Can saving money be a hobby?

How will you save $400 a month?

Buy buying a pack of 40 frozen burgers for $29.99 . and to drink water from the tap instead of buying fruit juice and pop. Getting 2 ensure a day for free from my doctor. not ordering out everyday and eating Puritan beef stew on sale. Buying cup of soup instead of a four chocolate bars. Walking more than taking taxi’s. Reading books for fun from Amazon. I’m a coop store membership. Using my credit card more than my bank card to save on service charges. Also bananas are cheap in my home town now. So I will eat more fruit.

Those credit cards will have your lunch if you aren’t careful….

Make some vids about your adventure and start a YouTube channel that promotes adworks.

Then you could actually make money from your hobby of saving money.

Ok I broke down and ordered a pizza. I have the runns so I can’t go shopping. $16.50 edit I canceled my order and am going to cook some mixed vegetables instead.

@RedDeerGuy1 Plenty of water; walking instead of riding in a taxi; all those fruits and vegetables. Your lifestyle changes aren’t just money-saving, they’re admirably healthful.

@RedDeerGuy1 Ate the veggies. was good. better than a pizza. Love my electric frying pan.

You require a drill sergeant girlfriend.

Saving money that you don’t have or wasn’t yours in the first place can apparently be a thrilling past time.

@Cruiser Lol.

(I’m probably taking this question too seriously, but <shrugs shoulders>.)

To me, the answer to the question in the title is “If you’re having fun doing it, then yes.” Although, in my opinion, your hobby should be something that you feel adds “meaning” to your life (AKA a reason for you to get out of bed every day). For me personally, I consider a thriftiness a virtue, but I wouldn’t call it my hobby by any means. You seem to be doing a pretty good job so far, but I’ll leave you with some general advice anyways:

- Money is meant to be spent. The goal of saving isn’t to end up with more money, but rather to allocate your money more effectively over the course of your life. Instead of buying expensive food, put the money towards education; instead of buying expensive clothing, put it towards retirement; instead of buying something you won’t use, put it towards paying off bills, etc. If you want to save $400 a month, you should decide what you are saving the money for. (This will also help keep you motivated.)

- Less philosophically… make sure you don’t fall for “couponing” or anything that advocates “the more you spend, the more you save.” Look only at the actual amount you spend, ignoring any “original prices” or “total savings” on your receipts. This is one of the more pervasive psychological tricks in retail.

As has been pointed out, you have made a number of healthier choices. As for this being a hobby, I suspect you will run out of ideas soon.

A lot of people have/had extreme couponing for a hobby.
A lot of people burn out on it.

Don’t get carried away. It won’t hurt you to order out once in a while as long as you don’t make a habit of it.

And $20 (tip inc) is too much for a pizza unless you’re going to get several meals out it. Check out Pizza Pizzazz if you want to cook the occasional pizza or junk food at home. I cooked frozen onion rings on mine last week, and they were great. Fries, pizza rolls, fish sticks…
Make a liner for the pan, and clean-up is a snap.

I don’t get how pizza is junk food….

@RedDeerGuy1

I’d advise against using the credit card instead of the bank card. You might think you’re avoiding service charges, but if you’re not careful about handling your credit then the interest will kill you. Use the bank card. Save the credit for emergencies (preferably an emergency that’s a bit more dire than ordering a pizza).

The bank card is spending money that you actually have, though you may pay a little fee for convenience of, essentially, having someone else hold on to it for you. The credit card is spending someone else’s money that they’re lending to you on the condition that you’ll be paying them back considerably more than they loaned you.

There are a lot of resources out there about saving money. For several weeks I spent most of my lunch breaks reading sites like wisebread.com and the simple dollar. Suze Orman also has a book called “Young, Broke, and Fabulous” which has some very sensible financial advice for those just getting started.

I’m still in the beginner phase of getting my finances under control. There’s so much information out there and some of it is better than others. For some people, saving means finding happy hour specials instead of extravagant bar tabs, and for others it means washing and reusing ziploc bags. What works for me is:

1) Try to understand my compulsive spending behaviors. For a long time I struggled with recreational shopping, ordering stuff online, overspending on restaurant meals, and convenience food. These kinds of things can give you a temporary emotional high if you’re feeling down, but it’s an empty feeling.

2) Replace with better habits. I basically have a full gourmet coffee bar at work now to keep me from going to Starbucks. Replacing lattes with crappy instant coffee wouldn’t work, because it feels like deprivation. To keep myself from shopping, I arrange my closet in an attractive, appealing way that showcases all my favorite things. And I try to plan ahead and have convenient snacks, frozen pizzas etc. already on hand so I won’t order out.

3) Find a new pick-me-up. I try to call/ text a friend or have a good conversation with someone instead of shopping.

4) Find frugal solutions that work for you. There are people who make an entire lifestyle out of extreme couponing and hoarding food. I can’t handle that, but I HAVE learned a couple cheap, go-to recipes that can be made and frozen in large batches. This cuts your grocery bill and you always have something to eat. I also buy the same size/kind of tupperwares all the time so there aren’t tons of mismatched tops and bottoms floating around.

It’s important to have moderation in all things so you can make a lifestyle change and stick with it. Doing this for several months has given me an emergency fund for the first time ever, and I’m also paying down my car loan ahead of schedule. Saving money for its own sake is ok, but savings really give you options, freedom, and a safety net. Living paycheck to paycheck makes your world smaller and you’re always one step ahead of a potential disaster.

One last point I heard somewhere was that saving isn’t about depriving yourself- it’s about putting your money toward your highest priorities. If you think in terms of priorities, you can make a list like

1) Time with friends and family- cut back work hours or retire
2) Travel
3) Hobbies
4) Restaurant dinner

and allocate your money accordingly.

I’ve saved lots of money from putting stuff on my wish list instead of buying them outright. Just in case I could find them in the library.

Thanks all.

Update I am on a low FODMAPS diet and am adding veggies and fruits to my diet. Turns out that meat hurts my insides less than veggies.

I am starting over and trying different foods. To see what aggravates my IBS and what doesn’t.

Thanks @All .

I will try bulk ordering chicken wings/quarters and drums after I get paid on the first of July 2022. So That I have more choices rather than ordering out because there is nothing in my pantry/fridge that I want. Bulk chicken parts are $10.50/KG verses $15 plus/KG in a normal grocery store.

Update I have been watching YouTube videos by Bobby Parish, and am ready my ingredients lists in foods that I might order.

I bought a hymalan salt grinder with salt included. I cook my meat ribs and chicken wings with it and it tastes better than delivery.