The only way to truly be safe is to never do anything, stay inside, watch television, live off the government and hope a tree does not get hit by lightning and crash through the mobile home in the trailer park. I say that in semi-jest, but there is no guarantees in life. I am not really sure it is fair to compare an injury to something not being worth doing. Myself, I know I could not afford to be a sheep farmer if I went out and bought every implement I needed. The truth is, there is not a lot of profit on a per sheep basis, so to limit my overall costs pays me back 100% unlike scaling up that has inherent costs of production. Almost any implement can be homemade. A Youtube search, or typing "Homemade" before the implement a person wants to build will net videos, pictures and detailed descriptions of the build. Another great tool is to look up old books, or do patent searches. Years ago, there was a lot less welding, steel fabrication and horsepower, yet tasks were just as big or bigger in scale, so some ingenious ways were devised to get things done. Like a wooden beam used to extract stumps with 2 horses, or a log loading hoist. Welding is NOT a requirement of home fabrication. Knowing when wood can be used helps, along with using modern day plywood, and knowing drilling holes comprises of 50% of all fabrication. All this allows a person to get a lot done around the house and still save money.
Another way I save money is to go 100% cash. I have done this now for years and has saved me so much money from it. I cannot buy something if I simply do not have the cash, but because of that, I never pay interest so I have more cash. Because nothing is financed, there is a lot less restriction on stuff that must be insured which saves me money. It also helps a person sell off things too because not being financed, I have that free title to do so. Of course cash talks. I can walk into a place and say "cash" and they will drop the price. I bought a chainsaw that was at least $50 less out the door just because I was paying in cash. I bought a kitchen stove for $700 instead of $1400 simply because they needed cash at the moment, and I had the green backs in my wallet.
I find that the best way to save money is to not spend it. 1.) Buy whole hogs versus grocery store. 2.) Raise our own chickens for meat and eggs, sell enough to cover costs so we eat them for free. 3.) Hunt, kill, and butcher 2-3 deer every year. 4.) Big garden and fruit trees. Lots of canning and freezing. 5.) Wife cuts everyone's hair, except for hers, she's allowed to splurge on that. 6.) 100% of all vehicle/equipment maintenance is done by me, 95% of repairs done by me. 7.) If it's made out of wood, I make it instead of buy it. 8.) Never, ever, pay for TV.
Lodged tree- didn't work at the car stealerships- heck one wouldn't accept cash or a check only took plastic for down payment (Krama -now out of business )
It doesn't make sense to go 100% cash any more. I've done it. But in this cashless society every purchase you do make has the 2% +/- a little credit cost built in to the purchase price. The ONLY way to get that 2% or more back is with cash back credit cards and courtesy cards. You either play that game or lose. Some places still have cash discounts but those places are dwindling . I've bought Best Buy gift cards at Stop and Shop earning gas points for gas discounts with my Discover Card that was giving 5% back at the time at grocery stores. (Here again, you have to play the game because you may eran more credits making the purchase at Best Buy instead.) Then gone to Best Buy right next door and made the purchase with the gift cards I just bought. I've paid cash for cars, but while interest rates are at rock bottom you can invest that 10K (or whatever) and often make more with the interest/dividends/gains on the cash you would have lost in the sale by taking a loan.
Credit cards can definitely help when it comes to the cash back and/or credits that can be used at other places. But if you carry a balance, then the interest negates the cash back. We unfortunately carry balances on my cards, but am close to paying them off, and I always pay well over the minimum due. Our new stove was put on one card, and still owe $1K on that card now, but I purchased many things for the stove and house on Amazon just using the credits from the stove purchase. Once taxes come back I should hopefully be able to pay that card off.
Not much being paid now for interest on savings; actually, for a number of years been like that. If you're talking about investments, yeah. But transportation is a need for almost everyone....so....if you're gonna dance, you've got to pay the fiddler.
I don't carry cash, but use the cards for the cash back, or additional store diacounts like at Target or Kohls amd pay them off monthly. The only debt I carry is mortgage and my wife's student loans. Between my personal use, and the card I use for any work expenses, I get about $1500 back per year.
BUMP! Time to update/add some new things to this thread. We've found that the kids will wash their hands more readily with foam soap, but the bottle doesn't last long with 4 people staying home most of the time here lately...and we've recently discovered that you can make your own foaming hand soap solution to refill the foamer bottle when it goes empty...and IMO it works just as well as the store bought foaming soap. If you fill the bottle to roughly 1/4 to 1/3 full with regular liquid hand soap (we use antibacterial) then top the bottle off with warm water and shake well...do not fill above the bottom of the foaming mechanism, it needs that air space at the top to work properly. A large "refill" bottle of liquid soap can go a long ways this way!
I don't do anything. I don't go anywhere Don't fix anything. Don't buy anything new. The only frivolous thing I have is my camper. Which is seasonal parked 20 minutes from here
I thought I'd save more money staying home, but we are eating real meals regularly, and that combined with rising food costs havent equaled savings. I just 2 minutes ago had a vacuum sealer delivered. I'll save going forward buying food on sale and freezing it.
Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Spend a little extra money on things that will last. Built our cabin ourselves (off grid and wood heated). Taxes are about $700 a year. Have only had two jobs (one 10 years; the current one 22 years). So we have only had to sell one house after building enough equity in it to buy the materials for our cabin. Invest time in staying healthy, learning and improving on a wide variety of skills. We grow a lot of our food, hunt fish, and preserve (can, ferment, freeze, dry). Buy a lot of other foods in bulk. Rarely eat out and never go to bars.
I could have paid cash for my Focus when I bought it end of 2018. But, if I financed with Ford credit, a $1,000 rebate was credited toward the price. Sure, the interest was at 6% (even with excellent credit), but I took the financing, while putting a bit over 1/3 down (with a credit card and got points for that). A few months later paid the entire thing off. Saved at least $850 that way. Don't normally buy new vehicles, but the price of the new Focus was in line with what 3 year old used vehicles with 40-50k miles were going for.
Another thing people do (ahem) is take the financing offer from the manufacturer, get that rebate and low interest, and then pay off the loan in a month or two. Ya end up saving a little bit more that way.
I have a friend that did that sort of purchase. He had the cash, but opened a cabelas card, and bought the AWD for his wife. He ended up having enough cabelas points to get a new wall tent, and some other goodies for himself.
Brings back memories. I paid for my own wedding and put everything on my Cabela's card. Always paid the balance off monthly. I achieved black card status and got a ton of points. When I NEED new gear I just dip into the points. These days I put everything on my Capital One Venture card for future vacations. Daycare was nearly $30K in 2019. Thank goodness my oldest is going to kindergarten in the fall!
#1. Get a Snorkel Hot Tub . Look it up. It burns wood. Did I say it burns wood ? We use all the softwood blowdowns for the fires in the Snorkel. #2. We don't use a cell phone, don't need one. $$$$$$ per month buys some quite nice single malt and micro brews. #3. No need for a new car every year or two. A 5 year old car is just broken in. Marketing pushes people to buy new and loan for multiple years. Here one 2005 Outback has 207,414 miles with more to go. Maintain the hell out of any tool. The other is a 2017. If we don't have the money to buy, we don't. #4. Got a Mardens discount outlet near ? #5. Who said you "need" AC ? In N.H. ? #6. 50 cents/mile is a bargain BTW.
That is expensive. I don't know how many kids you have, or how many wives. No wonder people are selling them off nowadays.
Daycare here is $600 a week more for 2 and under they still wanted my buddy to pay when shutdown for Covid to reserve the space but she starts pre k in fall!!
