"They Could've Saved Thousands Of Dollars": 18 "Poor Hacks" People Swear By To Make Their Money Go Further
It's no secret that life has gotten more expensive for just about everyone.
Well, Reddit user u/ReindeerBest8970 asked for people to share their best "poor hacks" (life hacks for poor people). Here are some of the top-voted and best responses:
We also included comments from this Reddit thread.
1."Supercook.com has a recipe generator that will help you make good meals with whatever you have at home. Best thing ever. Went from boring basic meals to actual tasty meals."
2."Don’t heat space you don’t need. It was not unusual for us to stay mostly in one room during the really cold parts of winter. Just heat that room. If there are no doors, tack up blankets in the doorways to stop the airflow."
3."Pop an egg into your ramen. Simple, cheap, and improves the taste a lot."
"I don't use an egg, but I dress up ramen quite a bit. Shredded chicken, scallions, and crushed red peppers make it into a meal."
4."Rich people throw out amazing stuff. If you know someone with a truck, you can go around the wealthy areas on garbage day and get all sorts of furniture, appliances, and clothing. A little cleaning and maybe a few minor repairs, and you have lots of stuff to use or sell."
5."At Walmart or most grocery stores, you can buy a rotisserie chicken for wicked cheap. They're actually cheaper to purchase cooked instead of raw, and you can make several meals out of just the meat you scrape off the bones. I often make sandwiches or wraps, and it'll typically last for six meals, all for, like, $5! Then you get to use the carcass to make a stock!"
"Eliminate food waste. Things you'd normally throw away like vegetable peelings and bones can be turned into flavorful stock for future meals."
6."Make use of all social services available to you. All of them. You're poor; these services exist to help you get by and make things easier. Apply for them even if you're 100% sure you don't qualify as you never know how else they might be able to help you. If you have pets, find charities on Facebook that help provide food for pets of people with low income. I can't tell you how much stress this took off my shoulders, knowing I had enough kibble for my cats so they wouldn't starve, and I could buy my own food instead."
7."When soap runs out, fill the bottle up with water a little bit."
8."Get the cheapest old sewing machine you can find and hem and maintain your clothes. While lots of crappy clothes are super cheap, they fall apart after a few wears. When you can, buy decent clothes and take care of them. It will cost less in the long term."
9."Meal prep every Sunday for the whole week. And learn how to say no if someone asks you to do something you know will put you in financial stress."
"Oh, that last one. It sucks telling your friends that it isn't in your budget to eat out. However, the stress that would come from spending that money when you know you can't is so not worth it."
10."Stock up on napkins, sauces, utensils, and whatever you can while grabbing something off the value menu at whatever fast food you choose. Most employees don't care. I've never paid for red pepper flakes in my life, thanks to cheap pizza. Most of the freebies you can use with cheap, regular dinners like ramen or potatoes. And that sums up my 20s."
"Taco Bell sauce goes great with ramen."
11."Hot sauce is a simple investment to turn sad, bland food into sad, slightly less bland food."
12."Get a library card. Libraries are sanity savers when you're too broke for other entertainment. Also, get a local schedule of events and go out when something is free or very cheap. Keep yourself occupied even when you are struggling with money."
13."You can use vinegar, baking soda, or dish soap to clean almost everything. You don’t need to spend money on a bunch of specialty cleaning products. Also, don’t throw away torn/stained clothing or towels. These are your new cleaning rags. Now, you don’t need paper towels."
14."DON'T FREAKING SMOKE."
15."Buy the store-version (aka imitation brand version) of things. It's cheaper, and it works the exact same save for a few exceptions."
16."Before you pay to have something repaired, watch YouTube and see if you can fix it yourself. Try to borrow the tools to do the job. Clean the tools before returning them in a timely manner, and it’s more likely they’ll lend them to you again."
17."Never skip the discounted meat section of the grocery store. If it looks good and expires tomorrow or the next day, you can have good protein for half the shelf price."
18.And finally, "PLEASE tell your doctor if your medications are too expensive. My parents worked themselves to the bone, and we ate like crap to help pay for medicine for me and my sister. They never complained and just worked — my mom didn’t want anyone to know we were poor. There were cheaper alternatives! They could have saved thousands of dollars. I’m a family doctor now, and I make it a point to talk about medication costs and ask at all of my follow-ups if things are affordable."
"We don’t know what your copay is, and it’s not always easy to tell what will be covered on your plan. PLEASE let us know if something is too much; this is what we are here for!"
Do you have any "poor hacks" to share? Let me know in the comments below or in this anonymous Google form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
