Living On Less Money

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How do people live on less money on here? How can they buy stuff?

Are you moving into low income housing? That should help. Are you on food stamps? I’m careful about my food budget. I eat a lot of rice. I buy secondhand stuff a lot too. Small savings here and there can really add up. I try to save a little bit every month so I can buy bigger items when I need them/something breaks.

Grocery markets have holiday sales on food. Bought 4 lbs of boneless spiral ham for just $12! That is really cheap for meat but it was on sale for Easter. For Saint Patrick's day they have corned beef brisket on sale for $8/lb.
One of the stores I shop has a saver's card and digital coupons. The digital coupons can be a really good savings.
I'll use the freezer to store large quantities of meat so I don't have to eat it all in a short time.

If you need new clothes Kohl's has very good sales. 50 to 70% off just about everything I buy!
Better than the thrift store. Sometimes the stuff in thrift stores is nearly worn out or has damage I didn't spot.

It helps to learn how to cook using basic ingredients but that may be hard to learn.
But, in the USA raw chicken and beef can be reasonably cheap. But, some markets are better than others when it comes to the quality of meats and how fresh the fruits and veggies are.
There is one market I won't shop at because the quality of there stuff isn't very good.

I was so poor I had to shop at the thrift store during sales. You can find nice if not entirely new things there. It just takes a bit of routing.

People like me living on less don't buy "stuff" I pay as little as I can for what I need (Rent, utilities, phone, and then food. I don't have cable tv, or streaming services, I get my entertainment free from the library, I always ask for clothes, and restaurant gift certificates on my birthday and holidays, because my budget doesn't allow for restaurant food or deliveries.

I feel like I did as a late teenager, eating oatmeal, ramen, and frozen vegetables. To save on groceries, I've mostly stopped eating meat except as a treat. Its not so bad, but it does take getting used to.

I'm used to being poor. I never bought lots of personal stuff except for about a year after I quit working at my second job. My mental health wasn't great then & my psych med combo wasn't working well. I was trying to fill the void by buying things. The last few years we've usually been eating out less & I've been trying to cut down on buying snacks & junk food but I really need to try a lot harder partly for health reasons besides money. I have some various physical issues I'm trying to better manage so I could start looking for a job at some point. Summer is going to be tough because our electric bill can triple. We have to pay to run our ACs & we're on the third floor. Our living-room AC cant keep up when the temp outside is in the 90s, even when we're running it nonstop the temp inside can be about 80.

I wear skimpy crop tops and short shorts during the summer so I'm comfortable without running the A/C!
Haven't needed to run it the past two years and kept the electric bill really low!

I also switched out the lighting to high efficiency LED bulbs to save on electricity.

It can be easy to buy too many groceries! If you can't eat it before it spoils or goes bad it may be better to buy the smallest sizes instead. It does cost money to refrigerate stuff so I'll usually empty out the refrigerator/freezer in June and not stock up on frozen goods.

Hard to say. I've been living frugally all my life just because I'm like that. Most people seem like compulsive money wasters to me. When I was living alone, my low-to-average income was twice as much as I was spending. I was able to save up enough to retire early and bridge the gap with savings till I was old enough to get pension.

I get most of my fun in life from using (second-hand) computers. I treat them with care and they last many years. I also like making things especially at extremely low cost. It's almost a special interest.

I walk or cycle rather than paying for transport.

I don't use restaurants or coffee shops. If I want to eat outside my home I take a bag of sandwiches with me. Most of my food is home cooking using relatively inexpensive ingredients. No canned or bottled drinks, just cheap green tea.

Most of my clothes are second-hand from charity shops.

Most of my social life is visiting friends in their homes or having them visit me.

I try to avoid anything that involves paying a regular amount.

I always think before I spend. Do I really want the item? Will something else that's cheaper or free do much the same thing? Can I make it instead of buying it? Can I get it for nothing? Can I get it cheaper? Will it last?

In winter I only heat the room I'm using. In summer I'm in the USA and the electricity is included in the rent. It's a very small home so the rent, although a ripoff IMO, is relatively low.

But obviously, below a certain income it's impossible without descending into squalour.

I don’t have a job so i don’t earn money, but also i don’t currently require money.
The way i save is subconscious, i think way too much about whether or not i need said item

[General advice]

Living with one's family is a good way to save money.

If you have to live alone and have to pay rent/bills - you can always do as others have suggested - look at cutting down in other areas, including your food bill and clothing bill. Even bills can be minimized by using blankets in the winter instead of heating devices, or heating one room instead of a whole home.

In the summer, if you live alone you can strip naked to lessen the need for air conditioning or fans.

For electricity/gas, you could choose a place to live that has a good energy efficient rating if you have that choice in the first place. You can buy domestic appliances that are eco-friendly.

You can spend time in places like the library, or other places so that you have somewhere warm to be that doesn't require spending on heating yourself.

Selling one's own vehicle and using public transport can save a lot of money in the long-run, which is particularly achievable in some locations more than others, i.e, places with good transport connections.

I used to walk the mile to work, even when it snowed!
Took about 20 minutes, which is 3mph.
Also walked to grocery store and only bought what I could carry.