What is Digg?221 Comments
- Conspiracy, on 10/12/2007, -14/+182Visiting the food bank should not be included in this list. Only people who have no other choice, but to visit the food bank should be doing so. Otherwise, there is less food for the people who really need it.
- MiloMindrbindr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+65I lived on 12,000 and under for many years, while living on my own. It's totally doable, and really not that bad. It's called living within your means and not buying ***** you don't need.
- SelfAbortion, on 10/12/2007, -5/+64I make less than 12k, haven't lived with my parents in years, and have used digg for quite awhile. I'd venture to say that there are plenty of college students here that find this information helpful.
- SwissCamel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+44@ Leo21k: You spend $40 a month on food?! I know the U.S might be cheaper for this sort of thing but seriously, $1.29 a day on food? How do you do it?
- BoneyB, on 10/12/2007, -1/+44I agree. Food banks exist for the truly needy, not for those who choose to live frugally.
to his credit, he does say "Or if that troubles you, if you have a weekday where you can help out, volunteer in a soul/soup kitchen. You can do some good and a get a free meal at the same time."
Aside from a free meal, working a shift at a soup kitchen or shelter can help put things in perspective--including reminding you that living off 12 or 25 or 40k a year is a luxury that the vast majority of people don't have. - crillbilly, on 10/12/2007, -3/+45If you read the rest of that one, I think he meant volunteering to get that free meal, or extra cans of food at the end of the day.
- Cloned, on 10/12/2007, -0/+40Buy a bike. No gas or insurance, and you stay fit.
- bacon_skoda, on 10/12/2007, -3/+40Last time I went, as a school field trip, they soup kitchen had plenty of food.
Us students were scared of eating someone's meal, while the people working the kitchen
kept assuring us there are plenty.
This is America. We have a surplus of food. We throw away day old bread.
No one should starve in the US period. - GawtMilk, on 10/12/2007, -10/+46In most credit cards you only pay if you have no money management skills...CC's are fine if you pay 'em off. They ARE convinient. Try carrying 50 $20 bills to a store when you are buying a new computer or something...they definately DO help.
- Y0tsuya, on 10/12/2007, -13/+45If you make only 12K a year and still have time to volunteer at the food bank, perhaps the problem is you're not working hard enough.
- anti_hax0r, on 10/12/2007, -3/+35Because, you can float the cash for a month. Also, you can establish a good credit rating. Debit cards and "same as cash" don't count for revolving credit. Try buying a house with no credit. Or just keep living in your apartment that costs more than a mortgage.
- weizilla, on 10/12/2007, -2/+34I'm sure you can live on even less if you don't watch tv, listen to music, talk to people on the phone or use a computer. You can save even more if you eat only ramen and drink only water everyday. However, would you really want to?
- Crossmenjeff, on 10/12/2007, -1/+32move to african country, buy a mansion, live comfortably.
- diggtard, on 10/12/2007, -1/+32...and the other 10k for math classes or a calculator watch.
- pipebender, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27DO USE credit cards. As long as you paid off the whole balance montly, You can get many perks such 1% cash back or 5% cash back on supermarkets or gas or home improvemet stores. Plus you can establish your credit this way.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+28@Leo21k
Dude, you have a $140 cable bill? Plus you say you share an apt; you're either an idiot or a liar. - webkid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23Regarding #5 Give up meat or reduce quantities: Even though it isn't as tasty as that 12 oz steak, Lentils are a great source of protein and when cooked properly can be pretty good not to mention CHEAP!!!
- theRIAA, on 10/12/2007, -8/+31never use a credit card (no they are not convenient) and invest wisely
that $50 today is worth $1000+ in 30 years at 11% (stock market average)
http://www.moneychimp.com/articles/finworks/fmfutval.htm
most of America hasnt figured that out yet - edilclyde, on 10/12/2007, -3/+25@Leo21k
$ 40/month on food? liar - punchingjudy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23Country gets taken over by local neurotic warlord. Mansion burns to the ground and you get shot up. Die slowly.
- sharph, on 10/12/2007, -5/+26@brokencode
where do you think the air INSIDE your car comes from? - scottylist, on 10/12/2007, -7/+27@GawtMilk: Get a Visa/MC Debit Card.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debit_card#Offline_debit_.28.22signature_debit.22_or_.22credit.22.29 - renblak, on 10/12/2007, -11/+31Why would you use a credit card? There's a little something called a debit card, which represents money you actually have as opposed to a credit card which represents...well, credit.
- anti_hax0r, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22That's your fault for living in California.
- toby34a, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21Ummm... it's called being a grad student. that's all we ever make... and you can still live a good life doing it, spending a decent amount of money on food and beer. And having a cheap apartment, low car payment/insurance definitely helps.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+24Hponestly...anyone who is spending one dime on destroying your lungs has absolutely NO RIGHT to tell others that they shoul go without movies, or Starbucks, or anything.
Just because you eat garbage like a ***** bum doesn't negate the fact that you are still too weak mentally to give up smoking. - krahzee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16you guys forget one of the biggest reasons for credit cards over debit. The ability to dispute charges without the money coming out of your account. Debit cards withdraw directly, and even if if the money is proven to be erroniously taken (like an accidental double charge), good luck noticing it before it posts to the account. Make a big enough purchase and you could end up bouncing checks. A credit card, however, is paid at the end of the billing cycle, and is disputable without having to lay out the money first.
- lokee73, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Tip #1 - Don't live in Southern California.
- ChicksWithDiggs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16In western europe you won't have a problem living on 12k net income decently if you don't have dependents.
You can rent decent apartments for 200-300$ a month (not in a bad neighbourhood) in Germany or the UK and simply buy your food at Aldi, one of the best and cheapest discount supermarket chains without having to worry about your food spendings.
It should cost you 6-8k and the money you have left can be used for other things.
The problem in the US are the inflated housing prices in most urban areas and that decent food is expensive. - brbubba, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16"Take free courses.
Donna Freedman mentioned that she chose her current situation and went back to school. But why pay for courses when they're free at the Open Courseware Consortium and at various universities."
Yeah because any future employer is going to accept open courseware over a university degree. - YellowBook, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16@those guys that spend every penny they earn:
If you ever want to retire or take a long break, you will find that you can't because you will not have saved anything. Spend less than you earn....age-old advice but that's all there is to it. That DVD player you bought in 2006, that wide-screen projector, that digital camcorder, that Nintendo Wii, it'll all be old hat in 2010.
I say, go outside and look at the world around you. It's an incredible planet. There is more to life than the latest technological gizmo... - ingxia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Yeah, the best way to save money is not to have a life. I'm serious. For starters, very few will call you cheap, because you won't talk to people much to begin with, second you won't compare yourself to others and wish for something more because you won't have many to compare to, lastly you won't have to offer anyone your 10 cents worth of lentils as a dinner substitute, because there won't be many around to share food with. Funny, how it sort of takes money to have friends but friendship is supposed to be so much more than that.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13also dont buy a PS3.
- wjglenn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17Not a thing wrong with learning to live frugally. Think about it this way. If people who earn $35,000 per year lived like they earned $12k, they could be putting $13k per year into retirement funds for themselves and educational funds for their kids.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I make about $1000 a month. Rent: $350. Food & Drink: $450. Internet: $60. Transportation: $75. Misc.: $65. Didn't think it's such a big deal.
- dissident, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12it amazes me how materialistic people are and how they always basically spend up to their earning level and don't save anything. When I hear people making 75k complaining about how tight things are it just makes me laugh. Don't buy that 500k house and 50k car then.. nobody is forcing you too.. what do you need it for?
- dissident, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12the biggest waste of money for most people is "going out to eat"
- pintomp3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12pets? isn't that another expenditure you could cut?
- thesauce, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14Getting a credit card and paying it off each month builds credit so you get better rates on loans in the future. Also, it will open you up to cards with features like 0% interest on all transfered balances. Then you can transfer your $5,000 loan that has 8% interest to it and never have to pay interest on it again. There are lots of little tricks that come in handy.
- scbysnx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14I agree completely. The rediculous part of this is that you should never make a choice to leech. If you have no choice that is why those services were created but if you do then you're a fraud.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12doesn't that give you scurvy???
---one tip was "wear layers when at home, your pets could care less"
why wear anything at all??? (not that I do that sort of thing) - Mewchu11, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Mystery Shopping is actually a pyramid scheme about 80% of the time, you could probably make more money on bank interest...
- stimcaps, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11@anagoge: Many credit cards offer rewards programs (cash back, frequent flyer miles, etc.). So if you pay with a CC, and then pay off the credit card immediately with money you already have budgeted for the purpose, you can actually be better off than if you'd paid for the item with cash.
- AriaStar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Going without a car cost me more than the cost of having one. When I got a good job, I was spending, I kid you not, a little over $900/mo on public transit to go 60 miles, Concord to Sunnyvale. Taxi to the BART train because the buses didn't run so early, where I took the yellow line, then the blue line, then the CalTrain, then the Lightrail train. Reverse it when I went home, including the taxi because the damned buses didn't run that late either. Four ***** hours each way.
Cost of my car? About $200/mo in gas plus $80 for insurance. And it took me an hour each way. The savings enabled me to do some cool stuff. Like get a cool place a few minutes' drive away from work.
A bike for the distance from Concord to Sunnyvale was not practical. I live about 15 miles from work now. Still too far.
He mentions Pursuit of Happyness as an example of persistence. In December of 2005 I was classified as homeless. I had about $12,000 coming in per year and it wasn't enough for a place to live. So what he says wouldn't work in all areas. I've pulled myself up and my rent now is $18,000/yr., reasonable for this area. I'd be impressed if someone could live on $24,000 in Silicon Valley, in my area of San Jose. - firepunk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10@Gizza
People live below their means in order to save. If you save properly when you are young you can live in style after you retire when you are old. So maybe you earn 30K a year but if you live like you earn 20K a year and sock that extra 10K away each year not only are you prepared for retirement, but you have a nice nest egg in case something really bad comes along. Who wants to live on cat food when they get old? not me. - undersky, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13Props for living the life that you choose and enjoy it, Cheers!
*HUG* - lilrabbit129, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12"Tip #2, disregard Tip #1, because it's totally possible to live very comfortably in So Cal on 12k and under. I did it for years and years until very recently. Even lived on the coast in OC"
What do you mean by living? - cuoops, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Eat Top Ramen noodles
- lilrabbit129, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10One thing people don't consider about debit cards is that they dont' always provide the same protections that a credit card does. The benefits such as double warranty, return protection and good old fashioned getting your money back from/disputing payments. On a debit card, once the money is taken away, its gone.
oops reponder above beat me to it. - postaboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11People make it out to seem like it's impossible to live under these conditions but it's not,
as long as you don't buy studpid *****. For instance i know alot of poor people who have
a 40inch plasma
a Sidekick w/ monthly serivce
new $100 dunks/shoes
new clothes
all the while living in a dinky 2 bedroom apartment with 3 kids
and they get mad at others, want to raise the minimum wage, becuse they cant "live properly".
Just spend within your limits and maybe we wouldn't have retards wanting to raise the minimum wage that could severly ***** up our economy. -
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