Cheap solutions to everyday problems.

No whining. I make about 1/3 what I made two years ago. My crappy apartment costs almost double what my 3 bedroom + 1000 sq ft shop cost per month. Although temporary, this situation got me thinking, how do I economize? Yes, potatoes and rice are great on the food front, but I'm specifically talking about things related to our hobby. Tough times are potentially ahead, so, If you've got a cheap way to solve a problem, lets hear it. I'll begin;

-Hand cleaner. Just add used coffee grounds to dishwashing liquid. Works a treat.

-Glass cleaner. Tap water and ammonia is as good as windex for pennies on the dollar. 

I've heard of toothpaste or OFF to clean composite headlights, but have no real first hand experience. So, What you got?

My grandmother passed along a depression meal. Pasta Fagioli.  

1 LB elbow noodles cooked   

2 cans Great Northern beans, drained

Cook and chop into small pieces one strip of bacon.  Grill onions, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano.  

Mix one can of tomato paste and a bunch of water with the above.   Cook like a soup.  Add more water.  

Cut bread loaf and enjoy.  Doctor as needed.  Fills up empty bellies.  

Cheap vodka + lavendar in a spray bottle = air freshener.

Crushed ice + table salt = dog dish or coffee pot scrubber.

In reply to wheelsmithy :

I use sugar and dish soap mix for greasy hands.

I actually like ramen, oatmeal, eggs, mac&cheese, beans, rice and cabbage.  All affordable, so that works out for me.  Cook in bulk and freeze/fridge.  You can freeze rice batches and its quite good microwaved.

You can clean grease off your hands/arms with basically any kind of oil, even used cooking oil will work. Toothpaste does work as a mild abrasive if its all you have handy.  Not particularly cheap per ounce though.

Natural gas, water and electric frugalness can save some money.  Bundle up instead of running heat.  Pack your fridge to the brim with food or whatever.  Chunks of metal or rocks even.  It saves electricity.  See sink urinal thread for water saving tips.  :P  

Drive 50mph in teh slow lane on hwy. Don't wash your car, ever.

Only take a bath or shower once a week, save water that way.

Discontinued tires.  I bought nine 195/55 15's for ministock from my suppliers, anywhere from $30 each to about $55 each.  Various ages, various manufacturers, but what the hell, plus my tire distributors like that I cleaned up their warehouses.

An aside, to the food portion of the post: Potatoes and rice, yes.  Add turkey bought during the various holiday seasons frozen- I picked up a 11 pounder for $9.00 before easter, cooked it, ate, cut half of it apart and froze it, ate the other half in hot turkey sandwiches, cold sandwiches and turkey pie for the rest of the week, boiled the carcass and froze the broth, and threw out a pound or two a week after I cooked it because, Holy Berk, there is only so much turkey one man can eat...  But I ate for a week for about $15.00.

 I actually determine my next weeks menu by the sale flyers on Thursday.  Last week was prime rib at $4.95cdn per pound.  Mmmm.

Find someone selling the 5 gallon buckets of laundry soap for a fundraiser. That alone saves us 100 dollars a year. Pasta with different cheap sauces makes a great meal that's filling for fairly cheap. I use old shirts cut up for garage rags. Pay attention to sales flyers, we buy boneless skinless chicken breast in bulk anytime it's on sale.

Totally Awesome spray cleaner. Cheap to buy. I use it to clean everything except glass. Toilet, counters, sinks, carpet cleaner, lightly soiled car parts, hand cleaner etc. 

I've been making something I named goop for years. One cup of brown rice, two cups water. While it's cooking, add some veggies. Dense stuff like carrots or broccoli stems go in the pot right away. 

Cauliflower about 15 or 20 minutes along. Onions, minced garlic at any point in the process. Soft stuff like squash right near the end. Mushrooms add too much water, so I add canned ones at the end. 

After a while, you get a feel for how long each ingredient needs to steam on top of the rice. When it's done, you then add a can of cream of mushroom soup, or some broth, canned beans, canned field peas and snaps, etc.

Can also add canned salmon, tuna or chicken, etc. Mix any leftovers in if you want. 

Season with some Kikkoman soy sauce, really pulls it together. 

The second night, I like to roll it up in a tortilla with a bunch of cheese. Another option is to take the whole thing and turn it into a soup by pouring a bottle of V8 juice into the pot. 

I love to cook, and a lot of my cooking is what I call "serial leftovers".

My kids love goop, and it's the easiest way to get them to eat vegetables. 

Turn your hobby into an income rather than an expense. Part out cheap cars on eBay. OK, kind of impossible from an apartment. Sorry, I got nothing.

I taught myself to build custom fishing rods. Probably built about 300 at least. Helped to pay for my own tackle. 

Fill up at Costco.

Cheap dino oil changed every 5k is cheaper than synthetic changed every 7k.

Get quick at using the coin-op.

If it's not safety-related or a consumable, buy it at the junkyard.

Driving less than your yearly mileage limit for insurance? Call them up for a lower rate.

Chances are that for most cars a windshield will be cheaper than your deductible. Might as well save some money there.

ATF/Acetone mix instead of PB B'Laster.

Learn how to safely hypermile.

Free internet at you local library.

Free DVDs at your local library.

I buy my gasoline at a 20% discount. Once a month, Publix sells $50 gas cards for $40. You can buy one for every $50 in groceries you buy, Friday through Sunday. 

We stock up that week. 

If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down. 

Cuts down on the water bill. 

But that's not hobby related. 

In reply to DrBoost :

thats disgusting

TurboFocus said:

In reply to DrBoost :

thats disgusting

Only if you have pets in the house.

OHSCrifle said:

Cheap vodka + lavendar in a spray bottle = air freshener.

 

Crushed ice + table salt = dog dish or coffee pot scrubber.

Cheap vodka+ ice cubes= forget about the position you've found yourself in. 

Make friends with your local restaurant supplier. I can't tell you the last time I paid more than a buck a pound for meat that wasnt filet. When our stuff goes to date, its gets frozen and sold at a discount. I walked out of here a couple weeks ago with 60lbs of pork loin for 32$ for the entire case. Filet comes to me as whole tenderloins and I get them at like 4$ a pound. 

In that vein- if you can swing it, get a part time gig. Not for the money, but for the discounts. I've had multiple jobs for YEARS and one of them always had hook ups. Even if the discount at target is only 10%, you take that 10%, get that target debit so it just comes out of your checkbook, stack the discount from that, on top of the employee, bag a 10$ gift card when you spend 50 bucks in groceries, it gets cheap, fast. 

wheelsmithy said:

Yes, potatoes and rice are great on the food front...

Actually, they are all starch and not so good for you.  Beans have protein and carbs in one handy package.  Peanut butter, also.

I use the Gasbuddy app to find the cheapest gasoline.  Keep your tires aired up.

A 12" section of 4"X4" ripped diagonal makes a great set of wheel chocks.

Four small sheets of stainless steel from the leftovers pile plus a drop of used motor oil make great turn plates.  Some 2X12s and a ridiculous amount of work with a hand saw and you can make ramps for your scales for $30.

Toe plates and string can let you save on alignments.

I've bought a lot of closeout tires from TireRack and saved a bunch.  Just call and ask what's discounted.  If it's not a race car or the wife's car, it only needs to be black and round, not fancy.

For organization I collect Amazon shipping boxes of the same size so they stack nice.

When I was changing oil very frequently I bought filters by the case from NAPA and saved a decent amount.  My NAPA guy let me have an "account" so I get 10% everything.

Harbor Freight and Northern Tool!

Cut your cable; get Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Prime, etc. In laws pay $100+/mo just for their cable. Wife pays $11/mo for Netflix and Hulu (Free with Sprint) while I pay $100/year for Prime. Also think about changing your service provider for cell phones. T-Mobile has gotten better. Sprint is good, too. T-mobile offers Netflix for free with their service while Sprint offers Hulu for free. Should still be good for current customers, as well.

Cut junk food out of your diet. Soda, chips, candy, etc etc. Don't bother going out for fast food or restuarants, either. Dates now and again are obviously fine.

Depending on what you do for work and if you like coffee, only drink coffee while at work if they provide it. Saves me $3.50+ every work day. On the weekends, I just don't drink coffee.

Learn to cook in bulk. Leftovers from dinner is great. Cooking a week's worth of lunch say on Sunday is even better.

Lastly, my preferred option...if you don't like where you work/what you get paid, change jobs. If I hate my job and/or don't care for what I make, I skip the 1-3% raise and go for the 10%+ with the new job. I do understand that it's always easier said than done, situations are different, etc etc, but it's what I've always done.

All not car related but money savers/makers nonetheless.

ALSO, if you have any debt that would be nice to get rid of sooner than later, I'd start putting all hobby money towards it.

I've found fire a useful solution with virtually no cost to me, but perhaps your everyday problems are different from mine.

I get regular discounts on gas from my local grocery shop.   Next fill up will be 30 cents per gallon, about 3 dollars on the Fiesta.

 Turn off appliances,  TV, computers etc. when not being used.   Turn off the lights when you leave the room.

 Save water as mentioned.

All the cheapo depot tips are fine and good and will probably help you trim 10% off your bottom line, but honestly, the best way to "save money" is to make more money.  Thats gonna involve a career change, and it may suck for a while, but you will make bank. 

Assuming since you post here and like cars and such you are at least reasonably handy.  Quit whatever you are doing and get into the trades.  There is no excuse for someone who is remotely competent in the trades to not bring home $60-80k a year.   Sure, its long hours, and its not cushy desk work, and you may have to work some nights and weekends, but demand is only going up.  

We are tripping over ourselves to hire field service/ installers for for large industrial machines mainly installed in foundries.  Pass a drug test?  Clean driving record?  No felonies?  Harder to find than you think.