this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
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Frugal

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Discuss how to save money.

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I've noticed sometimes that there's some half-baked videos or blogs or whatever that purport this or that frugal trick, but if you look at the time or math, it's not actually frugal for you.

What are some examples of that you've come across? The things that "aren't worth it"?

For me it's couponing. (Although I haven't heard people talk about it recently--has it fallen out of "style", or have businesses caught up to the loopholes folks used to exploit?)

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Not sure if this counts, per se, but Solar Panels. Specifically, via a loan.

My electric bill is insane, thanks to the powers of capitalism and monopoly. So I figured installing solar panels would be a good investment. Sure it takes ten years to break even, but I’d rather be paying my way through that than paying my electric utility.

Well, the problem I ran into was that the interest on a loan would effectively negate any headway I was hoping to make per month.

I still plan on doing solar, but not before either interest rates at least quarter themselves or I save up enough to practically pay for it up front.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Are you in the US? Are you factoring in the federal rebate? Are there any other state or local rebates you might also qualify for?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

The rebate is only as good as my taxes… so it helps, but not enough to make it a financially wise decision at this time. Similar story with the state incentives.

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