What are some things that you have in life that you could honestly do without to save money?

TV, Radio, big fridge instead of a small one, microwave,lawn mower,bicycle

@seven now would you actually get rid of those things?

Nothing, I’m running pretty lean right now.

Personally, I don’t watch TV. That’s a big chunk of money between flatscreens and cable bills. But more importantly potentially profitable time wasted starring at a box that I can’t interact with.

The hugest though, is the fact that I don’t have a car. I live in metropolitan environments so that I can walk, ride a bike, or easily take public transportation. I can’t express how much money I watch people waste on cars. I know this may be more difficult for some people’s living situations, but if you look into it, you’d be surprised at how hard most cities work to make public transportation easy and availible.

Get rid of cable tv
Get rid of subscriptions
Walk to most places
Eat home more

Second on the Cable-paying $50 a month for something I never watch-netflix has an on-demand set-top box that streams content to your TV…this and other subscriptions seem to be more viable an option.

I got rid of my subscriptions to all my porn mags when I got DSL. What else is there?

LOL

I probably could survive with fewer pairs of shoes – but I don’t want to.

Starbucks and bottled water! Between the two, I bet most people spend $5 day. Add it up -if you brewed your own coffee and drank tap water in a reusable bottle (in most cities it’s as good as bottled water – and if you use a reusable metal bottle you save yourself the toxins in the plastic bottle) – that’s $1825 a year!

There’s a bunch of easy things that don’t affect people at all but save money: one is unplugging things like TV’s and other items when they are not in use. Turning off computers at night. Not keeping connections for cell phones plugged in when not in use. All we would have to do is turn them on again when we are using them.

My rent and utilities are only 200$ per month. I don’t drive and really don’t spend that much. I usually make it thought the month buying only food, toiletries, beer, and smokes. I spend about 600$ per month to live.

I don’t really think I could cut anything out.

My iPhone, a regular phone would do the job and some of the 30 purses I have.

Not going out to dinner 3 days a week. Grocery shopping at lower priced stores instead of Whole Foods and the like. On Demand. Facials. Less shopping (maybe….)

I could fairly easily use library books instead of buying.
I could eat out a lot less.

Those are the easy ones. If I was in dire straights, there are plenty of more painful cuts that I could do.

I’m already a pretty conscientious consumer, there’s not a whole lot in our lives that we have that we really don’t need. I think I live with a life philosophy that’s a bit like spargett’s. I ride a bike, compost food scraps, try to get the most out of leftovers, have a coffee maker that uses a thermal pot so the heating element doesn’t stay on, use the same piece of paper for my shopping list, folding it around each time, we don’t have a clothes dryer and line dry instead, have a rather smallish refrigerator that consumes less energy, have lights on timers and use energy lamps on them, and most importantly my husband and I both have monthly budgets for our own personal spending that we stick to, the rest goes into savings.

I don’t think our ship could run any tighter at the moment. I don’t feel as though we’re sacrificing anything, though. In fact I feel better because I’ve become more thoughtful about what I use and what I waste.

@johnpowell

$200 p/m for rent + utilities!?

How do you swing that?

@Spargett
I bought a RV and live in my friends backyard. I have Cable TV and Internet and electricity. I do have to run inside to use the bathroom. But it is only about ten feet away. And nobody locks the doors so I don’t have to fumble with keys. It is actually a pretty sweet arrangement. And I can hang out in the house if I want to. But I normally stay in the RV unless I’m using the bathroom or cooking.

And I have to climb a ladder to get into bed every night. That seems like a small thing but it is awesome. </30 year old child>

iTunes, I still need to try Limewire.

@johnpowell Wow, a life of camping, that’s pretty cool. What about water, do you use a tank or something that you just refill with their tapwater? Do you use propane for cooking? My husband and I think sometimes about an RV if we ever retire, just travel around and live in it. Maybe it’s not such a bad idea. Just take our bikes or have a couple of scooters for shorter trips, but it seems like a decent lifestyle to me.

@DeezerQueue
The RV is parked in a backyard of a friends house. I just run inside the house if I need to cook or use the bathroom. But I do keep lots of bottled water in here. And I have a fridge and a toaster oven out here.

This is actually one of the better places I have lived. I ripped out the ceiling and walls after I bought it and replaced them. The thing got gutted and rebuilt. It is actually really nice now.

@john- do you have any posted pics of the rv remodel?

@johnpowell Feel free to share photos sometime. It just sounds cozy, although maybe not the way most guys would want to be thought of when it comes to their living quarters. We have a pretty nice tent and I have to admit that I wouldn’t mind living in it for a longer duration. It also has a huge cozy factor.

It probably does keep your life pretty simple, though, it frees you financially to do other things that you want to do, which is what the question is really all about. Not having stuff, but living your life.

I buy so many hair products with pretty packaging that never get used