Anyone here living on less than $12,000/year on their own? Apparently, the 2008 poverty-line level of income for the U.S. was calculated at roughly $11,000/year. I haven’t visited every state in my short life yet, but that seems awfully low. Even if you assume you can find a room to rent for $500/month, that’s only leaving you with about $400/month for everything else. When some transit passes cost up to $100/month alone, you have $300 for food, clothing, bills, and anything else. This is why I think the real poverty line should be estimated somewhat closer to $15,000 for a single person. If you are a single, do you make less than $15,000/year?
I can tell you that I’m currently on a scholarship that isn’t much more than that, and it’s just barely enough for all your minimum needs. There are several months during the year when I feel very pinched and without help from my family I wouldn’t be able to get around town or keep doing laundry! It would be even worse if I didn’t have a credit card. I don’t want to refer to myself as poor, and certainly wouldn’t put myself in the same category as the truly homeless, nor do I wish to lessen the seriousness of such dire circumstances. But I’m guessing that if you’re reading this blog you at least have internet access and a regular job – or maybe you’re a student too – and if you’re still reading this post, maybe you also feel you fit into this category that might be more accurately labeled “low-income earners.”
So here are some basic frugal tips that I think can be used by even those of us on low-incomes. We don’t need to hear the usual diatribes about cutting back on the cable bill or getting rid of those magazine subscriptions or selling off that second car (if you’re like me, you don’t even have one!). We need some serious tips for the seriously low-income.
12 Seriously Frugal Tips For Low-Income Folk
(1) Get another source of income. Obvious? This is part of the problem. It should be #1 on your to-do list. Everyone would like more money, but in your case, you really really need it. Your child needs to eat well. You need a new pair of shoes because yours have holes in them (I’ve worn down several a pair like this!) and people have been commenting. You need gas for your car, if you have one.
(2) Get your sister/brother/friend to babysit – someone you can barter with rather than pay money, or even someone willing and able to do it for free.
(3) Don’t get caught with late fines! It’s great that you’re checking books/DVDs out from the library rather than paying for them, but don’t sabotage this effort by returning them past due. Be very careful on this one, it adds up.
(4) Cut your own hair. It’s not ideal, but it’s possible. You can even do it yourself if you pay attention and feel the length of hair on the back of your head. I’ve done this several times now. The last time I payed for a haircut was at least two years ago. Meanwhile my friend routinely drops $100+ at the hair salon for really basic touch-ups. She looks better, but I can’t afford it!
(5) Turn off the electricity. Don’t leave lights on; don’t leave your computer on; definitely minimize your use of room heaters – they suck up most of the energy. This one’s tough, because it’s a basic need, but just be vigilant about it. You could easily save $10 or more per month this way.
(6) Make use of all the freebies and coupons online. These days there are tens and tens of blogs just waiting to give you free coupon codes and other deals for saving money. Make sure you peruse through some of them and take advantage of basic offers for common stores like CVS and Walgreen’s.
(7) Use the food banks. Food banks aren’t just for the homeless. If you’re ever truly strapped for cash, or you need groceries but really don’t have money for them because you need the cash you do have in order to pay a basic bill (like telephone, electricity), it’s alright to use the food bank. You know you’re not planning on becoming a regular. At another point in your life when you’re more successful, you’ll have the chance to return the favor.
(8) Get rides with friends and neighbours. Anytime you can get a lift from someone else is one less fare you have to pay on public transit or with a cab. Put up a sign in your local corner store or laundromat – offer something in exchange for a carpool. Be creative.
(9) Go for bike rides and runs rather than using the gym. Save on the monthly membership by exercising the old-fashioned way. It might be boring, but at least you have another way to save more money here. Try skiprope, too.
(10) Eat less. OK, this is a very relative injunction. I have no idea what you’re already eating, so it really might NOT be a good idea for you to eat less. But if you know you have a tendency to overeat (and it’s still possible to have a low-income lifestyle and overeat), then all the more reason to try to cut back. Identify which foods are most expensive, and/or most fattening. Tackle the ones that would benefit you the most to eliminate.
(11) Think twice before buying anything under $5.00. Yes, you read that right. Just because you’re poor doesn’t mean you’re immune to this. We see something that looks cheap and think it can’t be all that bad to buy since it doesn’t cost much: gum, a magazine, a newspaper, a bottle of water, a box of girl guide cookies. These things add up. Usually you don’t need them. Lately I’ve identified that I have a weakness for newspaper purchases. They’re great to read with your coffee on a rainy day, but they junk up quickly if you save them for any reason and I always end up reminding myself not to buy anymore: get your news online instead (or just read at the library).
(12) Don’t chip in to the party/gift/lottery/beer fund at work. Face it, if you’re truly broke, it’s not fair to have to chip in for a party you might not even go to, or for a gift for a boss who makes 100X more than you do. There will be other times in your life when you can be generous. If there’s a way you can politely or inconspicuously refrain from spending money at work like this, do it.
Well there’s 12 suggestions. I’m sure you can think of more – add them here below! Remember, this isn’t about selling off your second car/home or putting Johnny through a public university rather than a private one. These tips are for folks still working up some of the lower rings on the ladder. Nothing to be ashamed of here – we’re students, we’re changing careers, we’re divorced maybe, we’re widowers maybe, maybe other misfortunes have fallen on us. It’s not about the person. It’s just about the situation.
Being frugal is good for anyone. And low-income earners can be frugal, too, even as they need to work extra-hard to boost their income and investing levels to bootstrap themselves ahead financially. In fact, that’s all the more reason to get frugal faster.
Don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feed for free updates, and also come find me on Twitter @MoneyEnergy.
Related Posts - Accomplishments and Success April 2009
- Economics, Finance for Canadian Students Going to School in the US
- Getting Motivated About Tackling Credit Card Debt
- How To Save Money Traveling in the UK
- How To Prepare Yourself For High Inflation If You Don't Have Any Money or Investments
Related Articles From Other Websites
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree that the levels offered seem a little low.
Anyway, great tips that the rest of us can follow
for better results.
11,000K Wow,
Cutting your own hair. Wow!
I like the under $5.00 tip that’s one I have never heard. Good post! Money
A modification to the “under $5″ tip:
1) Buy a bottle of water.
2) Drink the water, keep the bottle.
3) Refill the bottle & carry it with you: now you don’t need to buy a drink any more, even though with a labelled bottle, it looks like you just did.
Thanks Scrooge, great tip, of course – especially if you can find some tap water you don’t mind the taste/smell of (I’ve been using Brita, but I even notice a taste with it, so I’ve gone back to buying bottled water! What a waste, right!?)
Buying dry goods in bulk, and cooking from
scratch with fresh whole foods, can be a
real healthy and good investment for the
cash short. Local Organic food co-ops are
excellent choices, and some will have free
old produce, generally on Mondays.
Bakeries will often give away day old bread.
Depending upon location and ones free time,
growing a small garden, and/or keeping a
few chickens can greatly supplemet a food
budget for a small investment of a few
hundred.
Any electrical device that doesn’t need to be on 24/7 (a refrigerator does; cell phone charger, TV, DVD player, lamps, etc., do not) should be plugged into a power strip with an on/off switch. When the device isn’t in use, turn off the strip. These devices will use some energy even when not in use unless they’re cut off from the energy supply.
Those are some good tips. Another idea you should have written is Start Blogging :p
Another tip for saving on the electric bill, replace at least some of your lightbulbs with the new CFL bulbs. They cost more initially, but will save you a lot of money on your utility bill.
Great additional tips everyone; especially the day-old giveaways – even in larger grocery stores – just head up to the deli/bakery/produce counters and ask if they’ve got any day-old _______ (fill in the blank) they’re giving away. Also, many grocery stores give out free samples of stuff – you can make a note of when they do this, and all the other places that hand out free food samples…. it all adds up, right? And if you were ever truly without money for food, you could always do this.
Should also mention libraries: these places have free access to the internet, computers, phones, etc. and newspapers – so don’t buy any newspapers! If you really need to read a hard copy just go to your public library for lots of other free stuff, too.
Your tip number #10 Eat Less is not as far out as it sounds.
In his book Mindless Eating, Dr. Brian Wansink illustrates that we often eat whatever is in front of us even after we’re full.
In one of Dr Wansink’s test restaurants people were served soup. What they didn’t realize was that the soup bowl had been rigged to automatically pump in more soup from a secret hose beneath the table as people were eating.
He found that people continued to eat the soup way past the point of having there hunger quenched all because they still saw soup in the bowl.
We do the same when we see food on a plate. We’ll continue to eat until all the food on the plate is gone, even if we are full.
The problem is that plate sizes have increased over the past decade. We’re eating off bigger and bigger plates, meaning we’re consuming more and more food.
An easy way to slash your food bill is to switch from a 11 inch plate to a 9 inch plate. You’ll eat a whopping 33% less food as a result without even realizing it!
Wow Charlie, that’s a really interesting experiment, and I’m going to check out that book. Thanks for sharing that. I can definitely see how something like that would work. I’ve also read studies showing how consuming less calories (ie., less food) in general also prolongs life because the body will not have to metabolize so much. And aging is just the process of running out of metabolic power.
Honestly, this is a bit offensive in a number of ways. If you were referring to “college students on scholarships” rather than “poor people”, I could see the merit in writing this. As a college student who became a midwife (aka, poor) I know that when I or my husband are hungry, no matter how small the plate- we will be hungry if we don’t put enough on it. The most helpful thing on here is the old bread info, which most college freshman figure out within the first semester. Additionally, it is obvious that you don’t have children when you suggest bartering for babysitting. What do you think families in America or elsewhere have always done, despite economic reasons? I know sometimes I feel like I have a few wonderful ideas no one else had ever thought of… but I research to make sure I don’t offend anyone or come off sounding ignorant.
Let me back peddle you to English 111 (or 101): Know your audience.
Hi Jessica, I’m sorry the post offended you. I always try to be careful not to be exclusive in any way in my writing, but there is always room for mistakes. Elsewhere I have certainly said that in no way am I trying to diminish the reality of poverty. I also don’t claim that these are wholly original ideas, either. That would be pretty hard considering how much writing has already been done about personal finance.