210 thoughts on “16 Ways To Save More Money”

1. Excellent self improvement article. I stopped using shampoo about 4 months ago and I’m not going back. For those who want to pursue their education without dropping a wad of cash, go to coursera.org. They provide free courses from universities all over. Don’t think you get any official certificate but you will get the knowledge.
   I’ve actually just started using a credit card for the cash back perks, but I have the money in the bank to pay it off each month and I only use it on necessities I was going to purchase anyways like groceries.
   Now about that house mortgage….that’s an area that still needs work.

   1. With regards to the mortgage, if you can, refinance to a shorter term and lower rate and consolidate all debts into this lower rate. Pay extra into principle and have a plan on when this will be paid in full. Stay disciplined in your plan. Add more to principle if you can swing it to accelerate the pay off date.
      One way to keep motivated in paying off the debt is to look at the interest you’re paying each month. That should be a wake up call right there.

      1. We’ve already refinanced and used our tax return to pay off quite a few grand in bills. My wife and I have decided 2016 is the year we really knuckle down and start chipping away our debts. Going to be harder for her than me since I’m content living on a minimalist lifestyle.

   2. Well, fuck it, I’m gonna have to toss the shampoo then. Seems like a lot of guys have discovered that it’s BS.
      My dad doesn’t use deodorant. He also doesn’t stink or really smell bad and works outdoors all the time. I’m starting to think a lot of this shit we put on our bodies is bad for us.

      1. research vaccine injury and vaccine side effects, some of the most toxic things we consume are put inside our body!

      2. I dropped shampoo two years ago and I’ve never had better feeling hair. I’ve also switched to baking soda as my deodorant and stopped using soap unless I’m actually cleaning off something disgusting. For regular cleaning just scrub all over with a shower cloth.
         Shockingly, our bodies did not evolve to be dependent on an assortment of manufactured goods to survive. Fancy that!

         1. I am going to move in this direction. Also, baking soda is amazing stuff! My dad uses it for toothpaste, although the taste is a little odd and it has a different, kind of gritty feeling in your mouth, but works well. How do you apply baking soda to your armpits?

         2. I keep a 4oz tupperware container of baking soda in the bathroom. After a shower, wet your fingers under the tap then pick up a pinch of it. Rub it around on your fingers until it turns to paste (sometimes need to add a bit more water from the tap) and then rub it on your armpits.
            A word of warning: When I started doing this it irritated my skin. A week or two in and it stopped having any negative effect. Also when it’s wet it’s easy to get it on your clothes. It doesn’t stain, but it leaves you with a line of white dust on your shirt that people will comment on. To avoid that I usually wait 10 minutes or so before getting dressed to let it dry out a bit.

         3. Gotcha. I have stopped using the “aluminum” based deodorants. An older coworker who has now passed pointed out to me that they cause “hard pits” — the crusty hardness that develops on the clothing of your armpit–I especially noticed this on all my undershirts. The only reason I haven’t gone full baking soda is I understand it’s a deodorant, but not an anti-perspirant, and I don’t like the sweaty, wet feeling of armpit sweat. Although it’s pretty unnatural to clog and force your skin cells to stop sweating, which is what anti-perspirants do.

   3. I use shampoo only if I get dirty from the factory I operate, but that’s only when I get in intimate contact with the refractory wool blankets. Those fibres don’t come out any other way!

2. So is Roosh still not washing his hair?

3. I love people who doesn´t buy properties and thinks that is a scam.Please, live on a rent for your entire live it´s the best thing you can do…i can say only, thanks for making me richer every day.

   1. Heard a story about a property investor who sought out a space a year ago. It was a fixer-upper but only really required the kitchen to be modernized and a few walls layered and insulated. The space was originally 400k. A year later, Google moves in nearby. The property of everything in the area doubles, including the loft. Now worth a healthy 800k, the owner sells and walks off into the sunset. How long does it take to earn 400k again? Not counting taxes, average investment options, income levels, and cost of living expenses.

      1. If you look into the numbers its probably a lot less than $400000 profit.
         And of course house prices never go down, right?

         1. Cost to sell, yeah, there is a net loss. But there should be at worse a net gain of at least 100k, which is still sizable enough to try and flip that investment into something else. The main draw was the luck of having Google become the next door neighbors.

   2. they didn’t understand that the tip is to buy properties and put people in there, not living in.

      1. You should go contrary opinion with the corporate matrix, if it says buy a property then rent, now they say rent then you have to buy.

4. Very good article overall, but number 10 (Get Off The Screen) is hardly working against saving more money.
   Quite the contrary, downloading movies, music, tv shows, (or porn for that matter) for free off of torrent sites will save you a boatload of money over time rather than getting off your ass and repeatedly purchasing physical copies of those things or frequently going to the movie theater (unless it’s a date or big social occasion).

   1. I read #10 as use your mind and time in a more proactive manner. When you “watch” you are in the act of consuming. Read, write, think, talk to your other, play games and you will find your frame of mind much swayed away from consumming shit on a screen created by someone else to get your money or soul.

      1. Correct. Many people still go to the movies, go watch sports, pay for Netflix and music, etc. They drain both money and time.

         1. I only have Netflix but usually only watch it while doing something else. I’m one of those guys that needs something going on in the background while I work. Agree that most people spend WAY too much on entertainment though. I know some people that have cable, Netflix, Hulu, and go to the movies a couple times per month. Talk about a lot of money going down the toilet for the exact same activity.

   2. just get Apple TV and set up a network..

      1. One thing that I got for Christmas that I really like is Google Chromecast. It hooks into your TV and you can play anything from your iPhone. I’ll usually stick on a YouTube or Netflix video while working around the house. The Chromecast doesn’t charge a monthly subscription or anything so it’s nice in that regard.

         1. now we have hulu, netflex, or amazon prime. You can select want you want to see and not to see.

5. I’d add: get rid of pets, cable TV, bodybuilding supplements, health foods, and high-maintenance women.

   1. press magazines too. always the same recurring shit, isn’t worth the money spent

   2. I’m slowly dwindling down my pets. We started with 3 dogs. One has since died and I’m adamant about not replacing her. I already told my wife I don’t want anymore pets until the current batch run their course.
      Planning on growing a lot of veggies this spring as well.

      1. My take on animals: if you can’t eat it, dump it. Unless it’s a big dog that will watch your back.

         1. One is a lab mix, so pretty big. The other is a miniature schnauzer. I normally shy away from smaller breeds, but mini schnauzers are pretty damn manly…I mean c’mon! They even have an epic beard.

         2. They look like everyone’s grumpy old neighbor who tells you to get the fuck off his lawn.
            And speaking of German breeds (seriously, what’s up with Germans and their awesome dog breeds?) if there was one small breed I would keep, it would definitely a Dachshund. Fierce little bastards.

         3. Nah, no grumpy old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn has a beard like this. I’ve never been a fan of the Dachshund.
            From what I’ve been told, Germans have a propensity towards efficiency so it may have influenced the types of dogs they bred. I don’t know enough about the 2 breeds we’re discussing to make any kind of speculation. I like to think the Germans were sitting around one day and said, “You know what? We need a dog that looks like he should be smoking a pipe. Brilliant!”

         4. Believe it or not, we did have a neighbor that looked just like that. In fact, he looked like the love child of a Schnauzer and Rasputin. Nobody ever came close to his house because apparently the guy harvested children’s organs, or that’s how the rumor went. And he was one of the few persons in our neighborhood with a decent lawn, so he got pissed anytime someone stepped on it. But yes, gotta love the Germans and their way of making a good animal even better. Better than the French and their poodles anyways.

         5. My favorite joke about poodles was on NCIS: LA…someone said, “Ah yes….Poodles. France’s pitbulls.” Love France, but that was funny.

         6. As a Poodle, I find that extremely offensive.

         7. Hah, as I was typing this I was thinking to myself “Wonder if Monsieur de Charette will stumble across this comment?”

         8. My neighbour has those dogs, got bitten twice by them. They are aggressive little twats

         9. Obviously you have never seen a standard poodle. They are classed in dog shows as a working breed, and are large, emotionally stable, and good with kids. A typical one is about waist high or higher on me and I am 6’2″. They screwed up the breed, as they did many others, when they minaturized them to be lady’s lap dogs.
            They were created to be water retrievers. The hair cut was to minimize the amount of water absorbed in their fur while keeping their joints warm. It was all practicallity and business.

         10. My dog rounds up my sheep which I graciously eat

      2. I’m waiting for the day Monsanto shoves thru congress that we can no longer grow our own vegetables…thats when we know the dark ages are almost nigh.

         1. Chief, unfortunately, this is already the case, these laws are already on the books, it’s just not time for them yet.
            There have been a few oldies arrested already of growing in their front yards.
            Check Out Codex Alimentarius, anything not grown by a corp will be classified a neurotoxin.
            

      3. My family is doing this now. I care for my elderly mother an we have one dog left. We might take my sister’s elderly dog in to make sure he’s cared for properly.
         Beyond that not another animal. Maybe if we buy property in the country a dog to watch the property would be nice. Beyond that no more pets.

      4. “Grow your own food” should be on this list. However it is harder to have a yard to do this if you’re renting.

   3. I always poke fun at owners of exotic animals like pythons. Besides the legal, personal, and environmental risks that these animals possess, they’re just plain boring. If they’re not suffocating tiny little bunny rabbits, they just sit there. And it’s not their fault. That’s how nature made them. Definitely not worth the cost. And horses, meh, they’re good for stew.

      1. Wherever you see someone who owns a horse you see someone who is broke, usually to the point of being homeless, from owning a horse.
         I don’t get the appeal.

   4. health foods are not a waste of money. An organic tomato has more nutrients than five non-organic tomatoes.
      Agreed for the rest. A guard dog isn’t a waste either. Ditch the chihuahua

      1. At five-time the cost.

      2. Is it because the tomatoes are organically grown, or just that they are better raised and not franken-farmed, generally? I’m skeptical of a lot of the “organic” crowd claims – a lot of it reeks of marketing hype.

   5. >>pets,
      Dogs are your alarm system, and your most loyal soldier in a fight.

      1. I’m a cat person myself but if you plan to live ‘away from it all’, a dog and gun are almost necessities (definitely the gun)

         1. You can have both (cat and dog), as I do. If you live away from it all mice are going to be a problem and cats the most natural solution.

   6. Pets are perfectly fine, once you can afford them.
      There’s being frugal, and then there’s being a tightwad. I couldn’t imagine going through life without a dog by my side. It’s not like the wife is going to go chase down the ducks I shoot. God knows I’ve tried to get her to do that, but, well…

      1. People should be making kids not adopting animals.

         1. Agreed, Pets are good as part of a family once a men decides to settle down but I dislike the USA culture of pet worship…

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   7. cats keep the mice away. plus, well, cats are awesome. if you’re not manly enough to recognize that, i pity you.

      1. You can even train your cat. Mine gives his paw, stands up and jumps on my shoulder from the ground (when there is chicken at stake).
         The ideal is to have both a cat and a dog.

         1. that’s awesome.

      2. Most cats are kept in ways counter to their nature. My sister moved to a cabin near a lake and was irritated by the volume of varmints she had to deal with. She got a Siamese cat from the same litter as my father did. She never fed the cat. It lived or died on its own hunting. When it matured it was one mean, badass cat, and solid muscle. It tore up the German Sheppard next door (not that close) on a regular basis. It took good care of the mice and even the larger rats, muskrats, squirrels, and some larger critters. The only problem from my sister’s perspective was that the cat also killed all the birds that came anywhere near. Meanwhile, my father had his declawed and kept it indoors. The cat was fat, lazy, and good for nothing; just like American women.

   8. I agree with this, though would change to “cut back on pets”, and would add:
      If it is something of a long term investment such as a sidearm, work equipment (like a tractor), tools (e.g.: Craftsman), a good razor, etc., then buy quality, even if it costs a little more the reliability and maintenance is an overall cost-savings.

      1. Cheap tools always cost more than quality tools in the long run.

   9. I have a broadcast TV antenna and I am perfectly happy with it. It have a cable modem for internet so I can watch what i want on Netflix if I absolutely need to see something.

6. You can buy a barbell set and rack for $200. I did it. Simple.
   As for renting vs buying a house: Pay $8000 per year in rent is a lot better than paying it (mainly interest to a bank) on a house. At the end you still have responsibility for a house, extra costs, and the principle to pay.
   As for paying the landlord— he gets your rent and pays 50% in taxes as its income. Its not as sweet of a deal as it looks.

   1. My landlord covers homeowners association fees, taxes, etc. I just live in an apartment for a rent lower than the avg mortgage/sq foot of any condo or house in the area.
      Life is good.

   2. I’m torn on the rack. I have one at my house, but rarely use it opting for bodyweight exercises and martial arts instead. I might start using it again for squats, but that’s about it.
      I’ve been playing with the idea of creating a weighted sandbag out of an old army duffle bag to lift/throw/carry. To each their own…I’m a variety is the spice of life kind of guy so I typically flit from one exercise style to the other.

7. This is very important to mention.
   In case you were wondering, the economy along with the banks are about to collapse once again, except this time, it is going to be worse. Due to the public outrage of the “too big to fail” banks being bailed out by the tax payers, this time the banks will be “bailed in” meaning that the savers and depositors will be liable to pay for the damage. Here is proof:
   United Kingdom:
   https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/bail-in-powers-implementation-including-draft-secondary-legislation/bail-in-powers-implementation
   http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/quarterlybulletin/2015/q302.pdf
   United States:
   Frank Dodd Act: Title II
   I have mentioned this before but it is worth bringing up again.
   As I write this, we are living in very uncertain times. The shape of the economy in conjunction with everything else happening in our world, has led us, as a civilization to a point in which the remainder of our future is in a questionable state. The truth of the matter is I don’t know what exactly the future holds. However, with that being said, I can be certain of the fact that it does not look good but rather bleak.
   We all know and have heard about the conspiracy theories that we hear from time to time. But rather than delving into that realm entirely, I would rather pick out certain coins from the conspiracy well, which are unfortunately, coming to fruition and proving to be true. The gravity of the current circumstances in which we find ourselves in, is turning to a point of financial disaster. In fact, some of this is already happening and taking place in many different countries around the world:
   -Negative interest rates.
   -Bail ins.
   -Abolishing of cash.
   -Confiscation of gold, silver and precious metals.
   When reading all of this, without a shadow of a doubt it would make you angry and question the legality of these actions that will take place across the world. But I assure you that from studying all of the relevant legislation that have already been put in place and ready to be fully implemented when the time comes, you will have no choice but to cooperate. Remember Cyprus? Many countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, have already put some of these measures into place and it will not be long before they come into full swing here in the Western developed nations such as America, Canada and Great Britain. So as an individual, it makes you wonder, what is the point of living then? Why bother getting up from bed and even going to work, if all of my hard earned money, is simply going to be stolen by the banks? Whether or not this was all planned and engineered the real question is what can you do about it?
   And the answer is simple- nothing. You cannot change the outcome of the economy. But what you can do, is to change the outcome of your perspective on life. It is only natural that we as men, look towards building money as this provides us with a meaningful purpose in life. It has been the engine of our fundamental existence for a long time. But as I have said, the future is very uncertain. However, with that being said, I suggest that we as men change our focus. Rather than fixating our life’s purpose on acquiring capital, we should instead focus it on a more important commodity and one which is commonly overlooked. It is called time. Time is the most important commodity that we as human beings, have in this world. From the day that we are born, we have all been stamped with an expiry date. We do not know when this expiry date is going to occur but what we do know is that it is indeed
   going to happen.
   Therefore, rather than treating money as a form of commerce, one should learn to find an alternative form of currency and one which is out of the hands of any form of regulation. That form of commerce is time. When you come to this epiphany, this eventual realisation can be felt like a baptism on fire. It allows us to come to some form of rebirth while at the same time, allow us as individuals to feel reinvigorated and redefined with a better purpose in our life. Now, I’m not saying for you to go “YOLO” and waste all of your money. On the contrary. In fact, this is what the banks want us to do in a desperate attempt to stimulate our failing economy. No, what I am saying is to refocus your priorities in life and to come to the simple understanding that our lives will be coming to an end. Money should really be considered as a means to an end. Therefore, abandon all of the false lessons and principles about what it means to have a so called “fulfilling” life which you were inoculated and
   indoctrinated with throughout the education system, and instead, create your
   own end goals.
   What these goals may be, is entirely your prerogative. But make sure that they help to fulfil the remainder of your lifespan. For some, reading and acquiring new knowledge on different areas of life such as philosophy and science can be this goal. For others, it can be travelling the world, learning a skillset or spending more time with loved ones and friends. But whatever that goal maybe, it is definitely more fulfilling, more accomplishing and enriching than acquiring money ever was. Even as a misanthropist, I have made it my personal mission in life to ensure that I undertake some of these examples which I have given, as my life goals and to remind myself on an everyday basis, that this life will come to an end. Therefore, with all of this being said, I hope that readers will find some comfort and encouragement in what I have said because no matter how much bad news we are hearing on a regular basis, this should not stop you from living your life. The world has been burning down since the very inception and creation of it. But that should only help to serve you with a reminder that life is indeed short, which in turn, should encourage you to go out and live your life to the fullest.

8. 13 is an interesting point. I’d like to see RoK approved male dressing articles on here. I wager fashion is not a concept most of us are very knowledgable in; at least, I am not.

   1. I would suggest visiting ironandtweed.com. Nate discusses fitness and style. Highly recommend his page.

      1. Or http://www.wellbuiltstyle.com

         1. Thanks for the link. I’ll look into it….knave!

   2. You don’t need to follow the latest fashion trend like a faggot. Men’s classic style hasn’t changed much for decades. Be confident in yourself and dress accordingly.

      1. Well to be fair to Marcus, he didn’t say the “latest” fashion. I’m with you that the classic style looks best on most men. Most of the effeminate hipster style is cringe worthy, at best, downright pathetic at worst.

      2. here’s a fashion tip : don’t shove shower curtain rings in your earlobes. You think that shit is gonna impress anyone at a job interview?

   3. One piece of advice: don’t shy away from thrift stores and yard sales. About 10 years ago I was doing roofing at Minot AFB, North Dakota. We hit the base thrift store one day. I managed to find me a nice Nautica jacket that was probably worth $100 retail. How much did I pay for it? $10. To this day I still wear it.

   4. I’d say just buying clothing that fits properly, a nice belt, and matching shoes will put you miles ahead of most guys.
      I never realized how terrible my xl dress shirts and baggy khakis looked until I starting lifting again and bought the correct sized dress pants and slim fitting button up and polo shirts.
      Hell just throwing away my xl t-shirts and buying larges that are slightly snug has made a huge difference.

9. 17. Avoid the high maintenance women

   1. Guilty as charged.

10. You can get a gym membership super cheap these days and i’d say that’s in keeping with spending money on health and strength.
    Unless you are seriously out of shape, old or injured, bodyweight excersise doesn’t cut it. you need to be lifting weights.
    The best way to save money is to be really smart, and not a woman. Smart people get a bigger rush from making money than spending it, and tend to have greater requirement for intellectual stimulation than the material and earthly pleasures.
    The weak and the stupid want to have things. The smart and strong want to BE and DO things.

    1. I dunno, there’s plenty of prisoners denied access to proper gyms (and have shitty diets) who still manage to stay in insane physical condition.

11. 17. Drive Uber around the rich part of your town. 18. Only sleep with rich milfs, while their husbands is out for a business trip. I mean you dropped him off at the airport, anyways.

12. Sound solid advice. Also check out Dave Ramsey and his 7 Baby steps.

13. I pay $10 a month for my gym and it has everything I need, so I don’t consider it a waste. If you want to put another item on your list, it’s the state lottery. Talk about throwing away your money, especially with some states selling $50 scratch tickets.

    1. Considering how ironic it is that they’re going after fantasy sites FanDuel and DraftKings for considering it gambling, state lotteries are a big racket in themselves.

       1. No argument there; I live in California and I really wish they’d shut the damn lottery down. I’m all for freedom of choice, but I really fucking hate the lottery. Though it does serve a noble role in funding education and other public programs.

          1. And even then, I hear some states like Michigan have squandered lottery earning on who knows what while schools start breaking down.

14. I understand the rationale but I still worry about men ditching college. An educational underclass is unlikely to win the day. Allowing for fact many may be better off going into a trade etc for the rest the point should be about being discriminating in choosing how one educates oneself. The danger of indebtedness should however be considered very carefully

    1. Unless it’s a STEM field you can get an equivalent or better education for the price of a library card.

       1. Certainly focus on STEM. But beyond that what you get through self study may not buy you access to jobs or institutions. Lot of crap degrees that will get you little more than a mcjob but you could overestimate the extent to which that is the case

15. You can also add learning to fix things on your own. Home appliances and cars are pretty easy of you’re handy. The internet provides useful information on how to and save money on parts if they need to be replaced.

    1. I’ve seen a resurgence of shaming men for not having basic DIY skills in the form of memes. Raises my hopes that we might see a return of masculine values.

       1. Outside of changing a tyres or an oil change, try fixing the engines on modern cars/trucks…..the manufacturers make sure you have to go back to them to get a service…..

          1. Yeah, I don’t like newer cars. No space under the hood to work. My first car was a ’78 Plymouth Volare with holes rusted clear through it. I got a crash course in using bondo, priming, sanding, and painting, working on the carburetor, and replacing the alternator, on top of the basics (tires/brake pads/oil/etc).

          2. Actually they’re not as awful as you’d think. I grew up gutting old cars from the ’40’s through the ’70’s (the car model year, not me being 80 years old, heh), and yeah, they were easier. I’ve talked to some modern mechanics and they’ve told me that the computer work is really not that big of a deal, most of the time you’re just monitoring for a voltage level and that’s it (1.7 volts I think?)

          3. Agree. A lot of the times, it’s emission stuff. Get a good OBDII scanner and multimeter. Use the internet to help you diagnose the issue. Chances are someone had the exact same problem you have and posted a YouTube video how to fix it.
             Shop OEM parts from a car dealership outside your state. Dealership parts departments have online pricing much lower than retail. Take that quote and go to your local dealer and have them match it or come close. That way, you get the part you need right away and you could return/exchange if there’s anything wrong with it.

          4. Exactly. The OBDII and associated electronics combined with what information is available nowadays takes a lot of the guesswork out of your average repair.

       2. I would approve of that IF, and this is a big IF, there was a coinciding movement shaming women for not being feminine.
          “Men, if your “woman” can’t cook a fabulous meal, keep in shape and not curse like a sailor…..
          You’re actually sleeping with a man…”

          1. Baby steps. If we can get more REAL men, the women will naturally want to adopt the feminine role. If that doesn’t work, then we pull out phase 2.

          2. Nice try….almost any car built after 2000 is so filled with computers and circuits that you need to be a software engineer not to FUBAR the thing by poking around. I rented a car a few years back and spent 10 minutes trying to find where the ignition was on the steering wheel…I finally got the desk agent to show me the BUTTON you press to turn on the car!

          3. And what, pray, is “phase 2”?

          4. It’s pretty strange, no doubt. But I don’t think it’s as bad as you think. Look at mechanics in a shop and tell me that they’re software engineers? Nah, they aren’t. You just need a couple of specialized tools that I can’t be arsed to purchase.
             My motorcycle on the other hand I’ll strip down to individual molecules and reassemble, if it gets cold and boring enough in winter.

          5. Live eels and duct tape.

          6. It’s not as intimidating as it seems, but you do need to do your research before you tinker. Plenty of good vehicle specific forums out there for information.

          7. One doesn’t have to be able to fix anything, and even if machines were at their simplest that would still be pretty involved.
             But every guy should be able to fix most anything around a house that requires basic tools, and even a basic remodel of a small room should not be outside of a man’s abilities.

          8. I remember fondly my first car, a Chevy Biscayne. It was a straight 6, three on the tree, AM radio only, no A/C, and no seat belts (none of the cars made in the US had them at that time). You opened the hood and you could sit on the wheel wells and dangle your feet down the inside of the engine compartment. I did almost everything to that car myself. In those days you needed to do a bunch of maintenance, and quite often. Changing spark plugs, setting the distributor point’s gap, and rebuilding the carburetor were common events. Nowadays these things are once every thirty thousand miles, if then. When I got my new 1990 Lincoln Towncar I asked about the maintenance schedule and they told me to bring it in at 100,000 miles whether it needed it or not.
             I do agree about the beauty of motorcycle maintenance.
             I owned several bikes before I had my major accident (damn four wheel female idiot driver, but I repeat myself) and stopped riding, as I had children for which I was responsible. Anyway, I can truthfully state that I have never bought a motorcycle that was in working condition when I got it. Working on the bike is half the fun.

          9. I don’t have any eels handy, will duct tape alone be sufficient?

          10. The maintenance schedule on new cars is insane isn’t it? Not complaining, but it does take a lot of incentive out of “do it yourself” when you don’t need to twist a wrench but once every ten years or so (oil/tires/filters excluded).
              I’m with you the motorcycle man. Such a simple machine unmuddied by so many accessories when it comes to the basic engine. A V-Twin is maybe the most ideal engine to learn on, in my estimate. That so many riders are Corporate Sponsor Riders that don’t do their own maintenance is a damned shame. In my circles if your bike hasn’t been broken down in your garage at least once in the winter, you just aren’t a serious rider.

       3. Not being able to do engine work isn’t fair depending on the vehicle’s make & model.
          That being said I just bought my first mechanics tool set so I can start doing basic work on my own. My brother and grandmother will need their starters replaced this summer.

    2. Adding on to your point, what you can’t fix, like, say, a head gasket in a car engine, at least do your research, so you don’t get stiffed by a shady mechanic.

16. “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” –Epictetus
    Ain’t that the truth!

17. 17. Avoid women.

18. Never, ever buy on credit because it will be repossessed if you land in a hot shit and can’t make the payments. Also, you will pay consierably more if you buy on credit.
    Also, make your own meals and that will be healthier, cheaper and allows you to save money if you pack a lunchbox.
    ETC ETC…. I don’t like spending money because I have to work hard to make the same amount again.

    1. One thing that really changed the way I view finances is I estimate how long it takes me to earn the money to pay for the item in question. That meal at the restaurant would cost me 4 hours of my life…nope, fuck that.

       1. See how easy it is.

       2. If your hours are worth more $$$, then the equation can work the other way. It may be cheaper to pay someone else to make lunch for you…

19. Always save money. Always. Make it your top priority when you budget.

    1. Some of the best advice I heard from my senior year in college (not that I needed it, but the rest did) was to live within your means and save FIRST. Professor pointed out that you are all probably living on $10k a year or less right now, which of course was true. Whatever the dorms cost plus our meal plan was well under $1,000 a month.
       He said remember this minimal living style and postpone any major purchase for a year. Most people easily move up to spend any disposable amount of income. IE if you get a $30,000 a year job, you will quickly move up to a $30,000 a year lifestyle, when EVERYONE is getting by fine on a $10k a year lifestyle now.
       He also said to postpone any major purchases by a year and save that money. Instead of buying a car, wait one year and buy it later, you will have saved ( up to $20k in this example), plus that money can compound if you save and invest it.

20. All very good points however I would disagree with the sentiment that owning a house is a scam. The real scam is a mortgage. You don’t own the property if you have a mortgage, the bank owns it until you pay them off. Mortgages have artificially inflated all property values due to them being available to every moron willing to buy something on a 30 year note with an obscene interest fee, all for instant gratification.
    Owning property free and clear can be very rewarding. Treat the purchase just like you would with the other things mentioned in this list, cash up front, do not buy it on credit, and keep it simple. Paying rent is an expensive recurring cost with zero return in investment on the property IMO, except for maybe being able to walk away without much repercussions. You are also at the mercy of a landlord should he decide to do something with the property that is not to your liking. Rent is seemingly an expensive cost to have a temporary roof over your head.
    If your goal is to save money and eventually own a place, then if you have no choice but to rent, do it small. You are paying for a shelter, not an extravagant night club to entertain guests. Again, K.I.S.S. principles.
    It may seem daunting and could take years of saving up in order to accomplish a property purchase, however it can be done. One could always start small, buy an acreage somewhere, build a little cabin on it, move in and improve it over time or build another dwelling while living in the cabin. Or conversely pick up a fixer upper for a few thousand, fix it and live in it or turn it and use the profit to invest in your next purchase.
    In the end you might have something to leave your next of kin, or even a place for them to build on while you are still alive. A mortgage just leaves a debt if you die before it’s paid off, renting is neutral and leaves nothing (which is fine), owning a place even if small leaves something however.

21. Aged 45 I live at home with my parents despite being worth over half a million dollars. Makes getting western women almost impossible, but I save a huge amount of money; money that allows me to work or not work as I please, and make occasional flights to the Philippines for sun, women, diving, and relaxation.

22. Get married, every study has shown one of the largest factors of long term financial stability is marriage, but good luck finding a spouse in this relationship market who won’t clean you out in divorce court. If you can make it stick with a woman you trust, it’s worth it.

    1. You cannot trust any woman. There is always an incentive for her to take you to the cleaners.

    2. There are simple steps to this.
       Trusts – when you buy a house put it in a land trust when you buy it. Kids, set up trusts for them. So if the wife leaves you can dump part of your money into these so she can’t walk with it and this makes a safe location for portions of child support money.
       Retirement/Banks accounts – never have anyone’s name on your retirement account beyond being a beneficiary to allow quick possession in the even of your death. You have a joint account and your own personal account, same goes for her. As mentioned above you only add names as beneficiaries. The bulk of your direct deposit goes into your private account and part into the joint for living expenses. Don’t play games with your money or accounts if a divorce is looming, judges do not like that.
       Precious metals – buy silver coins/ingots whenever you have some spare money and put them in a safe that’s located in a trusted place. Junk copper and brass are also good but worth as much if you don’t have the storage room or time to collect. Platinum and Palladium are better large scale long term investments for stability.
       Obviously a prenup should be first and foremost. That’s a different discussion.

       1. Great advice.

    3. Get married – with an airtight prenup.

23. I am glad I own my home

24. The question of whether own a home can’t really be addressed in one paragraph. I understand the sentiment of this article. But keep in mind that investing in real estate is one of the few ways to get rich. For most everybody reading this article, it’s either that or owning your own business that employs a number of employees.
    I have gone the route of real estate and don’t regret it. But yes, it does tie me down to a certain extent. It’s also allowing me to retire (at least semi-retire) at 47 rather than in my 60s.

    1. Yeah, I personally am with you but I think the homeownership question can go either way. It can be a good financial decision, but only if you put a good bit of money down and stay in the same house for a decade or more. Otherwise, I’d advise renting. And if you are young, rent, because you want to be free and flexible, and plus your income changes and in a year or two, you can likely afford a much nicer place. Very easy to “rent” up to a better apartment.
       I have friends who get these 2% down mortgages, and they think they are homeowners, but they are really just “renting” from the bank, along with being responsible for taxes, insurance, and maintenance. When they sell they have little to no equity.

       1. What’s the APR on that 2% down mortgage? Just saying they got a “2% mortgage” doesn’t make it an inherently bad thing – but yes, the most likely answer is that it is a bad thing.
          The other option to consider is to buy and live in the home initially (this gets you best possible mortgage terms) then leave after a year and rent it out. I’m probably following the late-night infomercial get-quick-rich plan, but it’s working for me. Buy a home, get a max mortgage (just short of hitting PMI), live there a year, then rinse and repeat. If values are increasing, it’s possible to get a mortgage plus heloc for the full purchase price of the home, which effectively means you’ve got zero of your own dollars into it. That way you can put your money into another property. If things tank, I walk away and the bank repos. If values start falling, just stop buying. I’m not even doing this for the immediate month-to-month return, I’m doing this to have renters paying down the principal on the loans. 10 years from now I’ll just refinance the properties to get cash out of them via the refi. Nothing illegal or immoral about it, just leveraging compounding value plus the principal paydown.
          If ROK ever wants a more in-depth article on doing this, I’ll be happy to contribute. I cashed out every penny of my 401k (and paid the penalties to do so) to go down this route. I don’t regret it. If housing values fall 10, 20, 0r 30%, I still won’t regret it.

          1. I’m not even talking about the interest rate. Regardless of the interest rate, due to the way that loan balances decline, if you have a miniscule portion of equity and huge amount of debt on a property, your debt balance will barely decline in the first few periods. Look at a loan balance graph.
             http://dsearls.org/courses/M120Concepts/ClassNotes/Finance/Loans2b.gif
             The slope is almost horizontal at the beginning.
             So if you only put down 2%, it’s so meaningless I don’t know why there is a down payment requirement at all. Here’s a scenario: $100,000 house, put 2% down, live in it for 5 years, sell it, assume it appreciates at 2% a year (this is really just inflation, and not a real *gain*), 5% interest rate, and you pay 6% sales commission:
             Purchase: $2,000 down, $98,000 financed
             Sell in 5 years for $110,400, less commissions of $6,600 or $103,800
             Loan balance is $89,900. So you walk away with $103,800-89,900 or $13,900
             In the meantime, you’ve paid $23,900 in interest to a bank. The bank earned the vast majority of the profits (implying you’d be better off in the lending business, as another poster here alluded to).
             And this is as good as it’s ever gonna get. You’re LUCKY to get appreciation right now, many properties have remained flat for the past 5 years. You’re LUCKY to get subsidized below market interest rates. These numbers get WAY WAY worse if interest rates return to free market levels, which eventually they must. Also, if an A/C unit or roof needed replacing during that 5 year period, those profits could vanish quickly.
             If you put down a good bit (I always recommend 20%) and stay for more than 5 years (or keep the house and rent it, although this probably violates the terms of your mortgage), then it can work, but the scenario you pointed out is not a model for a national housing plan.

          2. Agreed on everything you’ve written and it’s something that people need to understand. What I am doing is in now way shape or form healthy for the housing market overall. It’s simply a case of looking at risk, reward, and what the other potential opportunities are for investment. Your purchase/sell scenario has to be compared to other options (i.e. renting) and what profits/losses are the result of each scenario.

       2. Homeowner here, and can definitely tell you that homeownership is the best choice ever. If you’re spending 1/4-1/3 of your monthly after-tax income versus investing 1/4-1/3 of your monthly after-tax income, the choice is clear.
          Do your research, don’t overpay. Know the area. Know “what’s up and coming”, etc.

25. #6 happens to be something I did very recently.
    I canceled that expensive gym membership and now I have the gym at HOME. The only things I got: Bar Fix and Bench Press, among a few other equipments.
    Not only does this save me money, but I’m also more motivated to workout daily. My #1 excuse was always: I’m too lazy to GO to the gym.
    Well, now the gym is only 5 seconds away. 🙂

26. I see a lot of anti home purchasing advice these days. Renting may be the way to go for a lot of people, but there are some really good aspects to buying if you do it right.
    I have friends who have done this on my advise and it worked well. This is a great plan if you are in your 20’s
    1) Buy a 3/2 home for about $230,00 in a decent but improving area.
    2) Buy it completely renovated or flipped so there is no deferred maintenance or big repair costs in the near future.
    3) Your mortgage will be about $1300/mo
    4) Your friends are paying $1100 – $2000/mo for 1 bed apartments in the same city
    5) Rent one or two of the extra bedrooms out for $500/mo
    6) Deduct your interest and prop taxes and get a bigger refund/ pay less taxes
    7) Bought right, the property should appreciate on avg at least 3%/yr which is $6,900/yr at the start
    8) You’ll also be paying off $3,600/yr in principal and that amount will increase every year
    Your effective rent is $300/mo. Your equity increases by $10,000 plus per year and that amount increases every year.
    You get about $11,000 in tax deductions. The standard deduction is $4000. That means you get $7000 in extra deductions. If you are in the 25% tax bracket ($37k – $90k) that means $1750 in saved taxes/increased refund.
    If you want to travel for a bit, keep your place and still have your roommates pay most of your mortgage.
    Lose your job? Well, where are you going to get a place for less than $300/mo anyways? Only paying $300/mo you should have been able to save a nice chuck of change for a rainy day like that. Worse case, move in with mom and rent your room / rent the whole house / sell the house.
    If you don’t like the house or city anymore, you can sell it or rent it out and keep it as an investment. In my area a house like that would rent for $1600 – $1800/mo. That’s shooting for around break even cash flow once you factor in vacancy and management and repairs and maintenance. It still can be a good move to hold if the house is appreciating. Plus rents will go up over time if its the right area and eventually it will yield a positive cash flow. (Hold it till it’s paid off and you have a cash cow, plus if it appreciates 3%/year you’ll have a paid off $558k house in 30 years)
    If you like the house and get too old for roommates, get rid of them and have the house all to yourself. You’ll still be paying less than your friends who are renting 1 bedroom apartments, especially as rents keep going up.
    If done right, home ownership can give you a lot of flexibility and be a huge financial plus. If done wrong it can be a burden that sucks all your free cash / free time in maintenance / and can keep you from life goals like moving cities or travelling.
    As far as buying right, that depends on the macro environment and what’s going on in your area. Is your area growing in jobs and population? If not, it may not be a good place to buy.
    As far as trends – millennials are staying closer into and re-populating cities – stay away from suburbs especially those with lots of baby boomers and older. That age cohort will be selling to downsize and selling due to death faster that people will be wanting to buy in those areas.
    As far as global Macro, we are heading into some really weird interest rate environments. Rates are at historic lows, but market structures are keeping them from raising because a rise would tank the world economy. If the whole world economy blows, you’re screwed whether you are renting or owning. If interest rates stay low or get even lower you’ll do well to own.

    1. Well said. There are always areas were property bubbles occur, but most of the young today are not marrying or starting families as ealry, so they will need less space. After seeing what happened in 2008 I was wary of investing in the markets.. the adjustment thats coming is going to be catastrophic… and bought property. Like you said, the location needs to be near an area of econmic growth if you are looking to maintain or increase value, but I simply like the security that it’s mine no matter what Comes. I could stay, rent or sell at my leisure.

    2. Couldn’t agree more with this. Amazing analysis. Most important thing is to do your research on the area, or talk to someone who knows.

27. I know it’s not the most hardcore exercise out there, but walking around the neighborhood is still a decent way to stay decently fit. Way cheaper than the gym anyways.

28. Anyone here succeeded in creating a passive income? Im about to be debt free very soon and started thinking of becoming financially free. Dont know how yet, but thats my goal.

    1. I’ve been playing with the idea of creating a chain of CD’s that are reinvested after they mature and loop the cycle to the point where I have 1+ maturing every week, but the interest rates are so low that it’s not worth the time and effort.

       1. Ha, pre-recession, it was as much as 5%, I remember.

          1. Yeah, now the best rates that my bank offers is 0.75%. I thought it was a joke…who would tie up a grand for an entire year just to get a couple bucks in interest?

          2. You’re better off just buying a solid stock that pay dividends. You can get 3% or more depending on the stock. Plus you get the price appreciation if it grows. They could also increase dividend payout. I owned Phillip Morris back in the day and it has branched, spun off othet divisions and so on. It was my best stock and still have all the new companies they spun off.
             Dividends are taxed at 15% Federal so it’s much less than income. No FICA taxes either.

          3. That right there is why government mandated interest rates are bullshit, and can only exist with the federal reserve printing up excess dollars and passing them out to its member banks. NO ONE would choose to risk their capital by loaning $1,000 (that’s what a bank account is, even when it’s a guaranteed savings account, the bank is taking your money and loaning it to others) for $10 at the end of a year. That’s absurd, and real interest rates would be higher if it was based on simple supply and demand.

          4. I haven’t used it myself, but peer to peer lending sites like Lending Club and Prosper offer the potential for decent returns. Yes, you are an unsecured lender, but I’d imagine if you stick to those with sparkling credit, and allocated your money over enough notes, you should do okay.

       2. I was thinking to save as much as I can over the period of 4-5 years, and then open a hotel/hostel in Latin America where my GF is from and cater to international tourists.

          1. You might want to check the profit margin on those hostels already in that industry and find out where the ROI is before making all the effort. The time and money you spend might make the break-even point too long to be optimal.

          2. I will definitely measure all the pros and cons. This is just an idea for now. What I know is that there are hundreds of thousands of Westerners traveling to Latin America. And oftentimes the service quality they receive is quite bad. Sometimes people dont even speak comprehensible English.

          3. It’s weird, as someone’s who traveled to hostels domestic and abroad, I’ve been to ones in English-speaking areas where the employees spoke poor English (Miami Beach, Vegas), and ones in French-speaking areas (Montreal) where the employees spoke excellent English.

          4. What were your main complaints about hostels abroad?

          5. Primarily in Australia, 10-12 people to a room, one bathroom per floor, and the front desk staff weren’t the friendliest. Also, stolen food from the pantry and overcharging for booze, but I suspect the latter is normal.

          6. I’ve pondered on a similar idea…basically purchasing 10-15 acres of land and building smaller homes to rent on them. There’s some blueprints for 300-500 sq ft houses, perfect for an individual or minimalist and it would cost next to nothing to build those houses.

          7. Thanks

          8. Would you do it in the US?

          9. Yes but it’d have to be in the right market.

          10. I could see that working, I think hipsters would be all over it. And they are the target market for housing because they are just graduating / moving out of the parents and all need a place to live. Right now there is a hipster focused retail development that is built on shipping containers with holes cut into them for windows and doors. Costs almost nothing to create it, but the hipsters are going crazy over the idea. If you built cheap, tiny housing near a development like this it would sell out fast.

       3. I suspect you’d be better off with an Equity Index Fund that traditionally brings back around a 7% rate of return on average (since the late 1920’s actually). That’s starter level stuff, but it is a good place to start, but don’t just stop with that (a lot of people do). I also recommend looking into Edelman finance folks (Ric Edelman). I get nothing from that, just somebody that I’ve had great success with with my finance. Avoid day trading like the plague, at least for a couple of years until you really know how things work too (in fact, I avoid it entirely now).

    2. I’ve done so with real estate, but it’s a joke to call it “passive” … its a LOT of work.

       1. Mainly because of shitty tenants?

          1. It basically comes down to (1) shitty tenants and (2) the if-you-want-something-right-do-it-yourself adage.
             Shitty tenants are a nightmare. And the laws are in *their* favor, not the landlords. Basically, the laws were written for an Andy Griffith era, where, imagine a young guy goes off to visit a sick aunt, stays to take care of her and can’t return home to make the rent payment, the law protects him so he won’t come back to an apartment where the locks are changed and his stuff is thrown out on the street, basically he will pay a penalty / fee and keep going.
             But if you have a deadbeat who refuses to pay you, ignores your phone calls, and gets a month behind, you can’t do anything yourself about the situation. You may think you own the property, but you are not allowed to go in, cannot change the locks, can’t remove them, but must instead use the court system, which costs *YOU* approximately 1 months rent in legal fees and court costs, and can take from 2 to 6 months. Bad tenants know this, so move in, pay a couple months, and then live rent free for the remaining 6.
             What has really hurt is the poor education system and declining culture. I can only imagine the quality of tenants will drop substantially over the next 20 years, as people no longer have common decency, courtesy, honesty, etc. I’ve cleaned up dirty diapers and bags of garbage and clothing that were left in abandoned units.
             The other point is if you don’t do EVERYTHING yourself (well, I hire out a plumber and roofer sometimes), you will get screwed. Managers and maintenance companies take advantage of you. They are lazy and have no work ethic. They do shoddy work, overcharge, or fix things that weren’t broken and then bill you. I’ve used half a dozen management companies and hired individuals and it’s all the same. Basically the culture and morality of this country are broken, and the system relies on a basic level of honesty and good nature in order for things to work. I’m about to take a 6 figure loss on one deal. But the ironic thing is, the tax laws are written so strongly to favor real estate, that it will be mostly offset by the same amount of tax savings in the years I’ve owned it.
             If you are going to personally screen tenants, show your vacant unit, come over every time they call with a problem, and do all maintenance, then I say go for it. But if you log your hours you will find it’s not a very good return for your effort.

          2. I knew being a landlord is pain. In Quebec Canada, for example, damage deposits are against the law. I saw people trashing places beyond any limits. You’re right, as a landlord you dont have many rights. An idea that I have is opening a hostel in Latin America catering to Western backpackers mainly. I know what they want and my GF is from there.

          3. I see a lot of foreigners doing that sort of thing in Latin American countries. Some even get by in places as small as a 4 room B&B that rents for $30 a night. The cost of living is so low, they don’t need much to live off of, and the stress involved with only 4 rooms is pretty low. Basically just cook a kick ass dinner every night and chat it up with some strangers.
             I recently tried to stay in an awesome B&B in Latin America for $30 ran by a European couple but it was all booked up. Plus foreign travelers, as a whole, aren’t gonna wreck your place, maybe steal your towels at worst.

    3. I’d stay away from rental properties. As a CPA, I’ve seen few people do well enough with them to justify the headaches. I’d hardly consider it “passive” income, unless you hire a property manager, which will cut substantially into your profits. Most of my clients bemoan the difficulty in finding good tenants, and one who trashes the place can wipe out years of profits.
       I became debt free last year-house, auto, credit cards & student loans-all gone. At 41, I have lots of time ahead of me so I’m looking into passive income sources as well. Not a big fan of the stock market (too volatile for me) but I’d definitely avoid speculative strategies like day trading and even individual stocks. Few people do well with them.
       I’m considering getting into lending. I’ll have little trouble getting 8-10% returns or more with modest risk among the pool of people I’m looking to deal with.

       1. Good advice. I’ve made 2 real estate investments, one small one that has turned out great, one big one that is an ENORMOUS disaster. The bad thing is, there really IS no good place to invest these days. It literally is a “war on savers” I don’t know what to recommend, after one becomes debt free. I do invest in energy stocks, because no matter what, people are always buying energy.

          1. Sorry to hear about the real estate debacle, something I’ve seen my fair share of among my client base, unfortunately.
             Another thing to keep in mind is that rental real-estate losses, capped at $25,000/year (unless you qualify as a real-estate professional), start phasing out after $100,000 of AGI if filing a joint return. They roll over and can be claimed in full upon disposition of the property, but may not yield an immediate tax saving.
             I agree, there is nothing out there that is a “slam dunk” as far as investments go. I’m not a financial adviser, but clients ask me my thoughts all the time and there just isn’t much good news to give.
             I think real estate is generally over-valued at the moment, interest rates are piddling, and more mature clients closing in on retirement don’t want to deal with the stock market roller coaster…

          2. The best thing real estate has going for it is a long list of government subsidies and incentives that make it a better bargain than it otherwise would be: (1) deduction of operating expenses (and I’m sure this one is abused heavily–who is to say whether you are using that new lawn mower only at your rental property or also at home, or where those cans of paint actually went?), (2)mortgage interest deduction, so you can subsidize your purchase of the property itself, and (3) depreciation (an odd IRS-only calculation where you assume your property *declines* in value every year, when typically the opposite is true). Then any profit you earn can be transferred tax-free to another investment (1031 exchange). Finally, the use of (5) leverage makes it unique. One can use $20,000 to buy a $100,000 investment, and if it gains 5% ($5,000), that is a 20% gain for you ($5,000 return on $20,000). It’s hard to argue against real estate with these 5 big advantages in its court. Take them away, and there are much better alternatives.

          3. 1031 exchanges are a great way to dodge the tax man that surprisingly aren’t used as much as they should be. Also, converting a rental to your primary residence for at least two years will allow you to exclude any gains as well.

          4. You’re an accountant, right? What area geographically do you work in? I’m in SE USA.

          5. Yes, I’m a CPA. I’m in the Buffalo/Niagara region of upstate NY. I have a condo in Ft Lauderdale as well and try to get down there as much as I can.

          6. Yes, I’m a CPA. I’m in the Buffalo/Niagara region of upstate NY. I do have a condo in Ft. Lauderdale as well, try to get down there as much as possible.

          7. I do some estate valuation work for CPAs sometimes. Licensed in 12 states, from Virginia to California. Nothing further north though. Let me know if we could ever work together on something. I’ve always wanted to see Niagara Falls.. last girlfriend shot down the idea every time I brought up taking her there on a nice trip where I would have paid for everything.. haha.

          8. That sounds good!
             As for coming up to Niagara Falls, worth the visit, but not enough to do to spend more than a few days. Hopefully you have a passport or enhanced driver’s license. I’d check out Niagara on the Lake, Ontario and Toronto as well. Also, Buffalo is only about a half hour south. Let me know if you come up!

    4. One other thing that might be viable, but I have limited knowledge of, is operating a trailer park. All you provide is the land and utility hookups. The lot renter provides and maintains their own trailer. They have an incentive to keep current with the rent since eviction means they incur the cost of moving their trailer. Obviously amenities offered will be minimal-people don’t expect on-site fitness centers and such.

    5. Do you have a spare room or garage you can rent out? I live alone and my property has a double carport and lockup garage. I rent out the garage to a guy you owns a vintage car so he uses it to store it as he doesn’t have the room at his place. I also rent out one half of the double carport to a guy to store his car when we works away at a mine site two out of every three weeks. It’s cheaper for him than airport parking.
       So for the garage I get $40/week and for the carport I get around $1000/year so a total of $3080/year AUD for just letting a couple of cars sit there.

29. Overall good article. I disagree with the renting over owning, though. Where I live in upstate NY, housing is very inexpensive. Get a home around 1,000-1,500 square feet, and your utility bills will be low, maintenance will be easy and taxes won’t be too bad.
    Also, gym memberships are generally inexpensive these days. I agree with others that, eventually, you will want to move beyond body weight exercises.
    Getting involved with the wrong women is, IMO, the #1 surefire way to destroy your finances.

30. Great advice overall, although I’m not entirely in line with everything.
    Buy the best *quality* you can get for the money, as opposed to the cheapest or simplest. I buy a very nice car once every decade….BUT…it’s top shelf quality, I pay a bit more for it up front, and then drive it until there’s nothing left but duct tape and transmission fluid. The plan works like this:
    1. Buy car, pay if off as fast as you can. Put as much down on it as you can afford without harming your investments otherwise. If you’re on payments, pay above the monthly payment towards principal.
    2. When you’re through paying it off, continue to make the same “payment” to a set aside bank account (or if you’re like me, put the money in your huge fireproof gun safe).
    3. Drive until it’s rust, bondo and needs to be towed out of your driveway.
    4. Then walk into a dealership and buy a new, high quality nice car with the money you were paying yourself (step 2), cash on the barrel head.
    5. See step 2, only this time, you start with zero loan to pay off.
    6. Lather, rinse, repeat
    Just bought a car not too long ago, paid cash up front, had the title sent to my house, badda bing, no debt, new car, and off we go.
    Something else: WTF is with shampoo hate? What is used in its stead?

    1. To add to point 1, after you put down as much as you can and if you can swing it, open a Chase credit card with only 2% balance transfer fee, 0% APR for 12 mths. and pay the balance principle with that. Divide the payments into 12 equal months so you don’t incur interest. Don’t use that card at all for any purchase.
       Benefit is (1) you only pay 2% for the loan instead of 5% for years. (2) If you’re tight on funds one month, you can pay less and it’s ok. Just pay more the following months. And (3) you get the title because it is an unsecured loan. You lose your job and can’t make the credit card payments, they can’t repo the car.
       If you can find 0% balance transfer fee, jump on it.
       Edit: Key is you must pay it all off before interest accrue.

    2. I have a 15 year old Toyota Tacoma with over 220,000 miles. It has never had a mechanical malfunction. I am rough with it, too. I carry trash and stone and all kinds of crap. I will drive it till the wheels come off.

       1. 17 year Toyota Tacoma. took it in for a shop to repair anything they could find. replace the light on the license plate, that’s it.

       2. God bless the Toyotas. It’s damn hard to kill any of them even if you’re a complete fuckhead mechanically.

       3. 1996 Subaru stationwagon, built like a brick shitehouse.

    3. Great advice on the car. Regarding the shampoo-hate: I think it likely has to do with the fact that no man alive used it until a couple decades ago, and most guys’ hair does just fine with water rinsing. Water washes off sweat and dust just like it always has. Anything more potent/toxic/sticky can be dealt with by normal soap, no need for another product.

31. Disagree with getting rid of gym. If you can find a good full utility gym (not planet fitness) for $50 a month or less it’s more than worth the money if you actually use it. One time I wanted to save money and toughen up for real and just lived out of my car for 3 months using my $15 a month gym for hygene/kicking back in addition to everything else rather than extending my lease. That was roughly $5000 saved on rent and utilities and $45 worth of gym fees made it possible.

    1. I actually know several people who did the same thing. Slept in the bed of their pickup truck with a camper shell or in the back of a cargo van, and used their gym memberships to shower/shave. Did it long enough to come up with the cash for a down payment for a house.

32. I want to save a wad of cash and then once I can go semi off the grid, take to the road in an RV and boondock. The added benefit is if Idecide I want a plot of land away from it all to ride out the Zombie Apocalypse…I just drive in and pull up stakes.

33. 17. Don’t waste money on Apple products.

    1. I’m not an Apple guy, but their hardware does seem to be reliable. I have an ipod touch I bought 4 years ago and other than shattering the screen a few months back, and declining battery life, it does everything I need it to. I bought an ipad and it is handy, fun to browse ROK and a couple of my favorite sites before going to bed, and the battery lasts well over a week. I think some of the cheaper alternatives don’t hold up so well in the long run. As for computers, I am pc all the way, build my own machines. I’m on a 5 year old desktop now, the only thing it needs is an upgrade to SSD drive.

       1. I never said the hardware was not ok. It is simply overpriced, especially when it comes to prices of the previous generation of devices. You can save a lot of money by buying e.g. a Samsung mobile phone that came out 1 or 2 years ago. If you do that with an Apple phone, it will still probably cost 2/3 of the original price.

          1. Nothing personal, but let’s all try to cut out the “I never said” quotes.. I know you didn’t say that, I’m simply expressing an opinion about hardware quality. And if I DID think you said something which you didn’t, then your position was unclear, so clarify it. Sorry, just a pet peave I see online all the time. No one cares what a stranger did or didn’t say in a past anonymous comment, just make the point for the other 99.9999% of the readers besides me 🙂 OK rant off.
             As for the phones, yeah personally I use a flip phone, and think it’s insane to spend $500-$900 for a telephone (I have a $60 Nokia plus a $500 ipad). Total cost is less than what most people spend every 2 years on Apple or Samsung stuff, and I don’t plan on replacing either any time soon. What really gets you on these smartphones is the service plans. I pay $20 a month, including taxes, for unlimited talk/text and it even gives me a smidge of data if I ever needed that in an emergency.

          2. No one cares about your anonymous pet peeves either

       2. Blackberry Curve + 32gb expandable memory = godtier MP3 player, all for under 100$CAD. Been going strong for 7 years with it.

    2. I bought a Nokia lumia 920 a few years ago and it’s been a reliable phone and
       you don’t have to put up with the intrusive apps like with Android phones that
       need permission to access your information.

34. In regards to saving money on alcohol, I’ve found that the best way to accomplish this is never purchasing alcohol when eating out, just at the grocery store, and always going for the big bulks (like 12/24 packs) when buying it. In my area, a single can of Pabst costs something like 70 cents if purchased as part of a 12-pack, but at your average restaurant you can expect to pay $3-4 on average for a Pabst.

35. Car – can’t speak for this one enough. I got talked into buying an expensive ass car, by an older man who is far more established (who also has a wife with income), and I can’t tell you how much I regret that. My entire monthly savings and leisure money is now going into that and I can’t tell you how stressful it is. Only thing on my mind now is “work harder, get promotion, make more money, to get out of this self-inflicted debt.” Chalk it up to a lesson learned. I will never play the new car game again. Nope! Find me an old beater or something reliable for $1500-1800 and let it rust out before I get a new one. My dad had the right idea. I should have listened.

    1. Cars can be a money pit. If you can do without one do so. But, if you need one I don’t have a problem with getting something reasonable. Try to find a 2-3 year old car just coming off of its lease. That is when you will get the most bang for your buck. Such a car should give you a good 8-10 years before it starts having problems (unless you are riding it hard or putting on a ton of mileage).

36. I don’t agree with the house part.
    1. A 100k house 10 years ago is now worth 500k. A 500k house right now will probably worth 1M+ dollars 10 years from now. There is simply no better ROI with so little risk.
    2. Mortgage is about 50/50 principle and interest. At some point (~20-30yrs), you gonna pay off that debt and no more mortgage forever. Rent, on the other hand, is 100% interest, and you’ll be pay rent for as long as you live. Who is really the slave here?
    3. Loans. If you have property, the bank will allow you to take larger loan in case you want to open up a business. Having a house will also boost your credit rating greatly, not to mention all the tax write-off.
    4. In hard time, you can always rent out a room or two. The mortgage will practically pay for itself. Heck you can even rent out the whole house and sleep in the garage like some people I know.
    5. More space and a place call home. Try throwing a BBQ party at an apartment. Basically, your house, your rules. You don’t have to live by anyone else terms. And there is more parking space. Trying finding a parking for guests in a crowed apartment complex.
    Obviously, there are cons to owning a house too, but it’s still worth it. People that ruined themselves keeping a house is because they are financially irresponsible. They got a house bigger than they can afford or they don’t have any saving for rainy days.

    1. Taking a mortgage is one of the few times one can leverage low cost money. Furthermore, you get to write off the interest which makes the effective rate even lower. Obviously, use some common sense and take a loan that still allows for the necessary monthly cash flow. Unless you have your investments maxed I wouldn’t recommend paying it down faster as you are retiring a low interest rate versus a higher investment rate. Also, make sure you have 6 months worth of liquid assets at a minimum in case of an emergency.

    2. My mortgage is 3.5% for 30 years. Do you think inflation will stay under ~2.75% (effective rate after the tax deduction) for the next 30 years? If so, don’t buy. If not, you might want to consider it.
       I’m happy as a homeowner and was happy for years a renter. Different choices. But, whatever you do, don’t buy too much house or overpay; you’ll never recover for a leveraged investment/purchase like that going south on you. I have a lot of friends in Florida who bought 500K homes that are now worth about 200-300K. That losing 200K in borrowed money, a hit like almost no other. Buying is risky, think long and hard about it!
       The other thing; houses cost between 75-125/sq/ft to build (depending on the quality of finishes). If you’re paying a lot more than that, the land better be really expensive/spectacular location and/or the house better be incredibly upgraded. Yes, I know homes in San Fran sell for 1000/sq/ft; you’d have to be crazy to buy in that environment. But, for the rest of us, if you can buy around 100/sq/ft, it’s worth considering.
       Also, final note; if you live in a crazy high cost area (San Fran, NYC, etc) and aren’t on a track to make huge money (like, work in finance in NYC or work in tech in San Fran), get the fuck out. Yeah, I know, they are “cool” cities and places to live. A Bugatti, I’m sure, is a cool car. Doesn’t change the fact that I can’t afford it. If your chosen line of work allows you to move easily, you need to get out of high cost of living areas.
       Trust me, I’ve lived in the crazy high cost areas and now live in a much more reasonable area. It seems so “cool” to live in a trendy location, but.. It’s just not worth it. If you have a job, you can’t take advantage of the area that much anyway, and if you have a job to really afford living in a place where homes are 1000/sq/ft, your probably working 80 hours a week anyway. Get the fuck out there and start to live your life. No, you don’t have to live in the backwaters of Georgia. I live in Florida, on the intercoastal waterway with a dock in my back yard, all for around 125/sq/ft. You could do it for 100/sq/ft if you don’t want the water/dock. You just need to get the hell out of the “hot” areas; you don’t want to live your life struggling to pay the mortgage/rent.

    3. So damn true. 100% pro ownership all the way.

37. I hate renting. I want a house. A mortgage is just paying rent to a bank anyway. Then there’s the “roots” aspect of it; a sign of stability. To be fair, renting means you’re never tied to anyone place the same way homeowners are tied to their houses, but this lifestyle isn’t everyone’s.

    1. Here’s a way. Buy an RV travel trailer and truck. Truck can be your vehicle. Find low rent RV park with full hook ups. Save as much money as you can so you buy your house with large down payment or pay in cash.
       What’s nice is you also own your trailer eventually. You can relocate to a different park if you don’t like it.

38. EXCELLENT article!
    Re: #3 durable items, I read an article in the CS Monitor a few years ago about this that goes into further detail. The author mentions the Carhartt brand of clothing, which I thought was reserved for rednecks and Nascar enthusiasts, but I have since become a loyal customer and can say first hand their products are extremely durable and well worth your money. I personally like to buy them (and other clothing) from Sierra Trading Post, who sells irregulars and discontinued items, although I’ve never noticed any of the “defects”.
    http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Simple-Dollar/2012/0330/When-should-you-buy-brand-name-clothes
    I would recommend checking sources such as Consumer Reports (free at my local library) for reviews before making any significant purchase. Another thing I do is always buy staples and common items like deodorant, toilet paper, razor blades when they are on sale (often these will be half off periodically) because a) then you always have some on hand and b) you’ve saved a ton of money in the long run. I bought a huge box of Mach 3 blades off ebay and haven’t bought a razor blade in the last decade, no lie.
    I’m going to cut out shampoo, or more likely phase it out slowly now. Only problem is I’ve stocked up on it and have a bunch of bottles I bought for less than a dollar, haha.
    I strongly urge anyone interested in #3 to check out the link above, the guy also wrote a book and a blog.

    1. On the subject of shaving, I saved a ton of money by switching from the Mach 3 blades (which I used to buy on Ebay) to a quality disposable (purchased in bulk at Sams Club) and keep the blade in a glass of mineral oil. I replace the blade every couple of weeks, although it is usually still fine.
       For shaving cream I use Arko (shaving soap sticks)-12 will set up back $13 and last 3-5 years. Still using the same badger brush I bought 10+ years ago for $20 or so.

       1. Thanks, will check out, I had bought something called “cremo crème” to shave with last year but haven’t run out of my traditional barbasol yet, but will give Arko a try also.

39. Excellent article, thanks!
    I’d add, learn how to brew beer and cider. After a little experience, you can end up making beer that is just as good or better than the expensive high-quality microbrews for about half the cost. The cider is also far, far better than what you buy. You can make it the way you want it instead of being stuck with whatever is at the store, and as a bonus you keep a whole lot of tax dollars out of the hands of the government. Since I’ve started brewing my own, I’ve found I drink a lot less because I have to make it last.
    Also, get a trimmer and buzz your head instead of styling your hair, especially if you’re going bald. Spending $45 up front for a trimmer is a helluva lot cheaper than $20 every other week for a cut.

40. Two seemingly little things that have saved me a lot of money over the last few years are:
    1. Switching my cell phone from Verizon ($100+/month) to Tracfone ($100/year). Works for me. Limited data on the plan but since Wifi is nearly everywhere, no biggie.
    2. Switching to wrinkle-free cotton dress shirts (Jos A Bank or Paul Fredrick). Used to pay $2.25/shirt every day, now I pay zip. Didn’t have the desire to iron (and they never looked that great when I was done anyway), now I don’t need to. Pull them out of the dryer and I’m good to go!

41. While this list is okay, the best way to save money is to make fuck tons of it. Why save money, if you have enough to buy the world?

42. I’ll second the “Home ownership (often) is a financial loser” point.
    People say owning a home is an “investment.” I disagree — it’s a cost. What other investment consumes your cash each year? With a house you must pay property tax, home insurance, maintenance, title insurance, etc.
    In today’s market, renting is almost always cheaper than buying on a cash flow basis.
    It’s all about opportunity cost. Over the long run (10 years +) you will almost always be better off investing $100k in the market instead of in a house downpayment. Since renting is cheaper on a cash flow basis you can invest the savings in a S&P 500 ETF. You are almost certain to come out way ahead. Plus renting is far more flexible.
    This logic applies only to your residence. Owning rental property can be a great investment.

    1. funny how all the price appreciation figures are always “nominal”. i.e. someone would normally say that I bought a house 10 years ago for $200k, sold it for $400k, doubled my money (and much more if using leverage of course). Problem is, no one EVER talks about how much capital improvements they made over said ten year period. Once you factor in those costs, the “home price appreciation” chart begins to take on a different shape. (hint: not a hockey stick you are led to believe)

       1. Yeah, this. People forget to factor in all the costs of home ownership they would not have if they rented. When you account for all costs then home appreciation looks like crap compared to if you had invested that money in the market each month using dollar-cost averaging.
          No less an authority than Warren Buffet has stated many times how home ownership has a poor financial return compared to public equities. But he also states that owning a home has psychological benefits, and he’s right on that.
          There’s no “correct” answer. Everyone must make the choice for himself. But at least make the choice with clear facts about costs and opportunity cost.

       2. Last thought — in my view a real “investment” throws off cash, or at least appreciates in value while not consuming cash. By that measure owning a house is NOT an “investment.” True investments don’t consume net cash each year, forever.
          I’m 45 and have never owned a home. Instead I’ve done quite well investing money in the market that would have gone to a house. Eventually I will buy one because I want a place that is “mine” for my young family. But when I do I’ll buy a modest house to minimize maintenance and tax expenses. Property taxes and maintenance are real killers.

    2. I think the problem is that too many people buy too big a house. The key is to buy a small house (if you are single, you do NOT need more than 1,000 sq ft) on a small lot. My house is 1,200 square feet on a 45’X100′ lot. Cutting the grass (using an old school low-maintenance reel mower) takes 20 minutes or so. Clean the gutters once a year. Avoid swimming pools and other high maintenance money pits. Now that my house is paid for, for the carrying costs I pay, I wouldn’t even be able to rent a room in a crack house on skid row.

    3. I’d only consider owning rental property if it were shares in a large rental complex. Renting a house is almost always a guaranteed way to lose money, especially if you get one bad tenant and you don’t have other units that can cover the costs of that deadbeat.
       The legal system is also highly stacked in favor of tenants in such situations so you end up losing money twice dealing with deadbeats who don’t pay.

       1. Landlord here.
          There are plenty of avenues to protect the landlord in the event of tenants who are being d-bags. This is why you write up very specific terms in the contract that the tenant must sign and agree to which all favour you. You can terminate tenancy and evict for failure of rent payment in 14 days. If they don’t leave after that, have the police escort them off for trespassing.

          1. My parents were landlords briefly. Where they rented (in a majorly liberal area near Washington DC), this unfortunately wasn’t the case. Crooked tenants knew full well they could go on for months, or even a year or more, without paying rent before the wheels of justice turned and an eviction could be performed. All of these of course cost a landlord tons in legal fees and other costs. And of course, this is before such a tenant absolutely trashes your property on their way out.
             Even beyond eviction, landlords here cannot (legally) do things like remove the front door, cut off utilities, change the locks or other practical mechanisms for dealing with crooked tenants unless they go through the courts.
             Additionally, in some US states, you have to be very careful about letting people rent out or live in rooms in your own house, as after a certain amount of time, even absent a rental agreement, the state sees them as a “resident” or “tenant” and then requires court involvement to remove them.

          2. I’m unsure of the laws down there. I’m in Ontario, Canada, which is pretty left-wing. I’m sorry to hear about your parent’s experience.
             For me, I live in the home and rent the other 2 bedrooms. I do a thorough investigation into potential tenants before having them on board. I monitor everything daily.

43. I’m 48. way past most articles here on how to get girls but lurking because it gives advice it took me 20 years to gather. i have been married, divorced and it continues to cost me 10s of thousands. want to save money? do you’re own thing and MAX OUT your retirement fund to avoid contributing taxes to support single mothers even though your not married. put the MAX amount of money into your retirement and you can even get a loan on that tax free to start a business. do not marry here. look we’re all men and aren’t stupid so statistics say over 50% of marriages end in divorce and over 75% of divorces are filled by women first…need more evidence? would you invest in stats like that?
    no but you hear here words…honey that is not me…yeah right. thats what the over 50% of divorced men paying think now! but she said! never listen to what she says, protect your money and future and realize marriage benefits women, there’s absolutely NO benefit of marriage for men….what stable pussy? she can give it away whenever she wants with no fault divorce and take half your sht! thats why she wants marriage! it’s a job interview for her, nothing more. once she divorces you, she goes to the gym, gets that fat ass in shape and goes for the next job interview. man is like a car to her. to use and discard unless you get a unicorn and how many unicorns have you seen? zero including your own mothers. look at your mothers…where would they be without your father? living with their parents at 40. thats where.
    Oh and before i forget…remember when i said put all money into retirement…in divorce she gets half of shit you saved for retirement as well.

    1. also forgot…if you choose to marry if you’re married over 10 years she can attach herself to your social security. so she can cheat on you and then fuck you over in retirement while she screws a new guy while you can’t even get someone to wipe your ass when you’re 75 because she gets a part of your social security. men need to know this shit and they don’t publish it. so if your wife is bananas divorce her before 10 year mark.

44. The only thing I have to add is this: These days, there is absolutely no reason to spend a single penny on information or entertainment, above your monthly ISP bill.

45. Dam. I feel proud reading this as I practice almost all of these.
    #5 I semi-disagree with as buying a home that is affordable will build your equity. # 6. Disagree completely. For $1.50 a day I have a gym membership. My health & physique are not negotiable.

46. 17. Debt is your worst enemy. Kill it before it has a chance to grow.
    Credit has its uses, and those uses should be able to be counted on one hand throughout your entire life. Unless you are making a critical purchase (like a car or lifesaving surgery), you should not spend money you do not have. Ever. Credit has been perverted from its original use into another way to extract money from the populace and keep them in a permanent state of paycheck-to-paycheck living. How ‘convenient’ that so many places offer payment plans these days. It’s a great way to make someone pay 125% of what something actually costs. Don’t fall for it.
    Take it from someone who works in finance, and has been through slumps, recessions and GFCs; if you are completely debt-free with a good financial head on your shoulders, you will hardly notice it (and financial crises are a great time to take advantage of cheap opportunities with all that capital you’ve smartly saved, too).
    18. Don’t lend money.
    This is a no-brainer. Stay strong and say no to everyone who asks from the very beginning; it will give you nothing but grief as they keep coming back for more, or continually fail to pay back their debt. It’s just not worth it. Yes, even with family. Especially with family.

    1. Outside of a mortgage, you should not have any long term debt.
       Point 18 needs to be chisled in stone and hung above the front door. I learned the hard way.

    2. 18. Don’t lend money.

       I’d add to that “never cosign someone else’s loan” either.
       Conversely it should be taught that it is highly improper and wrongheaded to ask to borrow money from a close personal relation. It will forever damage the relationship beyond repair.

    3. I wouldn’t say don’t loan money. Only give what you can afford to lose. If it is returned, great, if not, you have a good indicator of how much you can trust the “borrower”.

47. Looking back at my own profligate spending as a youth I wish I had known about the 80-10-10 rule, or even the 75-15-10 rule.
    The first number is the percentage of your income that covers your living expenses. The second number is the percentage that goes into savings. The third goes to church or to helping others in general.

48. theres 2 ways to look at this article. 1) youre saving money, and 2) youre being a Jew.
    one thing i learned early on from my pops: “dont be a fuckin nigger.” what that means is, dont focus on saving, saving, saving, buying cheap shit, frugality, etc.
    learn how to make money so you can splurge on good food, good home, car, whatever. nothing wrong with enjoying THINGS as long as you dont fall into the consumerist trap.
    to the younger kids reading this, i’d be careful about how much you take from this article. if you adopt this saving mindset as the author has done, youll be a nigger youre entire life. focus on figuring out how to make so much money that youll never have to worry about whether you can afford to eat out.

    1. “learn how to make Money”
       Elaborate on that. Those younger kids you are addressing that too are all ears.

       1. one thing i do like about the article is that it promotes MINIMALISM. but there’s a caveat: minimalism should be borne of the desire to nurture the soul, to achieve spiritual balance, etc. not because you want to save a few bucks. stripping yourself of all life’s pleasures out of necessity, i.e. you don’t have enough money to afford those things, is certainly no way to live.
          now how to make money? that’s such a loaded question. perhaps ROK should do articles on that; for now you can go to Quora, where plenty of people tackle that question. i have noticed that for the most part, ROK’s audience isn’t of a high-income bracket. maybe because the content here doesn’t attract top earners.
          long and short: the only way to make a true buck is to get into asset acquisition. and then learn the concept of LEVERAGE.
          it’s OK to be a nigger if there’s a larger goal in mind, e.g. you’re starting a company and you can’t spend on excess shit for the next 5 or so years. that’s great. but don’t be a nigger with no grander plan in mind. you don’t want to be 60 years old and still thinking of new ways to save money.

49. To save money on clothes: work out and get fit. You can then buy clothes at thrift stores and they’ll look great on you.
    I’ve always found it funny to see unfit guys wearing designer brands: it has the opposite of the desired effect.

50. Some sound advice in that article.
    Has an article about cooking healthy already been posted in the past? More and more people are getting fat every year by shoving junk in their faces. It is disgusting.
    If calisthenics is not your thing, a home gym can be an option if you have the extra space. It is not hard to find good second had equipment. Personally I prefer to go to the gym, and the company that I work for pays for the membership.

51. Another tip: Try to have one weekend/month where you do not spend any money at all. Use this weekend for recreation at home or in nature, but also for studying, working out, fixing your home, etc.
    I was surprised how much I could save by doing just this.

52. “Phones and Other Electronics”: Look at prepaid service. IOW, ditch the contract, buy your phones/tablets outright and get prepaid service. Run the numbers, you’ll usually save significant money every time.
    The other thing about prepaid service is the amount you’ll save monthly on taxes and fees vs. contract service. Depending on the state or territory you live in, it’s easily 15+% a month. That adds up.

53. I am happy to say I do everything on this list but I agree with everyone saying it’s wrong to think buying a house is a scam. In some area’s (like the Boston Metro) you’re definitely better off buying than renting if you have no other debt. #5 should be changed to “Buying a BIG house and having a car loan”. I have a small and modest house that suits all of my needs. Go for quality over quantity. It even has a two car garage that I built into my auto (hobby) shop. I’m following my dream of building myself a shop and I started using it to flip cars on the side (I also race my cars). All of my direct and in-laws bought HUGE expensive houses. I tried to talk them out of it but they wouldn’t listen…now that is the ball and chain! You will never be able to experience shit in life…for what, a big ass house? What a waste of money. An entire article can be written about avoiding the pressure of buying a huge house and how absurd the average sizes of houses are in the US. Do not live in excess. If you’re smart about your loans and refinancing you can do quite well with a home. You must also learn how to fix and improve the house yourself too. If you do it right can absolutely build equity and have a financially and personally rewarding return. I am including improvement costs too. Over the 5-10+ years, your rent money has been flushed down the toilet. Renting for $650 a month is about $39,000 over 5 years alone. If you want to change your city/state that frequently that’s one thing, but if your going to be renting in the same area for 2-4 years I think it’s a no brainier if you take the right approach.

54. There are many other life hacks that help saving money, like going to a library to get a book rather than buying it, or using a free operating system like Linux on your computer. No need for cable anymore, as you can watch TV on the Internet. Using coupons on products you need helps too. The list could go on and on.

55. The trouble with men reading point #13 about minimizing clothes is that they wind up wearing what the guys in point #10 have on, and can’t understand why they look like shit and can’t get laid.
    Also the point about not wasting money on Starbucks is valid (for socio-political as well as fiscal reasons), but this should be seen the way James Altucher looks at it: cutting out Starbucks is the poor person’s way to get rich: you won’t. He means if you don’t get rid of the major expenses such as too big a mortgage while doing everything possible to maximize your earning power, skipping Starbucks and brewing your own is a fool’s errand.

56. The advice about the Rolex and luxury items is just plain wrong. A Rolex is a utilitarian object but it’s also an asset. It’s liquid financial diversification worn on your wrist. They never lose value.
    A Rolex is just one example but, this an area were wealthy people have an huge advantage. High end shit appreciates or at least holds value. Utilitarian and price point shit goes to the landfill.
    Often we have to buy for utility. But, as you get more established buy for wealth preservation. Wealthy people don’t “spend” a whole lot of money -they move money into another assets. Always think about resale value and liquidity.

57. I like this type of thinking. This modern society we live in today is built upon on us wageslaves overspending and borrowing money to keep the pyramid scheme going.
    The more of us that opt out, the quicker the rotten house can fall down. I have adapted a minimalistic lifestyle and are tired of getting tricked into buying alot of useless junk.
    When i have too much money in my bankaccount the banking vultures start offering to invest it better for me and my physical mail box is overflowing by offers to borrow money. Screw them.

58. Buying vs. renting is a little more complex. If you are young, single, and need mobility either because of work or personal desire definitely rent. If you are more settled in a metro area, especially given the historically low interest rates, you are going to probably be better of buying in the long term.
    Mortgages including property tax and annualized home repairs is usually less then rent. And, unless the market turns upside down, you are at least going to vest some equity in your house. Plus if you lose your job it takes a lot longer to kick you out of your house then it does out of your rental apartment. Miss a months worth of rent and you have 3-6 months until you get evicted and out on the street. Miss a few mortgage payments and the company will negotiate with you for awhile and even if they do foreclose on you it may take up to 2-3 years until you are out of your house.
    And yes a foreclosure does suck and it ruins your credit, but not nearly as bad as an eviction. You see eviction are recorded in their own credit score type database and if you ever have one single eviction good luck ever renting from any company or private individual who checks one of these databases. At least when it comes to consumer credit you have more protections and data that goes into setting your credit score.

59. If for some reason you really want to attend College at least dual major with a foreign language ( Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, etc. ) so worse case you can teach English abroad, not to mention more options in dating.

60. I want to take this to the extreme. Is it possible to live in a monks’ dormitory while still going to the office Mon-Fri? To bang a chick I’d just go to her place or rent a room at the marriott I’ve got plenty free nights saved up

    1. I do know of a certain monastery/commune to which I have connections, but those men are really not interested in hosting someone who just wants to fornicate with sluts in hotel rooms on weekends.

       1. Fair enough one can’t blame them for that

61. I am going to walk into an ad on this one. I love all the self help RoK brings to the table, but cook your own meals. Any advice or websites or I dare say a good book where I don’t go broke trying to make a meal? I remember watching the interview with Roosh and his refrig was depressing had wine and water and some vegetables. Don’t think I saw a drop of meat in there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsUh-Qisg2Q go to 13:30. Forgot Roosh might not eat meat, my bad.

62. I got

63. One of the best articles I have seen in ROK.

64. Definitely ditch the useless bodybuilding supplements, 99% are a scam, hard work, a balanced diet, sleep, that is what garners results, not some bullshit product that a retarded steroid abuser is advertising on his channel just to make a quick buck.

65. Save that bar money.and use it on a vacation. Seriously someone I knew spend 200 in 2-3 hours on drinks. Waste of money.

66. Great article. Mike Rowe’s bit was great. We are always told to pursue our dream job or passion. No wonder we are depressed. I love the idea of looking for opportunities not passions.
    I don’t trust women with small dogs.

67. I take issue with a few of your points here…
    1. NEVER use credit cards?? Hell, I put everything I purchase and even my monthly bills on my credit card and then pay it off every month…AND they give me free money as a result. I average between $22.00 and $65.00 per month in FREE money. Of all the interest I’ve paid to credit cards in my life, I am on mission to get even or better with the legal loan sharks!
    2. Home ownership. Can’t describe how calming, masculine and secure it feels to own your own home. Don’t let the media, or some dumb study, tell you that owning a home is a rip-off or isn’t the American dream of sorts. Things you get when you own your own home…peace, quiet, pride in your street/neighborhood and the company (hopefully) of others that care about their surroundings, friendly neighbors who will help you/or you help them, a sense of community, equity, pride in updating your castle and making it worth more than you purchased it for.

68. being paranoid about money seems like a waste of brainspace…….get what you want/need and be happy……if you need more money to do that, go out and get it…….i.e. better job, start a business, etc and ALWAYS keep your eyes and ears open, and your foot on the gas……good shit comes to those who go after it

69. Said ditch the shampoo.
    so what do I use instead? just soap? water?

    1. Just rinse your hair with cool or lukewarm water (hot water will strip the natural oils). Read Roosh’s article specifically about this topic.
       Oh and ditch the facial cleansers, too. Switch to the OCM (oil cleanse method). I haven’t used any soaps on my face in over two years and my skin has never been better.

70. Don’t get married and for gods sake do not have children until you are in your 40’s.

    1. lol.. that or just prepare for divorce as you get married.

71. This article should be printed out and read daily.

72. Not bad suggestions here, but the reality is these are the poor man’s way to get rich. Cutting out Starbucks while doing nothing to increase your earning power will not move you further down the road to riches, especially if you eliminate the effects of small good decisions (cutting out Starbucks) with big, bad decisions (getting a jumbo mortgage you can barely afford). Focus on whatever it is that makes you more valuable to the marketplace.

73. This is how I save. I earn $1000 per week i want to save $400 per week so I put the $400 each week into a account that I can only access in December each year so I only have access to $600 per week to live on. In December I with draw the 20k put it into a term deposit done this for the last 15 years now I own my home and business have over 100k in reserve. Now days i live on about $350 per week and the rest is invested. Doing a financial plan is for girly men

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