Author Topic: Positive changes or new habits that just happen to be financially beneficial  (Read 6952 times)

SyZ

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Recently I ran out of razor blades, and faced with the prospect of 12 for $35 I figured there had to be another way. So some research yielded something amazing: why am I killing my skin with 5 blades and crappy shaving cream when I could be using a double edged razor with blades that cost pennies on the dollar, all while getting a closer shave with soap that doesn't take as long, is better on my skin, and gives me the false illusion that I'm more of a manly man? After a week of swapping, I'll never go back - and I should be able to save hundreds a year on blades and creams I was using previously

I wonder what else I can optimize ...


WildJager

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Yup, safety razors or even straight razors are much more cost effective in the long run.  Like many consumer markets, the new stuff is designed to be bought again, not to last over the years.  Keep on learning!

GreenSheep

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My house had no washer or dryer when I moved to Phoenix. I never bothered buying a dryer. I figured that if I'd been able to hang-dry my clothes in swampy New Orleans, where I had just moved from, then surely I'd be able to do it in Phoenix. 9 years later, I don't miss having a dryer at all, and I haven't done the math, but I'm sure it's saved me lots of money, both in electricity and wear-and-tear of clothing. Even comforters and sleeping bags dry here in no time!

big_slacker

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Going all plant based eating has definitely crushed my portion of the grocery bill. I used to eat organic grass feed meat, wild caught fish, etc. Outside of the pretty dramatic health benefits my wallet is thanking me as well!

golden1

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Coffee.  In the search for better coffee, I invested in a burr grinder and a french press.  It was a win/win.  I save tons by not buying coffee out, and the coffee is exponentially better than most coffee I can buy. 

GreenSheep

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Going all plant based eating has definitely crushed my portion of the grocery bill. I used to eat organic grass feed meat, wild caught fish, etc. Outside of the pretty dramatic health benefits my wallet is thanking me as well!

Me too! And skipping the packaged food has helped a lot, too. I've also found that I enjoy cooking a lot more (more creativity, no handling of meat), so I suppose the time spent on cooking is time I'm not spending on a more expensive habit. It's also made me more interested in gardening, which is arguably saving me money.

BoonDogle

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Cutting my own hair.  It takes me 15 to 20 minutes.  I don't have to drive to a barber, wait on a barber, pay a barber, can cut it on Sunday or in the evening or right before I jump in the shower.  Also cut my son's hair.  On top of the $ savings, the convenience is huge plus it is another skill learned.

Kansas Beachbum

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The Mrs. KBB and I started car pooling to work 3-4 years ago when gas was $5.00 a gallon.  Were saving at least $150 / month in gas, not to mention less emissions into the environment.  We have kept doing it since, love saving the money, but also love the time together in the car.  Helps that we both work at the same place, totes obvy, as the kids would say :-).  We also brown bag our lunch 4 days out of 5, so instead of spending $20 / day combined for lunch we spend maybe $5.  Little things that add up. 

Digital Dogma

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I have to use a respirator at work, and as a result I've got to shave my facial hair daily, the best method I've found for my skin/facial hair has been electric trimming sheers. They cut the hair short enough that I can get a full face mask snugly fit, and long enough so I don't have any issues with ingrown hairs due to the rubber gaskets on respirators. The yearly operating cost is 4 AA batteries, no soap/lather/shaving cream necessary.

Simpli-Fi

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No more beer in the fridge, wine on the counter, or liquor in the cabinet

mozar

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Improving my diet, no more soda, sweets etc. My dentist is stunned by how much better my teeth look. She thinks that I started flossing and brushing better. Nope!

Beardog

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Coffee.  In the search for better coffee, I invested in a burr grinder and a french press.  It was a win/win.  I save tons by not buying coffee out, and the coffee is exponentially better than most coffee I can buy.

Does a burr grinder really make such a big difference?

CRG

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Coffee.  In the search for better coffee, I invested in a burr grinder and a french press.  It was a win/win.  I save tons by not buying coffee out, and the coffee is exponentially better than most coffee I can buy.

Does a burr grinder really make such a big difference?

In short, yes. A decent burr grinder will be adjustable and consistent. For French Press, a coarser grind is required, which is hard to achieve and likely impossible to repeat on a consistent basis with a cheap grinder. I paid about $100 for a Solis Maestro several years ago and it's still going strong. For what it's worth, I've been roasting my beans at home for the past 10 years and use a high quality drip coffee maker that brews at the correct temperature. With coffee it all comes down to bean quality, freshness, roast level, grind quality, water temp and time of extraction.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2016, 06:40:14 PM by CRG »

mpcharles

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1. French press coffee over pods. Now cheaper, better and I like the taste.

2. Taking lunch to work.

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Simpli-Fi

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Coffee.  In the search for better coffee, I invested in a burr grinder and a french press.  It was a win/win.  I save tons by not buying coffee out, and the coffee is exponentially better than most coffee I can buy.

Does a burr grinder really make such a big difference?

In short, yes. A decent burr grinder will be adjustable and consistent. For French Press, a coarser grind is required, which is hard to achieve and likely impossible to repeat on a consistent basis with a cheap grinder. I paid about $100 for a Solis Maestro several years ago and it's still going strong. For what it's worth, I've been roasting my beans at home for the past 10 years and use a high quality drip coffee maker that brews at the correct temperature. With coffee it all comes down to bean quality, freshness, roast level, grind quality, water temp and time of extraction.

I love it, but doesn't sound very mustashian, haha!  Everyone has there thing

CRG

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Coffee.  In the search for better coffee, I invested in a burr grinder and a french press.  It was a win/win.  I save tons by not buying coffee out, and the coffee is exponentially better than most coffee I can buy.

Does a burr grinder really make such a big difference?

In short, yes. A decent burr grinder will be adjustable and consistent. For French Press, a coarser grind is required, which is hard to achieve and likely impossible to repeat on a consistent basis with a cheap grinder. I paid about $100 for a Solis Maestro several years ago and it's still going strong. For what it's worth, I've been roasting my beans at home for the past 10 years and use a high quality drip coffee maker that brews at the correct temperature. With coffee it all comes down to bean quality, freshness, roast level, grind quality, water temp and time of extraction.

I love it, but doesn't sound very mustashian, haha!  Everyone has there thing

Lol, I suppose it doesn't sound very reasonable at first glance, and I got into the whole coffee thing when finances weren't at the top of my priority list. Still, it's not so bad once the roaster, grinder and drip maker are paid off vs. buying coffee at a cafe or even buying decent beans at the store. On average, high quality green beans run about $5/lb. and I roast once/week.

Hotstreak

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If the alternative is $5+ per coffee, possibly multiple times per day, it seems cheap!  If the alternative is a $4, 1-gallon can of coffee and a $15 Mr Coffee, it seems expensive!




My thing is definitely cutting my own hair.  The #1 benefit is that I am tending to it every 2-3 weeks, so things stay well trimmed and looking sharp.  Before, I would wait 6-8 weeks between cuts and start to look a little unkempt (mens hair).

arebelspy

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Practicing gratitude/being grateful for what you have.

Main benefit is happiness. Side benefit is you don't feel the need for more nearly as much, saving you money. (Other side benefits exist as well, such as less stress, more health, more empathy, etc., but the main benefit and financial one are the ones relevant to this thread).
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LaineyAZ

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My house had no washer or dryer when I moved to Phoenix. I never bothered buying a dryer. I figured that if I'd been able to hang-dry my clothes in swampy New Orleans, where I had just moved from, then surely I'd be able to do it in Phoenix. 9 years later, I don't miss having a dryer at all, and I haven't done the math, but I'm sure it's saved me lots of money, both in electricity and wear-and-tear of clothing. Even comforters and sleeping bags dry here in no time!
Another Phoenician here, but not able to put much laundry outside to dry because of allergies.  Lots of people think you can move here to clear up your asthma or allergies only to find that we've got a lot of pollen etc. here so that for many it can get worse.  Hence no drying of clothing or bedding outdoors for me, alas.

GreenSheep

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My house had no washer or dryer when I moved to Phoenix. I never bothered buying a dryer. I figured that if I'd been able to hang-dry my clothes in swampy New Orleans, where I had just moved from, then surely I'd be able to do it in Phoenix. 9 years later, I don't miss having a dryer at all, and I haven't done the math, but I'm sure it's saved me lots of money, both in electricity and wear-and-tear of clothing. Even comforters and sleeping bags dry here in no time!
Another Phoenician here, but not able to put much laundry outside to dry because of allergies.  Lots of people think you can move here to clear up your asthma or allergies only to find that we've got a lot of pollen etc. here so that for many it can get worse.  Hence no drying of clothing or bedding outdoors for me, alas.

Oh, I dry almost everything INside! It does just fine on my little drying rack. I do occasionally hang larger items outside, but only because there's more space out there. Even jeans dry well inside.

I hear you on the allergies, though. I've never suffered from such a thing, but my fiance has miserable allergies. He did allergy shots for a while, and they helped, but the numerous appointments got annoying to him. Then he tried cutting his dairy intake way back, and that has really made a big difference, too. Just a couple of thoughts. Maybe you've already tried those things.

DebtFreeinPhilly

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We have a free store near me. Basically, you drop off items you no longer need or use and if you see something you like, you can take it for free. We've turned in kids toys, old kitchen appliances, etc., and picked up books, new toys, and other stuff we normally would have had to buy.

MoneyCat

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Instead of eating expensive dinners and paying for drinks at the pub to watch hockey, we started inviting friends over to our house for homemade pizza and watching UFC Fight Night on FOX instead. The pizzas cost us perhaps $2 per pie and the fights are completely free and we get to have fun socially interacting with our friends.

Simpli-Fi

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Yeah I can see hockey was gettin in the way of watching the fighting.  Nice move to UFC.

Erica

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Bought a waterpick. Will not be needing to see a dentist for years. The studies done about these gadgets are true. Spend 50% less time brushing yet have squeaky clean teeth all the time. I hated the thread floss, so nice to water floss so quickly having it do a better job. I brush and water floss about 6 times a day now. Brush & Waterfloss for less than 1 min after drinking coffee to avoid the coffee stains on my teeth.

h82goslw

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Practicing gratitude/being grateful for what you have.

Main benefit is happiness. Side benefit is you don't feel the need for more nearly as much, saving you money. (Other side benefits exist as well, such as less stress, more health, more empathy, etc., but the main benefit and financial one are the ones relevant to this thread).

THIS!  Realizing how great life is without having to chase down all the bullshit consumer crap that's out there really makes life much more satisfying.  Wish I'd realized this years ago but thankful that I have now. 

Livingthedream55

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DD's boyfriend gave me a Keurig as a Christmas gift last year and I use the reusable Keurig plastic K cups cups every day and never buy coffee out. I've even seen 3 for a dollar at the dollar store, but you can definitely find one for under $5 on Amazon or any big box store.

I also get my coffee on sale and my cost per cup is pennies. Love it!

Regular Guy

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Re: Positive changes or new habits that just happen to be financially beneficial
« Reply #26 on: September 02, 2016, 06:01:02 AM »
No more beer in the fridge, wine on the counter, or liquor in the cabinet

No beer?  I'm not ready for that level of commitment. When I'm not in 3rd countries and subject to orders that don't allow for alcohol consumption, I truly enjoy having a good beer with dinner.  If I'm feeling frisky I may even drink two in a single day.

Rubic

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Re: Positive changes or new habits that just happen to be financially beneficial
« Reply #27 on: September 02, 2016, 08:55:35 AM »
No more beer in the fridge, wine on the counter, or liquor in the cabinet

Same here, though I have kept an unopened bottle of 25 year old
Laphroaig scotch whisky tucked away in the cabinet for a special
occasion.

Kansas Beachbum

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Re: Positive changes or new habits that just happen to be financially beneficial
« Reply #28 on: September 02, 2016, 10:26:44 AM »
No more beer in the fridge, wine on the counter, or liquor in the cabinet

Yeah, that'll happen...LOL. 
Cheers all, happy Friday!

 

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