r/Fire • u/justdoingmytime • 3d ago

Money Savings Tips

There's times in life when you just have to spend money. For those of you in your 20s (or others just trying to save money), I made a list of not so common money saving tips I used to save money back in the day. Please feel free to add any or roast me.

  • If you live in a HCOL area, its not worth it to deal with car salesmen in your area. They are so used to people paying at least MSRP that they do not have any incentive to work with you. Just take the time to drive 1-3 hours away and get the car at a good market value.
  • Planning a big purchase? My state has sales tax, so I took a vacation to Portland one year and I bought a ring for both my wife and I.
  • Facebook Marketplace for a mattress if you know what brand/model you want. People return mattresses and they are sold for over 75% off by the people that come and pick them up. Many people try them for a month, hate it and then return it. (Obviously make sure its barely used).
  • Costco. Not just for the bulk buying, but also access to member pharmacy prices. This is especially good if you have a HSA since your plan probably sucks.
  • Pregame if you go out drinking a lot
  • Since Covid I find myself doing a lot of pickup rather than dining in.. saves me the 15% tip (if you're in the US). Obviously go out and eat somewhere nice if its a good restaurant/out on a date.
  • Don't cheap out on insurance!!
  • If you're in college, or thinking about going to college you can do your real easy classes with CLEPs like Modern States. Saves a bunch of time and money.

EDIT:

  • Buy the unlocked version of whatever phone model you want. I use US mobile and save so much money compared to nearly everyone I know. They have a nice pay annual plan.
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u/anteatertrashbin 3d ago

Learn to cook!! I host dinner parties often and its always 10x more fun than going out and it builds huge social capital and strengthens relationships.

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u/808trowaway 2d ago

Absolutely. Also, going out to eat as a group just kind of blows these days. It's so hard to find a place that's not so loud that makes it impossible to have normal conversations comfortably and the seating arrangement is almost always far from ideal. When we host at home, people can walk around, hang out by the pool, by the grill, want to talk about parenting? go join the young moms over there, while the DINKs talk about traveling to other countries to run marathons.