Our Readers Share Their Best Economy Tricks
Earlier this week, we asked you to share your favorite thrifty hack – and you’ve done it. Lifehacker readers have tricks for everything from haircuts to bulk shopping, as well as massive philosophical money tricks to help you practice mindful spending.
While you should really read the entire comment thread yourself, here are some of my favorite answers:
huja is planning dinners around the grocery sale :
My weekly menu is determined by what is on sale in the store. This does not mean that I eat Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese with Coca-Cola – I am looking for ingredients, not processed foods (e.g. chicken, fish, vegetables, fruits).
MartiniGuy makes cheap vodka taste like a good drink :
- Buy the cheapest vodka
- Pass it through a charcoal water filter (I use a British gallon) 2-3 times.
- The result: a very mild vodka for a small fee.
Yes, it has been verified.
jjdebenedictis doubles the dryer load :
We usually need to do two loads of laundry in our small washing machine, but the dryer is bigger and dryers are generally more efficient when you fill it up, so now I dry both things together.
Our energy company allows you to keep track of your daily energy consumption, and before the wash day was always noticeable. It’s still higher than the daily average since I switched, but it’s not as obvious as it used to be.
smacd puts the money it saves on purchases into savings :
Budget everything and then save every penny you don’t spend.
So if I buy something that costs $ 800 and put it up for sale for $ 750, I leave that $ 50 in the bank. I would spend it if I just left it in my account to quickly convert it into savings. The trick is to make even small gains. Weekly grocery shopping usually costs $ 100, but have you only spent $ 90? However, leave that $ 10 in the bank. Nothing is too small.
It all adds up so fast!
Remy reminds us that we all get money from a finite pile of money :
For me, the biggest trick was changing my point of view. It may happen naturally as you age (and feel like you’re going astray), but realizing that money is ultimately a limited resource is a certain amount you will ever make in your life, and everything comes from from this sentence – transformed me.
I always had the feeling that I could spend money because I would simply replace it by earning more later. But this is not true. A finite amount of dollars is directed towards me, even if I do not yet know what that number is.
Once you accept this, it becomes clear that you cannot make “extra” money, because they have all been accounted for in an unknown amount. The only way to make a dollar is to save money. And it makes you think twice before spending one of them.
If you have any other humble tips to share, 127 comments have been added to the original post and the number is growing, so feel free to continue the discussion or start a new one in the comments on this post!