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Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010
I think a BFC general/daily discussion thread would be useful for many of us, especially me. I was originally going to post something in that spergy "Favorite Little Ways to Save Money" topic but it's apparently gone and I didn't see an appropriate thread or forum elsewhere. Not to mention I think it might help some of us stick to our budgets.

Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Feb 10, 2015

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RIP Paul Walker
Feb 26, 2004

I like this thread. If I kept everything else the same, and simply started obeying the instruction in the title, I could probably retire a year or two earlier...

Juanito
Jan 20, 2004

I wasn't paying attention
to what you just said.

Can you repeat yourself
in a more interesting way?
Hell Gem
Disadvantage of a mini-fridge, IMO, would be that you'd need more trips to the supermarket, so you might end up spending more money.

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010

CountOfNowhere posted:

I like this thread. If I kept everything else the same, and simply started obeying the instruction in the title, I could probably retire a year or two earlier...

Yeah, this is my main problem which is why I put it in the title.

edit: I will resist Wendy's on the way home today.

Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Mar 13, 2014

nickutz
Feb 3, 2004

Put blue and red chicken in mouth plz
I rarely go out for lunch on my own dime but today I wanted to watch my school play their conference tournament game at noon.

Can't pull $12 lunches every day but I enjoyed this one.

nickutz fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Mar 13, 2014

spwrozek
Sep 4, 2006

Sail when it's windy

Juanito posted:

Disadvantage of a mini-fridge, IMO, would be that you'd need more trips to the supermarket, so you might end up spending more money.

Doubtful. We go to the market on the way home every other day to get what we want to make for dinner. Before we would do the huge $100 runs for the week. We have cut our spending down by about $50 a month without changing what we buy. Less going to waste and not buying stuff we don't need.

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010
If the end result of having a just mini-fridge is going to the grocery store more often it won't affect us much since the grocery store (Aldi) is on the way home from work and only about a 2? mile drive from the house if I have to get something on the weekend.

:spergin:
Or I could get a second mini-fridge without a freezer (ours has a lot of space for a mini freezer), it's still significantly cheaper than a full sized/featured fridge.

When I get home (and avoid Wendy's) I'm going to try to justify some of my Misc purchases.

Juanito
Jan 20, 2004

I wasn't paying attention
to what you just said.

Can you repeat yourself
in a more interesting way?
Hell Gem

spwrozek posted:

Doubtful. We go to the market on the way home every other day to get what we want to make for dinner. Before we would do the huge $100 runs for the week. We have cut our spending down by about $50 a month without changing what we buy. Less going to waste and not buying stuff we don't need.
I hadn't thought of that, that is kind of nice.. you'd have to be more careful since you have limited space.

Veskit
Mar 2, 2005

I love capitalism!! DM me for the best investing advice!
How the hell are you supposed to make great cost saving costco runs without a big rear end fridge! :cmon: I think I'd be ok with it if you also had a floor freezer to store a bunch of awesome frozen goods.

spwrozek
Sep 4, 2006

Sail when it's windy

Veskit posted:

How the hell are you supposed to make great cost saving costco runs without a big rear end fridge! :cmon: I think I'd be ok with it if you also had a floor freezer to store a bunch of awesome frozen goods.

Yeah I don't shop at Costco or Sam's. We just do the local market and Amazon. If they have a huge sale on meat, like bogo on chicken, we will stock up. Also coupons are awesome.

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010
I go to Aldi for 80-90% of my groceries and Amazon for stuff. Costco is out of my way, I don't have a card and the only reason I go there is when I run out of allergy meds, which won't happen again for another two years, maybe less since I seem to be less problems with allergies as I've gotten older.

This thread reminds me I need to pack some food for work tomorrow.

Veskit
Mar 2, 2005

I love capitalism!! DM me for the best investing advice!
Also is this a kosher thread to brag and or seek encouragement for my thrifty ways? I'm really proud of how much I'm taking down my debt but nobody else gives a poo poo :smith:. My girlfriend hates hearing about money and my coworkers are the worsttt with money.

spwrozek
Sep 4, 2006

Sail when it's windy

Veskit posted:

Also is this a kosher thread to brag and or seek encouragement for my thrifty ways? I'm really proud of how much I'm taking down my debt but nobody else gives a poo poo :smith:. My girlfriend hates hearing about money and my coworkers are the worsttt with money.

Brag on buddy.

I put a goal up on the 2014 goal thread and planned to do quarterly updates there to see how I am doing.

On the debt pay down bragging I gave Sallie Mae and extra $1530 last week. Wife and I will get out of that debt this year, I can feel it.

EugeneJ
Feb 5, 2012

by FactsAreUseless

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

Costco is out of my way, I don't have a card and the only reason I go there is when I run out of allergy meds, which won't happen again for another two years, maybe less since I seem to be less problems with allergies as I've gotten older.

OTC meds or prescription meds? Can you buy OTC meds there without a card?

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010

EugeneJ posted:

OTC meds or prescription meds? Can you buy OTC meds there without a card?

OTC. One of my co-workers doesn't drive but has a Costco card so that's how I got my hands on a years supply ($15) of generic Zyrtec and Claritin last year. If we ever need to go to Costco we usually just find a friend/relative with a card and offer to drive.

lol I never thought to look up Kirkland on Amazon. $15-16 dollars inc shipping. It will be a long time before I ever need to buy OTC allergy meds again though.

edit: Also, packed a couple days worth of lunch inside the mini-fridge last night and brought it in. I need to try and make use of the company fridge as much as possible.

Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Mar 14, 2014

EugeneJ
Feb 5, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
If you're ever in a bind, Dollar Tree has a ton of cheap generic meds. I think they have 14 tabs of generic Zyrtec for $1.00.

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010
I hope this thread ends up like that episode of South Park where Randy creates a frugal economy and people are stoned for not being thrifty.

EugeneJ posted:

If you're ever in a bind, Dollar Tree has a ton of cheap generic meds. I think they have 14 tabs of generic Zyrtec for $1.00.

Wow that's great and I didn't know. I've stupidly relied on Walgreens in the past but it's definitely better to drive a couple miles further to Dollar Tree. Thanks.

edit:

Anyway, misc things I bought this month that I will now justify to the BFC gods:

A kindle paper-white/no ads: It was on sale, we're moving to a smaller place and I really have too many books. I also promised my wife that I won't buy books for at least a year so I can use whatever amazon gives away for free, public domain and my local (couple miles down the road) library. There's also a ton of free public domain audio books I really should listen to. I'm pretty sure when I sell the books I have I'll cover the cost of the kindle anyway.

A navigator for my wife's car: She gets lost. She grew up in a foreign city where very few people use cars and she only has a few years of drivings experience under her belt. I understand a lot of people use phones for this now but I'd much rather her use a dedicated device that's easy to use. She's as frugal as I am and didn't mind and was actually happy to receive it as part of her anniversary gift, all she wants on the actual date is a cheap box of chocolates.

This really nice monitor arm(s) that attaches to a desk and will allow me to attach two monitors. Right now my monitor is jerry-rigged into the right position so I don't get neck pain but I would like to be able to adjust it on the fly when I go from my desk chair to the couch. It was only $50 on Amazon and I'm sure the reduced use of pain pills will be good for my body.

Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Mar 14, 2014

spwrozek
Sep 4, 2006

Sail when it's windy

The library is the ultimate good money move. You can get actual books or hook up a kindle. It is all free (except for whatever goes to it from my property taxes). I got a membership about 4 months ago and it is sweet.

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010
Yeah, I'm not sure how it works but I currently live in NC and will be moving just a couple miles away to SC pretty soon. Since I have a card I assume I'll still be able to make use of that library.

Libraries are lending books to e-book reading devices like kindle now?

Sundae
Dec 1, 2005

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

Libraries are lending books to e-book reading devices like kindle now?

http://www.overdrive.com/

This is the service a lot of them use. EBook library loaning terms are often horrible for the library (as in, incredibly costly in a last-ditch effort by publishers to kill ebooks), but on a personal level, it's great for the reader.

Grumpwagon
May 6, 2007
I am a giant assfuck who needs to harden the fuck up.

Great idea for a thread. I'm hoping someone can teach me something (or confirm I'm right) about something I've been thinking about on and off.

Why should I care about credit card fraud?

Every time I read an article like this one that states consumers are too cavalier about credit card fraud, and they should do things to protect themselves against it, I wonder: "Why?" I feel the same way about Europeans laughing at the US for not implementing chip and pin.

As far as I can see, only the banks lose money on credit card fraud, and if they don't care enough about it to implement chip and pin, why should I care? If they think just eating the cost of fraud is less than the cost of implementing a more advanced system, who am I to argue? I use a credit card for most things, pay it off, and go on with my life. If I have to get a card replaced because of a breach/fraud, I have a backup card. I guess you could make some argument about fees/interest would go down if banks didn't have to absorb the costs of fraud. I guess I just don't see fraud going away. Any lower fraud costs seem like they'd be offset by more anti-fraud technology costs. That and, when's the last time a large bank chose giving money back to consumers over giving money to stockholders?

Anyway, I know I sound convinced I'm right, but I'd love to be proven wrong.

spwrozek
Sep 4, 2006

Sail when it's windy

I am pretty sure with chip and pin it has put all responsibility on the consumer now. I think I might prefer calling chase and reporting a fraud charge and getting it dealt with in 2 min and I can go on with my life.

Juanito
Jan 20, 2004

I wasn't paying attention
to what you just said.

Can you repeat yourself
in a more interesting way?
Hell Gem

Grumpwagon posted:

Great idea for a thread. I'm hoping someone can teach me something (or confirm I'm right) about something I've been thinking about on and off.

Why should I care about credit card fraud?

Every time I read an article like this one that states consumers are too cavalier about credit card fraud, and they should do things to protect themselves against it, I wonder: "Why?" I feel the same way about Europeans laughing at the US for not implementing chip and pin.

As far as I can see, only the banks lose money on credit card fraud, and if they don't care enough about it to implement chip and pin, why should I care? If they think just eating the cost of fraud is less than the cost of implementing a more advanced system, who am I to argue? I use a credit card for most things, pay it off, and go on with my life. If I have to get a card replaced because of a breach/fraud, I have a backup card. I guess you could make some argument about fees/interest would go down if banks didn't have to absorb the costs of fraud. I guess I just don't see fraud going away. Any lower fraud costs seem like they'd be offset by more anti-fraud technology costs. That and, when's the last time a large bank chose giving money back to consumers over giving money to stockholders?

Anyway, I know I sound convinced I'm right, but I'd love to be proven wrong.
The main reason that I care is because I don't like dealing with updating information where I might have auto billing setup, but it really isn't too complicated, I'm just lazy.

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010
I'm not really concerned about credit card fraud, just identity theft. I remember someone in BFC told me that you can have your credit report frozen or something simply by contacting the rating agencies. So I'll probably do that once I get a new rewards card.

edit: I usually request new cards (or claim I lost them/they were stolen) with new numbers from my bank/credit card company once a year anyway, especially since it's free. That way I reduce the chance of credit fraud happening if some online company that I used for a one time purchase gets hacked.

Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Mar 15, 2014

Juanito
Jan 20, 2004

I wasn't paying attention
to what you just said.

Can you repeat yourself
in a more interesting way?
Hell Gem

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

I'm not really concerned about credit card fraud, just identity theft. I remember someone in BFC told me that you can have your credit report frozen or something simply by contacting the rating agencies. So I'll probably do that once I get a new rewards card.
You'd freeze it, just because? Seems like that would be a hassle to freeze, and then another hassle when you wanted to unfreeze.

dennyk
Jan 2, 2005

Cheese-Buyer's Remorse
Don't give your credit card number to shady porn sites or telemarketers, and check your statement online once a week and if you see any fraudulent transactions, call the number on the back of your card and report it immediately. Congrats, you've done your part to prevent credit card fraud.

Also, the anti-fraud algorithms the banks use are pretty flaky. One of my cards' fraud warning systems has called me about "suspicious" transactions like the grocery store I literally shop at every week and Amazon purchases shipped to my billing address, but was just fine with some dude using a fake copy of my card to buy hamburgers and some poo poo at Wal-Mart a thousand miles away from where I live at the exact same time I was buying lunch here. :downs:

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010

Juanito posted:

You'd freeze it, just because? Seems like that would be a hassle to freeze, and then another hassle when you wanted to unfreeze.

Yeah, it depends on how big of a hassle it will be (since I've never had it done) but I don't use credit very often. I mean, I use it a lot in some situations (like for example I've used it a lot now that I'm moving and applying for new credit cards) but once I'm settled I never really use it. Until we decided to move the last time I had my credit report pulled was 2 years ago when my wife and I applied for our rewards card.

I think once I'm settled in my new home I won't have my credit report pulled for 2 years? It really depends just how big the hassle is.

Anyone have a good horror story about identify theft?

edit: I didn't eat out today. :)

Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 03:11 on Mar 15, 2014

MAKE NO BABBYS
Jan 28, 2010

Sephiroth_IRA posted:



A kindle paper-white/no ads: It was on sale, we're moving to a smaller place and I really have too many books. I also promised my wife that I won't buy books for at least a year so I can use whatever amazon gives away for free, public domain and my local (couple miles down the road) library. There's also a ton of free public domain audio books I really should listen to. I'm pretty sure when I sell the books I have I'll cover the cost of the kindle anyway.


Yeah, I'm not sure from the phrasing you are using here if this is what you mean or you mean getting physical books from the library, but most libraries these days also have systems to check out e-books from their website. Or university libraries as well. If you're taking classes at your local CC, you can access it. Or like the city of Berkeley library (huuuuuuuge) you only have to be a California resident to get a membership. Pretty dang cool. Also audiobooks, which I like to listen to on long drives.

pancaek
Feb 6, 2004

sup fellaz

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

I also promised my wife that I won't buy books for at least a year

I don't want to sound like a huge jerk (maybe just a little jerk), but aside from taking up space, what's the issue with books? Unless you're reading pulp or trashy romance, certainly there are worse vices that you could combat.

On a related note, project Gutenberg is fabulous and a lot of those titles are available in epub form, which means you can drag them directly onto your e-reader. Kapow! The classics are yours!

Veskit
Mar 2, 2005

I love capitalism!! DM me for the best investing advice!
gently caress having a car and trying to repay debt.



I don't own one, but my girlfriend does and I said I'd cover half of the repairs. They ended up being 500 dollars though after being discounted due to a lovely day overall at firestone. Though we got 2 tires, drum replacement, lug nuts changed, brake pads new rotors and an oil change for 500 bucks. Also added AAA because we seriously needed that. I was going to show off pretty debt removal charts for mid way but my money that went toward debt repayment just got ate up by this. Ohhh well back to the drawing board and praying for a bigass bonus! (and by bigass i mean like maybe over 1000 if i'm lucky).


:sigh:


Veskit fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Mar 16, 2014

Grumpwagon
May 6, 2007
I am a giant assfuck who needs to harden the fuck up.

pancaek posted:

I don't want to sound like a huge jerk (maybe just a little jerk), but aside from taking up space, what's the issue with books? Unless you're reading pulp or trashy romance, certainly there are worse vices that you could combat.

As someone who has more space (and very possibly money) taken up by books than anything else I own, there's nothing wrong with books, but a serious reading habit can get pricy after a while. It's minor compared to eating out every day, or buying new luxury cars every 2 years, or whatever, and there are certainly benefits as well. But since this is being posted in BFC, I guess the assumption is that people have already cut out the really financially stupid stuff. When you're paying off debt or saving for early retirement, the library is a good next frugality step. I still buy some books, but I've cut way back since getting a library card, and don't regret it.

Veskit posted:

gently caress having a car and trying to repay debt.

I don't own one, but my girlfriend does and I said I'd cover half of the repairs.

As someone in a similar situation (no car, but SO has one), if cars/maintenance you at all, learning how to do minor stuff like brake rotors ends up saving a bunch of money. For minor stuff, you don't even need many tools. I started out knowing nothing, and now I'm pretty confident doing most maintenance.

That being said, I certainly sympathize about the cost/hassle of cars and car repairs.

Grumpwagon fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Mar 16, 2014

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010
I lucked out with car repairs after my wife found a reputable and affordable mechanic. We've been using him for several years now and I've never had an issue with how much he charges or the quality of his work.

pancaek posted:

I don't want to sound like a huge jerk (maybe just a little jerk), but aside from taking up space.

That's it really, I love books. However, I had a tendency to be a little goony with books and buy too many, especially in bulk at yard sales. I have several (mostly used from Amazon/yard sales but still) that I haven't finished or haven't even opened yet.

Anyway in daily news I brought a few things to eat from home today and we didn't eat out on the weekend either. :)

Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Mar 17, 2014

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe
Oh hey guys.

Veskit
Mar 2, 2005

I love capitalism!! DM me for the best investing advice!
Ohhh yeah basil butt. poo poo is growing and hopefully I'll have a full garden by the summer. It hasn't even been that expensive yet. Well it won't be too much unless I get a grow light set up. I'm not entirely convinced I need it yet, especially in a month when I can transport everything outside.

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010
Basil is expensive as hell unless you get it from a farmer's market. I used to have to spend $3-4 dollars and get next to nothing. At the farmer's market we would spend a $1 and get probably three times as much.

Wait, you are talking about basil right?

tuyop
Sep 15, 2006

Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted

Fun Shoe

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

Basil is expensive as hell unless you get it from a farmer's market. I used to have to spend $3-4 dollars and get next to nothing. At the farmer's market we would spend a $1 and get probably three times as much.

Wait, you are talking about basil right?

Oh yes. And just imagine, you could be selling that poo poo for 3-4 bucks for next to nothing. Just buy my BASIL kit, only 49.99!!!

Veskit
Mar 2, 2005

I love capitalism!! DM me for the best investing advice!
I'm growing a lot more than basil though. Eventually when it comes winter time I'll pull everything out from the beds and keep it safe under a grow light, but till then the basil is growing like weeds in the starter planters. Just keeping the cats away from it has been... Challenging.



We're growing basil, sage, thyme, dill, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, shallots (fuckers wont sprout from bulbs yet), bought a rosemary bush, and 4 types of chiles (hatch red/green, jalapenos and cayenne), and cat grass


Can't loving waaaiiit

FrozenVent
May 1, 2009

The Boeing 737-200QC is the undisputed workhorse of the skies.

Sephiroth_IRA posted:

Basil is expensive as hell unless you get it from a farmer's market. I used to have to spend $3-4 dollars and get next to nothing. At the farmer's market we would spend a $1 and get probably three times as much.

Wait, you are talking about basil right?

Yes, BASIL, the official fine herb of BFC.

oxbrain
Aug 18, 2005

Put a glide in your stride and a dip in your hip and come on up to the mothership.
How much basil would I have to grow and sell to fund my habit of eating out every day at lunch?

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Sundae
Dec 1, 2005

tuyop posted:

Oh yes. And just imagine, you could be selling that poo poo for 3-4 bucks for next to nothing. Just buy my BASIL kit, only 49.99!!!

I have never once regretted buying you that avatar. :lol:

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