jayeffscene Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I'm heading back to Brooklyn at the end of this month. I've been doing something wrong when living away from my parents' houses, because I've twice ran out of money (more or less) and ran back here to Illinois. I don't want to do that again, so any tips you guys wish you'd have known at the time you moved away would be very appreciated. Cheap foods, cheap/ free things to do, anything. Here's what I've got so far: -Eat lots of Ramen, oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, etc. -Don't buy multiple kinds of things like chips/ sweets/ etc. -Don't buy so much produce that it goes bad before I can use it -Quarts or half-gallons of milk/ soy milk -Put Netflix on hold until I've got a steady paycheck -Quit buying video games I am not positive I'll play the hell out of -Limit how often I eat out (those Chinese lunch specials KILL me.) -Completely quit buying pot -Refrain from trying to complete collections/ collect variants -Drink cheap (40's of St. Ides) LET'S DO THIS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayeffscene Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 Oh also: http://video.adultswim.com/tim-and-eric-awesome-show-great-job/living-with-dr-steve-brule.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkticon Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Tips for eating on a budget: - read the sale ads for ALL the grocery stores in your area every week - if you eat meat - buy it when it's on sale. As in really cheap. And buy a lot of it. Buy some freezer bags. Package it up and freeze it. I have, right now, about 20 dinners worth of chicken, 10 dinners of pork chop, and 5 dinners of hamburger in my freezer. I probably spent $30-35 on all of it - rice (store it in the freezer) - frozen vegetables - potatoes - salad greens - Eating this way, I spend $1-2 per day on food - entirely manageable by anyone. - Grocery stores are really just elaborate math games full of smoke and mirrors. Cut coupons and stack them along with in store sales. You can get $100 worth of food for less than $10 if you really try hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayeffscene Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 Great stuff. Thanks a lot sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkticon Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Anytime. When I was growing up my mom stretched a grocery budget like crazy. I learned a lot of shopping and cooking skills from her and then adapted them to my liking when I moved out. It's really helped out a lot. I never understood why people resorted to absolute trash for food. Most people just don't pay attention to unit price and portioning. For example, buying a brick of Oscar Meyer lunch "meat" is often almost the same price (by unit/weight) as fresh sliced meat from the deli. All that info is displayed right on the price tag. And most cell phones have calculators built into them these days if you can't do simple math in your head. People are just fucking lazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partysmasher Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 What sharkticon said... Freeze shit. I often make a massive vat of chilli/bolognase/tomato pasta sauce, divide it into portions and freeze it. Recently been making huge lasagne's and freezing portions in plastic tubs, one of them will give me a couple of meals a week for a month. If you see stuff that's buy one get one free, buy it and freeze it. Freezing stuff is awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtw88 Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 The 2 big ones for me are: Don't eat out Don't get cable tv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrc Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I'm heading back to Brooklyn at the end of this month. I've been doing something wrong when living away from my parents' houses, because I've twice ran out of money (more or less) and ran back here to Illinois. I don't want to do that again, so any tips you guys wish you'd have known at the time you moved away would be very appreciated. Cheap foods, cheap/ free things to do, anything. Here's what I've got so far:-Eat lots of Ramen, oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, etc. -Don't buy multiple kinds of things like chips/ sweets/ etc. -Don't buy so much produce that it goes bad before I can use it -Quarts or half-gallons of milk/ soy milk -Put Netflix on hold until I've got a steady paycheck -Quit buying video games I am not positive I'll play the hell out of Dont waste money on games at all. -Limit how often I eat out (those Chinese lunch specials KILL me.) Dont eat out unless someone else is paying. -Completely quit buying pot - This -Refrain from trying to complete collections/ collect variants stop buying records all together ( unless you are flipping them : and you are 100% positive you can make some decent profits. -Drink cheap (40's of St. Ides) LET'S DO THIS Here, the dollar store has a bunch of shit thats useful. You can save a few bucks on a bunch of cleaning supplies, soap, shampoo... Mooch off friends... dinner, beers, weed... whatever Definitely go with rice, pastas, PBJs, cheap soups. Every little bit helps, and adds up over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldsnap Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 make spaghetti sauce. it costs me around 25$ to buy all the ingredients. keep some for the week and freeze the rest into ziploc bags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayeffscene Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 make spaghetti sauce. it costs me around 25$ to buy all the ingredients. keep some for the week and freeze the rest into ziploc bags. How many servings does that make? I do love me some pasta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 wait, are you living on your own.... in brooklyn? or with roommates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayeffscene Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 wait, are you living on your own.... in brooklyn? or with roommates? Ah, should have clarified. I'm living with one other dude. He's a friend of mine, so it should be pretty cool. My place is in Bed Stuy, if any of you guys know the city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Food related: Buy one get one free at grocery stores. Buy TVP (its texture vegetable protein, meat substitute, its like $1.75 a pound dried. I eat it daily, I ran out last night, bought a pound last in August). Buy bulk ramen noodles (not brand, but basic noodles) from Asian markets. Buy potatoes. Cheap. Filling. Buy pasta. On sale you can buy it like .50 a pound. Eating 1/4lb per meal is a lot. Buy rice in bulk. Don't eat out. Don't drink unless its free. Don't smoke unless its free. Drink water when you're hungry between meals. Freeze all your bread and just toast it when you want it. Non-food related: Unplug everything electronic when you aren't there/sleeping. TV, DVD player, microwave, etc. Heat/AC: Heat at 50. AC at 80. Learn to wear hoodies inside during winter and underwear in summer. Get those fancy lightbulbs that are low wattage. Keep lights off as much as possible. Fast showers. Like, under 5mins. Been living alone for a long time. I live super cheap even though I live in a city with super low cost of living. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldsnap Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 make spaghetti sauce. it costs me around 25$ to buy all the ingredients. keep some for the week and freeze the rest into ziploc bags. How many servings does that make? I do love me some pasta. it really depends on which recipe you are making. the recipe i have can make up to 15 meals i'd say, probably more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 wait, are you living on your own.... in brooklyn? or with roommates? Ah, should have clarified. I'm living with one other dude. He's a friend of mine, so it should be pretty cool. My place is in Bed Stuy, if any of you guys know the city. yeah, living by yourself in brooklyn is a quick way to go broke. even living with just one other person can be really expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayeffscene Posted January 14, 2010 Author Share Posted January 14, 2010 Ah, should have clarified. I'm living with one other dude. He's a friend of mine, so it should be pretty cool. My place is in Bed Stuy, if any of you guys know the city. yeah, living by yourself in brooklyn is a quick way to go broke. even living with just one other person can be really expensive. Yeah. I lived in Bushwick for a while with one roommate. Then he bailed and left me to pay the $2700 he owed our landlord. Thanks dude go state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentgods Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Go commando twice a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirbypuckett Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Don't eat out. Drink water. Don't eat crap food though, eat veggies and stuff. I budget myself, but I still eat healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 yeah, living by yourself in brooklyn is a quick way to go broke. even living with just one other person can be really expensive. Yeah. I lived in Bushwick for a while with one roommate. Then he bailed and left me to pay the $2700 he owed our landlord. Thanks dude go state. my brother lives with 2 people, is paying $700, somewhere around greenpointe. it is a small apartment. I live in a 3 story house with 2 other people in greenfield in pittsburgh and pay $340 a month. a house. for half of what he pays for a bedroom in an apartment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brotherkyle Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 location location location Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddieruckus Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 dont get a girlfriend, she will take all your money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkticon Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Learn to bake. Baking your own bread is cheap as hell. The up front for all the ingredients seems expensive (yeast), but you can probably make a week's worth of bread for 75 cents. I make an awesome white bread and a foccacia that I eat all week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactusbot Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 That sounds awesome. I am going to try and make some bread this week and see what happens. EDIT: I found this article on how to do it that seems pretty good. http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/04/homemade-bread-cheap-delicious-healthy-and-easier-than-you-think/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotterson Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 That sounds awesome. I am going to try and make some bread this week and see what happens.EDIT: I found this article on how to do it that seems pretty good. http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/04/homemade-bread-cheap-delicious-healthy-and-easier-than-you-think/ Thanks for the link, I'm definitely going to have to try that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgoodcore Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 Honestly, if you can afford it, having Netflix can provide you with entertainment without having to go out, rent movies, or pay for a ticket to a movie. I would also recommend keeping a budget of some kind. The best way to start is to start writing down what you spend on gas, groceries, etc so you get an idea what normal is. Then you can plan out a budget accordingly and see if you're spending frivolously anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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