Being able to think outside the box is a great skill to have in all aspects of life. Want to entertain your children while they’re home for summer vacation? Arts and crafts! Need your dog to take a pill that they keep spitting out? Find a fun way to sneak it into their food! Looking for a way to make sure your wallet is still full at the end of the month? Start coming up with creative ways to budget!
Frugal Redditors have recently been sharing their favorite unique ways to save money, so we’ve gathered their best advice down below. From tricking yourself into spending less to finding free resources within your community, enjoy scrolling through these unexpected ways to cut back, and be sure to upvote the frugal habits you can’t wait to try!
I stopped drinking!
I sat down and made a budget. I realized I had been lying to myself for decades. I am now getting back on track and it’s painful and joyous all at once.
I hang my clothes to dry. Not only does it save on my power bill, but my clothes last a LOT longer.
A tip I always tell people is think about how much time that money took to earn. Say, if you're paid $15 an hour, and that video game cost 5 hours to earn, after taxes, then you worked 5 hours for that video game. Its a good way to teach someone to be frugal early, especially if they hate their job.
Drive the same car year after year until the wheels fall off.
Joining a buy nothing group and asking to borrow things instead of buying them - great for trying new hobbies. I borrowed a couple different sewing machines before deciding on one with features I really liked and ended up being gifted it because she liked having the space more than the thing.
Cooking at home instead of eating out. Cooking the whole meal instead of packaged convenience food, tho I do get a bag of some Asian food once a week, like spring rolls or various steam buns.
Hoopla and Libby. So much free music, free magazines, free books, free comic books...
Community events for sure. My city library offers fun adult craft nights for free once a month. Fun to meet new people and just relax.
So far I've taken a canvas paint class, clay project class, and also a free soundbath /yoga class.
Also, if you have a city library card, there's an app called Cloud Library that you can rent audible and ebooks for FREE.
There's a FREE walking /running club you can look into to be more active. In my city they meet twice a week at a local park, I have yet to join, but that's next on my list.
Ultimately, I'm trying to be healthier now to hopefully reduce health care costs for future me.
This includes walking more, learning various legumes and rice dishes from around the world, strength training with barbells and kettlebells at home, and learning more about investing for a comfortable retirement.
Vinegar for most cleaning. One jumbo vinegar jug costs ~$3 and has replaced most of my cleaning supplies. It has replaced windex, spray tub cleaner, toilet cleaner, floor cleaner etc. it also kills mold & mildew.
I found a website where I can type in items that are in my pantry to figure out what I can make with the food I have. Supercook dot com.
When I’m tight before payday, I can type in what ingredients I have available and peruse a list of things I can make with it.
Fun/Extra: I also save all my orange & lemon peels. I let them dry out and dehydrate in the fridge for a couple days and put them in a jar in the fridge. When i have a jar full I make candles with them! Grind them to powder in the blender and add to some plain dollar store candle wax and it smell so fresh in the house!
It's better to buy used old quality stuff, than new quality stuff. Because new stuff isn't meant to last, even if it's good quality. It doesn't mean the same nowadays. Quality jeans now lasts maybe 2-3 years, while jeans bought 20 years ago still holds up. And not just jeans, but it came up in conversation the other day. Not really unique or unexpected, just worth the time and effort spent looking instead of instant convenience buying new.
Use curbside pickup as much as possible. If you don’t go into the store then you won’t buy unnecessary stuff. It also saves a lot of time and hassle.
If you see something you like, but don't know the cost of it - in your head assign a price you'd be happy to pay for. When you find out the price see how much you still want it if it varies greatly from the price in your head.
Our local appliance store has a “dents and dings” section and we’ve had great success with them. Also, learned about Habitat for Humanity’s Re-store and I’ve found phenomenal deals there for our house projects! Learning to DIY everything from drywall to minor electrical has saved soooo much money over time.
I wrote down every penny I spent for one month. Saw that I was frittering a lot of $ away at convenience stores stopping for drinks etc. It gets really hot here in the summer and I overheat easily so needed something cold to drink. Started bringing a quart of ice water with me when I was out running errands. Wrapped it in a towel to keep it cold and then found a very small insulated ice chest to use. This alone helped me save a great deal of money when I needed to cut back on expenses.
Keeping an eye on car maintenance and service. My old family car had a minor damage that was ignored until the car broke and repairing it wasn't convenient anymore. So we carefully chose a reliable brand and looked for a second hand model available. It happened in 2009 and i still drive the same car, built in 2005. I took care in cleaning and treating the interiors with proper products (add to the frugal list: cleaning my car as a hobby rather than for necessity).
Not a frugal choice, but in 2022 i dropped 700€ at an audobody repair to have logos replaced and minor scratches repainted. People can't believe i drive an almost 20yo car and i'm proud of it.
Cutting my own hair (and everyone else’s in the house). I’ve saved untold amounts of money, time and mileage/gas and unlike going to the hairdresser I end up with the haircut I want.
The other huge money saver is Libby - checking ebooks out of the library. I read a *lot* and instead of spending a fortune on books they’re all free.
Buy in season fruit and veg. Sounds like a no brainer, but it also forces you out of your rut and makes you get creative.
And if you are really craving strawberries in January (I know the feeling, the struggle is real) just get frozen ones. The fresh ones are usually gross.
Oh and watch your store ads for meat sales. Get some freezer bags and split/ freeze.
Or make a big batch of whatever and eat off of it for a few days.
Sheet pan fajitas, big pot of soup, etc.
Never underestimate the power of using carbs to stretch a meal. .
I keep 3-4 frozen meals from Trader Joe’s in my freezer for when the urge for takeout hits.
Brewing my own coffee has saved mega lots.
Not eating out saved mega lots.
Using rags instead of paper towels.
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Catching up with friends on walking dates instead of over lunch!
Buying clothing and accessories secondhand - the number of times I have wanted a particular outfit, only to find it half the price on eBay of marketplace is wild!
A library card to borrow books for my little ones.
Buying groceries at ALDI and if I’m buying at a chain supermarket to ONLY buy what is on special.
I cut my own hair for YEARS and it saved me a tonne. Now I go to a walk in place that is super cheap, but they do an amazing job.
Always pack your lunch for work, buying lunch adds up like crazy. Meal prep in general has saved me a lot of money.
Only replacing products when you actually run out. This is hard for me lol, but don’t buy a new face cream or sunscreen until you’re actually about to run out.
Frugal tips for travel: Travel in off seasons. Buy groceries when you arrive so you lessen your dining at restaurants. Pack snacks for plane rides, including tea or instant coffee if you’ll be in the airport for a while. Consider airbnb and hotels (depends on the area but worth looking at both for price comparison). Look for self guided tours, visit welcome centers/visitors centers for pamphlets that often have discounts in them for things to do. Look for parks or other public spaces when considering site seeing. Many cities have incredible parks! Take public transportation when feasible over renting a car. So much of my best times traveling have been on foot too!
“Paying yourself back”
Ex. I just bought a new pair of expensive shoes. The deal I had with myself is, I can buy these, but I have to save that amount of money on my next credit card statement.
I use this for a lot of things. Quite honestly, probably too much haha but it only saves me money.
Not a huge money saver but one I use almost every day now. Reusing grocery store pickle juice by putting other veggies like onions, cauliflower and carrots in it. I get more use out of the pickle purchase and waste less vegetables.
Honestly one of the most unexpectedly helpful pieces of advice I found online was, "everyone expects you to be broke in your 20s. So act a little extra broke." Yeah your 20s are probably when your income is lowest, but you can get away with a ridiculously frugal lifestyle. Nobody will judge you for looking/acting/living like a poor college kid, telling people you "can't afford" concerts and brunches etc. Also the sooner you invest, the more compound interest can work its magic.
For us it was house swaps, we use HomeExchange.com. We've been doing house swaps now for 15 years. You do need to own your own home to do this. If you do own your home, it's a very frugal way to travel, as you get a free place to stay with a full kitchen and usually laundry facilities.
That, and if you have a job with travel, and your company allows you to do so, sign up for all the travel reward cards. My company allowed this for years so I racked up tons of airplane and hotel points, before they were acquired. I am still using those points, though I retired a few years ago.
It can also make sense to sign up for an airline credit card and put all your expenses on it, if you can pay it off in full, get the points, have free flights.
And that is how we travel all the time for basically free (not counting car rentals and eating out.... we don't count food in our budget as when we do swaps we can cook our own meals and eat out about as often as we do when not traveling).
For us (retired) this is a game changer as we can travel often for very little money.
