"I've Saved Literally Hundreds A Month": People Are Revealing The Less-Known Frugal Tips That Work For Them
Recently, u/cucumberappleblizz asked people on Reddit to share their favorite money-saving advice that's a little off the beaten path, and people had so many interesting suggestions. Here are some of the top responses:
1."I do a fiscal fast once a month. I'll fuel up my vehicle, get at least 10 days worth of groceries, and the goal is to spend absolutely ZERO dollars for those 10 days. So, for about 1/3 of the year, I don't spend a penny. Works for me!"
2."Try cascading leftovers, or meals where the leftovers 'lead' or cascade into another. Baked potato one night turns into potato soup the next. Chili can be repurposed into spaghetti sauce or put on top of chips for nachos. I personally roast a chicken with veggies. The carcass turns into chicken noodle soup. I get a couple meals and lunches for four for a price under $30 total."
3."I switched to grocery delivery during the pandemic. Even though there's a monthly/yearly fee, I've kept it because it cut my impulse purchases down to near zero and actually saves us money. Spending less and eating less junk."
4."After you've gotten the discount signing up for a shopping website's mailing list, unsubscribe from the emails."
5."The power of doing your homework before making purchases. The cheapest option may not always be the frugal option if your purchase doesn’t have longevity compared to other reasonably-priced options."
6."When you make dinner at home, before you serve yourself, put some servings into plastic containers for meal prep. This helps with portion control, and now you have a couple days of lunch to bring to work instead of buying."
7."Honestly, I always have my favorite processed foods I typically crave in my freezer. Chicken strips, French fries, pizza, etc. Cooking a frozen pizza satiates the craving for, like, $5 instead of $20 delivery. Frozen chicken strips hit the spot like Wendy's or McDonald's, and cost a fraction. I used to not have these items at home because I wanted to 'be healthier,' but the truth is, I'd get cravings anyways and buy fast food for triple the cost."
"I eventually saw a dietician say 'add, don't restrict.' So I've added a green smoothie, five servings of veggies, and a healthy meal-prepped lunch to my diet. I now eat chicken strips or pizza, like, once or twice a week each because I already get my healthy food in. A lot cheaper, and I'm a lot happier!"
8."If you're thinking about or tempted to buy something, add it to your cart but don't check out right away. Come back to it a few days later after you've had some time and see if you still want it. Consider if it's something worth it for you, if you'll actually use it and get benefit from it, etc. Ninety percent of the time I do this, I'll realize it was just an impulse and delete the item(s) from my cart."
9."Sell anything you don’t use on eBay. Make some extra money and declutter your space. For example, I bought a TV and didn’t use the stand legs because I mounted it on the wall. Sold the stand legs on eBay for $30! Also, someone is using it, and it doesn’t have to go into a landfill. Win-win!"
10."Find a friend that is also frugal. For me personally, my social life is the hardest thing to save money on, because many of my friends spend money quite easily. Always being the only one who insists on having a cheap night makes me feel like a total pain in the ass. One of my buddies is also trying to save up money, and so far, it has been really nice to have a partner in crime. We made a list of frugal activities, and often do something cheap/free whenever we hang out. And when we're with a larger group, it's still easier to be cheap together than alone."
11."I mix liquid dish soap with some water in a spray bottle to clean my dishes. I just spray what I need, and it really cuts down on the amount of soap that I use/waste."
12."Keep track of food in the refrigerator and freeze whatever you are not going to use in a couple of days to reduce food waste."
13."Basically anything disposable, I look and see if I can do reusable instead. We do it all: cloth hankies instead of tissues, cloth napkins instead of paper towels, bidet, cloth diapers for the kids, reusable pouches for applesauces for the kids, SodaStream instead of cans, etc."
14."I save bread bags for all kinds of things, especially transporting shoes (perfect size) and for cleaning the cat box. Tortilla bags are also resilient Ziplocs."
15."One thing I've started doing is putting everything that really needs to be eaten in a certain spot in the fridge to remind me that I need to eat it ASAP. I throw away far less food. I also save every scrap of usable veggies in a big plastic bag in the fridge and make stock once a month. I can't believe I used to throw away so many mushroom stumps, carrot peels, ginger skins, and shriveled green onions. They make incredible stock!"
16."Purchase a cheap air compressor and keep it in your vehicle. Check and inflate your tires to the door jamb specs at least once a month. Proper PSI saves money on gas and helps prevent catastrophes."
17."Organize your stuff. Like, all your stuff, including long-term storage and things. If you are anything like me, you collect and never get rid of anything that still has a use, or might be useful in the future, and that CAN truly save you a lot of money…but only if you know you have it, and can find it when you need it."
"Same is true for your pantry, medicine cabinet, etc., etc. If you don’t know right now where everything you own is (or at least pretty close), you're likely to be thinking 'I need to buy that' when you don’t, or worse, looking forever, giving up, and thinking you must have gotten rid of 'it,' whatever it was, buying a new one…then stumbling across the old one shortly thereafter.
Take it from the woman with three air compressors and only two cars."
18."My best tip is to get used to carrying a refillable water bottle around. We carry a Yeti cup around everywhere. It saves us so much in stops for drinks."
19."I keep pickle jars (any jars actually) to use in the fridge. Things last WAY longer, probably because plastic harbors germs, while there's nothing cleaner than glass. The vertical storage is far better than the horizontal storage that you get with Tupperware, and I can SEE what's in the jars!"
20."I screenshot something I think I want to buy. I look at it every few days or so, and then when the desire is gone to look at it or research it, I know I didn’t really want/need it."
21."I look at everything (unnecessary purchases) in terms of 'how many hours do I have to work to buy this item?' Usually, that makes me realize the purchase is not worth it!"
22."Get estimates and shop around for car insurance, internet provider, cellphone carrier, credit card rates, etc. It is work and time, but I have saved serious money. Taking the time to make that phone call saves way more money than scrimping on little things (though I do that, as well). I just wish companies valued longtime customers."
23."Delete any food ordering apps off your phone! I had DoorDash and Grubhub and didn’t realize just how much I was spending on delivery. For any given meal, by the time you do delivery fees, upcharges, and tip, you can easily be spending $20 (or more) on just the app! Since I deleted the apps and either drive to pick up or make food at home, I’ve saved literally hundreds a month."
24."When using eBay, put the item on your 'watchlist' instead of in your cart. Lots of times the seller will offer you a discount to sell it quicker."
25."We still mask in indoor public places, and I am shocked at how much money we save each year because of it. With a kid in elementary school, we used to have at least one sick person in our house at least 12 times a year, but my family has only been sick once since March of 2020. And we've saved probably $800–$1,000 in that time by avoiding copays, deductibles, prescription, and non-prescription medications. It also means we almost never use work PTO for sick days, so all of our time off is spent on awesome vacations instead of being sick."
26."I keep a dry erase list of what we have in the fridge and freezer so I don’t have to go looking and I can get a better idea of what to cook this way. Cuts down on food waste."
27."Get 100 hand towels/chamois/microfiber rags and use them instead of paper towels. Treat them as single use basically, except you put the dirty ones in a basket and throw them in a very hot load of laundry. I haven't bought paper towels basically ever again, and really only use paper if I'm cleaning up something really disgusting or poopy. Every once in a while I'll cycle out the rags that have gotten too nasty with some new ones."
28."Sunday Soup Day. I use Sundays to make stock/soups/stews/chilis/rice bowls and curries out of all my leftovers from the week. I portion each out into containers for my lunches. I use three fresh (Mon., Tues., Wednesday), then freeze the rest to give me more variety later on. On average, each portion is less than $0.40."
29."Add plants to your space. It lifts mood, improves the air you breathe, easy to grow more through propagation, reduces the urge to buy stuff to fill in any empty spaces, and it gives a sense of care for yourself and your environment. All good and uplifting things that prevent buying out of stress or loneliness."
"Also, if some of them are herbs that you use in cooking, it saves money. Fresh herbs are ridiculously expensive."
30."I go to the grocery store right before they close and as soon as they open twice per week (I'm a mile away so it's not difficult). Often at those times, this store will put out their 'Managers Specials,' which is food about to expire. I just picked up 6 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breast for $4, got 3 lbs. of bacon for $6, and three fresh heads of cauliflower for $.75 each. They almost always have some kind of deal that I will take advantage of."
31."Double check your health insurance benefits (US specific). I know a lot of people who get health insurance through their work that have some type of 'healthy incentive' program. This is a program where they will give you money toward something they deem as healthy, match the amount of money you make in purchases they deem as healthy, give you some type of discount in some type of healthy product, or something like that. Your insurance probably won't go out of their way to tell you if you have one of these programs. If you have insurance that does this, take advantage. Get money off your produce. Get free pre-prepared healthy meals. Get a free gym membership."
32.And finally, "Find an Amazon resale store or pallet store in your area. I have gotten brand new items worth over $100 for less than $10 a piece! Amazon will take ANYTHING back. They then load the items into trucks and sell them as a lot. Great buys can be had by all."
Is there anything you would add? Share your favorite money-saving advice in the comments!
