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Ways to save money that you know.

-- Buy a house with no money down and a variable rate mortgage with a low monthly payment. Wait until enough other people default on their mortgages so that the government has no choice but to bail everyone out, then miss three mortgage payments in a row. You will now qualify for government assistance and the bank will be forced to renegotiate with you for less than the amount you agreed to purchase the house for.

-- Get as many credit cards as you can and max them out as soon as possible. Never make any payments. It will take years for them to eventually come after you, and when they do, the creditor will always be willing to accept a settlement for a fraction of the amount owed.

-- Get a job that pays cash under the table so you don't have to pay income taxes. While you're doing this, apply for government disability benefits.

-- Lots of companies have deep pockets and are willing to settle lawsuits for thousands of dollars as long as they don't have to pay for the expense of going to court - be creative, here.

-- Get a job as a politician. Enough said.
 
-- Buy a house with no money down and a variable rate mortgage with a low monthly payment. Wait until enough other people default on their mortgages so that the government has no choice but to bail everyone out, then miss three mortgage payments in a row. You will now qualify for government assistance and the bank will be forced to renegotiate with you for less than the amount you agreed to purchase the house for.

-- Get as many credit cards as you can and max them out as soon as possible. Never make any payments. It will take years for them to eventually come after you, and when they do, the creditor will always be willing to accept a settlement for a fraction of the amount owed.

I'm pretty sure these 2 might destroy your credit...

-- Lots of companies have deep pockets and are willing to settle lawsuits for thousands of dollars as long as they don't have to pay for the expense of going to court - be creative, here.

AKA spill coffee all over yourself
 
Excuse me, I should rephrase that. I think the MPAA thinks that's illegal. :)

If I loan you a CD and no copying takes place, that's illegal?

You can borrow CD's, videos, DVD's from the library, so what's the difference?

My problem with loaning stuff is five things:
1) Most people don't take care of their stuff as well as I do.
2) What happens when things get broken, stolen or used up?
3) Who pays for maintenance (for those things that need maint.)
4) It's a pain to keep track of stuff loaned out....most people forget what they borrowed after while. I don't care to be the one calling other people to get my stuff back.
5) When stuff get used by more than one person, by the time it gets back to the original owner, it's not in as good of shape. Only the original owner gets hit for depreciation.
 
-- Buy a house with no money down and a variable rate mortgage with a low monthly payment. Wait until enough other people default on their mortgages so that the government has no choice but to bail everyone out, then miss three mortgage payments in a row. You will now qualify for government assistance and the bank will be forced to renegotiate with you for less than the amount you agreed to purchase the house for.

-- Get as many credit cards as you can and max them out as soon as possible. Never make any payments. It will take years for them to eventually come after you, and when they do, the creditor will always be willing to accept a settlement for a fraction of the amount owed.

-- Get a job that pays cash under the table so you don't have to pay income taxes. While you're doing this, apply for government disability benefits.

-- Lots of companies have deep pockets and are willing to settle lawsuits for thousands of dollars as long as they don't have to pay for the expense of going to court - be creative, here.

-- Get a job as a politician. Enough said.

Having bad credit isn't really the impediment that it used to be. Americans are overflowing with forgiveness and plenty of companies will trip over themselves to extend credit to those who don't deserve it.


You sir, are an economic genius
 
To paraphrase an old woodworking saying, "think twice, pay once". When G.A.S. strikes, even if I have the dough I force myself to wait a couple of days. By then the need to have that deluxe electric dog-polisher has often diminished.

Only drive when you have to. Saves gas, saves maintenance, and you get the bonus of some low-impact exercise. I put stuff I'm learning on my walkman so I can listen to it while I walk.

The refrigerator is a power HOG. A lot of stuff that some people seem to automatically throw in there simply don't need refrigeration. Margarine, ketchup, bread, etc. (especially in winter) can just be kept in a cool place like a pantry. Everything you put in the refrigerator takes power to cool down and to keep cool. Just think if what your putting in there REALLY needs to be.
 
Realize the difference between "wants" and "needs". Don't buy things because you want them, save your money and use it to purchase the things you actually need. (Avoid credit card balances)
 
Bottled water is usually more expensive than soda, I have a Brita water filter in the fridge and a few refillable bottles. That knocked off about $700 a year from when I used to drink sodas and has stopped thousands of bottles and cups from going into a landfill.

Here's how freaking cheap I am:) I really only want to filter out the swimming pool chlorine taste of the local tap water and a Brita filter will do that for a long time after it's written life expectancy. I only change filters when they start growing mold on them or something.
 
Cars/trucks that require premium gas can usually run on mid-priced (not regular).
Check your car manual or call a dealer to verify your car's needs.
YMMV

Yes, the reason for premium is the higher octane rating which actually slows the burning of the gas down to deter pre-detonation (knocking.) Try some of the mid-grade and listen for knocking . No knocking = go for it.

Premium gas did have aditional additives years ago but this is no longer the case.

Sunoco used to have 6 grades of gasoline (IIRC) and my pops always used to drop down an octane level as the temperature got colder. In my XJ8 I only run full Hi-Test when the temp is in the 90's (F) and that's just as a precaution. and if I drove more than 200 miles a month I'd be looking for someting to replace my two (relatively) guzzlers pretty quick.

You used to be able to dufus your timing and run lower octane before computer controlled ignitions. Kind of esoteric but when certain work is done on airplanes the law says that they have to drain the fuel tanks. Back in the 70's I kinew an aircraft mechanic that would take the drained fuel - high octane Lo-lead - filter it and pass it around to our crowd of high compression vehicle owners. Mixed with regulat leaded it kept my Triumph Trident pretty happy when Count Lucas allowed it:cool:
 
We aren't the most frugal people in the world, but here are a a few things that the wife and I do.

1) We pay half our mortgage payment every two weeks instead and pay an additional 100 bucks a payment. This is the equivalient of 2 extra payments a year of Principal. This has reduced our payment plan from 30 to 19 years.

2) Buy a house you can actually afford, with a 10% or more downpayment. The sooner you can reach the 20% paid-off point and stop having to pay PMI the better. We found a local program to assist with the downpayment and eliminate PMI.

3) Shop at more than one grocery. ALDI bought Trader Joes a few years ago, and alot of similar items are available at ALDI now. We use ALDI for all the basics, and pick up our fruit and meat at a "Mexican" grocery that has great prices on those. My mother in law has taken us to Jewel to help us out, and it cost her literally twice as much to buy the same amount of food as we usually pay. Jewel charges the same for a half pound of meat that "Cermak Produce" charges for a whole pound.

4) Like many folks here, we bought a used car in cash.

5) Have some of your paycheck direct deposited to a separate savings account. It may sound simple, but we've found that "You live on what you have access to" If the $ is "inaccessible" in a savings account or CD, you will live on what is left.

6) Resale shops for alot of things, waiting until christmas for family to give you things you want, or to give you gift cards so you can buy the things you want.

7) See how long you can stretch what's in the cupboard before going back to the grocery store.

8) Netflix. The 15 dollar two movie at a time plan is brilliant! I can keep up with last seasons shows that I didn't watch (Don't have cable), and get movies without having to worry about returning them at any particular time.

9) Do without Cable/Satelite TV.

10) Tough we have one for "just in case" it's been a couple years since we carried a balance on our credit cards, and we've only used one once or twice in the last two years.

11) Don't buy crap you don't need. We are still struggling with this one, but we are getting better.
 
I disagree... many of the highly processed foods are also very cheap because they have such a long shelf life do to the extra chemicals... McDonald's dollar menu is cheap as hell but super-processed.

Buying fresh food is cheaper because for the money you spend, the quality and quantity of the protein/vitamins you get per pound/oz./etc is much higher.

Not only that, the processed food usually contains too much salt, too much sugar, too much of whatever. So, health wise, it's not cheaper.

Buying fresh, for example, with a whole chicken (around $4) that I can boil, salad ingredients, $5, some fruit $5 , gal of milk $3....let's say about $25. I can get 4 meals for 2 people, eight meals total.

That's a little over $3 per meal per person. No extra salt, sugar, etc.

You can get cooked whole chickens at markets for around $4-$6. Even if you just bought the chicken and cut it up, you could get several meals out of it.

Your bowels will thank you.