Finance Thread - Ideas to save money

sureshot375 said:

My close PH friend told me about a client couple who saved money for their safari by neutering their own cat rather than going to the vet. I’m told it involved a pillow case.

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There are better ways to prevent feline reproduction. Don't listen to me though, I'm a dog person.

rookhawk said:

You're correct, @BTP-KennethWRoyce forward price in ten years of that trivial amount invested in SPY or QQQ in ten years is worth $83,000.

As to precious metals, I own a LOT of digital precious metals at present. I'm slowly closing those positions and buying physical when the spot premium is minimal to nil for numismatic quality gold/silver/platinum.

My calculations are that I'm about 5% net-worth in physical metals, 50% real estate, 45% equities. It is going to take me another five years to rebalance to 5% metals, 70% equities, 25% real estate.

Metals are useful for private transactions. They are a useful hedge against inflation. Silver/Platinum have tremendous volatility but aren't buy-and-hold commodities. Their biggest limitation is the outrageous collectibles tax if you need to sell them all at once and receive the 1099 from a dealer.

What I'd REALLY like to invest in is silverware. Really, really good vintage sterling silverware I believe is going to go way up as a collectible. People are melting down incredibly rare, high quality flatware for below spot price. If I'm wrong, I own silver at spot. If I'm correct, we'll wake up in 20 years as a society and say "what the hell have we done? We destroyed works of art that can never be replaced". I like any investment where it has an intrinsic value and a potential for a collector value as a double-dip investment potential.

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Glad to learn that you're transitioning from digital metals to physical. I'm Finance BBA and thus no Luddite, but IMO, if you can't hold it, do you really own it? As you understand the private transaction utility of silver, don't forget to stock up on 90% silver U.S. coinage (especially dimes, at no extra premium, so far!). A 90% silver dime is worth nearly $5 now, and the smallest divisible unit.

Metals liquidation needn't involve 1099s etc if one doesn't sell too much to a single dealer at once.
"Think outside of the box" as they say....

I align with your valuing of vintage silverware. Coin dealers often take it in, paying melt value or even just under, and usually sending it on as scrap. You could try to interdict that at the dealers, or advertise as a silverware buyer. Many boomer estates are coming up, and their heirs (who no longer cook/dine in) will be dumping the family silver, but you know that already.

However, consider who will have to "wake up in 20 years" to finally appreciate its collectible value?
Us? Many of us will be dead by then.

Our children and grandchildren? Hmmmm, IF they emerge from the coming national and global depression with surplus capital intact for luxuries, maybe.

The elite? Perhaps, but they would seem to already have their nice silver services.

If your timing was as assured as buying German WWII guns/regalia in the 1950s, I'd be all over it.
That stuff went stratospheric in 25 years, partially because we had Boom times then.
I'm economically pessimistic today. We may disagree there.

Your 70% equities/25% real estate is 95% invested in "the system". You're taking quite a beta risk there, if only on exit liquidity. By the time you want "out" the doors out may be jammed up. I'd rec. increasing your metals by at least 2x.

Finally, nobody actually wants money for money's sake, but only for what money can buy. I.e., buy now/first what you'd spend the gold/silver/etc. on later, because those goods may not be a bargain (or readily available) later. I read of an example of boy's father, on Monday morning 8 December 1941, buying an extra set of tires. Which were very soon after rationed in the USA new WWII.

In summary, perhaps think more nitty-gritty. You've already got the orthodox investing well in hand.

Save water during the months of Dec-Feb because that is when the water dept calculates water sewage disposal (thinking that there is no lawn watering then). Do it by not shaving in the shower and going to the laundromat. Then you pay the reduced rate all year.
Keep a/c condensers clean as well as filters changed.
Keep vehicles well maintained and air filters etc changed. Get a special ECU tune to up mpg.
Buy "take off" new tires on craigslist from people who immediately wanted bigger tire/rim combos. I have gotten whole sets of Michelin twice, new, for $250
Buy and sell what you are an authority in.
Repurpose, if it pleases you.
When you find a REAL sale on motor oil, etc. buy it by the case, even all they have.
DIY when you can. YouTube can make you an expert on anything relatively simple. If you acquire a special skill, hire out.
Get a side gig.
Find a way to make an automatic deduction--you won't miss it if you never see it I have raised 15K that way.
Get your wife to help you police the airline rates. Sometimes they go stupid cheap for reasons we don't understand. Jump on them quick. This alone might help decide where when you hunt!
Listen to your wife and don't do anything stupid. lol

Airline/hotel rates often are ratcheted up if a common IP address searcher seems eager.
Get a VPN and then some quotes from another IP. I've seen a 20% discount at once from that.

John Pugsley's book The Alpha Strategy is 40+ years old, but valid today.
I.e., how to buy up stock as an inflation hedge.

Green Chile said:

If I do get to Australia, it will be for culling cows, scrub bulls and management bulls.

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That sounds like a good idea.

Along your earlier lines, management Elephant, tuskless, and non-importable save a fair bit of money but still provide the experience. I think I need a set of heavy ivory to bring first then that’s what I’d do

Green Chile said:

I thought of something else that is not only money saving but a change in mindset. I love hunting DG...it's my fav thing in Africa. I've taken lots of it but not as much as I want. This year I took a couple of cow buff on some very challenging stalks and was going to chase a 3rd but ran out of time. That 3rd cow would have been the halfway point of paying for ONE bull. So my experience is growing 3x faster but my spend is running at 1/3 the rate. I will be doing more of that in the future. It's also more challenging to pick the right old cow out of a herd than taking out dugga boys on their own or small bachelor groups. The challenge is harder...the excitement is higher...the cost is far lower. How many big bulls can you hang in the house anyway?

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I am definitely interested in doing some similar hunting. I've already killed five bulls now. The experience is what's most important to me

my father told me when I was young there are two ways to save money. Don’t spend it or make more it’s that simple.
A gentleman I worked with who has since retired told me about a decade ago when I asked him if he worked the holidays for double and triple rate. He said “the bills I had in 2000 are the same today but I make a lot more money.. I don’t work holidays lol.”
Stop increasing lifestyle when you make more money and it’s amazing how much more money people would have.

wildwilderness said:

That sounds like a good idea.

Along your earlier lines, management Elephant, tuskless, and non-importable save a fair bit of money but still provide the experience. I think I need a set of heavy ivory to bring first then that’s what I’d do

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My first safari was for tuskless. My first exportable ivory was a cancellation opportunity. As you said, there are lots of ways to get there.

I made a decision to cut "fluff" expenses to the bone. All streaming services, all credit cards with fees, all membership-based clubs (except costco and sams), basically anything that is a non-life essential recurring expense.

People may find it odd that I'm doing this during peak earnings era rather than doing it when I was young and struggling but here's why. I have a fully funded emergency fund that covers my expenses for a year should I get sick, lose my job, or we have a catastrophic life event.

By trimming my operating expenses to the bone, it shrinks the mandatory size of my emergency fund. That means more of my assets can be invested into more volatile, but higher return equities, rather than being in low-risk, low-return assets that are highly liquid.

So when I cut $200 a month from my operating expenses, it means I have $2400 more moved into good investments rather than languishing in my emergency fund, PLUS I have $200 each month going into investments. Little changes make big force-multiplier moves to my overall outlook.

Another cost savings I stumbled into 20 years ago was doing my own gunsmithing. I was often disappointed in the work of others and its expensive, compounded by shipping and insurance. Being able to do a few types of gunsmithing at high competence has saved me a lot of money over the years. (3 position safeties, bluing small parts, checkering clean-up, oil finishes, installing pivot mounts, etc) It saves me about $1500 a year on the average.