Where are you cutting back?

[larsIU]

Yes I’m done with Disney. Fully done.

The only time it was remotely palatable was when the kid was 5 and not yet in kindergarten. Went off peak. Was gloriously less full than normal.

Now, I would consider a trip with just the wife and I in like the middle of october/november when there's no kids.

 

[ce36ei]

The only time it was remotely palatable was when the kid was 5 and not yet in kindergarten. Went off peak. Was gloriously less full than normal.

Now, I would consider a trip with just the wife and I in like the middle of october/november when there's no kids.

I really enjoyed Disney pre covid. The service was great and they treated you like royalty. Dropping your bags off in Indy, then showing up to your room, then getting a stress free bus ride to the airport was great. With all that gone, I’m not looking forward to it nearly as much. We promised the kids a post covid trip…but it might be the last for a really long time. I think this is where Bob has greatly overestimated where the parks will be in 2023 and beyond. Families are blowing vacation credits and saved stimmy money.

 

[GuyDatHoo]

Was going to purchase the first condo at the beginning of august. Will likely put that off for another 12 months as the whole down payment is in the market and I didn’t get liquid fast enough.

Interest rates don’t bother me as much, not going to be a forever home by any means. The refusal by this administration to take its medicine to fight inflation in terms of interest rates is bordering on negligent.

 

[IUCrazy2]

It’ll cost you dang near $45 for a trip to Arby’s for 4 people!

Our family is 6 people. I can buy a steak dinner at the grocery for all of us for what it takes to buy fast food now if I am open to buying whatever is on sale that week.

 

[outside shooter]

Yes I’m done with Disney. Fully done.

I'm willing to give it a try, if all of the DeSantis fanboys are boycotting.

 

[IUclover]

One of my wife's pet peeves, when we lived in Indiana, was Hoosiers putting 's on the end of everything.

for example,

J. C. Penney became J. C. Penney's
Aldi became Aldi's.
White Castle became White Castle's.

I told her that Long John Silver's was Long John Silver's's (pronounced Long John silvers-ez)

I hadn't really noticed it until she mentioned it. I think I've cut it out.

I have the same pet peeve. It’s Kroger, not Kroger’s. That would be like saying Wal-Mart’s or King Soopers’.

When someone says they’re going to Kroger’s, I always want to reply and ask if they (the Kroger’s) are new to the neighborhood.

And I do miss that all of the Kroger stores in Btown had nicknames - Krogucci, Krotucky, Kroghetto, NoKro, and not sure about west side.

 

[Joe_Hoopsier]

Cutting back. This is probably stupid and TLR for many.
I grew up poor, a fat little farm kid that I now know, most kids at school pitied me. Dad was a full time farmer, Mom worked a part time job at Sears. Other kids were getting into Nikes, I wore Winner !!'s (from sears branding).

Years later, I got married. Both her and I were working middle class, entry level jobs. this was 88' and a few years later. I couldn't figure out why we, now a 2 income family, with no kids, had to plan to have cold cuts instead of bologna. As a poor farm kid, I had steak, prime ground, awesome beef stew, fresh veggies....

comes to find out, dad would buy calves at $.35 / pound, fattent hem and sell them fat at $.75 per pound. He would also buy $.15 / pound cull Stag bulls (for those who don't know, that is a male beef that was only half castrated because of terrible animal husbandry skills), we would finish the castration, feed them out for 6 months, clean them up then put them in the freezer. We also had an acre garden that we spent 2 hours min, in every day.
I had to deal with Winner II sneakers as a kid, Living the life of what our economy drivers say we are "supposed" to do, I couldn't afford prepackaged scraps from the kill floor.
@stollcpa knows what I am talking about.

 

[UncleMark]

We were forced to change how we lived back in 2008, when our income was drastically reduced while our necessary expenses increased dramatically as well. Things eventually got better, but we still lived like paupers, and still do today. We're not having any trouble paying for gas and groceries.

 

[anon_mlxxvlbug9dpa]

I'm willing to give it a try, if all of the DeSantis fanboys are boycotting.

The price and lines have gone full jackass. Have fun.

 

[baileyiu]

I have cut back on donations to my local charities.

Hurt others before scaling back your standard of living?
I have been making more contributions, tipping when I get carry out. Trying to help others in any way I can

 

[twenty02]

Cutting down on restaurants due to pricing. I feel bad about it because we can afford it and I know the restaurants need the money. But the prices have gotten way too high. Our family of four can’t eat out for less than $100 with tip in last five months.

We've cut back on restaurants.... not due to price, but crap service. And generally crappy food. We make better food at home than is served in 90% of places. Or maybe I'm just old and grumpy

 

[Marvin the Martian]

Hurt others before scaling back your standard of living?
I have been making more contributions, tipping when I get carry out. Trying to help others in any way I can

Please recall Lucy is just a troll account.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

We've cut back on restaurants.... not due to price, but crap service. And generally crappy food. We make better food at home than is served in 90% of places. Or maybe I'm just old and grumpy

I bet on the old and grumpy.

It depends on the food, a steak, hamburger, simple tacos, I can easily do. Same for a BLT, french onion soup, spaghetti. I have tried for 50 years to make Chinese food, cannot do it. It never tastes close. My street tacos or chimichangas are not as good.

 

[Lucy01]

Hurt others before scaling back your standard of living?
I have been making more contributions, tipping when I get carry out. Trying to help others in any way I can

Not me, my family comes first!

 

[stollcpa]

We were forced to change how we lived back in 2008, when our income was drastically reduced while our necessary expenses increased dramatically as well. Things eventually got better, but we still lived like paupers, and still do today. We're not having any trouble paying for gas and groceries.

Paying for gas and groceries shouldn’t be a problem for most older married couples. The ones on fixed incomes things might get irritating because they may not be able to afford the little extras.

Folks with kids in school the gas and groceries might very well be issues. Many live on the edge.

 

[dbmhoosier]

Paying for gas and groceries shouldn’t be a problem for most older married couples. The ones on fixed incomes things might get irritating because they may not be able to afford the little extras.

Folks with kids in school the gas and groceries might very well be issues. Many live on the edge.

"Just buy an electric car and learn to farm." - Pete Buttigieg

 

[Lucy01]

Please recall Lucy is just a troll account.

I have been here for 7 years now and pay for a premium account. Just because you don't agree with me makes me a troll. Or you a snob. I stated how I have cut back and it's the truth.

 

[DANC]

I mention cutting back and wife gives me the side eye....so no cutting back here

You have spoiled her with too many visits to McDonald's.

 

[DANC]

I have lived well below my means for a long, long time. When realtors asked my salary and then said how much house I can buy, I told them they were crazy. When car dealers asked my salary and then said how fancy a car I can buy, I told them they were crazy. Kids graduated college and a 15-year mortgage was paid off in time.

We drive beaters, cook our own meals 95% of the time, are not rich, but are not poor either. My commute is under 6 miles each way, so gas prices have not affected me much. I do try to reduce trips. For example combining grocery / home depot / FedEx stops into one trip rather than three. And groceries are higher, so we look for buy one/get one sales more consistently. The cost of my wife having to fly every other month to take care of her mother has gone up dramatically. But that's about it.

Wow, you sound like you live a really fun life.....

When you're on your death bed, you can brag how frugal you were.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

Wow, you sound like you live a really fun life.....

When you're on your death bed, you can brag how frugal you were.

I recall Kurt Warner being interviewed after signing his huge contract the interviewer noticed he had generic cereal. Warner replied that just because he had money didn't mean he should overpay for cereal.

 

[UncleMark]

We've cut back on restaurants.... not due to price, but crap service. And generally crappy food. We make better food at home than is served in 90% of places. Or maybe I'm just old and grumpy

We pretty much stopped restaurants with the Great Recession and never started back up again, although we'd hit one on rare occasions since then. I've tried to get SWMBO to go to a restaurant since Covid restrictions got lifted but she's not interested. Only exceptions have been a couple trips to a cheap Chinese buffet in a strip mall close by. I'm not even talking about anything nice, I'd just like to go someplace where you sit down and get waited on and eat off of dishes and use actual tableware.

 

[UncleMark]

Wow, you sound like you live a really fun life.....

When you're on your death bed, you can brag how frugal you were.

I recall Kurt Warner being interviewed after signing his huge contract the interviewer noticed he had generic cereal. Warner replied that just because he had money didn't mean he should overpay for cereal.

For people like us, the wildcard is end of life care. As long as we each go quickly, we're in good shape financially. But if either one of us ends up in long term nursing home care <shudder>, the survivor will end up penniless.

 

[stollcpa]

"Just buy an electric car and learn to farm." - Pete Buttigieg

And breast feed like he does. 😊

 

[DANC]

disney costs the same as multiple trips these days. The gouging is ridiculous and you have to pay for the FastPass rides or you’ll spend the entire day waiting

When we went last May, my daughter was pregnant, so she got some kind of handicap dispensation - FastPass all the time!

 

[stollcpa]

For people like us, the wildcard is end of life care. As long as we each go quickly, we're in good shape financially. But if either one of us ends up in long term nursing home care <shudder>, the survivor will end up penniless.

See good long term care attorney and that can be fixed. The fixes might make you want to barf but F the government and do it.

 

[stollcpa]

When we went last May, my daughter was pregnant, so she got some kind of handicap dispensation - FastPass all the time!

Our transportation secretary can wear fake boobs to breastfeed. Maybe we all should get fixed up to look pregnant and have a FastPass every time we go to Disney.

 

[DANC]

For people like us, the wildcard is end of life care. As long as we each go quickly, we're in good shape financially. But if either one of us ends up in long term nursing home care <shudder>, the survivor will end up penniless.

I'm the sickly one, so I'll probably go first. My wife is the tight-ass (unless it's spending on her clothes or stupid shit), so she'll be fine.

A lot of assisted living places will take just your SS check if you can't afford the monthly fee if you're a veteran. If you have to go to a nursing home, you'd be better off financially divorcing and not leaving her with the bills. You could go on medicaid and get free care.

There's no way I'd want to burden my family with being in a nursing home, unless there's it's for some rehab and there's an end point.

 

[DANC]

Our transportation secretary can wear fake boobs to breastfeed. Maybe we all should get fixed up to look pregnant and have a FastPass every time we go to Disney.

That's true - as far as I know, she didn't have to prove it. And Disney is so woke, you could claim to be a trans and pregnant.

Might as well take advantage of their wokeness.

 

[twenty02]

We pretty much stopped restaurants with the Great Recession and never started back up again, although we'd hit one on rare occasions since then. I've tried to get SWMBO to go to a restaurant since Covid restrictions got lifted but she's not interested. Only exceptions have been a couple trips to a cheap Chinese buffet in a strip mall close by. I'm not even talking about anything nice, I'd just like to go someplace where you sit down and get waited on and eat off of dishes and use actual tableware.

No dishes and tableware in the Soviet Republic?

 

[DANC]

Its all a double whammy for us Joe Shmoes. Inflation is real. Obama then Trump and Now Biden didn't or haven't done shit to thwart it. On top of that, Companies(larger ones), are taking advantage of the situation. They are raising pricing well above the inflation rate and not increasing average wages.

The average Joe is getting ass blasted big time.

Thank the Covid shutdowns all you wokesters wanted.

 

[UncleMark]

No dishes and tableware in the Soviet Republic?

Bitch won't wait on me.

 

[twenty02]

Was going to purchase the first condo at the beginning of august. Will likely put that off for another 12 months as the whole down payment is in the market and I didn’t get liquid fast enough.

Interest rates don’t bother me as much, not going to be a forever home by any means. The refusal by this administration to take its medicine to fight inflation in terms of interest rates is bordering on negligent.

Since when did administrations have shit to do with interest rates? I remember long, long ago (2018) when Trump was bitching and whining about Jay P being too aggressive with interest rate hikes.

 

[TommyCracker]

Great topic.

I've been fortunate enough to build a nice stash of cash mainly because I had a good paying career, I've never been obsessed with nice things (actually the opposite, I like figuring out the cheaper way) and I never had any kids (which we all know is expensive as holy hell).

Here are the things that I'm most proud of finding cheaper alternatives.

1. Entertainment. Cut the cord and get an Amazon fire stick. Why Amazon, because it's the only streaming device I know that allows you to put third part streaming apps on it. That means nearly all current programming is available through the 3rd party app. From movies to your favorite shows to live sports....it's all out there.

All it costs is the fire stick ($55) and a VPN subscription ($4 a month).

Only wrinkle is I think the industry is going to start cracking down on 3rd party apps but they haven't yet and it will probably be country specific (which is where the VPN comes in).

-Shared YouTube TV account. YouTube TV allows for something like five separate accounts on a plan. My GF currently covers it but her dad and I have our own accounts and he lives in Arizona.

2. Food: Learn to cook and learn to do some basic butchering. There's sooooo much amazing cooking advice out there and by cooking yourself you can cut your food costs by 70%. I have learned to make everything that I love as good or better and faster than take out (when you account for lead time to drive to the place). From Giordano's deep dish pizza to chic fil a sandwiches to benehana chicken fried rice with homemade yum yum sauce to amazing pasta techniques to salads to steak n shake smash burgers to fries that are fresher and better than restaurants to incredible steaks to tacos and on and on and on. I save so much money and it's fun as hell to do.

Other things w/food:
-Buy a casket freezer.
-Visit goodwill stores first for kitchen appliances (I got a bread maker and a vac sealer for $10 total).
-Buy deli style food storage containers for leftovers (super cheap, super convenient and stacks well in the fridge saving space).
-Learn basic butchering (I can buy a whole chicken for $12 to $15. From that I get 2 breasts, 2 tenderloins, 2 legs, 2 thighs, 4 wings, 1 carcuss that makes a gallon of chicken stock, leftover meat that makes incredible dog treats) because I learned how to cut a chicken. Same thing with pork shoulder. It's one big bone (that you freeze for two weeks and give to your dog) but you get a bucket of pork carnitas meat to be used for tacos, pasta, salads, bbq, etc.
-Use a wok for deep frying. It's wide so I keep splatters to a minimum, it's easy to slide food into the oil safely, it's easy to grab food from the oil.

3. If you're in the market for a new car, consider a hybrid. I just bought a used Chevy Volt and it's the coolest car I've ever owned. I get -40 miles of pure EV range which covers my total commute.
I have unlimited milage because it has a gas engine (which is basically an electric generator) which gets around 35 mpg.

It's got really good get up, it's a smooth as butter ride, it's extremely quiet, I very rarely use the brakes (as it has regenerative braking which puts power back into the battery). Other than our of town gigs I never have to go to the gas station. Recommended oil changes every 25,000 miles and the disk brakes should last forever because I never use them.

As far as money saving, I supposedly pay around $3.50 for 100 miles of EV power. Currently with gas prices being what they are that's over $20 in my Lexus.

Extrapolating that out I typically put around 18,000 miles. At the ev price that will cost me $630 a year.

On my old Lexus that would currently cost me $3,600 a year.

Now if those factors stay constant and I keep the car for ten years (my Lexus is 20 years old) that's $30,000 in gas savings.

So if you're in the market for a car and do the majority of your driving within a fifty mile radius...I strongly recommend the Volt.

 

[DANC]

Cutting back. This is probably stupid and TLR for many.
I grew up poor, a fat little farm kid that I now know, most kids at school pitied me. Dad was a full time farmer, Mom worked a part time job at Sears. Other kids were getting into Nikes, I wore Winner !!'s (from sears branding).

Years later, I got married. Both her and I were working middle class, entry level jobs. this was 88' and a few years later. I couldn't figure out why we, now a 2 income family, with no kids, had to plan to have cold cuts instead of bologna. As a poor farm kid, I had steak, prime ground, awesome beef stew, fresh veggies....

comes to find out, dad would buy calves at $.35 / pound, fattent hem and sell them fat at $.75 per pound. He would also buy $.15 / pound cull Stag bulls (for those who don't know, that is a male beef that was only half castrated because of terrible animal husbandry skills), we would finish the castration, feed them out for 6 months, clean them up then put them in the freezer. We also had an acre garden that we spent 2 hours min, in every day.
I had to deal with Winner II sneakers as a kid, Living the life of what our economy drivers say we are "supposed" to do, I couldn't afford prepackaged scraps from the kill floor.
@stollcpa knows what I am talking about.

My parents both grew up on a farm in the 30s and 40s, butchered their own meat, made their own clothes, and had no money, but were never hungry. They said they didn't realize there was a depression because it didn't affect them.

I grew up in the country and a small town but we didn't farm, although I helped my grandparents and my girlfriend's dad baling hay (ugh!). Being poor was my motivation to get a college degree and escape that life. It worked, but I've never felt like I had much because my wife and I put money away for retirement but lived like we made much less. We did spend money on our only child, but we always drove'sensible' cars and drove them until the wheels fell off. I used to have to wear suits to work and always got the 2 for 1 specials. lol

It's weird now, not working but having retirement savings and monthly income from SS and pension. I feel like I"m stealing. But I'm very grateful.

I do feel sorry for younger people today, but my first house we bought when I was in grad school was at a 14% interest mortgage. With a VA loan. I was a full time student with 3 part time jobs, my wife was working full time, and we worried how we'd make the payment on a $35,000 house. lol

 

[kurt cloverdales]

disney costs the same as multiple trips these days. The gouging is ridiculous and you have to pay for the FastPass rides or you’ll spend the entire day waiting

report them to desantis

 

[DANC]

"Just buy an electric car and learn to farm." - Pete Buttigieg

"and learn to code" - Joe Biden

 

[mcmurtry66]

Great topic.

I've been fortunate enough to build a nice stash of cash mainly because I had a good paying career, I've never been obsessed with nice things (actually the opposite, I like figuring out the cheaper way) and I never had any kids (which we all know is expensive as holy hell).

Here are the things that I'm most proud of finding cheaper alternatives.

1. Entertainment. Cut the cord and get an Amazon fire stick. Why Amazon, because it's the only streaming device I know that allows you to put third part streaming apps on it. That means nearly all current programming is available through the 3rd party app. From movies to your favorite shows to live sports....it's all out there.

All it costs is the fire stick ($55) and a VPN subscription ($4 a month).

Only wrinkle is I think the industry is going to start cracking down on 3rd party apps but they haven't yet and it will probably be country specific (which is where the VPN comes in).

-Shared YouTube TV account. YouTube TV allows for something like five separate accounts on a plan. My GF currently covers it but her dad and I have our own accounts and he lives in Arizona.

2. Food: Learn to cook and learn to do some basic butchering. There's sooooo much amazing cooking advice out there and by cooking yourself you can cut your food costs by 70%. I have learned to make everything that I love as good or better and faster than take out (when you account for lead time to drive to the place). From Giordano's deep dish pizza to chic fil a sandwiches to benehana chicken fried rice with homemade yum yum sauce to amazing pasta techniques to salads to steak n shake smash burgers to fries that are fresher and better than restaurants to incredible steaks to tacos and on and on and on. I save so much money and it's fun as hell to do.

Other things w/food:
-Buy a casket freezer.
-Visit goodwill stores first for kitchen appliances (I got a bread maker and a vac sealer for $10 total).
-Buy deli style food storage containers for leftovers (super cheap, super convenient and stacks well in the fridge saving space).
-Learn basic butchering (I can buy a whole chicken for $12 to $15. From that I get 2 breasts, 2 tenderloins, 2 legs, 2 thighs, 4 wings, 1 carcuss that makes a gallon of chicken stock, leftover meat that makes incredible dog treats) because I learned how to cut a chicken. Same thing with pork shoulder. It's one big bone (that you freeze for two weeks and give to your dog) but you get a bucket of pork carnitas meat to be used for tacos, pasta, salads, bbq, etc.
-Use a wok for deep frying. It's wide so I keep splatters to a minimum, it's easy to slide food into the oil safely, it's easy to grab food from the oil.

3. If you're in the market for a new car, consider a hybrid. I just bought a used Chevy Volt and it's the coolest car I've ever owned. I get -40 miles of pure EV range which covers my total commute.
I have unlimited milage because it has a gas engine (which is basically an electric generator) which gets around 35 mpg.

It's got really good get up, it's a smooth as butter ride, it's extremely quiet, I very rarely use the brakes (as it has regenerative braking which puts power back into the battery). Other than our of town gigs I never have to go to the gas station. Recommended oil changes every 25,000 miles and the disk brakes should last forever because I never use them.

As far as money saving, I supposedly pay around $3.50 for 100 miles of EV power. Currently with gas prices being what they are that's over $20 in my Lexus.

Extrapolating that out I typically put around 18,000 miles. At the ev price that will cost me $630 a year.

On my old Lexus that would currently cost me $3,600 a year.

Now if those factors stay constant and I keep the car for ten years (my Lexus is 20 years old) that's $30,000 in gas savings.

So if you're in the market for a car and do the majority of your driving within a fifty mile radius...I strongly recommend the Volt.

Damn! You could have a podcast

 

[DANC]

Since when did administrations have shit to do with interest rates? I remember long, long ago (2018) when Trump was bitching and whining about Jay P being too aggressive with interest rate hikes.

In this case, the Administration has everything to do with creating inflation, which will require higher interest rates to bring down.

 

[DANC]

Great topic.

I've been fortunate enough to build a nice stash of cash mainly because I had a good paying career, I've never been obsessed with nice things (actually the opposite, I like figuring out the cheaper way) and I never had any kids (which we all know is expensive as holy hell).

Here are the things that I'm most proud of finding cheaper alternatives.

1. Entertainment. Cut the cord and get an Amazon fire stick. Why Amazon, because it's the only streaming device I know that allows you to put third part streaming apps on it. That means nearly all current programming is available through the 3rd party app. From movies to your favorite shows to live sports....it's all out there.

All it costs is the fire stick ($55) and a VPN subscription ($4 a month).

Only wrinkle is I think the industry is going to start cracking down on 3rd party apps but they haven't yet and it will probably be country specific (which is where the VPN comes in).

-Shared YouTube TV account. YouTube TV allows for something like five separate accounts on a plan. My GF currently covers it but her dad and I have our own accounts and he lives in Arizona.

2. Food: Learn to cook and learn to do some basic butchering. There's sooooo much amazing cooking advice out there and by cooking yourself you can cut your food costs by 70%. I have learned to make everything that I love as good or better and faster than take out (when you account for lead time to drive to the place). From Giordano's deep dish pizza to chic fil a sandwiches to benehana chicken fried rice with homemade yum yum sauce to amazing pasta techniques to salads to steak n shake smash burgers to fries that are fresher and better than restaurants to incredible steaks to tacos and on and on and on. I save so much money and it's fun as hell to do.

Other things w/food:
-Buy a casket freezer.
-Visit goodwill stores first for kitchen appliances (I got a bread maker and a vac sealer for $10 total).
-Buy deli style food storage containers for leftovers (super cheap, super convenient and stacks well in the fridge saving space).
-Learn basic butchering (I can buy a whole chicken for $12 to $15. From that I get 2 breasts, 2 tenderloins, 2 legs, 2 thighs, 4 wings, 1 carcuss that makes a gallon of chicken stock, leftover meat that makes incredible dog treats) because I learned how to cut a chicken. Same thing with pork shoulder. It's one big bone (that you freeze for two weeks and give to your dog) but you get a bucket of pork carnitas meat to be used for tacos, pasta, salads, bbq, etc.
-Use a wok for deep frying. It's wide so I keep splatters to a minimum, it's easy to slide food into the oil safely, it's easy to grab food from the oil.

3. If you're in the market for a new car, consider a hybrid. I just bought a used Chevy Volt and it's the coolest car I've ever owned. I get -40 miles of pure EV range which covers my total commute.
I have unlimited milage because it has a gas engine (which is basically an electric generator) which gets around 35 mpg.

It's got really good get up, it's a smooth as butter ride, it's extremely quiet, I very rarely use the brakes (as it has regenerative braking which puts power back into the battery). Other than our of town gigs I never have to go to the gas station. Recommended oil changes every 25,000 miles and the disk brakes should last forever because I never use them.

As far as money saving, I supposedly pay around $3.50 for 100 miles of EV power. Currently with gas prices being what they are that's over $20 in my Lexus.

Extrapolating that out I typically put around 18,000 miles. At the ev price that will cost me $630 a year.

On my old Lexus that would currently cost me $3,600 a year.

Now if those factors stay constant and I keep the car for ten years (my Lexus is 20 years old) that's $30,000 in gas savings.

So if you're in the market for a car and do the majority of your driving within a fifty mile radius...I strongly recommend the Volt.

You can use 3rd party apps on Roku, which is what I use.

 

[baileyiu]

Not me, my family comes first!

You mean the standard of living you have gotten accustomed too (probably way above where you need to be).
I’m retired and prepared properly. We travel 3-4 times a year, visit our daughter in Colorado 3-4 times a yr (fly). We do not live extravagant, but enjoy eating out with friends