What creative "legal" ways do you stretch your money to make it thru the month?

Question

I have already figured out Ramen noodles are CHEAP... what else do you do to make ends meet?

Answer 1

extension cord. haha

But seriously.... this is what I do. Well, at least with food.

I get a loaf of french bread or whatever else I want from the day old bakery outlet stores. Eggs are fairly cheap too. I make a bunch of French toast, put two or three in a ziplock bag and put them in the freezer. If I want some for lunch or breakfast, I put them in the toaster. They're inexpensive to make and delicious.

Rice is an inexpensive food to use. you can add veggies to it. What you can do is go to the store, get the stew meat (where it's little pieces ready to make beef stew) and divide that into three. Take part of it and freeze it for later in a ziplock bag. The 1/3 of the package, you can cut them into smaller pieces, season them a little bit, and cook them in a pan and when they are done, mix them with the rice and veggies (peppers, broccoli, water chestnuts, etc) and you have a big bowl of stuff for the week you can reheat for lunch or dinner. If red meat is not to your liking, try it with boneless skinless chicken breast. if you buy a package of it, put each breast in a zip lock bag and freeze for later on down the road. With one large breast you can go a long way (get your mind out of the gutter lol) dice it up into smaller pieces, put a little butter in the pan (or olive oil) and cook the chicken and then add it to the rice mixture. This is so you can get your protien in as well as your complex carbs and veggies. This too tastes great reheated.

I mentioned eggs already but they can come in handy. you can cook some veggies in a frying pan add two or three whipped eggs to the mixture, add cheese and you have a lovely breakfast.

pancakes are easy to make and you can buy small packages of pancake mix (where all you add is water) for like 33 cents at super walmart. This makes about 10-12 pancakes. Freeze or refrigerate what you have left over for another day. Cheap and easy to make.

I like to make Tuna and noodles. It's pretty easy. One box of elbow macaroni, cooked and drained. Add one can of drained tuna, one can of cream of mushroom soup and one can of cream of celery (or whatever combination you wish) and mix together. Add salt and pepper to taste. The kids love it. I would like it with a small amount of canned peas too. Just a thought.

I have a great recipe for egg/cheese bake if you are interested. :) let me know.

If I can think of more stuff I will let you know.

Answer 2

Put money into a managed fund, $400 dollars a month. They wait for the payment, so you are forced to save it. Anytime is a good time to start cause it is a Long Term investment (so generally over time you can double it every say around 7 years) and it compounds. So you could get a 30% return in say 4-6 months, if u pick a good one. $100 a week=$400 a month =$4800 a year =$24000 over five years and double this by compound following the rule =$48,000 not bad for 100 bucks a week. Theres always an excuse it will go down or won't work but at least youll have 24 grand. Internet accounts are good also 5% interest and cant get at on weekends, till Monday morning. Just dont ask for a card. Get a timer for your oil heater- I was living in a cold climate (Orange) last year and the timer reduced the bill by like $500 bucks for the quarter. From 900 to 300 and it was still snowing in November. Dont buy books on investment, you could have invested the money. If u do sell it on ebay when finished. Sell anything u dont need on ebay. Its cheap to sell and someone else benefits from something you dont need. If you have Cash pay you credit card off, this is the worst debt you can have.

Answer 3

Stay home. I don't every go out. Cook all meals at home. Only go to the store every two weeks (Yeah pay day). Wash clothes in cold water, water the lawn 3 times a week, turn all electronics off that are not in use and turn up the thermostat when I leave the house (will NOT scrimp on being cool). And am in constant look out for rich friends. If all this fails then left over Ramen Noodles are really not bad. . . . .gives time for the flavor to really seep into the noodles.

Answer 4

Yeah for Ramen...I could not keep the boys fed with out it. We also shop at the discount grocery store...no choices on brands there is only one kind of everything. Just today I put 4 used tires on the mini van and I love that old jalopy because most of the parts are readily available at the junk yard! Don't laugh...I can pull parts just like a guy!

Answer 5

Well I sell things on eBay. If I'm desperate for money fast, I put some of my popular items on sale with a Buy it Now price and Immediate Payment Required through PayPal. Then when people buy/pay, I can spend the money immediately on my PayPal debit card.

If things get really bad, I can run a sale on things I haven't made yet - this is taking orders - this is when I used to sew for money on eBay. Very stressful but effective. I did this with renaissance costume clothing. Deadlines kept giving me migraines - glad I'm not doing that anymore. I prefer to sell things that are ready to ship out! Better yet, things that people can buy and download instantly - no shipping involved!

Answer 6

I have recently reorganised my finances. My rented apartment is now rented by my boss and I have it a fringe: I get about £100/$200 extra a month.

I am currently doing an expense trail. what I use my money on. Starbucks, phone txt, sweets, lipsticks, stuff. Hate every minute of it.

i have a lot of store cupboard and I deplete it occasionally. God is it boring making bean salads when you want ice cream?

Answer 7

I always used to save all of my loose change in a can. It came in handy many, many times.
I used ammonia to clean everything(except my clothes). It's really cheap.
I used to get a lot of things like toiletries, at the everything's a dollar, store.
I lived off off ramen noodles, oatmeal, and potatoes.
I tried to walk places in order to save on gas for my car.
Turning off the lights as much as possible, to save on the electric bill.

Answer 8

...peanut butter and jelly, plan trips to the store, mix saw dust from the wood shop with clean cat litter to double the amount, coupons, sales, buy used when I can, I don't have ANY credit cards, cut my own hair, buy heating oil to fill the tank to the furnace in the summer when it's much cheaper, shut off lights when not in use, buy in bulk, I run an older car but keep it maintained, have only liability ins, on my car since I own it and don't have a loan on it...

I guess I could go on, but you get the idea

Answer 9

I cut down on shopping, going out all the time, on drinkies, helps that I dont smoke anymore and stop buying expensive things for my fish hobby every week.

Answer 10

Bring lunch from home. Eat less. Find local churches or food pantries to eat at or find food.