently. Since retiring, I have found we are spending far less than I had planned for. I had figured we would keep to a $2500 monthly budget - with the exception of a bit of a spike during December holiday season (spoiled the nieces and nephews at bit) - we are spending just around $2000 every month.

Why is this? Well, I think it was the removal of intense job stress from my life. I have my job to thank for my current ER status - it paid me well for many years. But the STRESS...let me say I didn't cope with it well. I used food and booze to cope. Simple as that. Eating out/getting delivery A LOT - pizza, Chinese, fast food burgers, you name it. Beer...lot's of beer. I like the taste of beer - but I used it as a NUMBING AGENT. Between the eating out and booze that was probably $500 every month - this might be a low figure. That spending is completely GONE now. Only now removed from my working life by several months can I look back and see what a mess my life was in terms of my eating and drinking habits. My job was physically demanding - heavy labour type stuff. It's the only reason I wasn't 300 pounds. And tons of other "stupid" spending on things to distract myself from my job misery. Why stay in a job so toxic for so long? Good question, but when you are not very confident that you can be as good in some other career - and when you are paid well enough that you can see light at the end of the tunnel (a train?) - well, I decided to stick it out. Don't regret it too much.

The VERY DAY I walked off the construction site for the last time, I joined the gym around the corner and have not looked back...quite literally, I became a DIFFERENT PERSON when I ER'ed.

Our $2500 budget included $200 on alcohol, and $200 for eating out, $150 for "stupid stuff"...we simply are not spending this anymore.

That is awesome! Reminds me a bit of my dad. When he retired he increased his biking and healthy living - he now looks ten years younger, lost the beer belly, and treated himself to a carbon fibre fancy bike. Pretty much he's having a hard time finding ways to spend money! As a good daughter, I offered to help but so far no takers ;)

lifejoy

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #15 on: January 19, 2015, 10:59:51 AM »

850 sq.ft, in a suburb 25 minutes outside of downtown Vancouver. Another reason for the low property taxes is that we quality for reduced tax under a first time home buyers plan - which essentially means we will have a break on our property tax as long as we stay in our current place. 

If we had chosen to have kids, we would have had to move into something bigger - but for just the two of us, it's perfectly acceptable. And the low housing costs - well, it simply helped make my decision to ER a no brainer.

And they say it's impossible to afford living in Vancouver!

RetiredAt63

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #16 on: January 19, 2015, 11:16:05 AM »
I can't speak for the others, but I do.  That is what I am dealing with financially, so why convert? 

I would assume that people post in their usual currency - I see European posters using Euros.  If people want to convert to another currency for comparison, that is easy to do.  Plus this is an international forum, so if I converted to (say) Euros or US dollars, people would still need to convert to their own currency for comparison.  The only time it is difficult is if people have not specified currency country (i.e. not in their name, not in their post).

Speaking of US dollars, the Canadian dollar exchange rate is certainly discouraging people from cross-border shopping.  ;-)

One question: for Canadian folks, I'm assuming you're posting your figures in Canadian dollars?

Unionville

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #17 on: January 19, 2015, 11:38:05 AM »


We live in a 400 sq. ft. condo, thus the low housing costs.

I would love to see what a 400 sq ft condo looks like!  I didn't know condos existed that small.  I assume there are no develop laws against it, but I'm curious -- is this like a huge apartment building?

mak1277

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #18 on: January 19, 2015, 02:27:29 PM »

Utilities (Electricity, Water/Sewage, Garbage): $55


I really need to move to a lower COL location...my trash pickup cost alone is $40/mo. and that is after shopping around for the best deal. 

Jon_Snow

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #19 on: January 19, 2015, 02:57:47 PM »
Don't get me wrong, condo living, cheap as it is for us, isn't NIRVANA. Do I enjoy hearing my neighbours bodily functions through the walls? Uh, no. In a perfect world, we would love to have a little bungalow with a bit of a yard. But in Vancouver, this is gonna cost you close to a million bucks...

The fact that we have over 10 acres on a Salish Sea island to "play on" makes the condo living bearable - well, more than bearable since the low housing expenses is probably the BIGGEST reason I could quit my job. When we start to get what we call "closet fever", it's on the ferry we go and spend a stretch of days in our forested bit of paradise. I'd still be working today if we had "upsized" into a house at some point - and for a couple of years we were considering this.

plantingourpennies

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #20 on: January 20, 2015, 04:45:36 AM »

Here's a whole thread on people living on about that amount: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/who-is-really-living-on-$25-to-30k-for-2-people-with-no-mortgagerent/

Check it out, it should give you some ideas.  :)

arebelspy-wow, what kind of health insurance do you have?  I also notice that my property taxes alone are the same as your entire mortagage and house fees.

Work provides the healthcare. I have 5k premiums budgeted for FIRE for an ACA approved plan, don't expect any subsidies.

We live in a 400 sq. ft. condo, thus the low housing costs.

That's just 37 sq meters.

Too small badass, no?

ftfy

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #21 on: January 20, 2015, 06:52:39 AM »
I just posted my general expenses in another thread that was (yet again) saying "no way can MMM and other's live on $25K/year or less" . This is in coastal Southern Calif.  Prop taxes are very low because I bought the house years ago when prices were lower.
Do your property taxes not go up as the valuation of the property changes?  Our property gets revalued each year by the county, so the purchase price has no bearing on it.

Quote
My most recent water bill was $15/month. That is in water/hydro expensive Southern Calif.
That is not expensive. SoCal may be running out of water, but they aren't charging like they are. The base fees for our water bill (in the midwest where we are more likely to have a flood than a drought) are higher than that, without even adding on the consumption fees- it would not be possible for me to cut my water bill, as water is required for a certificate of occupancy. Our sewage costs are even more ridiculous.


CommonCents

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #22 on: January 20, 2015, 08:49:46 AM »
-Movie Matinees.  Daytime weekday prices are the best.

Actually, free screener movies (for those near big cities) are the best.  Last week I saw American Sniper and Spare Parts, both for free.

arebelspy

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #23 on: January 20, 2015, 10:43:14 AM »
We live in a 400 sq. ft. condo, thus the low housing costs.

That's just 37 sq meters.

Too small, no?


No, too big.  We have a ton of wasted space, and actually are going to downsize to something smaller soon.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Unionville

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #24 on: January 20, 2015, 11:45:49 AM »

Actually, free screener movies (for those near big cities) are the best.  Last week I saw American Sniper and Spare Parts, both for free.

How do you find free screener movies?  I've never seen them advertised anywhere.  I live in a big city.

CommonCents

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #25 on: January 20, 2015, 12:49:54 PM »
My friend usually hunts them down and invites me, but I know she goes here for the most part: http://www.gofobo.com/  She says they are usually released about 10AM.  If we can only get 2 passes (and need 3 for my husband), I've had some luck just googling - radio shows will sponsor them. 

Jeremy

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #26 on: January 20, 2015, 07:37:05 PM »
Medical Tourism

We needed a little help making a baby, and had 2 rounds of IVF done in Taiwan.  It was a success, and we are expecting GCCjr in April

Prices were about 80% off what we would have paid in the US


cazaubon

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #27 on: January 21, 2015, 04:12:46 PM »
I am living on $24K CDN in Montreal.  No car, paid off condo.  Most of my expenses are housing related (prop tax and condo fees are high) but everything else is reasonable so it works out.  1100 sq. ft.

Unionville

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #28 on: January 25, 2015, 01:21:43 AM »
Medical Tourism

We needed a little help making a baby, and had 2 rounds of IVF done in Taiwan.  It was a success, and we are expecting GCCjr in April

Prices were about 80% off what we would have paid in the US

Wow.  What a great story!  Glad to know about this.

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #29 on: January 27, 2015, 07:36:10 AM »
I'm 18 months in currently and after all the initial expenses of moving to another country to start my dream FIRE lifestyle have settled down, I am finding that my monthly expenditure is going down from what I had allocated. I find I am better able to wait for things to go on sale, I have the time to shop around for better deals on services, and I am gradually weaning my pantry off store bought foods and cleaning products. If I didn't have to buy so much pet food I reckon I would be spending less than half my budget.

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #30 on: January 27, 2015, 07:45:32 AM »

Actually, free screener movies (for those near big cities) are the best.  Last week I saw American Sniper and Spare Parts, both for free.

How do you find free screener movies?  I've never seen them advertised anywhere.  I live in a big city.

Chicago is home of the AV Club, which offers screeners all the time (that's how we see movies).

Scour the Internet for cinema clubs and organizations in your area; universities are good resources for this too. Subscribe to Internet updates or digital newsletters, see if they've done screeners before.

Obviously the frequency of these events is dependent on your area, but if you make an effort to find who offers these events, you can be pleasantly surprised in what you can see (Two Days, One Night; Inherent Vice; Nightcrawler; Grand Budapest Hotel--and that's just in the past 12 months).

retired?

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #31 on: January 27, 2015, 11:00:24 AM »
Fired the cleaning lady!

Other than that, I am trying to get things a little more in order financially (rolling after-tax to a ROTH so gains won't be taxed)....not "savings", but tightening the little things up.

Learning to do more around the house as opposed to hiring someone.....e.g. lawn mower won't start again....had paid $80 to get it fixed, pretty sure it is the same problem and I now have the time and curiosity to try myself.  Also, car didn't pass emissions test, got code from auto shop and sure enough, there are at least 3 you tube videos on the likely culprit.  It is a DIY.

Pay more attn to eating out....we have our expensive meals and our reasonable meals.  Spreading them out more.  Also, have drinks before or after the restaurant to keep that bill down.

Using the library for books.

Lot of easy things that add up. 

CommonCents

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Re: Now that you have free time, what new ways have you found to save money?
« Reply #32 on: January 27, 2015, 02:32:07 PM »

Actually, free screener movies (for those near big cities) are the best.  Last week I saw American Sniper and Spare Parts, both for free.

How do you find free screener movies?  I've never seen them advertised anywhere.  I live in a big city.

Chicago is home of the AV Club, which offers screeners all the time (that's how we see movies).

Scour the Internet for cinema clubs and organizations in your area; universities are good resources for this too. Subscribe to Internet updates or digital newsletters, see if they've done screeners before.

Obviously the frequency of these events is dependent on your area, but if you make an effort to find who offers these events, you can be pleasantly surprised in what you can see (Two Days, One Night; Inherent Vice; Nightcrawler; Grand Budapest Hotel--and that's just in the past 12 months).

Yep.  In addition to the two I named above, in the past year I've seen Railway Man, Blended, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Other Woman, John Wick...  and turned down: The Duff, The Fault in Our Stars, and likely a few others (due to being busy or not interested).  I never used to see movies at all (one a year at best) because $13/pp is crazy, so this free option is a big change.