I have a small garden for a hobby and mental health. I spent $30 on 2 bags of fucking DIRT yesterday. What am I doing? Dirt was $30!?!? I guess I can't even afford dirt anymore. ๐ญ
this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2026
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Are you composting? You need to compost. Make your own dirt, that's better than what they sell anyway.
Practically everything. My phone, garbage, insurance, food, gas, electric, internet, cable . . . everything went up seemingly at the same time. There are a lot of products and businesses I just outright boycott based upon GOP reasons. I pretty much eliminate grocery stores in the summer and buy from local farms. I partition my trash into small bags and deposit them in trash cans and eliminated my garbage pick up. I compost all scraps. Started a vegetable garden. Grow my own cannabis. Switched to USMobile for $10 a month unlimited. Torrent everything. Cut cable. I used to eat out about three times a week and that is now zero. Overall, I am eating better and even lost about 15 pounds. I discovered bin stores. I find myself buying more stuff that I don't need but want. I found a $500 Garmin watch on dollar day. The only wrong with it was it was missing the band so I found one that fit and got that for a buck. On $3 day last week I found a pair of ar6 walkie talkies sealed. On $12 day I found a 32" TV and leaf blower, both sealed. I can't see myself ever paying full price again, shopping in a store or even online.
I refuse to pump my car tyres from petrol stations anymore because all the ones in my local area have started charging exorbitant prices. It always used to be free with petrol, then a few years ago it became 20p, but now it's randomly shot up to ยฃ1.50. WHY??
You can buy devices that pump your car tyres up for you too. They tend not to last very long, so they're not exactly "one time" purchases, but they're far more cost effective than doing it at stations nowadays.!
I just bought a bicycle foot pump. Sure it's slightly inconvenient and requires some leg work. But, I've gone through one about every other decade. Also, I'm not tethered to a car with a working battery.
Movie Theatre Popped Corn.
We considered going to the movies for The Odyssey until we realized it would be over $75 for the three of us (husband/wife/kid). I think I've been prived out of the movies, the last one I saw in theater was Uncle Drew.
It has heart-clogging butter anyway. Air-pop your own at home and then slather olive oil, salt, and any spices you like over it! It's so much cheaper and better in every way.
Beef. 7dollars a lb for ground beef is silly. God help you if you want a nice steak or a brisket.
Cigarettes. Of course, there were other more pressing reasons to quit, but saving nearly ยฃ20 a packet helped.
I buy maybe one or two "full price" video games per year. And even then those are probably not exactly "AAA". Buying tons of indie stuff though!
Got rid of most of the streaming services and I'm seriously considering dropping the few that remain. (I'd need to, ugh, call the support to cancel.) The free streaming service from the national public broadcaster is pretty amazing and I have a wall of DVDs and Blu-Ray discs.
Buying new games is kinda crazy. On steam you can get every nfs game for 3 to 5 dollars. Same with the borderlands game. It's weird to pay 60 dollars for it off season
Not so much stopped buying but never bought, but these bags in Japan that kids take to school.
They're stupidly heavy and way over priced. In my kids' school, using one is optional, so we just went with a regular back pack from Muji. Such a stupid culture imo.
Coca Cola
I'm going to get some hate for this, but: nothing
I live in a civilised country, where the cost of things isn't crazy relative to income with the notable exception of housing
I'm lucky enough to own my own home, and I did horrible hours of damned hard work to get where I am
I buy seasonal food where I can (because of environmental reasons rather than just the price), I don't buy junk food or takeaways apart from very rare occasions
I don't smoke and I buy beer from local brewers and enjoy a wine club that is within my means
If I want something, I buy it, but I'm not frivolous with money
My TV is too old to connect to the internet, I don't have fancy clothes, the last console I bought was a PS2, I have no Netflix or any such subscriptions
I see people struggling, but I also see a lot of money spent on what I consider to be bullshit
And while I'm older, I'm not a boomer before anyone suggests otherwise
I see people struggling, but I also see a lot of money spent on what I consider to be bullshit
I was nodding along with you until this line here.
Not everyone is as lucky as we are to be in a position where we aren't struggling as much right now. It's not entirely their fault for struggling either. What you find worthy of spending money on, others will find wasteful.
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