Crazy / Smart / Stupid things people do at onsite / overseas to save money

raksrules

raksrules

Elite
So I am currently in US of A like many IT Workers. I am sure there are some people here who are or have been in either USA or some other country for short term / long term opportunities and have had chance to stay / interact with fellow Indians in those countries.
Now for most of us Indians who come to onsite (for those uninformed, onsite is the jargon used in IT industry for overseas assignment), prime motto becomes save as much as you can so you can take loads of money back to India and invest or live a king size life or whatever.
But then in this endeavor to save money, we Indians do all kinds of crazy / stupid and sometimes even smart things. Each dollar counts, a cent saved is a cent earned.
So what have your experiences been of saving money, be it something done by yourself or your colleague in office or some other Indian family you have interacted with.
We are not here to judge you even if you do some crazy stuff.

My experiences till now (not something I do)..

  • Keeping AC Off entire day and using a table fan (so less energy costs). I have been to homes of some colleagues here which are literally ovens, they will start AC only when someone from outside comes.
  • Not changing car tyres - Yeah one of my colleague's wife was surprised when we told we are getting our car's 2 tires changed because the thread is almost worn out (probably 1/10 remaining) and we live in extreme winter areas (during winters). They say "what's the need of tire change, nothing happens". For me, the only thing that keeps me connected to road at 120Kmph on the freeway, I need them to be good always.
  • Not buying TV - Youtube for everything, on laptop, else don't watch anything, give reasons like "theek hai na kya karna hai dekh ke" and such.
  • Not Buying Sofa - Yeah no place to sit at home, sit on ground or some camping chair, why because sofas cost money, like $200 money.
  • No Dining table - Instead I saw most families have a makeshift card table (used for playing cards), wobbly and something which cannot take much weight. Why ? Because that cost $50 against a proper dining table which costs $100 (walmart FTW !)
  • Share a Gallon of Milk - Yeah you read that right, once Aldi (grocery market) had some offer of $1 a gallon of milk, one girl bought half gallon (from the full gallon can) from another colleague for 50 cents. All because it is $1 cheaper than usual price.
  • Returning goods after using - This is EPIC and I constitute as fraud. Just because walmart gives you liberal return policy doesn't mean you take advantage and return products once you have used them. For no genuine reason whatsoever, just because you can.
  • Traveling 50 miles to save few dollars - Yeah I have people who have costco membership and travel 50 miles (nearest costco) just to buy stuff in bulk and save few dollars and get like 10 cents cheaper gas. Totally deifies logic to me.
  • Sharing Costco Membership - Since costco most times don't see the actual person's pic on the card, I have seen several families use a single person's card to shop at costco.

Anything you have to add ??
 
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^^

I am in US for couple of years now. I can attest that I have seen most of the above. and I am yet to do anything like above. :D :D.

People do weird things and buy the most expensive cars they can. One guy I know bought a Evoque. :O. Just after 2 weeks in US. :(.
 
^^^

1. He is staying in US for 6 months only. This I am ok with.
2. I know how many people are staying in his 1 BHK.
3. I know how much money he makes. In that a 43K Used range rover is not good.
4. I know what all things he does for saving money.
5. I also know what he said to someone that rounded up a .73 USD when a hotel bill was split.

Then again, I agree that I shouldn't judge. But this thread is for that. So... here goes.
 
Even 43K for a brand new merc or beemer or audi, if luxury is what he is after... is great. After all his pining and preaching for how others spend and buying a 43k USED range rover. COME ON!!!..
 
Carrying a sackful of Maggi noodles from India and living off that for months.

raksrules said:
  • Not buying TV - Youtube for everything, on laptop, else don't watch anything, give reasons like "theek hai na kya karna hai dekh ke" and such.
Click to expand...
This might not necessarily to save money. My sister didn't buy a TV in US because she is not that habituated to watching TV. She uses a Netflix account to watch movies or shows on laptop.
She however bought a Chevrolet Malibu spending over $25000
 
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Eh, let people do what they want. We don't know their life .(Except for that return fraud, that is shitty). I've seen all the things listed in the first post done by new student, old students, people onsite, 2nd/3rd generation immigrants and citizens. And done by people of all races and colours.

As for the Evoque? People save in some aspects and spend it on another. Nothing wrong with that. Did he buy the Evoque? Did he take over someone's lease for 6 months (That would cost him about $500 per month - better than renting)? If he bought a used one and sells it withing a half year, expenses would be $2500 sales tax + about $5000 depreciation. Again, not a bad deal considering another friend of mine was paying $800 a month to rent a car.
 
I know someone, a full time employee but Indian., bought that super duper expense dyson vaccum cum carpet cleaner thingy when he was vacating an apartment. Cleaned the apartment, cleaned the cleaner and gave it back to walmart.

BOUGHT.. Told him the lease.. something about less mileages didnt sit with him fine. He wanted to do a cross country. And soon winter will be here. :( :(
 
I'm one of those people who does these "crazy / smart / stupid" things to save a few cents. Here's a list off the top of my head:

1. Share a 1 bedroom with 11 other people. This is big one, because I only have to pay a 100 bucks a month for a roof over my head. The living situation and hygiene in general take a hit, but it is a small price to pay for the money that you save.
2. Skip showers for a few days. I've already established my reputation at the workplace as that "stinky brown dude", so it doesn't hurt to not take a shower sometimes and save precious water resources and make your soap / shampoo/ etc last a few days longer. Drops in the ocean, as they say.
3. "Borrow" stuff from your roommates and forget to return it to them. The chaos of living with 11 other people helps, as no one notices a few missing items. Don't take their personal belongings or their trinkets or baubles - I consider that to be unethical. Stick to the fast moving stuff, like soap and milk.
4. Take showers at work. If your workplace has a shower, you can skip taking showers at home entirely. Water and soap costs are now on your company's tab.
5. Don't buy a bed. Living with 11 other people, there's no room for a bed anyway. The carpet's soft and you can always buy a sleeping bag for extra padding. With sleeping bags, you don't have spend any money on additional duvets or comforters. Money well spent. Of course, with this arrangement, you will have to find a girl/boyfriend who is comfortable with having sex in one corner of the room while other people may / may not look on.
6. If you do find a girl/boyfriend, especially one who is not among the 11 roommates, it's all the better. You can freeload on so many things at her/his place, including soap.
7. If you have a girl/boyfriend who owns a car and if you can find someone you can carpool to work to, you can sell your own car. This is another big one. You save on car payments, insurance and gas.
8. If you have the time, you can look into extreme couponing as a hobby. You can very well walk out of the grocery store with more money than you walked in with.
9. Try to live off of protein powders, energy bars and sugary drinks. These are highly calorific dense foods, and have a higher initial cost. But on the long run, they are cheaper to live off than buying regular food. You may not get the proper nutrition, but it is a small price to pay for the $$$ you save.

These are just a few of the many cost cutting measures that I follow. If anyone's interested, I'd be happy to share more.

Edit - For political correctness.
 
Sarcastic post aside.. the stinky brown dude. One of my clients once reported that against our team. :/. I use 3 different levels of scent nowadays. Deo, Body spray and perfume. :|
 
Many Indians living abroad get a bad rep for being "smelly" not because of bad hygiene, but because of the food. Indian food is oil and spice-centric, and while it smells great while it's fresh, the oil vapors and curry smells have a really bad tendency to cling to your clothes. This is the famous stale oil smell associated with many Indians, and an easy go to for racist remarks. No amount of baths will help. Body sprays and perfumes only mask the problem or make it worse. The only real solution is to ensure proper ventilation at home and keeping your clothes away from the cooking vapors. You could also try living off of a western diet, but that's unrealistic in the long term for a lot of people.
 
*Returning goods after using
I have seen a colleague during his first week in US, buy a handycam and then returning next day to Frys. Why?? So that he can later buy it cheaper, once it comes on shelf as open items.
 
I have some:

1) One of my colleague was on a 6 month assignment to the USA. He got to know about the Walmart refund policy. Bought a TV, (ab)used it for 3 months, at the end of 3rd month returned it to Walmart stating some stupid reason. Got refunded.
Repeat for the next 3 months.

2) 4 other colleagues rent car every week from National. They rent a compact car which costs like 70$/week, while a intermediate costs 85$/week. 4 people and yet don't want to shell out 15$ extra.
The same 4 colleagues while returning the rental car, fill gas at a Fast Trip gas store 8 miles away to save 20 cents/gallon, and drive back 8 miles in the opposite direction to return the rental car, though there are couple of gas stations near the rental office.
 
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