20 Quick & Easy ways to not get poorer in 2024

I cannot thank you enough!! We make decent money but were living paycheck to paycheck. Even after a promotion and avoiding lifestyle creep, we could not get ahead with all the soaring prices. I thought I had a good budget, but was feeling pretty desperate about not finding any room for savings or emergencies. I began watching your videos a few months ago, and my whole family started making changes based on what we learned from you. We have reigned in our crazy grocery budget with meal planning and batch cooking. That alone has saved us a ton of money. We have also made many other adjustments throughout our budget. This has quickly made it possible for us to save a small emergency fund, fill all the sinking funds for upcoming obligations, and create a nice buffer in our checking account. We are so happy and, for once, we feel safer and more secure where money is concerned. Thank you so much for all your great advice!!

Hi, Jane and Michael. I work as a nurse in a general hospital here in Spain. We are five in our service, and each week we make a homemade treat for our coffee break. We never pay for the expensive and awful hospital coffee; we make or own coffee in a coffee maker gifted by a pharmaceutical brand. This week is my turn and I did on Sunday a delicious bundt cake. All of us are in the same team about money, and it's a relif. Thanks for another inspiring video.

I try to go and see my grown children and grandchildren once a year. I live in Ontario and they live in Alberta. Last time I knit socks for all the littles. This time I found cute children’s books at the thrift store. I’m also crocheting dishcloths for the daughter in laws. And sewing them hot pads. I try to make as much as possible. Unfortunately mailing something is crazy expensive. Anything thicker than a card is $17 minimum. I’ve also gifted homemade bread or jams. Cheers, Janina from Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦 P.s. I find it very important to have the mindset that I’m not poor or sad, but that I’m frugal 💪😊

I have a friend who loves baking and is very generous. I’m a person who loves to make relishes and jams. I try to keep her well stocked. I make a lot of jams using fruit from the garden. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, plums. I have other uses for my apples. In the last two weeks I have made two batches of rhubarb relish. Rhubarb, onions, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and spices. Each batch makes about 9 jars. Of the first batch, there is only one left. I get my jars from garage sales and only have to buy lids. I need a lot(around 60 at Christmas time). I ask my friends to return the jars if they don’t need them. Keeping my costs down here.

Lots of impressive comments on what people are doing to keep costs down. Your opening comments echo my rising costs; housing was already 50% of my income before the rapid increases, in a one person household, so every decision I can make wisely keeps me from falling into the credit card spiral of despair. The vortex is strong but I refuse to be sucked in! Thanks for the video.

My best friend and I attended a free Asian cooking class at the library. We learned how to make Vietnamese Spring Rolls and then got to eat our creation. We also got a nice history lesson from the Chef. It was a fun friends outing and we plan to attend more.

I have a good chunk of change in my "emergency fund" but when something goes up n breaks down I don't want to tap into it. Case in point both of my toilets started having problems n I could have called a plumber n I'm sure they would have fixed it so much faster n easier, but I didn't want to have a HUGE bill so I went on "Youtube" watched the video on how to fix a leaky tank n did it myself. Yes it took me over 3 hours, BUT it's fixed, n it was only a seal that needed to be replaced, now the other day my dryer stopped turning that will be my project for the weekend. I'm hoping that it's only a belt n I can do this myself, but if I need to replace it I will wait to the winter to get a new one which will give me more time to save. I can't complain it is only 19 yrs old. It just goes to prove that anyone YES even this 64 yr old Grand ma can save on home repairs when money is so tight

We have been living on a very small amount of money (around $1200 Cdn dollars/month) since the pandemic hit four years ago. We have no debt and very small expenses but the cost increases in the last year in particular have made living on that amount very difficult. I do a bunch of small things (surveys to get Amazon codes to buy groceries, collecting alcohol containers to return) that help to give me some money for groceries but my husband will be returning to work on a very part time basis in the fall. That little bit of extra money will make a huge difference. The constant increases have definitely made things very challenging.

Decluttering is also great because it makes you aware of what you already have and thus what you don't need! 😊

Our friends bring wood for our small fireplace as a gift😅 we yet dont have a place to store larger amounts of firewood so they bring small boxes of it💖💖💖

I started to bake bread and that going nice . So now I bake a cake on Sunday and that is enough for the week. No cookies or bread from the shop anymore.

I freeze extra chopped onions, peppers, etc, to use later. I have started saving all the leftover vegetable scraps when I am cutting them up. I toss onion skins and other parts of veggies in a freezer bag in the freezer so they can be used for stock later. Mushrooms can become slimy in the fridge, so I remove them from the hallock (little box), fold up a paper towel and place it in the bottom before returning the mushrooms to the hallock. I do this as well for berries, and by controlling the moisture this way the edible life of the fungus or fruit is extended.

In terms of what else to do with produce, you are so comprehensive it is difficult to add more to your lists, Jane. One thing I don't recall seeing often is using up extra fruit. We are all good about cutting up tiring vegetables for soup, and the same concept applies for fruit. If you find apples or stone fruit, etc. getting a bit tired, cut it into small pieces, put an oatmeal crumb topping on it, and make dessert. This same fruit can be added to hot cereal or used as pancake toppings. Thanks for your determination in keeping us all centered on frugality.

I love to bake. Many years ago I started giving baked goods as gifts. Friends, family and neighbors all enjoy it. Cookies and tea breads are the favorites.

Hi Jane, your hair looks lovely today. X. Take fresh carrots out of the plastic bag and place in fridge wrapped in a clean damp tea towel, they will last for ages without going all bendy

I make small and thin cheese biscuits as a gift. They always are warmly welcomed (devoured). You are right about putting some thought and effort into a gift of something from home or garden. Find out what herbs friends don’t have and take along a pot from your garden. If I lived near to you I would arrive with a pot with a grown on shrub cutting.

I agree that if it's not on the list, it doesn't go in the basket — unless it's at a great discount AND I'm absolutely going to eat/use it! I'm self-employed and the past couple of years have been very rough... I've become absolutely ruthless about every penny I spend, especially when it comes to food, since it's one of the easiest expenses to exert control over. Your videos are a precious source of ideas, inspiration and support!

New family moved into neighborhood this week. The kids started asking about my garden plants. I took the 3 little ones to strawberry patch and let them pick and eat what they wanted. I showed them onions garlic mint oregeno and berry plants. They were so excited and I got yo talk about gardening with dad. Fun hour for me and them.

Great video, thank you Jane and Mike “behind the camera” very useful tips. I am always looking forward to your videos, so much still to learn. Since I moved recently, I need to figure out the sales cycle here in Vancouver. I cook, bake, freeze, can and don’t waste food. Arts, crafts and DIY are my hobbies. My gift giving are: small canvas paintings, painted and stencilled farmhouse risers and stack of books with quotes, knitted scarves, antipasto, tapenade in cute jars,crochet balls as bowl fillers, fabric/lace/hessian hearts, pumpkins. I sell them as well. During my employment I never bought lunch or coffee it saved me lots of money to be mortgage FREE.😊

I was my leafy greens when we get home, and wrap in a damp dish cloth to keep it fresh. I menu plan based around fresh first, fruits, vegetables won't keep long. Then I go through freezer and check dates, and plan a meal with whatever canning jars are older. 3-4 vegetables minimum at both lunch and dinner. Even with only 2 of us, we stock up on the things that are our regularly used items, only when on sale. Today we are going through our garage items and deciding if we need it still, otherwise sell it.