http://finance.yahoo.com/news/could-cut-spending-half-000000017.html
This article is for working folks who indulge in Starbucks and need work-class attire. I'm retired and I make it on my disability income (which is just Social Security and nothing more). But believe me, there are no $50 dinner/ movies for me or cable bills. It's Netflix all the way.
I've never done Starbucks, but Sam's Club's Mystic Chai is a very acceptable substitute. :-) One $7.98 can lasts me a month. I've been living on $100/month for food, but I'm moving into a closer-to-vegetarian lifestyle and will probably have to increase it. One of the ways I keep the food costs down is buying staples in 50-lb. sacks from the Mormon cannery. I get black beans (so lovely in southwest dishes), rice, oatmeal, potato flakes, powdered milk, freeze dried or dehydrated fruits and vegetables, etc.
Traditionally, the Mormon canneries are open to non-Mormons, but if things get tough that could change, IMO. That's why I stock up as much as I can in the now. Here's a price list to give you an idea of prices and what's available. Family%20Home%20Storage%20Center.pdf The best and cheapest cuisine I've found (that I like) is Mexican. So, pick up a Mexican cookbook.
I've been shopping thrift stores since my kids were little. Back then, it was why pay for new clothes for the kids when they look thrift-store-new after the first time they wear them? Now that I'm not working a 9-5, I don't need fancier clothes, so I shop the thrifts for myself. The only thing I buy new is underwear, for obvious reasons, and occasionally, shoes. The thing to do is shop a thrift near a college. Go during the week before school lets out and you can score some really nice stuff. You can also find appliances, housewares, and all kinds of miscellaneous stuff. I bought a perfectly good TV (old school, yes, but works perfect) for $9 at a thrift store near Virginia Tech. I scored a multi-function printer/copier/fax/scanner for $15 with a box of ink, at the same place. A medical exam stool (for my piano since the bench was killing me) for $5. Artwork... you can find almost anything. You just have to go frequently because good stuff sells fast.
And, because it helps people live, the government is doing its damnedst to make resale illegal. See http://www.marketwatch.com/story/your-right-to-resell-your-own-stuff-is-in-peril-2012-10-04.
Replies
Talked to a lawyer about it?
I hope they do not make resale illegal, as there goes a lot of eBay's business and ways for those people who have lost jobs to be able to put food on the table.
Oh yes, there are areas where it is needed in my life to cut spending, however for example, the other half can't let go of all the TV channels he gets on dish network and there are other areas that need working on like selling and buying a smaller farmette which would cut our mortgage in half but since we have bankruptcy under our belt, no bank in their right mind would loan us money to downsize nor would anyone rent to us due to our ruined credit scores thanks to the crash of the economy which destroyed our business. So we barely make ends meet, if at all as we are always late on bills as the mortgage we have comes first. It is just a shame Fannie Mae could not give us a 2 or 3% loan like they have with other people. I do not understand why they would not work with us.