What do you do to save on spending $$

[go_deep]

Just ordered all the parts to rebuild the front end in my 2012 Nissan Titan at 150k, it got me thinking. Outside of your profession, what are some of the projects you've taken on to save money by not paying someone else to do?

I do almost all of the work on our vehicles, oil changes, sensors, replace suspension parts, front end, brakes, exhaust. 2012 Nissan Titan, 2014 Chevy Traverse.
Around the house I do plumbing, construction windows and doors, siding, electrical, flooring.
I've even gotten to be a decent cook helping make meals since my wife works some nights and weekends. Not going out to eat saves a lot of $$.

 

[DangerRanger]

Hunt


Hahahaha

 

[CorbLand]

Do most of the basic maintenance on my own vehicles. My wifes car is kind of hard to do some stuff but oil changes, brakes, etc. Thats all pretty easy. I have only paid a mechanic once on my pickup and it was to do the timing belt.

Do most of the work around the house myself but we havent owned our house very long and havent had anything major. We redid the landscaping this year and did everything ourself. Paid a plumber to snake the main drain line but I didnt have time to do it myself and its a duck hunting buddy, so I try to support him anytime I can.

We do not eat out very often. Once a month is all unless there is some big reason that we need/want to eat out more than that.

We try to be diligent when driving and reduce it as much as possible by combining trips and thinking things through. I have some friends that will drive the 12 mile round trip into town three to four times a day because they dont take the time to plan ahead.

We have one streaming service and that is it. We poach a second one off my mom.

Make a list and stick to it when it comes to groceries.

Overall, my wife and I live a pretty simple life. We save as much as we can, plan things out but when it comes time to spend money, we do it.

 

[cnelk]

Haircuts.
Been doing my own for years. Get some clippers and use whatever length of guard you want.

I’ve lived in the same place for almost 35 years. Sweat equity baby.
Fortunately my place was only 1/2 mile from where I worked for 25 years. Saved so much money on gas and travel time.

I can venison and the veggies from my gardens, do all my own maintenance on vehicles and house.
I have chickens and sell the eggs I don’t eat.

So many ways to save money it’s ridiculous

 

[Jpsmith1]

I can fix about any damn thing around the house unless it has an engine attached to it.

Lately, one of the biggest money savers we've done is online grocery shopping.

Keep a list and order only what you need. It isn't an exaggeration to say it cut our bill in half

 

[cjdewese]

Do all the regular maintenance on our vehicles. Just did the timing belt on the squoia recently.

Have done all the work on our house since we bought it. Done our bathroom and a new metal roof which was way more work than I had originally thought but turned out great.

Being a 1 income family it helps being able to do your own work.

 

[Mike D Texas]

I’ve gone the opposite. Some things are not worth my time when someone that does it for a living can do it faster, and in some cases better.

I have better things to do with my time.


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[roadrunner]

We became debt free a few years back, so I guess we cut cost everyday no matter what.

 

[Choupique]

Fuss at my wife mostly

 

[fngTony]

Whenever the wife and 17yo say they are just going to go grab a couple things I go down in my basement and start printing more money.

 

[RocketRob16]

Ask my wife if I should spend however much money on whatever piece of hunting gear I’m wanting to buy. The answer is almost always no which saves me a bunch of money.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

stop buying those $6 coffees every day, give up chew and booze, then pay off your c/c to save an extra 12%/month on top of that. That right there will put gingle back in your jangle.

 

[Musky]

Grind our own venison burger. Haven't bought beef anything in nearly 5 years. Don't eat out. 3 kids so we do the hand me downs for clothing. Try to repurpose as much as we can. I also make my own woodworking projects for around the house instead of buying something premade. Started making my own musky lures (freaking expensive to buy). Do as much work around the house as possible without hiring it out. I guess it's probably not as much as others can save but we try, especially in today's world.

 

[nam1975]

I know my limits on home improvement projects. I tackle what I can or like to do.
But I won’t sacrifice workmanship or my sanity to save a few bucks.
We don’t really eat out anymore, too expensive after COVID.

We buy almost all of our hobby type stuff used. Hunting, fishing and snow ski stuff. Tools. Save a ton of $$.

Also Amazon. Easy to shop prices. It amazes me that small ticket stuff can be twice as much in a store.

 

[Fowl Play]

Have two kids… love ‘em, but the vasectomy saves me soooo much money!

 

[RSather528]

I do all the vehicle maintenance up to my skill level. Same with the house maintenance, YouTube and google have saved me a lot of expensive repair bills.

Removed a bunch of trees from our yard and built a privacy fence all by ourselves this year.

I do my own haircuts as mentioned by others above.

Sit down restaurants are insanely expensive for the quality it’s become so we cook at home. Cheaper and usually tastes better (most times.)

We haven’t had cable tv for over ten years. My work has been paying for all major streaming services for the past few years.

 

[Bowhuntone]

I’ve found if you just work when you aren’t hunting then you only spend on hunting

 

[lyingflatlander]

Same, I was fortunate to work with a general contractor building custom homes to pay for college. I do all my own repairs. These days I hardly drink and never smoke or chew tobacco. In the eyes of some I probably don’t measure up to much of a man. But, I don’t care as long as I have the opportunity to kill a bunch of big s***.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

I'm good at what I do and own my business. If something needs fixed I pay the professionals and work a few extra hours. Time is money and every home project I have ever done takes way longer and is not as good as if a professional did it.

I dug out and laid my own patio a few years back and, while rewarding, I could have made 2x the amount of money it would have cost to hire someone with a lot less sweat.

As my kids get older I feel the need to do some of that kind of stuff just to teach them how to do it. I really admire people who are truly a Jack of all trades.

We cut our own hair and eat from the garden and chickens.
We butcher our own deer which saves hundreds per year. I tan the hides or bleach skulls if we have something that we want to save as a trophy.
We still drive clapped out old vehicles even though we could afford new. (wife has had about enough of this one)

 

[KenLee]

stop buying those $6 coffees every day, give up chew and booze, then pay off your c/c to save an extra 12%/month on top of that. That right there will put gingle back in your jangle.

Give up chew and booze?
If you'd added "wild women" I'd be suicidal.