Tips or Hacks for Saving Money & Finding Unearned Income?

I have an odd sense of humor, but when you mentioned that you had to pay to get your pants back, to me it sounded like someone was holding them hostage and demanding ransom lol.

You are a saver, wow...good for you. Do you have any tips for saving on groceries especially since the past couple of years...well we all know.
I did a couple grocery shops over the weekend....I wasn't planning on returning home until night, so I only bought household cleaning items, TP, etc....I am set now until next year lol.

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Speaking of buying wearables from Amazon.....I sometimes read the Amazon Prime reddit group - lots of warnings lately about refunds not coming through, Amazon losing packages and Amazon lack of customer service.
The general consensus is they've grown too big to care about customers and if you do a charge back through your bank credit card? they simply ban your account from further purchases...
not so good for people who don't live close to major retailers for an alternative.
Bare, they sell those too..

I eat mostly for free, or close to it. Like I said before I get 15 - 18 grocery shops every round, depending on what's available. 3 or 4 of which are always pick up shops. We used to go to the food banks to get other groceries, but they were only giving us expired, stale boxed snacks and cake mixes. Sometimes expired cans of frosting too, I don't care much about dates, but those frostings in the cans are nasty when they get old. And I don't eat a lot of snack foods to start with. I need things that I can make meals out of. One time we got 20 or 30 boxes of stale cheddar broccoli rice a roni and a box of canned root vegetables.

My son started dumpster diving to get fruit and vegetables for the chickens. He also found fresh meat, still frozen, still in date, packages of fresh bread (not that awful square stuff), still in date, lunch meats, cheeses, salad kits, all sealed, all inside their "best by" dates. We don't go to the food banks anymore. I don't need 50 bags of stale potato chips, even the chickens won't eat them.

My son got a keurig, brand new in the box, never opened. We sold it for $40. He got a ring lamp, like the ones they use in home studios for pod casts, it's sitting in a box behind me, I still haven't opened it or set it up. But it's brand new in the box and it does work. He's sold a bunch of stuff that he got dumpster diving. He has a couple fans and a lamp he uses in the motorhome that he got that way. Someone threw away some art, in boxes, in beautiful frames, we gave those to my DIL for their new house. I sent matching track suits to my adult grandsons for Christmas last year, they aren't twins, but they are only 2 years apart and they sometimes look like twins, the track suits were different colors, but the same. My son could sell a lot more of what he finds, but it never happens.

As far as grocery shops; In any given pick up shop I get a hunk of meat, some kind of vegetables, usually a cabbage or cauliflower, avocados if I know they've received a new shipment or if I have a coupon for them. I get oat milk for my coffee, and yogurt, frozen fruits, and almond milk for my smoothies. I buy chick peas, cilantro, and garlic to fill up the 8 items and keep the total under $35. The reimbursement went down to $30, so I end up with $35 worth of groceries for $5 three or four times per month. I got a rice cooker from a competitor shop, with a few cans of pantry things, stewed tomatoes (several different flavors), ripe olives, green olives, black beans, refried beans. All right around $1 to make up the 8 different items.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2024 09:32AM by Morledzep.
That's genius, so much savings on money and reduced food waste...bravo, seriously.
I am curious though, how does he find the dumpsters that glean the most? how does he know which ones?
do the cops ever bother him about it? I guess it depends on day or night.
Is it possible to know how long the food has been lying there?
I am guessing you might live in a place that's not too hot of a climate in order for the food to still be frozen, not thawed or rotten.
I recall someone telling me that Trader Joes every night, puts out all their unsold fresh flowers....
I would love those bouquets...
I suppose you need to be tall to get inside a dumpster...
so many things rolling around in my head....lol

I live in an area that has a lot of social services....wealthy blue state area and right down the street from my home...there's a food pantry...they take donations, but also once a month they distribute boxes for like $20...and people sign up for them, no proof of anything required.
A box will contain fresh fruit and veggies, frozen cheaper parts of meat like turkey legs, meatloaf, frozen veggies, eggs, all fresh stuff....and they really do a big thing for Thanksgiving.
I've never gone because we here could never finish a box before the fresh stuff would be spoiled and my freezer is too small to fit all the frozen items.
The default method of intermittent fasting: if you can do this safely you can skip a few meals, extend the lifespan of your non-perishable foods, maintain hydration, and see what good things your body will do for you when it is given a respite...

Bach is not noise, Madam. (Robert, in Two's Company)
I pick a day every week to skip food, not water though lol....I should try two days/week.
Bare, I'm gonna try to give direct answers..

B: I am curious though, how does he find the dumpsters that glean the most? how does he know which ones?
M: He uses Google maps satelite pics to see the rear of buildings to see if they have dumpsters or compactors, and if he can't tell, he'll drive around the building and look.

B: do the cops ever bother him about it? I guess it depends on day or night.
M: yes, sometimes the cops tell him to move on, but he's not doing anything illegal, and he doesn't make a mess like some dumpster divers do.

B: Is it possible to know how long the food has been lying there?
M: Sometimes you can't be sure. But the produce he brings home isn't rotten, but might have some bruises (the chickens don't care). Meat he only brings home if he finds it the day it's tossed out and it's still cold or frozen. The packaged stuff, he looks at the date, if the package is opened or slashed, he leaves it, if the package is still sealed and still in best by date or very close to it, he'll bring it home. If we don't eat it the chickens will.

B: I am guessing you might live in a place that's not too hot of a climate in order for the food to still be frozen, not thawed or rotten.
M: We are in Northern AL. and we bring home a lot less dumpster stuff in the summer months.

B:I recall someone telling me that Trader Joes every night, puts out all their unsold fresh flowers....
I would love those bouquets...
M: I've never been a big fan of cut flowers, but my son does see some now and then. He doesn't bring them home because he doesn't know which are safe for the chickens.

B: I suppose you need to be tall to get inside a dumpster...
so many things rolling around in my head....lol
M: He is tall 6'4". but when my kids were very young I dumpster dived too, and I'm only 5'3". I didn't get in the dumpsters very often. It's an experience, and most folks are repulsed by it. I NEVER tell my DIL where I got all of the things that we've given to my grandson or the art that I gave her for her new home.

B:I live in an area that has a lot of social services....wealthy blue state area and right down the street from my home...there's a food pantry...they take donations, but also once a month they distribute boxes for like $20...and people sign up for them, no proof of anything required.
A box will contain fresh fruit and veggies, frozen cheaper parts of meat like turkey legs, meatloaf, frozen veggies, eggs, all fresh stuff....and they really do a big thing for Thanksgiving.
I've never gone because we here could never finish a box before the fresh stuff would be spoiled and my freezer is too small to fit all the frozen items.
M: I'm in a very very RED state, no social services that aren't Federally mandated and no consumer protections at all. But I was born and raised in CA, which is the polar opposite. It's been a HUGE adjustment. Two of my children left CA and sought their lives and families in AL, probably mostly by accident, and when I got hurt at work and couldn't make enough mystery shopping to keep my home in CA when I was 55 years old, I sold everything and moved here because that's where they were and where my grandsons were. My older grandsons are now adults and living in GA. And I now have a brand new shiny 3 year old grandson who will be 4 in March. And another one on the way, or at least that's what I've been told.
how nice to have grand babies (of all ages? smiling smiley congrats!
I am familiar with AL----and have spent time there, oh my, it must have been like night and day for you to adjust.....my adult daughter currently lives in Birmingham. A former husband is from Huntsville (worked at Marshall) and we lived there for a bit, before fleeing the area with our hair on fire....lol...no seriously, just left for new job positions in the north. I did like that big lake around Guntersville.
Originally they thought the hurricane Helene might head toward AL, but thankfully took a different path, but omg so sorry for the people in Western NC.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2024 08:50PM by BarefootBliss.
I forget the food documentary when I first saw dumpster diving, but I was shocked to actually see it occur in some areas I wouldn't expect to. In my area, Trader Joe's and Sprouts are the more generous grocery stores.
Warren Buffett famously said, “If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die”. This quote is a reference to the importance of building passive income streams to be able to retire.

According to Einstein, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it.”

What is wealth? Wealth is primarily the ability to create wealth.

Example: Someone who wins the lottery or gambling. Even if he wins 100 millions is not a rich man: He is a poor man with a lot of money. That's the reason why 90% of the lottery millionaires become poor again after 5 years.

You also have rich people who have no money.

Example: Most entrepreneurs. They are already on the road to wealth even though they have no money, because they are developing their financial intelligence and that is wealth.

How are the rich and the poor different?

To put it simply: The rich may die to become rich, while the poor may kill to become rich.

> If you see a young person who decides to train, to learn new things, who tries to improve himself constantly, know that he/she is a rich person.

> If you see a young person who thinks that the problem is the state, and who thinks that the rich are all thieves and who criticizes constantly, know that he is a poor person.

> The rich are convinced that they just need information and training to take off, the poor think that others must give them money to take off.

Not to humble brag...

I've gone to college as a commuter and lived at mom's home. STEM major. Signed up as a co-op student earning business wages in off semesters to learn businesses, to offset college tuition and graduated debt free. We've minimized debt in our early years of marriage. I've only paid interest on my first new car and first house. After these major purchases, subsequent new cars were paid for in cash. Second house was built on land purchased with cash. Do this as well as fix things myself for decades. Always cut our grass and worked on our cars. Continued to save about 25% of our income in 401K plans as well as after tax savings. It takes years, decades to accumulate assets this way, but it works. Retired at early 50's.

I've increased our net worth in investments by 21% so far this year. It just keeps building momentum. I've calculated using the 4% rule, we have so much assets that it's very unlikely we'll run out of money at our present spend rate.

Oh, and only marry once. Marry someone with a similar mindset about money. Divorce is an absolute asset killer. Or so I hear. smiling smiley

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2024 05:02AM by maverick1.
If you're not going to outlive your money, it may be time to either make a legacy plan if you don't already have one OR kick up the spend lol....OR why would you still MS? lol.
Woke up a little hung over, and maverick1 with some heavy stuff. I hope to marry one day and maybe even have kids.

I've been observing people towards the later stages of life. I see varying levels of overall health, where some require much help/assistance, and others don't. For that reason, I've rethought that you can never have too much in a HSA. Having various types of buckets/funds with taxable/nontaxable traits for flexibility to pull from during retirement depending on if you continue to earn is something I've been paying more attention to.

If you've outlived your money and can pass it on to others or a noble endeavor, that seems like one form of success to me.

For me, I feel like I will always mystery shop to some degree! I enjoy it and view it as a nice way to minimize or pay off some expenses.
That's just monte carlo calculations that we won't outlive our assets...

It's a learned habit to save and hard to turn off. Just like people who are spendthrifts at the other end of the spectrum. I'm not fond of legacy plans for children. I understand why Warren Buffet's plan for his children is to give "enough money so they can do anything, but not so much that they can do nothing," meaning he intends to provide them with financial security to pursue their passions without relying solely on inherited wealth to live comfortably, encouraging them to work and contribute to society." Most children who gain wealth blow through it all.

But don't worry, our 23 year old truck will need to be replaced in the next couple years and I already have a replacement picked out once it dies. It's disgusting that a new one costs $90k loaded, right?

@BarefootBliss wrote:

If you're not going to outlive your money, it may be time to either make a legacy plan if you don't already have one OR kick up the spend lol....OR why would you still MS? lol.
I really hear you on old habits....It's been a serious challenge for me to reverse lifelong habits...but inflation (as well as unexpected dental work) is helping me in that regard, LOL.
FIRECALC is a popular calculator, if you haven't already looked at it.
Yep, I used FireCalc to give me the courage to accept a severance package and leave my lifelong career behind. Now our problem is going to be with taxes and RMDs on our 401K's...ah, money management problems.

It's always something!
I haven't tried it yet....but this was sent to me today and I quote:

Outlier.ai / Remotasks

You can get paid $15-35 an hour as an AI content reviewer through Outlier.

(Everything is remote, but it might make sense to filter on your country from that landing page.)

This work involves evaluating AI prompts and responses for accuracy and clarity.

It took a couple hours to complete the (unpaid) onboarding application and training, and the work is somewhat tedious and repetitive, but it is a viable option to make money from home.

(It was called Remotasks earlier in the year when I joined and tested.)
A little unrelated, but I've been making progress at chopping away at my gift card and reward balances! This is going to take a while. But it's made me realize some of my hoarding type behavior and tendencies.
That sounds interesting, actually @BarefootBliss.
@Okie, a great way to save some money.

I signed up for:
[onlinebookclub.org]

They pay for book reviews and provide the books. But it seemed like too much work once I started to write my first review. So, I never stuck with it. I also didnt enjoy that book.
If I'm not mistaken, that sounds like something that Shop-et-al could easily do!

On that note, I've been making progress at abstaining from certain things. For streaming services and other similar types of services, I finally got around to cancelling them all. In addition to saving some money, but to get more time and focus back. Also, haven't watched TV or sports. So far, so good.

Every once a while for entertainment, I'll go out to watch a movie and lately have been buying some physical books that I would highlight, annotate, and re-read again. For this, I don't mind the cost. It's been good to get out of the house.

Maybe next year, I can get around to reading some of the books!
It’s late, and I’m too tired to scroll and see if this has been mentioned.

Check your state comptroller’s website for the link to their “unclaimed property” search. (Go through their official site, not any of these places who want to charge a fee for a simple search.) I didn’t find my name, but my sister-in-law was on it from a deposit she’d had with an auto insurance company years ago that they tried to return to her, but by that time she’d moved.

Point of the story is you never know - you could be owed some money.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
Yes, dr. I've moved several times in the past few years, to different states. It's easy for money you don't remember to show up after you've left....
I'm all set now, but in June of 2022, I checked my prior state's unclaimed property website and found I had over $2,500 waiting for me there.
I was very happy to apply for that refund. The process wasn't too onerous.
I drive cash cars and carry the minimum amount of insurance required on it.

Abstain from or limit gambling. When I gamble, I consider the money lost, and any money I come home with goes toward my mortgage, win or lose.

Don't spend money on tobacco products or recreational drugs.
@BarefootBliss wrote:

how about alcohol?

Just scoop up some of the Field Agent jobs for that.
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