Money saving tips thread(inflation edition).

13 comments

1. Honestly the best thing I did so far to save money is to follow the examples of people from Vietnam in my area. I go to the same stores as them so I just bought what they did and was amazed at how far my budget went.

   Also, check sales flyers of drug stores and supermarkets in your area on [shufoo.net](https://shufoo.net)

2. Find supermarkets that have discount racks/bins.

   My local Valor has a rack for produce, a cart for dry goods (including detergent, olive oil, candy, tea, you name it), a cart for refrigerated goods (noodles, pickles, tofu, etc), a cart for bread stuffs, and discounts meats daily (fish not so much), and the bakery also always has discounted baguette and bread rolls put here and there.
   Why pay ¥215 for one bell pepper when you can get one that’s “going bad, but not really if you put it in the fridge lol” for ¥125?

   When they purge their tomatoes, I buy big bags of them and make sauce which I freeze and take out when needed.

   Also, if you’re wanting to do takeout instead, go to your local grocery store and pick up the discounted bento/sides before closing time. Choices are slim, but it fills the need.

3. Buying groceries from Farmers market saves some dough

4. Pro tip, never move into an apartment with LP gas unless you have to.

   Never use vending machines and avoid the convenience stores. I’m sure most of you already know how much they jack up their prices compared to super markets. If you are desperate, go to a drug store for snacks and drinks.

   As always, keep it wrapped.

5. If it’s close by, go to your ward’s gym center. It typically costs between 200 to 400 yen a visit. 8 visits a month and you are looking at 3200 yen instead of 8000 for Anytime or over 10,000 for a regular gym. I used to do this when I lived an 8 minute bike ride away from mine.

6. >If you like to workout, consider going later and using gym facilities to shower.

   OK, I didn’t think we were going to get this ghetto. But honestly if you’re trying to save money, step one would be to cancel your gym membership.

   Okay then, if you don’t go to a gym: Use your bath water as laundry water.

7. When I was at my worst financially in Japan, I switched from occasional shopping in my local supermarket to doing a big shop every week on a Friday at Rumieru. Saved me a lot of money.

   **However** scrimping and saving is fine for a short time, to get you out of a bind for a year or even two, but if you are planning on staying here for more than that year or two then your goal should be to improve your income.

8. >If you like to workout, consider going later and using gym facilities to shower.

   Is money that tight? Then it might be better to workout at home..

9. Eat more delica kirchen. Healthy and cheap

10. IDK if this is every AEON, but the one near me does 5x WAON points on the 10th of every month. I’m still figuring out this whole point card thing, but it seems promising. I’ve also heard some transportation agencies offer commuter passes, limited to a particular route between stops, so if you use it every day to go to work/school, that could help. Local markets also tend to be cheaper than supermarkets, the obaa-chan selling cabbage can usually hook you up with a better deal.

    Also, I know no one wants to hear this, but stop buying so much stuff you don’t need. You don’t need that new PS4 game, or that new pair of shoes, think hard about what you actually NEED, then budget a small amount for buying things you don’t need.

11. TLDR : open an ideco/Nisa at Rakuten/SBI and put your savings into eMaxi Slim All countries, keep investing, do not look at the results for a decade, profit.

    —

    Inflation is a real long term topic, not just one for now, and while it takes a bit of paperwork, you can fight it efficiently by investing your money.

    Inflation make you loose money all the time, every day, every year, your hard earned cash looses value while you make great efforts to add to the pile. You will make a massive difference if don’t keep your savings as cash and invest. This trumps any short term money saving action you can do.

    Invest them on assets that will grow in value, such as equities, real estate, bonds, etc.

    One popular way to do this is use tax advantaged accounts (ideco, nisa) to buy low cost, diversified investment products. For example the [Emaxis Slim Equities all countries](https://emaxis.jp/fund/253425.html) covers [the world largest 1500 companies in developed countries](https://www.msci.com/documents/10199/178e6643-6ae6-47b9-82be-e1fc565ededb) (excl Japan for this specific product). So you just capture the world economic growth without having to do anything than buy one product, and as long as you stay invested long term and do not sell when market dips, [you are very likely](https://prosperion.us/commentary/meet-bob-worlds-worst-market-timer/) to grow your money significantly (5%+ per year on long term trend, think at least a decade).

    The theory behind cautious, easy, efficient long term investing is well know and documented. Please take a look at boglehead’s / NISA / ideco and other links in the r/JapanFinance’s [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanFinance/wiki/index/investing/long/) and previous discussions (caution if you are a US taxpayer).

    Note that the investment product I listed is up 11.5% year on year, because it holds companies mainly in the US, so when the JPY becomes weaker, this product value goes up. This product is the most popular in r/JapanFinance because of its low fees and global coverage, so if people want to get only one thing it is often recommended.

    I hope that helps. Save your savings folks !

12. Brew your own coffee. Stop buying coffee in cafes. A daily takeout coffee is ~400 yen, or 12000 a month. Brewing your own costs 30-100 depending on the bean quality and if you’re adding milk.

    Same with lunch. If you’re buying 500 yen bentos, or worse, 1000 yen lunches, you can get lunch way cheaper by making your own lunch box at home. Key being “make” – if you’re jut buying karaage from the deli section or something you’re not saving much.

13. Gym? Spend the money on you own equipment. That 7000 JPY a month can go towards your own weights, etc. (For me, I still go to the gym at a 24 hour place for about 7000 JPY per month since it’s 24/7 and all over Japan, and I like going out to work out)

    Food? Farmers market nearby if you can find it. Peruse the “cheap’ veggies that are still good when marked down. Eat healthy. Drop the snacks down to once a week.

    Bake your own bread. Make your own cookies. Not that hard and cheaper than buying the stuff outside (and bread in Japan is crap anyway)

    Need transportation? Buy a 250cc motorcycle if you have the license. Cheaper than using the train everywhere.

    ​

    Cosco.