Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with savingmoney

Speak to me of broke-ass students

DarlingBri — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:10:08 -0800

Are you a broke-ass student? Were you a broke-ass student? Please give me your best tips and slightly insane ideas for surviving as an impoverished scholar. I'm trying to come up with a list of topics I can distribute to a team of bloggers writing for broke-ass students.

We have a very wide remit on this blog, from food to fashion to travel to entertainment to dating, so there is a lot of scope for all kinds of topics as long as it's relevant to students. So far I've got the basics like couch surfing and freecycle and stuff like how to jazz up Pot Noodles but I'm sort of stuck and I'm sure there are entire areas of student living I've forgotten about.

I really want to avoid boring generic advice like "turn off the lights!" and "save wear on your shoes by taking care of them!" I want the stuff your mom won't tell you.

Possibly relevant to potential suggestions: I am in Ireland. There are no dining halls here; everyone is self-feeding, so food is always an issue. The drinking age is 18, so that's not an issue. There is no Greek system.

[Wii filter] too scarce at Christmas?

parilous — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:12:57 -0800

[Wii filter] Is it going to be impossible to find the Wii right before Christmas? Should we wait until after Christmas to get it? Is it still in high demand? Are there new online resources to find Wii systems for sale? My niece has been saving her $10/weekly allowance to get a Wii. She started saving after her birthday in July and now has $120 saved. We plan on paying her for her amazing grades (she's on the honor roll!), but only about $80. So, by the time she's saved $350 (15 weeks from now), it will be RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

We want her to learn delayed gratification and the importance of saving money up for something you want, rather than buying it on credit. For that reason, I'm reluctant to purchase it for her in advance; I'd rather she had to walk up to a cashier and hand over the money herself. But when she finally has enough money, I want her to be able to buy it -- not be on a waiting list for another month.

So, should we advance her on the money to get it before Christmas, or should we just wait until after Christmas?

Assuming you suggest we buy it now, when will they start getting tougher to find -- right after Thanksgiving? Or are they getting more scarce now? Do I have time to wait until she's saved a bit more money, or do I have to start calling around now?

Assuming you suggest to wait until after Christmas, when will they start being available again? Will the idea of waiting until after Christmas be too disappointing to her, negating any lesson she may have learned about delayed gratification?

We're in Tucson, AZ and would prefer not to drive to Phoenix but will do what is necessary if it means she gets her Wii with her own money. I'd rather not spend the night in line outside a retail establishment, however.

Thanks.

Budget Dating Without Being Cheap

AuroraSky — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:31:39 -0800

I am currently off work until my mental health improves and will shortly have one of my welfare payments suspended (I made some some from selling my half of a jointly owned house, but I'll need all of it to get a small apartment) so I will not have the money I used to for going to cinema or pub or restaurant. My girlfriend/ partner will be similarly impoverished but we don't just want to stay in and watch TV every night. So I was wondering if the group mind here could come up with suggestions for activities that don't cost a lot of money. I would like to be able to treat my partner to nice things but I won't be able to do that much, so I wondered what people here thought would be cheap things to do without seeming cheap, if that makes sense. Cheap things we do at the moment include :-
* renting DVD's - £2 each time - and watching them while eating some microwave popcorn (49p for a bag - bargain!)
* going to a coffee shop and making one coffee last (rather than going to a pub where you would keep drinking all night)
* looking through charity shops for cheap videos to watch.
* going to McDonalds for breakfast (hardly high-class dining but still a treat to us).
* going out to the 24-hour supermarkets for a look round (OK this is more of a treat for her than me but she does like it for the sake of getting out the house).
* once in a while playing Trivial Pursuits or Monopoly

Things I imagine other people (but not us) doing and enjoying include going for walks (even to the chip shop), making home-made meals together, flying a kite, going for a walk along the beach, going to a free museum etc.

If you are in a relationship already I would love to read about low-cost things you enjoy with your partners - often the best things need not cost a lot of money. Alternatively even if you have never had a partner I could still learn from your suggestions of what low-cost things you would like to be doing or things you would enjoy if only you had someone to share them with. I am an easy-going guy happy to tag along with most things so I guess I am looking for things a woman would enjoy but which I would still also like.

I already posted this on www.SA Scotland.co.uk and got a few helpful responses, and on ShyUnited.com where the answers were less helpful - including "Look for a job" "Go dumpster diving" "Look for coins people have lost at fairground rides" and "hunt the streets for cans/ bottles where you can get a deposit back"!

My girlfriend has OCD and handwashing issues so I doubt she would be up for looking through the trash in dumpsters with me as an idea of a romantic evening :-) She also has M.E. and often has little energy, for example she can't go on long walks, so the ideas would need to be fairly sedentary. Although we are in a long-term relationship we do still like our "date nights" though. However things that can be done in the house are fine too since we spend most of our time there.

Any and all suggestions from the nice people here would be most welcome

How do I buy a house with bad credit?

brinkzilla — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 07:15:39 -0800

I want to buy a house. I have 20 grand but bad credit and a long term boyfriend with no money and good credit. What is the best option? I want to buy a house next year but my FICA/ credit score is really low due to a delinquent credit card debt that I was carrying after college. At one point I was over 20,000 in the hole. I thought I was doing the right thing by closing out all of my credit cards and living only by debit card. I have come to learn that not having a credit card can bring down a credit score. I do get those "pre-approved" offers in the mail, but I stopped applying for them when I kept getting declined.

Today, I am debt free and have moved beyond the paycheck to paycheck period and have even been able to save about 20 grand (now in CD's and high interest savings account) I live with my boyfriend for 4 years. He has a great credit rating, but does not have any money to add to the deposit on the house. (He's a full time student) It is tempting to use my money and his credit score to buy the house, but without us being married I feel a little vulnerable with that option. (Are there downfalls to owning a house and not being married?) I really want to be able to do it on my own without being screwed by high interest rates. Anyone have any suggestions?

Saving money using coupon services

parilous — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 14:30:40 -0800

[Saving Money/Shopping Filter] Has anyone used a service like The Grocery Game -- a service that helps you save money on your grocery bill by identifying when you get the most bang for your coupon buck? Did it work? My husband and I want to cut down the money we spend on groceries while still eating whole foods. I've attempted to save money by clipping coupons, but it seems like most of the coupons in our local paper are for processed foods. The idea of a service like The Grocery Game is attractive because it helps identify when items are at their cheapest, but I'm not sure if it will help us with the foods we actually buy, or if it will entice us to buy processed foods for the savings.

Has anyone tried a service like this and did you find it worthwhile? Or did you find that you ended up with a 6-month supply of Cocoa Krispies because you got it for a great price?

(Alternative question: Does anyone have tried-and-true strategies for saving money while providing meals made with whole foods? I already do much of my vegetable shopping at Costco and plan recipes in advance to use the same ingredients in multiple ways, but anything you can offer will help.)