this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2023
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What are your tips for saving money and reducing waste? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
86 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Here's a couple examples from my life:

  1. Safety Razor. I get a better shave and it's like $15 for 100 razor blades, which lasts me a couple years. Way way way better than the disposable multi-blade Gillette things, which sell 5 heads for $20.

  2. Handkerchiefs. I am prone to allergies, so instead of constantly buying disposable tissues, we now have a stack of handkerchiefs that can just be used a few times and then thrown in the wash. This has also saved me loads.

What about you?

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[โ€“] [email protected] 50 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Buy from bulk stores and markets instead of bagged supermarket products.

Switch to soap strips instead of liquid detergent for laundry

Cook yourself instead of getting delivery

Use public transport and or bike

Buy local produce and fruits that are in season

[โ€“] [email protected] 30 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Use public transport

This is the biggest cost savings for me right now... Assuming I get a cheap rust bucket paid in full (estimate in metro Vancouver, BC in Canadian $s):

  • I'd expect to pay $200 a month in insurance
  • I'd expect to pay at least $100 a month in gas
  • I'd expect to pay $250 a month in parking fees
  • I'd expect to pay at least $500 a year in maintenance, repair and incidental items (oil, winter tire storage etc.)

So all together that's $591 per month or $7100 per year.

Transit costs me $135/month and I'm lucky to live and work somewhere where transit actually sort of works.

[โ€“] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is particularly true with the multitude or car sharing programs that are available in major cities like Vancouver. The odd time you need a vehicle it is trivial to rent one, which is still cheaper than owning a vehicle.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

You don't even need a car sharing program, rental car companies still exist.

And this is true both for people looking to use public transit, as well as people people afraid to go electric because they take one monster road trip every 2 years, or people considering buying a pickup truck because one time they had to move a couch.

[โ€“] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

as far as buying bulk, the idea it to look for price per unit, and with this you have to take at least a medium (month) or long (annual) look at the pricing. This is your typical restaurant budget strategy.

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

And this assumes you have storage space, which not everyone has.

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I love the principle of buying from bulk store but after a non-zero number of weevil infestations I tread carefully. Could just be bad luck though.

[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I feel like those pop-top plastic barrels would prevent weevils?

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Perhaps. We probably could have sealed things better in jars, but it sure was a big and disconcerting mess.

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

my dumbass read

Cook yourself

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Switch to soap strips instead of liquid detergent for laundry

What is this wizardry you speak of? [begins Google session]