When the going gets tough!

Biggins wrote: »

(I can see takeaways, taxi's and entertainment venues being effected more so)

I can't really remember what those things are ^:rolleyes:

Nothing left for me to cut back on... unless I actually stop paying the utility bills or the mortgage...

I already have cut back loads..

I buy the special offers...about to go out of date food and freeze it..
You can save a fortune on food this way.

Czechoslovakian sex slaves, €100 per half hour!!

I've already had to cut down to just one hour a week, when will this government cop on.

People need their peccadilloes for Christ sake.

Yes, I'm aware of the events of 1993 thanks very much, but these particular ladies are not

I intend on doing the following from now on:

- not buying lotto tickets or scratchcards...must spend 5 euro a week on average between these ie. some weeks I'll spend 10 or 15 and then quit for 2 or 3 weeks! Returns are generally very little. So I'd save about 200 quid a year at least by giving these up.

- never buying a newspaper. Reading news on the internet instead. I'd say I'd save about 70 quid a year if I do this.

- never going to the pub (haven't went in ages anyway) and splitting a cheap crate of drink with a friend or two (eg. the previous 24 stella for 15 euro in tesco)
- never taking a coat or jacket out to a nightclub (2 euro a go = about 30 plus euro a year)
- never giving anything to the guy working in the jacks
- never buying any girls drinks in a nightclub unless they're my friend and its 3 quid a drink (max)
- watching the ground at the bar for loose money that people dropped on the ground while drunk (have found fivers, tenners and twenties before and when I'm pissed I will most likely keep them!)
- making sure that I get a bus into town to head out if possible and that I share a taxi home with the maximum number of people.


- saving up dublin bus refunds from when I have no small change. Probably amount to about 25 quid over the course of a year which equates to my share of the esb bill for 2 months.

- Avoiding going to the cinema and downloading or streaming stuff instead. Probably save about 80 quid in a year doing this!

- using webtexts wherever possible to avoid having to spend 20 quid to get "free-texts". I'd guess I could save a good 100 quid from webtexts over the course of a year.

- no fizzy drinks, only tap water and maybe miwadi. Would save probably 6 to 8 quid a week doing this. So about 400 quid a year...wow! :eek:

- keeping takeaways to once a month max instead of about 5 times a month(approximately 120 a year on takeaways instead of about 600, minus of course the cost of making a dinner for those 48 days a year where you would otherwise have eaten a takeaway..still probably saving a net 150 or so)

Also...only getting pizza when splitting 2 for the price of 1 with at least 2 others, so you can use economies of scale to beat the rule that pizza is always more expensive than other take-away foods. Good for the health obviously to cut that crap food out and the money saved can be spent on buying good quality fresh meat.


- Buying lunch in a deli - I'd probably buy a roll from a deli about once a week so I'm going to knock that on the head and make my own lunch on that day as per usual. At an average of one a week, say 40 weeks a year, thats about 40 x 4 = 160 euro.....take away cost of making a lunch of fruit and 2 decent sandwiches (about a 1.50 daily?) = 100 saved.

Also, I don't have sky, but if I did I'd get rid of it and just keep broadband...sure anything you want to watch can be found on the internet somewhere. And the internet really is a more necessary thing, although if you're on the absolute breadline then you should get rid of it.

Just skimming through the list above and I could save well over 1200 a year just making small changes. Ya just have to live within your means as much as possible and you'll be grand.

th3 s1aught3r wrote: »

Neither of which anyone would consider 'essentials'
I feel more for people who are facing a winter with the threat of having their ESB cut off

Well, to be fair, there are knock-down effects when people stop eating out and buying new clothes, etc...people in restaurants and shops lose their jobs or have their hours cut because business is slow...and so they spend less money...and the downward spiral continued.

I rarely eat out anymore, buy food when it is on sale, and if I have to go somewhere that is less than an hour's walk away, I walk instead of taking public transport. I only buy one newspaper a day instead of two, and I've only bought clothes to replace items that are falling apart - and only if the clothes are on sale. I've also moved out of my studio into a shared apartment to save on rent and utilities.

Also, because little things tend to add up over time, I take out cash once a week, and put my credit and debit cards away. I'm pretty strict about it: if I'm out of money for the week, I'm out of money. And if I have a surplus at the end of the week, I can roll it over, and 'splurge' a bit the following week. This forces me to think twice about buying a coffee here, or buying a magazine there; that kind of stuff really adds up.

I'm completely anal brushing my teeth the last couple of months ,the fear of root canal treatment has my teeth super clean.

When the going gets tough. The people get going.