Reducing Expenses
Pizza (hiatus)
Pizza
Hello everyone,
I recently decided that I will make my first sojourn to Tijuana in the next few months, and I need to reduce my expenses in order to save the funds necessary for said sojourn. I created this discussion thread as a way to list the ideas I have come up with, and for everyone else to share their ideas with me and the other posters in this thread.
1) Food
Food seems to be one of the most flexible expenses. I have reduced the amount of times I have eaten out, and I already have noticed an increase in my budget. I buy cereal from one of the warehouse chains in bulk, and I eat it with milk for 2 of my 3 meals each day. Cereal is tasty, convenient, and fortified with vitamins and minerals. For my 3rd meal, I will eat a couple items off a fast food chain's dollar menu. I supplement my diet with a multivitamin and fish oil. This is possibly not the healthiest diet, but it's cheap and easy to maintain... at least so far. If I were to purchase rice, canned tuna, and frozen broccoli in bulk and prepare and freeze them for the week I may even save more money.
2) Cable TV
I cancelled it. It's an unnecessary expense for me, as most of my entertainment can be found for free online. The packages where you get nickel-and-dimed for a bunch of channels you have never heard of and don't want to watch is ridiculous.
3) Gym Membership
I cancelled it. It isn't worth it for me because I simply do not go often enough. I do want to trim some of the adipose tissue off my body so I can increase my stamina and looks before I go to Tijuana, but I don't need a gym to do that. I am slowly adopting an old school calisthenics routine of jumping jacks and push ups, and I bought an affordable pair of running shoes and jog around the neighborhood. It's totally free, minus the cost of shoes.
4) Laundry in bulk.
Probably not the best for my clothes, but instead of separating the colors I just throw them all into one wash. I'm probably saving pennies, but it might add up.
5) Download a gas station app and limit the distance of driving.
You can download a gas station app that can show the most affordable gas stations around you at any time. Also, I use GPS so I can find the shortest distance to my destination. I also try to do all of my chores in one trip, instead of going back and forth from my home or other destinations. I also try driving with a minimum amount of sudden acceleration and braking so as to conserve my gas. Again, perhaps I am saving pennies, but I think it may all add up.
What are your ideas? Even if you are not saving up for a trip outside the country, the savings you incur may open up more funds for a trip to your local club.
I recently decided that I will make my first sojourn to Tijuana in the next few months, and I need to reduce my expenses in order to save the funds necessary for said sojourn. I created this discussion thread as a way to list the ideas I have come up with, and for everyone else to share their ideas with me and the other posters in this thread.
1) Food
Food seems to be one of the most flexible expenses. I have reduced the amount of times I have eaten out, and I already have noticed an increase in my budget. I buy cereal from one of the warehouse chains in bulk, and I eat it with milk for 2 of my 3 meals each day. Cereal is tasty, convenient, and fortified with vitamins and minerals. For my 3rd meal, I will eat a couple items off a fast food chain's dollar menu. I supplement my diet with a multivitamin and fish oil. This is possibly not the healthiest diet, but it's cheap and easy to maintain... at least so far. If I were to purchase rice, canned tuna, and frozen broccoli in bulk and prepare and freeze them for the week I may even save more money.
2) Cable TV
I cancelled it. It's an unnecessary expense for me, as most of my entertainment can be found for free online. The packages where you get nickel-and-dimed for a bunch of channels you have never heard of and don't want to watch is ridiculous.
3) Gym Membership
I cancelled it. It isn't worth it for me because I simply do not go often enough. I do want to trim some of the adipose tissue off my body so I can increase my stamina and looks before I go to Tijuana, but I don't need a gym to do that. I am slowly adopting an old school calisthenics routine of jumping jacks and push ups, and I bought an affordable pair of running shoes and jog around the neighborhood. It's totally free, minus the cost of shoes.
4) Laundry in bulk.
Probably not the best for my clothes, but instead of separating the colors I just throw them all into one wash. I'm probably saving pennies, but it might add up.
5) Download a gas station app and limit the distance of driving.
You can download a gas station app that can show the most affordable gas stations around you at any time. Also, I use GPS so I can find the shortest distance to my destination. I also try to do all of my chores in one trip, instead of going back and forth from my home or other destinations. I also try driving with a minimum amount of sudden acceleration and braking so as to conserve my gas. Again, perhaps I am saving pennies, but I think it may all add up.
What are your ideas? Even if you are not saving up for a trip outside the country, the savings you incur may open up more funds for a trip to your local club.
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47 comments
If you cannot afford to club, then you cannot afford to club. Simple. It's one thing to trim some discretionary spending fat to free up funds for other pursuits, but another altogether to start cutting into the meat and bone on core health and well being. You're obviously single if you can live like that. Maybe the better option would be to hit the gym more often and then find some civilian pussy to hit instead.
It literally hurts me to see someone go to these extremes for this, like you're making your life revolve around doing this. This is an expensive hobby, and even a lot of us who have extra money to frivalously spend on this without cutting back elsewhere in life consider it a rock bottom priority for where our money goes.
Saving money... figure out, in detail, your monthly expenses versus income (do it in something like Quicken or Mint). Then look at ways to reduce/eliminate your largest discretionary expenses, and then look at ways to reduce your largest non-discretionary expenses (harder but possible).
Savings a few dollars per week on laundry doesn't hurt, but small stuff like this can be addressed after the big expenses are trimmed.
But I'm with the others. If you're buying bulk cereal at costco to see some strippers you might want to take a step back and assess your priorities. Cutting back on basics to indulge in frivolities isn't a course I'd recommend.
Reminds me of a scene in that movie Pitch Black. Dude is sitting there with a nice bottle of wine & a cigar, on a deserted planet filled with animals trying to eat him & he's like " its amazing how you can do without the essentials of life, so long as you have the little luxuries. " - A funny line in a movie, but shitty life advice.
Not feel well and start losing time from money-making endeavors, actually leaving you with less money.
I recommend spending time and finding better dietary choices - that remain cheap. No Whole Foods type expenses. But many grocers offer a nice selection of good quality fruits and vegetables. A better - and leaner - set of dietary choices should keep your costs lower - and possibly keep your body lean.
I’m not sure where you are - but cutting the gym cost isn’t a bad choice. Since you are cutting back on car mileage too - I would suggest finding some places that allow you to walk. If you walk to the grocery store and other places - it’s a very good way to cut down on overbuying. You have the calories expended to get there and back - and you also must think about how much you can carry.
However, my first recommendation is to take a step back and decide if you are in the proper economic position to enjoy clubbing.
LOL, this board is hilarious. Quality advice for getting your nut off and making sensible nutritional choices.
1. Chase civvie pussy for now.
2. Get a second job.
3. Eat and exercise for your health. No, it doesn’t require an expensive gym membership but that “expensive gym membership” is what gets many people off their asses in the first place. And eat healthy food. Fortunately eating healthy doesn’t need to be expensive. Eat whole food and skip the processed shit and restaurant food entirely. Plant a garden if you can.
4. Practice living under your means, saving and investing and do that for life so that you accumulate some wealth. There are many areas where we all spend unnecessarily. That’s not problematic if one gets enjoyment from the expenditure and the money is truly from excess. But if your plan is to save quarters doing laundry in bulk, It will be 20 years before you can enjoy that Tijuana trip. My sense is that you need to re-evaluate all your earning and spending habits before you can accumulate enough to pay to fuck. Again, live poorer than you need to and accumulate some money just for its own sake and you will find your decision making and options much better once you make that a habit.
You haven’t “arrived” in life because you go to Tijuana and pay to fuck. Lots of members here enjoy that but it doesn’t deserve some sort of merit badge or anything and it’s really not something to aspire to. It’s just an amusement that can be enjoyed once you have the means to enjoy it, if it even still appeals to you at that point.
I got too involved in my post - and forgot a key item - is this guy young and single? Wtf is he saving for TJ whores for? Why not hit civilian pussy? Maybe he should clarify why he is doing this...
You should take some cooking classes maybe at s local high school at night and prepare some healthy nutritious meals to eat at home - healthy-food is the best medicine and cutting down on that is stupid/counterproductive
Like the others said, you should be using your extra money to do this. If it takes you a while to save up, just take that extra time and keep doing research. But definitely don't cut out essential things to live a quality life. Top ramen, cereal for dinner and that kind of stuff shouldn't be necessary.
Make more money - career or business moves.
Learn pickup - I see guys pulling at bars and clubs just about every time I'm there. Saves them a SC/TJ trip.
It is a strange world we live in. Things can be hard.
In time I will have an organization people can be invited to join, which will SOLVE ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS!
In the interim though I suggest to our OP that sex tourism is wasteful. Why fuck girls you will never see again and so far from home.
Look to your local girls, and also to what you might do living wise and career wise.
SJG
You need to budget at least $50 for a weekly trip to the grocery store. Estimate about 2/3 of your grocery budget for high quality protein sources like eggs, chicken, ground beef, etc. With the other 1/3 you can get cheap, but quality sources of carbohydrates like oats, rice and potatoes, and still gave a few bucks left over for a fruit and a vegetable. This takes discipline, however. At times, I have gotten a week’s worth of groceries for just $50, but ideally, I like to set my weekly grocery budget at $100, although I rarely ever spend close to that amount. If you don’t consume foods like the ones I mentioned, your health will deteriorate.
Also, there are gyms out there that don’t charge an arm and a leg. I go to a gym that only charges $10/month for a membership.
Cutting down on eating out, especially fast food, is good. I'd recommend eliminating soda and drinking water or unsweetened ice tea ($3 for a bottle of mix good for about 50 servings) with lemon. More fruits and vegetables. No sweets (candy, pie, ice cream, cookies, etc.), except on the rare occasion.
Cutting down on beer/alcohol, at home or at the bar, will save a lot of money.
You live in California, so I'm assuming you're relatively close to Tijuana, even if you're in the Bay Area, it's easily doable drive. I'd hit TJ semi-regularly and just avoid all these rip-off U.S. clubs. Go quality and high mileage over quantity of strip club excursions with low mileage.
I'll argue that on our budgets, civvies are cheaper than pros. If not, then broke guys would never get laid! Plus we don't have some of the problems that the high income / high net worth guys run into when dating (or marrying). So there's that!
I want to point out that the diet I mentioned in my post is short-term, and actually healthier than the "going through the McDonald's drive-thru 3 times a day" diet I had previously. I have tried refraining from the Captain Crunch and choosing more grown-up cereals like Special K and fortifying it with multivitamins and fish oils. I love the convenience of cereal. You put the cereal in the bowl, then some milk, and then you rinse the bowl after you are finished eating the cereal.
I understand that cooking my own food would be healthier and also still affordable, but I hate cooking. More specifically, I hate cleaning up after cooking and eating. Eventually I do plan on transitioning to a more balanced diet.
Also, some of my expense sacrifices have not felt like sacrifices at all. I thought I would miss cable TV. What would I talk about with my friends? It's been a month and I don't miss it at all. In fact, a lot of the TV and sports I was watching was just to watch it. I also haven't played video games in 3 years, and I haven't seen a movie in a theater for over a year. Don't miss any of it at all. Also, I haven't notice a bit of difference in cleanliness ever since I started washing all my clothes in one load. I used to segregate my whites and my coloreds, and I would do several washes per week. Now I throw them all in at once, and I get to save time and pennies. I also make sure to turn off the water when I take a shower, except to get myself initially wet and to rinse off the soap.
One of the other reasons I have been cutting my expenses is because of my recent interest in Minimalism. Many of us in the First World suffer from "too much" rather than "too little." It's not just expenses, but also the clutter of items and even people in our day-to-day lives. I looked through my closet and realized that I don't even wear half the clothes I own. My next step is to put up for sale on Craigslist and Ebay anything I don't need or use, and to donate the rest. I hang out with my friends much less frequently, and am saving money that I would spend on drugs and alcohol. Most of my entertainment now is TUSCL, going to the strip club once a month instead of a few times a month, and watching Internet pornography a few times a day. I love my porn. I even watch the beginning parts where they interview the girl.
I have stopped pursuing relationships and sex with civilian girls for a few reasons:
1) Ego. Once I've been with a woman at a certain level of looks I don't want to go below that. Even with my recent weight gain--which my cereal-based diet has been helping with--I am still a decent-looking guy and could probably date 5s and 6s without too many problems. The problem is that I've been with 7s, and I never want to date below a 7 again. Getting a 7+ to date me will take a lot more effort and rejections.
2) I like whores more than sluts. Ever since I started going to strip clubs I realize that I actually have more respect for the stripper at the club than the average bar slut. So much of picking up girls at bars involves listening to them and pretending that what they have to say is interesting. That goes against my nature, but I also dislike putting people down. Sometimes I just want to tell the girl I'm talking to that I don't watch Game of Thrones, and that they are boring me, but I usually keep it to myself and smile. Oh, and don't get me started on Tinder.
3) I'm too sensitive. Once I have found a girl I like, I usually end up falling hard and fast. I hate breaking girls hearts, and I really hate having my heart broken. Strippers are so much simpler. The crux of the relationship is money, and once the money is done the relationship is done. It keeps things simple, and the emotions more tidy. Also, when I do some time down the line get involved in another long-term relationship it will need to be an open one. No matter how hot I find a girl, eventually my eyes start to wander after a few months. I'm also not a jealous person, and I enjoy group sex when I can get it.
@ TFP Understood and noted, bro. I could definitely have a good time with $500.00 at Tijuana, but I really want to go all out when I go there for the first time. I already have a list of what I want to do in my head. Cheers to a fellow local monger.
@ Pyroxl Thanks for the tip on the phone bill. I'm planning on picking a cheaper plan, and I'm also looking at cheaper car insurance. I'm a pretty responsible driver, but my insurance company keeps raising their rates for some reason.
@ Dominic77 Thanks for the tips. I took a look at the thread you made. One of my older friends keeps harping for me to make an appointment with Fidelity. Another one of my friends is investing in cryptocurrency, but I don't know how much I trust that. I have actually been thinking about trying sports betting, but that may be a little bit down the line. I do agree with you and others in this thread that I need to think more long term and start building a more lucrative career. My job is decent, but if I really applied myself I could accomplish so much more. Once I come back from my Tijuana trip I really plan on putting my nose to the grindstone.
@ Dblednmike I'm already on it man. I've been playing around with the free copy of GarageBand I got with my Mac. I'll let you know when I drop my first mixtape on Soundcloud.
#3, if you're looking for a healthy weight loss diet, I posted one that is simple back on Aug 8, 2016:
"Lust over a Stripper"
https://www.tuscl.net/discussion.php?id=…
That diet is proven and it is bachelor friendly, cheap on a per meal basis, while easy to prep with little cleanup. I've helped a couple 400+ lb guys go down to 170 in 15 months (lose 20 lbs/mo) on it.
I hate cleaning up the mess after cooking just as much as most us of here, but I still make home cooked meals daily and clean up afterwards. Then again, I do keep things as simple as I usually only have to clean off a George Foreman grill, frying pan or pot from inside a rice cooker.
I still think that doing such drastic and unhealthy things - simply to enjoy a little time clubbing - is a sign that he shouldn’t be clubbing.
@Dominic77
Thank you for the advice and diet plan. You are right about learning to invest in and love myself. That said, I am currently not interested in being in a long-term, monogamous relationship, and I dislike the chase and the games involved in picking up girls. Exchanging money for companionship keeps things simple, and the dollar seems to go pretty far in TJ.
@TFP & justme62
The wise thing would be to bring $500.00 and force myself to be somewhat picky and frugal with my cash, but I would hate to invest the time and effort to go down to there and then find myself doing math in my head to maximize my dollar--even though that is the smart move. I have a figure in my head, and I want to bring a little more than that just in case.
@s275ironman
I don't see the nobility in working hard just to work hard. If I really want something, I will put in the time and energy to really pursue it. Washing dishes is just one of those weird things that I really dislike doing. That said, the diet I am on is only short-term and I plan on switching over to a more tenable diet after a month or two.
6) Cologne/Fragrance
Whenever there's a special event or date, I like to swing by my local mall and surreptitiously spray myself down with the sampler of my choice while the lady behind the counter isn't looking. Not only do you save money on cologne, but you get to try out a new scent and figure out the one you really like. My personal favorite is Versace Eros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsPsM6YY…
Also, if you visit your local library or a doctor/dental office they will usually have issues of men's magazines like GQ or Esquire laying about. If you flip through them you can usually find a sleeve with a sealed flap that contains a sample of the latest cologne. Quickly and quietly tear out the sleeve and store a couple in your glove compartment. Whenever you need to freshen up you can unseal the flap and rub the scent on your neck and arms.
7) Washing Clothes
Purchase Liquid Castile Soap. The most famous name brand is Dr Bronner's, but you can save money and get an equally effective product by just purchasing a generic liquid Castile soap at your local Walmart. Put your dirty clothes in a shopping bag, fill with water, then squeeze a couple squirts of liquid Castile soap. Use one hand to close the top of the bag, then shake the bag and use the other hand to massage and rub the clothes. After, wrap your wet clothes with a dry towel and step on it to squeeze as much moisture out as possible. Air dry on a clothesline.
You can also use liquid Castile soap as hair and body wash, tooth soap, and dish soap as well!
Please feel free to share your money saving tips in this thread.
Use the gym membership but downgrade to planet fitness if you aren't trying to bulk lift.
Eat healthy, it pays off more than eating fast food.
Go from post paid to prepaid phone plan.
Read a book and create a side hustle. This will help you increase your income.
Hurry the hell up and pay off your debts fast.
Some of these may not seem like saving money at first, but it's a long term saver. Especially eating healthier. Less trips to see doc in the future.
1. ladies. (arriba, fishas, groping.) 80%
2. my drinks, tacos. 12%
3. tips to staff. 5%
4. travel. (gas, parking) 3%
Not only can you do things such as doing a cost benefit analysis on making vs buying your own laundry detergent, but you could also make some affiliate income with random stuff you promote every here and there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R39Ehpb…
SJG
@ nicespice - I have thought about it, but I have been getting busier and busier lately. Anyways, I have some plans percolating right now but they are all under construction.