How will you be saving money in 2025 and beyond?

‘Borrowing” toilet paper from starbucks

Those recipes seems too foo-foo for the Great Depression. My Italian family survived on beans, cornmeal mush (aka "polenta" -- my dad used to laugh his ass off when he saw how much trendy Italian restaurants charged for it!), dandelion greens harvested from the back yard, and more beans.

Hell, OP, you'll end up a fat whore if you use those recipes. That vinegar pie has 575 calories and 78 carbs per slice!

R3 If that's the only meal you eat all day (because it's the Depression Part II), you'll become svelte! During the Depression, people embraced carbs. You need energy for pounding the pavement looking for a job. It's only now that we sit on our asses all day that carbs have been vilified.

1. No eating out or take out, not even fast food 2. Consolidate laundry loads only by fabric color 3. Taking showers at the gym rather than at home 4. Streamlining my skin care regimen. Soap/moisturizer and sunscreen only.

I've lost so much money over the last few days -- I was too heavily invested in tech stocks -- I have lost any sense of how to manage my money/my budget. It's not enough just to stop eating out or canceling some of my steaming services. I'm totally lost as to how to basically rearrange my entire life.

Help me.

One less bell to answer, one less egg to fry....

Start licking bitches.

** Start line drying my laundry.

** Buy a small window unit for my bedroom and turn off the central HVAC at night.

** Buy some smart switches than can be controlled by voice

** Use my toaster oven, air fryer, and microwave oven more and gas range less.

** Cancel cable and seldom watched streaming services.

** Cook more at home and stop wasting food. Eat leftovers.

** Combine errands that require car trips.

** Round UP on my timesheets.

I won't be having any of those shit recipes, OP. They even manage to make rice pudding into something nasty.

I'm not making my own pickles. They're $3.00 for a large jar at Trader Joes.

Have a pantry full of canned beans, pasta, pesto, tomato sauce, Annie's organic mac and cheese boxes (I add frozen peas and chile peppers). Some items like the mac and cheese are three dollars a box in the grocery store and one dollar/box on Amazon for 12. Lots of baked potatoes. We don't eat out anymore, our town's restaurant scene is pathetic anyway. We cancelled xfinity when they took away our regional sports while raising prices to over $200/month. We just hook up a computer and steal anything we can't find on Netflix or Max.

Oh dear. We'll all be typing fat after eating those!

Oh, those recipes look yummy, OP!

I shall be saving my grease.

Beans, pasta, potatoes? I'm type 2 diabetic, a diet of those thingas would kill me.

Fish used to be cheap. It's no longer cheap.

Fish should be cheap, most of it is from China Vietnam and India, however it is infected so there's that.

It won't be cheap when the tariffs kick in

Meatless Monday, 7 days a week.

I have 50 extra pounds of fat I'll be surviving on! Goodbye weight!

I've already started cutting back on groceries and frivolous Amazon purchases. Cutting my premium cable channels is next. And I've been trying to save on electricity but turning lights off when not needed. What a world, what a world, what a world.

Facials instead of laser. Prada instead of Stefano Ricci. Barry's instead of Equinox. PV instead of Nice.

It will be tough but we'll manage.

1) Agreeing to bottom, so I can increase my income stream from escorting by going from five to seven hookups per week, 2) Adding the generally tedious "boyfriend experience" to my profile, so I can get dinner out of it now and again, and 3) No longer buying foreign-manufactured undergear fashion that will be subject to price increases from tariffs, with freeballing being a distinct possibility to save even more.

Red beans and rice, refried bean burritos, cold bean and pasta salad.

The anal explosions at my house will rival those at Ina's.

My new favorite drink is tap water 😐

[quote]I'm not making my own pickles. They're $3.00 for a large jar at Trader Joes.

I think you missed the point.

Fast food and non essential Amazon purchases go first, honestly cable can go next.

Restaurants are out

In less than two months, we went from a thriving economy towards recession—all so Trump can cut taxes for the wealthy:

End stage capitalism

I've been considering getting a second job: not sure where - maybe Target or Starbucks.

Last summer my friend took on a lot of multiyear debt to finally open a massage studio/wellness spa. If the above kind of thinking really spreads and sets in, he’s so doomed. Same with people who are trying to make it in the restaurant or cafe or hospitality or travel sectors.

It's all about my pork chop.

Only Fans.

Flash my pork chop.

Put requested items in my pork chop.

Finger my pork chop.

Spread my pork chop open wide for all and sundry.

Shave my pork chop if paid.

Its my fame and fortune

Its my hairy lil goldmine!

I've started making quick trips to the market every 2-3 days (instead of once a week) to buy fresh produce on a strictly "as-needed" basis (vs. what I think I'll consume over a week) to curb my waste. And also: to catch any great mark-downs in the meat section due to short expiration-dates.

I buy a lot of fresh chicken for my dogs' food. I periodically switch it up with Cod or ground turkey for variety, but chicken is their main protein source, so I'm always on the lookout for a great deal. Ralphs/Kroger already has a pretty good deal on Kroger-brand Drumstick value-packs --> $5.00 for 4.5 pounds of drumsticks. When I stopped by two days ago (to buy some salad fixins), a bunch of those drumstick packages had been marked down to $2.25 each (!) because they were going to expire today (April 5th). I grabbed six of them! I wasn't entirely sure that they'd all fit in my freezer, but at only 50 cents per pound, I was determined to re-organize my freezer to make that happen.

We line dry our laundry. We only do laundry before 4pm and after 9pm. We put small window AC’s in the bedrooms. We cook outside on the grill or smoker and inside in the toaster oven or air fryer. We eat at home much more. We are trying to get our solar up and running. We have a built in pool and bikes. I’m on Silver Sneakers so I can pretty much go to any gym I want. I go to the local library and parks. We no longer go to movies and watch on our streaming services. We have game nights.

In the earlier years of my retirement I used to jump in my van and go on road trips constantly. Oregon to Vermont, Louisiana, New Mexico, the Dakotas, Alaska.

Now, I sit at home and doomscroll. I’ve quit using a personal trainer and Door Dash, too. I dropped the subscriptions I needed to follow my NFL team but I’ll add those back when the season comes.

I’m sure there’s more that I could cut but I don’t want to overdo it unnecessarily. I still value Amazon Prime and Datalounge enough to keep paying.

Eating out is one of the biggest ways fools and their money are parted. It’s fine now and then (e.g. if you want to meet someone halfway between your place and theirs, to try some food you can’t make yourself, as a treat for date night) but people who eat out all the time, why not cook at home? So many eat out through laziness or because they’re bored in their relationship. Nothing to say to each other? Go out for dinner and hear the noise of other people around you. Too lazy to have gotten any groceries in? Go out for dinner and have someone charge you 3-4x the price for something you could have made yourself, etc.

That was a rant and I could have just replied ‘staying home and cooking in more’ but it’s DL so a rant is allowed right.

Not a flex, but I spent so much on buying food and drink going out several times per week, that i can just reduce that and buy normal non-poverty groceries and come out way ahead. So, not beans, but simply meat at home rather than out; drinks at home rather than out. And I'll still go out, but instead of 3-5 times per week, 1 or 2 times.

People won’t be “saving money”, but they will need to find cheaper alternatives to their regular purchases, which is really what tariffs are all about.

Not going to a bar or restaurant.

You'll be eating the doo-awwgs!

I've tried to be more mindful about what I buy at the grocery store - buy only what's on my list. I also pay for some ridiculous package for TCM, which I may have to jettison. I hate to do that because I find TCM comforting, but it's hard poverty level desperation

(1) Paying down debt and NOT taking on any more.

(2) Closely review all recurring monthly payments and retaining only those for basics (e.g., utilities, insurance, mortgage, car) and ditching the rest.

I am aiming to payoff credit cards, reviewing my insurance rates for car and house, and going on the budget billing plan for my gas and electricity. Also reviewing my cable and streaming subscriptions. I cancelled the Washington Post and Amazon Prime. I cancelled HBO. I still have Paramount Plus at $60 a year, Peacock, Hulu, Apple, and Netflix. Once The Last of Us, Gilded Age, and House of the Dragons drop all their episodes I will subscribe to HBO to binge them, t hen cancel it again. I am right now debating whether to dump Apple. It is not essential. I am also eating out less. Much less. Brunch twice a month with friends. As for entertaining, my friends and I are doing home based gatherings. Sometimes potluck, everyone bring something. And we have game nights. No clubbing. It works for us, since we're all in our 50's. The thing is We all have fixed costs. Mortgage/rent, car payments, utilities, insurance. Not a lot of disposable income. One thing we have to do is not just cut back, but try to save money. Saving money is important. Don't indulge yourself. My new motto is, "If you don't really really need it, don't buy it." That applies to clothes, food, entertainment, etc. It is surprising how fast those incidental expenses mount up.

[quote] I still have Paramount Plus at $60 a year

Walmart+ includes Paramount+ for free, and you can it for $99 regular price or $49 when there’s a special offer.

I noticed everything seemed to have gotten a lot more expensive about 10 months ago. I stopped going to bars after covid because it seems the prices were outrageous, even in my neighborhood queer bar. I don't live very extravagantly and I used to always have about $2,000 in my checking account. I'm far from living paycheck to paycheck, but I have to watch what I spend to get through the month (I save a few thousand a month automatically from my paycheck). It is going to get worse, for sure.

The Flashfood app is where it's at, bitches.

There is a soup kitchen in my neighborhood that will get me through.

- Datalounge Downer

I just got approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and now I have to spend $5000 in three months to get the 100k mile bonus, so I’ll save after that maybe.

r48, how much is the annual fee for that?

r49, $95. I have a Chase United card that I plan to end this year, so the Sapphire preferred card is what I am replacing it with.

Many libraries offer free subscriptions to Kanopy, which is a very good streaming service much like Criterion. Some also offer a streamer called Hoopla, which is more like an old video store with a lot of movies from the 1980s and 1990s. Again: free.

And one of the most pleasant pieces of tech out there is Libby, the e-book reader that allows you to download from most libraries. I reserve anything that looks remotely interesting and it's always a pleasure to open your tablet and have a notice that a book you'd completely forgotten about is ready for you.

THanks R51. I will check it out.

I will do nothing different than I usually do. I have always lived well below my means and do not plan on changing at this late stage of life.

Just cancelled my co-working space. Cut all streaming platforms except for DirectTV, which is expensive but my mom also uses it. We cook in 6 nights a week anyway but we're trying to make big batches of stuff that last a few days. I had two gym memberships - the Y and Crunch. Cut Crunch.

We're keeping our Saturday date night but trying to be more creative and cost-effective. We used to go big: Minetta Tavern, Red Hook Tavern, Odeon, etc. Now we stay in Brooklyn, go to Ginger's, the old lesbian bar that is suddenly hip again (for real) for cheap drinks then go somewhere inexpensive in the neighborhood. We found this little Mexican place that is pretty awesome and the drinks are strong.

Oh and we cut down our drinking. One night a week. That's it.

I'm with you R53. On a site that is so popular with gay men it's surprising there's so much hand wringing going on about an upcoming recession, the economy and the stock market. Friends, family, neighbors and coworkers who have children and mortgages aren't talking about making any lifestyle changes. I have no intention or need to make any changes.

I believe that within the next 18 months or less, we are going to see a real need to accumulate cash. So it's not a matter of whether or not you "need " to lower your so called standards, it's about preparing for the unknown. We are in uncharted territory now,, and it is not going to get easier. It is going to get harder. More restrictions, more problems.

[quote] On a site that is so popular with gay men it's surprising there's so much hand wringing going on about an upcoming recession, the economy and the stock market.

Like a lot of subject, this one presents the enticing opportunity to be over-the-top dramatic. People want to outperform each other. However, the replies are still mild. We’re nowhere near yet defcon five level drama.

One thing I always found really sexy about the Depression was the way they would boil and then eat leather shoes.

The biggest issues with soup kitchens is their décor and not being on DoorDash.

I have a plan to die.

I’m only going to buy expensive clothes when I need them, but that need is flexible and subject to change.

R8 S&H - Sperry & Hutchinson Trading Stamps 1896-1989

R15 Look for Banza low carb pasta made from Chickpeas.

Was paying $25 for monthly New York Times online subscription. Called to complain. Now $5. If you don't ask, you don't get.

A lot of these Great Depression recipes were promoted by Eleanor Roosevelt. She employed a horrible chef in the White House to passive aggressively punish her bon vivant husband. She had a taste for politics but was no gracious hostess. She foisted this lack of culinary taste on the nation through her widely read column. It took a while for America’s cuisine to recover from this phase.

stealing toilet paper

Weird about TP as I must have been traumatized by the Pandemic, but I have been throwing a six-pack roll of TP in my basket never thinking if I really need it. I now have TP for the next 5 years.

One good thing is that Food Cans are made in the US. All canned American food will avoid tariffs.

I LOVE creamed corn. No need to stock up.

I creamed my corn in the toilet.

No, I believe Ms Channing had kernel corn.

It may be time to join the coupon clipping crowd.

coupons for pricier name-brand stuff vs. no-name brands with no coupon? I've always preferred the latter.

I spent over $300 today at Macy's, but I saved a lot of money because it's the Lowest Prices of the Season. I went to the store today to see what I wanted and then ordered it online to take advantage of a Capital One money back offer.

R54, I'm such an Eldergay I remember Ginger's when it was Carrie Nation. Had many a memorable weekend there, lots of straights but it was considered a lesbian and gay bar. The story was that the then owner's 7 sons made it known that none of the patrons got mugged or harassed. I never heard of it happening to anyone going home, though the neighborhood was very rough back then. It was really one of the best bars I'd ever been to. Stayed friends I met there for decades.

Are there really this many people on Datalounge who are a paycheck away from poverty? It always seems to me to be the opposite, so many Dataloungers brag about having a million dollar IRA.

Im moving to Cabrini Greens next month...

I am saving up my monthly cash excess and putting money into Treasury Direct T-Bills.

Either I am protecting my cash from a Bank Failure or I am set to be moved to Trump's Magic Beans (Crypto).

Plus, Cabrini Green no longer exists, but poor whites may regret that in a Trump Economy where everyone who believes in Social Security is a fraudster. And everyone paying into it is participating in a Ponzi Scheme. Social Security is an INSURANCE program just as valid as every annuity that rich people have.

Microsoft is ending Windows 10, I am not upgradable to Win 11, so I accelerated my computer purchase and bought a Del Optiplex i9 with 64 RAM. I avoided any China tariffs on computers.

The computer I am on now will be converted to Linux Mint. You can teach old dogs new operating systems.

Any thoughts on Linux Mint?

my #1 problem is self discipline with my credit cards. I absolutely have to make sure I don't overspend. I have made rules for myself and I have managed to keep my balances down. Saying no to impulse buying or indulging myself is hard, but I have to do it.

Soylent Green

Didn't trump say computers and cell phones are exempt?

R77, I heard Mint is a decent enough starter Linux distribution but I can’t recall if I’ve ever dabbled with it. I seldom venture outside of Ubuntu (server) when dealing with Linux.

Did you mean to say that your new Dell Optiplex is going to have Mint installed, or will it be the old machine with Mint? Because any new Dell is going to come with Windows 11 unless there’s some rare use case that can be ordered up I’m unaware of.

I know the PC enthusiast community is peeved about MSFT ending support for Windows 10 prematurely and trying to push 11 onto everyone. I run a modified and debloated version of 11 on my media editor/workstation rig so in my case dealing with Windows 11 isn’t too bad.

Is Dell better or HP? I have always bought laptops with Intel chips, that is still good, right?

I'm gonna buy one soon

[quote]or will it be the old machine with Mint?

My HP, that can't be upgraded to Win Eleven, has an i5-4590T processor, and I upgraded to 64GB RAM.

[quote]Is Dell better or HP?

In researching my new Dell 7010 i9, I was finding that, currently, the Dell was a sliver more reliable than the HP counterparts as stated by user reviews. But only a sliver. I have owned both and have had good service from all of either.

I currently have an antique Dell XPS M1210, DUO CORE!, that I keep to hook up to the internet when I need to have two computers open. I will be updating Win 10 on it as long as MS will update it.

The only computer that left me wondering about my purchase was my one iBuyPower disaster. Some of its components did not recognize each other. Never again.

But it's Dell over HP by a smidgen.

I have no regrets cutting cable television. Bring my own lunch to work.

I eat leftovers or make enough to freeze for later.

Some of those recipes are not bad. Lidia Bastianich did the German potato cakes...Kaiserschmarrn. Navy Bean soup is delicious and hearty.

Cooking and freezing is a solid technique for saving money.

"Soylent Green"

Are you planning to be the product or the consumer? You could save money either way.