What are you doing to save a few bucks during this pandemic?

[PickledCucumber]

Because of this pandemic, I'm currently the bread winner at home and I'm trying to find ways to save a few bucks here and there.

After reading this announcement, I may switch my mobile plan to T-Mobile's $25 plan to save some cash:

T-Mobile Connect (US residents)

I also thought about being a cam model to make a few bucks (not a joke), but if you've read my last thread, that might be a bad idea...

What are you doing to try and save a few bucks during this time?

Or what are you doing to try and make a few bucks on the side?

 

[Einchy]

All the lights in our house use multiple light bulbs which I've now unscrewed to only use one.

PC gets turned off and not put on sleep mode.

No more Alexa or nightlights.

Unsubbed from multiple things.

 

[Tigerfog]

Cooking from home and eating only things from home makes me save money from the get-go.
Also, eating more plant-based ingredients than meat helps a lot as they are cheaper (tofu vs chicken).
This makes me realize how much more cost-efficient it is to eat from home.

 

[AaronMT]

Well, not going out to restaurants. Not driving anywhere. Not taking transportation to work. That alone is cost saving.

 

[learning]

eating in and eating cheaper foods

 

[Fright Zone]

Staying in.

 

[mhayes86]

Not going out to eat.

 

[Wulfric]

Not wasting money on eating out
Not going to bookstore out of boredom
Drawing art vs buying new game on Steam
Pausing Humble subscription

 

[shaneo632]

To be honest I'm saving money just by not going out. My work is pretty much unaffected so I will probably save an extra £100-200 per month as long as this pandemic lasts by not going to bars/restaurants etc.

 

[turbobrick]

I sit at home in front of my computer all day and don't spend any money.

I still work 3 days a week though, and buy lunch those days, but that's it.

 

[Fat4all]

not buying video games

 

[Radd Redd]

Drying my clothes outside instead of using the dryer. Been at least a decade since I last did it that way.

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

I'm amazed so many go out to eat regularly to begin with. I very rarely order takeaway and if I ever do I always cut a deal so I never pay full price, even rarer I actually go somewhere to eat. It's home-cooked meals all the time for me as usual, though I have asked my dad to make more food for me that I then go and pick up since he's a better cook than me. Apart from that I'm not really doing anything to save, I'm a very frugal person to begin with, though saying that I did just buy a Switch Lite and I'll be picking up a few games next month, but apart from video games I'm a very frugal person.

 

[AlexBasch]

I can't see my girlfriend anymore to avoid being a risk for her parents who are in the risk group.

So that shaves a lot of money from when we used to go out one day or two a week. I just go to to work, head home, buy groceries and that's five of my seven days right there. Now it's all week long.

 

[thebeeks]

Working from home means I don't have to fill my car up every week, which is nice.

 

[AlexBasch]

not buying video games

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This too. I have an enormous backlog and decreasing desire to play videogames, so I might have gotten Doom Eternal back then, now I'm considering selling my consoles. It's a waste of money.

 

[platocplx]

Staying home. I'm intermittent fasting and only eat twice a day. So def saving money in that way.

 

[Salmonax]

I'm just saving tons of money not dining out, going to bars, etc. after work.

 

[King Alamat]

Not leaving the county to save on gas and not buying any games or books because I got enough of a backlog already. I can't help but still get takeout, but I only eat once a day anyway so it's never eaten that much of my usual budget.

 

[J.T]

Not spending money on eating out, gas, going to bars, shopping.

 

[Alastor3]

well for once, i stopped buying hot chocolat ever 2 times a week, stopped restaurant and any other activities.


I now buy too many games but that's another story

 

[FUME5]

I've become a cam model.

 

[TaySan]

I completely shut off hibernation on my PC, but that was mostly for stability reasons. Only going outside for essentials.

 

[GK86]

I have been saving money but not because of anything I have done, but because I'm forced to. Things like not going out, saving money on gas, not eating out at all.

 

[GYODX]

The pandemic itself is kind of already forcing me to. Spending less on gas, eating out, my only purchase under games & electronics was Animal Crossing, and I haven't spent a dime in my 'fun money' category all month. My power company does 'budget billing' so I'm billed the same thing every month regardless of use. Grocery expenses were higher than usual, but not enough to offset what I usually spend in discretionary spending. On average, I spend $830.84/mo on discretionary spending. This month, I've spent $347.79. That's a 58% decrease!

I track and categorize all of my spending so it's easy for me to find all these stats. If you're not already tracking and categorizing your expenses, you should start; it's fun. I use YNAB.

Spoiler: Here's my monthly discretionary spending trend

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

I'm doing literally nothing that costs money. Any money I am making is going to family members in need. So not wasting money but ain't making any

 

[Doogdogg]

More sun light this time of the year is already nice. I don't need the lights on from 8AM-5PM in most rooms. My office face west so I get lots of sun light. I haven't eaten out for almost 3 weeks.

 

[AaronMT]

Also seeing most, if any, still operating and open online retailers are backlogged on shipping to mid-end April it's putting off non-essential purchases for me.

 

[Deleted member 8861]

I'm not eating out!

 

[Akira86]

eating spam and those SHIN red and black cups of noodles.

i hope you like sodium...

 

[The Albatross]

We're saving a lot of money by:
1) not eating out ever. We used to eat out a lot, I ate at my work caf every day for lunch...a few bucks but still. Now I'm having pb&j at home for lunch.

2) coffee at home. Although I do cold brew and French press which is more expensive than drip but that saves a good amount of money.

We're not going to breweries or bars, not going to expensive days out. So we're saving a lot of money we usually spend. Good for our savings and bad for local business.

One thing I'm not looking forward to is utilities. I'm glad it's warming up because we've had our house consistently at 66-68 for 2 weeks where normally I have it drop to 60 during the day when we're not home and then up to 68 when we're home. But with a baby and a 100 year old house I've had to keep it at 66-68 all day which sucks for bills. Same electric bill, which was $130 this month. Usually this time of year the electric bill is very low... $50 maybe.

 

[sfedai0]

Nothing. I still have my job so apart from not being able to go out and eat and buying big ticket items, Im still using the same amount of light bulbs and using my dryer regardless if its peak times.

I actually have spent more on groceries than I have ever in my life, since I normally shop every day or every other day.

 

[Murdock]

I stopped buying the wife sexy lingerie for now. But she got alot in the closet so we good.

 

[BobLoblaw]

People should be amazed at how much money they save when they don't each out so much. I know I'm enjoying it. Saving like $30 a week.

 

[DredPirateStorm]

Not eating out, not driving as much, canceled my personal training classes, canceled my glass blowing lessons, and canceled a few streaming services I was barely using.

 

[MercuryLS]

To be honest I'm saving money just by not going out. My work is pretty much unaffected so I will probably save an extra £100-200 per month as long as this pandemic lasts by not going to bars/restaurants etc.

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This and saving gas money by not having to commute.

 

[Calamari41]

People are going to be shocked at how much money they're going to save by cooking at home.

 

[Johnny956]

People are going to be shocked at how much money they're going to save by cooking at home.

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Yea we spend quite bit going out to eat so it's already quite noticeable on our credit card utilization.

 

[Yourfawthaaa]

Cooking at home
Staying off of my usual impulse buying sites
and sleeping.

 

[Surakian]

I'm still working, but I have like an extra $200 in my bank account that I usually don't have from avoiding food places.

 

[effingvic]

Not eating out. I'm also making coffee at home.

 

[MikeOfAllTrades]

Saving about $700 a week not sending kids to daycare. Really hard to work with them around, but we are pushing through it.

 

[hateradio]

Lockdown itself is a way to save money, unfortunately.

 

[finalflame]

Lockdown itself is a way to save money, unfortunately.

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Yah, this. My spending on going out and travel has .. well, plummeted to zero. Those account for a huge portion of what I used to spend.

 

[Darryl M R]

Not paying for a Lyft to get from and to work at least 6 times a week because public transportation screwed me over.

 

[GamerJM]

Not paying for a Lyft to get from and to work at least 6 times a week because public transportation screwed me over.

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This. Also since I live with my parents it reduces my costs down to $0, except for video games and whatnot. Pandemic is certainly saving me a lot of money.

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

Stopped looking at shopping deal forums
Cancelled upcoming game pre-orders (except FF7)

 

[SneakyBadger]

continuing to live like a poor person

 

[Strike]

Buy less stuff and order cheaper food.

 

[Deleted member 20284]

Cooking batch meals for the freezer and less takeaway, we were doing this somewhat for the last 6 months anyhow but ramped it up now. Luckily about 4-5 months ago I went through my company and home finances to reduce monthly outgoings. Paid out mobile contracts, reduced plans etc.