What are your "poor person" money life hacks?

return2ozma@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 305 points –

Let's get a list going. Like with a Target debit card you can get $40 cash back and it takes 1 to 2 days to be withdraw from your checking.

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If you have a Sam's or Costco in your area, you can get past the membership by using a gift card. You can also buy a gift card without a membership. Sometimes they're sticklers about it if you're there super early, because that's apparently "special members hour" or some shit, but the worst that happens is they tell you to leave.

If you can save up $15-20 for a 25lb sack of rice, it'll last about 100-150 meals, which means it's about 10-20¢ per meal. Just keep it in a plastic container to keep bugs out.

Get some cheap frozen vegetables and bulk, dried beans and you can eat pretty good for like a dollar per day.

Honestly it's kinda cruel that buying in bulk saves a ton of money, but the people that need it most can't afford to.

I'm not 100% convinced that buying in bulk at Costco saves significant amount of money. At least on staples anyway.

The best deals I've gotten at Costco were electronics. But things like chicken thighs ($1.39 / lbs at Costco vs $1.49 / lbs at the local grocery store)...I don't think it's worth the price.

I bought soap there for $2 or so less than at Walmart. I'm sure it all adds up but between the shitty parking and long lines, I've been debating giving up my Costco membership.

Be sure to compare unit cost, not just overall cost. Often times, the thing you buy at Walmart for $5 is less quantity/weight than the comparable thing you buy at Costco for $4.75.

Access to their gas pump alone will cover the cost of the membership if you drive.

pharmaceuticals are probably the most notable point of savings in-store.

They also sell a lot of expensive shit, so you definitely need to be selective.

But things like chicken thighs ($1.39 / lbs at Costco vs $1.49 / lbs at the local grocery store)…I don’t think it’s worth the price.

2 things:

  1. The chicken you get at Costco is probably a better quality, and generally you get more actual chicken per pound. Google "air chilled vs water chilled."
  2. Get the things there that make sense for you. We like calrose rice in this house for a lot of stuff, go through quite a lot of it. At costco, the gigantic bag is like $20 compared to a tiny little bag that is $10-$12 at the cheapest regular grocer.

Combine those factors and I think it's worth it. I have things that are "costco items." Bulk spices, rice and some grains, dog food and treats, chicken, paper towel and TP, plastic wrap, hot dogs, pretty much any cheese, laundry soap, frozen convenience foods (dino nuggets, kirkland pizza, eggos, etc) and even some produce. Anyway, I go maybe once a month, and I've done the math many times over and it more than pays for itself. I wish I lived closer, because there are some things that I would buy more frequently that are way cheaper usually - milk, eggs, salad mix, fruit, etc.

But yeah, this is a 6 person house, with 3 adults and two teenagers.

Oh, last thing. Buying quite a lot of things at Costco is basically like buying an extended warranty or insurance. If you're going to buy a TV, for example, and Costco sells something that's close, buy that one. The OEM is going to offer a 1 year warranty, Costco will take that return for much longer.

In my area, a rotisserie chicken is $10 now, but it's still $5 at Costco.

The thing is, "significant" in this case is subjective. I perfectly understand why it wouldn't be worth it for some people.

Costco meats are very good quality afaik so that might be why they seem similar prices, or meat is just not something you save on at costco. Buying cheese at costco is like 75% off & cereal is like 50% off. Pretty sure I could make a costco membership worth it with 1 visit of non-perishables.

You aren't entirely wrong. Most items at bulk clubs aren't cheaper than other stores, just bigger. There's generally a handful of items worth getting, and everything else should be avoided. Also Costco is usually more expensive, because they have random products that are organic, non-gmo, artisan things that cost more without good justification.

Costco's return policy and extended warranty also make it a much better place to buy higher price electronics

It really depends on what you buy. Some stuff is crazy cheap, others are pretty much the same price. If you're buying a single shirt from Sam's you're probably better off going to Walmart. Always check the per-unit price, and only buy what you're sure you will use. My favorite brand of yogurt is cheaper per unit than the great value brand at Walmart, and is almost 50% lower compared to buying it in packs of 4... But it takes up half a shelf in the fridge. But generally meat is just as expensive at Walmart/Kroger, often you can get it cheaper on sale at Walmart/Kroger than you can get at Sam's, and it's already in packages that you can just toss in a freezer.

Also, I don't know if Costco has it, but the Sam's app lets you scan and pay with your phone, so there's no lines for checkout or anything. That doesn't work to use the gift card trick though.

I live in an area with a Sams club a inconvenient distance away and no Costco, Sam's has been getting less and less worth bothering with, as the prices are getting less competitive, and the product quality degrading as Walmart's distribution takes its toll (don't even get me started on the shit quality of Walmart these days) plus dealing with large quantities of product when you have a small home can be very annoying. At this point I only buy soaps, toilet paper and baby wipes at Sams Club and that barely comes out ahead of the membership cost, and I've already had to stop buying one of the soaps because they switched to only selling a container that would simply be too inconvenient at home.

Aldi seems to have the real food savings, although my last trip I noticed the prices had crept up a little, they still beat Walmart and the local supermarket chain on prices by far

Tell you to leave? Not if there's a pharmacy inside! Non members are allowed to use their pharmacy and their food court.

I believe the pharmacy one is by law, too.

I think they get around this by having the pharmacy hours be a few hours offset from their actual business hours. My local Sam's opens at 8 for "plus" memberships and the pharmacy doesn't open until 10 when the poor normal members can start shopping.

This may no longer be true, but when I had my own Sam's membership it was cheaper to get the business club card than the regular you imply is for the poors. They did zero checking that the business even existed, you only had to list a business name.