The Thrifty Thread

Muscles

Michael Peterson status
Jun 1, 2013
2,596
3,597
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California/Hawaii
Sprint unlimited with BYOD.

I pay $110 per month for two phones. Bought a motorola G5 Plus smartphone on amazon for $220. I can't fathom using a flip phone.

Don't drink alcohol. You'd be surprised how much money that saves.

My biggest savings comes from learning how to do things myself and avoiding hiring a professional. Need to fix your car? Watch youtube. Back when I was a broke teenager I used to have to read a haynes manual and figure it out. Now you have step by step video instructions at your disposal.
 

gbg

Miki Dora status
Jan 22, 2006
3,870
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We do Grocery Outlet along with Trader Joes.

There's one in Chula and IB that could service your needs. Beer/wine too.

At Grocery Outlet you have to seperate the chaff from the wheat so it can be hit or miss - some of the stuff is WTF? - but you will save major $$$ on some items.

Sprouts is good too when produce (when it's on sale).
I went to the IB store once. Have not been again. Produce was terrible. I saw nothing but the shittiest wine ever. My palette is far more particular.
 

Autoprax

Duke status
Jan 24, 2011
68,237
22,990
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62
Vagina Point
That's the easiest?
How about the opium tea?

I make a poppy seed tea and it's really nice. You just need to drink a quarter cup.

But it kills my gall bladder the next day.

I guess that is a good limiting factor.

I might do once a year and damn the hangover.
 

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,214
17,643
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Petak Island
I went to the IB store once. Have not been again. Produce was terrible. I saw nothing but the shittiest wine ever. My palette is far more particular.

Most of the products there are sold everywhere from Ralph's to TJ's to Sprouts.

Today saw the exact same oranges and bananas as TJ's.

In season the strawberries are the exact same as Sprouts

etc.
 

Mr Doof

Duke status
Jan 23, 2002
24,860
7,759
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San Francisco, CA
There’s an easier way, google pruno.

I leave the making of my distilled products to the experts.

Pruno ain't booze though....that is the equivalent of wine made in a toilet.

Those instructions are way simpler.

1 Get fermentables like old fruit and cheerios and fruit loops and twinkies
2 Flush the toilet at least once
3 Chuck the fermentables in the open bowl
4 Lot of microorganisms in the wild so leave the seat up for a few days
5 When the bubbling stops in about a week, siphon out the fluid to a container, and if possible siphon through the cleanest dirty shirt you got
6 Drink ASAP before you get shivved or give to the one who can stop you from being shivved, but make it known you can produce again this quality toilet wine if you have enough protection.
 

Mr Doof

Duke status
Jan 23, 2002
24,860
7,759
113
San Francisco, CA
That's the easiest?
The easiest booze to make is straight unflavored ethanol, and those quickie instructions are mostly just a conceptual overview.

That list is a simplified method of making vodka type booze (aka spirits) that won't kill you, or make you sick...repeat business should be the goal of any producer, which is not the same thing as a hobbyist or experimenter.

Far easier and cheaper to buy in a store unless you a going through a few bottles a week....then scale of economics kicks in.
 

ringer

Tom Curren status
Aug 2, 2002
11,341
612
113
Huntington Beach, California
I can afford to do it, but I never go out to lunch at work or buy coffee. As gbg said, that sh!t adds up, like 3 or 4 grand per year. I make my own goddamn lunch at home every morning and drink work-supplied coffee. I also drive a vehicle that gets 50+ mpg and is extremely reliable, and it's got 100k miles left to go at least if I do the basic required service, which saves a lot of money. We like to go out, but we mostly cook good meals with good ingredients that are bought at the big variety of stores close by (Trader's, Sprout's, Von's [every once in awhile for certain things], El Metate Supermercado, and Green Farm Asian market). For professional and other services, there is always room to bargain.
 
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the janitor

Tom Curren status
Mar 28, 2003
12,340
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north of the bridge
Pruno ain't booze though....that is the equivalent of wine made in a toilet.

Those instructions are way simpler.

1 Get fermentables like old fruit and cheerios and fruit loops and twinkies
2 Flush the toilet at least once
3 Chuck the fermentables in the open bowl
4 Lot of microorganisms in the wild so leave the seat up for a few days
5 When the bubbling stops in about a week, siphon out the fluid to a container, and if possible siphon through the cleanest dirty shirt you got
6 Drink ASAP before you get shivved or give to the one who can stop you from being shivved, but make it known you can produce again this quality toilet wine if you have enough protection.
toilet wine is the name of my new Steely Dan tribute band
 
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hammies

Duke status
Apr 8, 2006
15,587
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Limit your retaurant and bar habit. Once a week for either one, tops. Learn to cook and you can eat like a king at home for 1/5 the money.

And what Ringer said. Except for the coffee. The coffee at my work is sh!t. I buy my own, got a kettle at the thrift store for 5 bucks, and use a French Press. It's a basic quality of life issue for me.

If your wife has a nice car, you should be driving a beater until it dies. Wifey has a late model Subaru (paid off), I have a 25 year old Toyota Pickup. Low cost of ownership. I plan on several more years of reliable service without caring one iota what it looks like.

And above all else, pay off your credit card every month.
 

Eric3_4_69

Miki Dora status
Feb 17, 2009
4,631
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Kooksburgh
I'm specifically interested in cellular plans, but also home Internet, etc. Best deals and so on.

Apart from that, I'd be curious to know your tips and tricks for saving the money in general. Feel free to share your surfer cheapskate wisdom. Thx so much.
Save the trims from your veggies, chicken, fish/seafood and meat and make broth out of them. Save these broths in the fridge until its time to use them as the base for a real good soup or a sauce. Never make a soup using plain water, always use broth!

Sounds cheap, but it is what every real restaurant in the world does on a daily basis. Of course, a restaurant generates a lot of trims and uses a lot of broth, but you can collect them trims on Ziploc bags in the fridge until you get enough for a broth.

That is if you cook but I think you do, you sexy bitch you.
 
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