Best ways to save money

[pin]

Someone needs to set up a www.moneysavingexpert.co.uk site equivalent for HK

Heh, I know that site very well!

[taihunggao]

remember to keep your shampoo in the freezer and don't feed the dog unless it's bought back at least something useful from the dump.

[erictby]

Maybe I should've made myself clearer but I did mention that I rarely cook for myself. When I said it's more expensive to be a vegetarian, I was referring to eating out. Most of the less exquisite restaurants and cafes here usually only offer meat dishes for their lunch and dinner sets, and you can fill your belly up for like $100. But being a vegetarian, you'd have to order everything seperately, $50 for a salad or a side, $80 for a main course, $30 for a drink and $30 for a dessert. So if you eat out like five or six times a week, it'll really piss you off.

These are my sentiments exactly. I'm veggie and its tricky for me to eat local for two reasons:

1. Don't speak / read the language, so don't know if the food has meat in it or not.

2. Most local places (i.e. the cheap lunch places) don't seem to have anything non meat on the menu.

If not mistaken, I saw some vegetarian buffet restaurant cost around HKD100 in CSW Bay & Jordan. The Jordan one offer lunch, tea-time and dinner. Tea time, if not mistaken, cost less than HKD50. Maybe you can have a try to know the taste for the tea time. Just next to the Exit B1 Jordan MTR station.

Don't know the taste because I am meat lover, never try those restaurant.

[Alby]

Pin - Just a suggestion.....
Made be some Geoexpaters can suggest some local dishes without meat for you to try --- you can take down the name (phoentic chinese) and ask your colleagues or the resturant staff to see if they can make them.

The Jordan one offer lunch, tea-time and dinner. Tea time, if not mistaken, cost less than HKD50. Maybe you can have a try to know the taste for the tea time. Just next to the Exit B1 Jordan MTR station.

Don't know the taste because I am meat lover, never try those restaurant.

This resturant is 100% veg. the Dim Sum here is delicious and good value......I really should try to recall the name of the place!!

[muse07]

And now for a slightly left-of the middle take...

(1) Shop till you drop. A lot of things (eg clothes of comparable quality) are a lot cheaper here compared to a lot of other countries. You will save money.

(2) Get a massage every week. See above. Also, you might be more relaxed and therefore more productive at work.

(3) Apply for as many credit cards as possible. You can get lots of freebies, and almost every second shop and restaurant has a discount for a particular credit card - you've just gotta hunt through your pile of plastic for the right one.

(4) Get a financial planner. They really do have your best interests at heart, and are not just after your commission.

(5) Go out drinking lots. You will meet a lot of people and as a result possibly snare that new job, that new client, etc..

(6) Get a helper. Take a taxi if it's going to be difficult to find public transport. "TIME IS MONEY"!

Er... and PLEASE before I get unduly flamed, for those who might not have noticed, I was SUBTLELY TAKING THE PI** out of (ie DID NOT REALLY MEAN) the above. Although having said that, I think there are grains of truth in the above..

On a serious note, despite the first comments on this, one thing I have recently done is to organise a term deposit for the money I am not currently investing at NAB which is currently offering about 4% interest on HKD (for a couple of months I think) instead of about 2.6% at HSBC for the same amount of money. I think it adds up if you have a moderately sized deposit.

Can't think of anything else at the moment except shop local and on Kowloon.

OK sorry guys - budget planner I aint!

[muse07]

PS The above was meant to read "live" on Kowloon..

PPS Just to confirm, yes, I do realise that spending money will not make you save money

[emmie]

Oh I also wanted to add:
...
Public Transportation and/or car (taxi) pool when can (even share taxi's to common places with my neighbors or complete strangers particularly in a long taxi que will find someone going in the same direction and same place...

Now I do this frequently - as discount taxi drivers typically desire a minimum HK50 fare before discount can be given.

Reviving this interesting old thread, popping up in my search under 'taxi fare discount', because want to ask...

Now that it's long post-SARS and the local economy's seemingly chugging along OK, are the previously talked-about 20% (even 30%) discounts off meter fares still around, if requested? BTW, read KIA's and others' "Discounted Taxi" posts of a few yrs back (now closed) - the info's great, but most probably not valid now.

Interested in checking affordability of taxiing FROM Kowloon (say Jordan) TO HK island 'Cyberport', on the odd weekday morning. (And how long might the journey take during peak hrs?)

But main Q is: anyn contact info of taxi groups currently offering "under the table" discounts?

[jaykay]

Yeah they are still widely available. Would be wise to ask around for phone numbers as most groups only speak Cantonese. You may be able to find some that do speak some English.

[freeier]

are they still prying the airport <--> hkisland route ?
heard the airport taxi managed to ban those discount taxis from coming in to fetch ppl.

[jaykay]

They are but they have to park away from the airport. We called our own taxi when we landed last time and had to meet him near (or in) Car Park 3 last time.