3 ms·

I am sorry, I don't agree with this at all. I have never had a car, I have never had a problem with laundromats, and I have never bought bulk amounts of food to

I am sorry, I don't agree with this at all. I have never had a car, I have never had a problem with laundromats, and I have never bought bulk amounts of food to store in a freezer. For almost a year, I didn't even have a fridge. These are not the reasons that people are poor, and they did not keep me poor. These DO NOT make it harder or more expensive to live. Most people I know do the washing once a week, whether they have a laundry or not. I can not conceive of a way in which washing ever day can make your life better or richer. Catching the bus actually makes things cheaper for you, no need for parking, insurance, gas, cars, etc... And bulk buying meat is not going to save you that much. There are a lot better things you can do for your diet that will save you money, and improve your health.

nradov 16y ago
And did you do all with a couple of small children?
Retric 16y ago
You seem to live cheaply so your best option is to probably find a higher paying job (or create one). Much of this advice if for people you make a lot but don't spend it well. Anyway, buying a large freezer can quickly pay for it's self if you have extra floor space. They are extremely energy efficient and can make it cost effective to travel to bulk stores like Costco occasionally and save significant amounts of money and time. Also you can store more than just meat in there, bread and other dry goods last far longer in a freezer.
william-newman 16y ago
When I was in high school, I travelled by city bus while holding two different ultra-low-end programming jobs. I think you are underrepresenting the advantages of having a car. If I expected to be earning and living on less than perhaps $12 an hour for an extended period of time, I would probably choose to go without a car, likely by moving someplace like Dallas TX (where I live now, and where the local wages vs. cost of living seem reasonably favorable) and renting an apartment very close to a bus line on a major suburban business artery. Judging from my high school experience, from many observations of foreigners living off their science grad school stipends, and from everything I've noticed in my years in Dallas, that'd work reasonably well. But doing without a car would constrain my life in important ways (including job options, education options, and general time efficiency) and I'd be very motivated to find economical ways to reduce the problem, e.g. sharing a car, or getting (and probably learning to maintain) an economical motorcycle.
pbhjpbhj 16y ago
>Catching the bus actually makes things cheaper for you, no need for parking, insurance, gas, cars, etc... Where do you live? Here the standard bus fare is £1.3 per journey. Travel to work alone would set us back at least 900 per year (I think more); though you can get about 1 journey in 30 free if you buy a season ticket (cashflow - argh!). Then there's weekly shopping trips - it's actually 2 journeys to our nearest supermarket as the bus routes aren't good, makes it cheaper to order delivery. I've walked carrying backpacks and baby before but it's a very big hill on the way back. We have to run a large car for work; wholesale stockists, deliveries, trips to venues all with equipment and materials. Given this basic cost is already in place then there is no way that we can make using the bus cheaper than the marginal cost of an additional car journey. Same goes for trains. Internal flights with budget airlines can be cheaper than driving. Even without having to run a car already it's quite a close call wrt buses - we had no car for a year, then got a scooter for a year (cheaper than buses and more versatile), then a van, now we have a family ... After our last car died and before we got a loan (family, yay!) through for the next car we took a trip out for a special meal by bus. It would have been 2 journeys ( it was 1.20 then, 6*1.20 = 7.20) but we walked the 30mins into town with our 4yo; journey time 2 hours to our nearest Frankie & Benny's. Of course I had to carry the lad most of the way home afterwards. Buses often annoy me as they whizz past me almost empty on my walk home (which follows the bus route) taunting me to spend the value of tomorrow's lunch.

nradov 16y ago

And did you do all with a couple of small children?

Retric 16y ago

You seem to live cheaply so your best option is to probably find a higher paying job (or create one). Much of this advice if for people you make a lot but don't spend it well. Anyway, buying a large freezer can quickly pay for it's self if you have extra floor space. They are extremely energy efficient and can make it cost effective to travel to bulk stores like Costco occasionally and save significant amounts of money and time. Also you can store more than just meat in there, bread and other dry goods last far longer in a freezer.

william-newman 16y ago

When I was in high school, I travelled by city bus while holding two different ultra-low-end programming jobs. I think you are underrepresenting the advantages of having a car. If I expected to be earning and living on less than perhaps $12 an hour for an extended period of time, I would probably choose to go without a car, likely by moving someplace like Dallas TX (where I live now, and where the local wages vs. cost of living seem reasonably favorable) and renting an apartment very close to a bus line on a major suburban business artery. Judging from my high school experience, from many observations of foreigners living off their science grad school stipends, and from everything I've noticed in my years in Dallas, that'd work reasonably well. But doing without a car would constrain my life in important ways (including job options, education options, and general time efficiency) and I'd be very motivated to find economical ways to reduce the problem, e.g. sharing a car, or getting (and probably learning to maintain) an economical motorcycle.

pbhjpbhj 16y ago

>Catching the bus actually makes things cheaper for you, no need for parking, insurance, gas, cars, etc... Where do you live? Here the standard bus fare is £1.3 per journey. Travel to work alone would set us back at least 900 per year (I think more); though you can get about 1 journey in 30 free if you buy a season ticket (cashflow - argh!). Then there's weekly shopping trips - it's actually 2 journeys to our nearest supermarket as the bus routes aren't good, makes it cheaper to order delivery. I've walked carrying backpacks and baby before but it's a very big hill on the way back. We have to run a large car for work; wholesale stockists, deliveries, trips to venues all with equipment and materials. Given this basic cost is already in place then there is no way that we can make using the bus cheaper than the marginal cost of an additional car journey. Same goes for trains. Internal flights with budget airlines can be cheaper than driving. Even without having to run a car already it's quite a close call wrt buses - we had no car for a year, then got a scooter for a year (cheaper than buses and more versatile), then a van, now we have a family ... After our last car died and before we got a loan (family, yay!) through for the next car we took a trip out for a special meal by bus. It would have been 2 journeys ( it was 1.20 then, 6*1.20 = 7.20) but we walked the 30mins into town with our 4yo; journey time 2 hours to our nearest Frankie & Benny's. Of course I had to carry the lad most of the way home afterwards. Buses often annoy me as they whizz past me almost empty on my walk home (which follows the bus route) taunting me to spend the value of tomorrow's lunch.