As living expenses in many places across the world continue to rise and wages struggle to keep up, people are having a difficult time adapting.
For example, a 2023 Forbes Advisor survey revealed that nearly 70% of Americans either identified as living paycheck to paycheck (40%) or—even more worrying—reported that their income doesn't even cover their standard expenses (29%).
Interested in ways of surviving such situations, Reddit user _JosiahBartlet made a post on the platform, asking others to share the frugal tips that worked for them better than expected.
Bar soap. I quit buying fancy body washes etc and just went back to basic bar soap. Way cheaper, less garbage, simpler, works just as well if not better.Buying clothes secondhand only. 3 years in and frankly I no longer see the point of ever paying retail prices for new clothes. I thrift about once a week and over time have easily found everything I need. Bonus: it’s helped with my mindset in sort of training myself out of immediacy/instant gratification and into longer term planning and patience.
I will buy shoes new as needed, however.This is one from a long time ago, but thrift store plates that don't match. They tend to be less heavy, and they all do the same thing a little different than the other which is good depending on the kind of food you're having.
And if one plate breaks, you don't care.
The idea of maintaining a 'four piece set' when a plate breaks seems just another thing to manage, that really does not matter.Reusing normal ziploc bags. My parents did it all the time growing up in the 80s and 90s. Not sure why people think they’re single use. They are durable enough to use many times over with enough care.Not eating fast food at all. As weird as it is to say, I am glad they upped the prices.Buying an upright freezer made it easier to prep meals in bulk at much lower cost thus saving not only money but also time. Why cook rice 9 times for 9 meals when I could do it once and portion it out and freeze in the time it takes to cook it for 2? Why do bolognese sauce for 8 portions when I could do 40 in the same time plus another 10 minutes for portioning? Even my skeptical husband has admitted it was highly worth it.Adding insulation to my attic and air sealing my house. Yeah, it certainly helped out power bill, but the increase in comfort is much appreciated as well.Quitting smoking. It came, of course, with better health benefits. But the initial greatest impact was my wallet. Smokers are literally burning up their dollars.We have a Swiffer mop, but we haven't bought the pads for years. My husband knits reusable pads out of cheap cotton yarn that last for several years, and we just use regular floor cleaner in a bucket to mop. Cycling ! Super cheap mean of transportation (basically just maintenance and even that is super cheap), good for your health, makes you smile. Can't believe there aren't more people doing it, it truly feels like a cheat code. It's my main way to go from A to B. I'll buy a cargo bike for sure.Getting rid of my new high trim vehicle to drive a 2008. Getting rid of the loan and warranty saves me 12k a year. I’m so happy to be driving this piece of s**t that’s good on gas with no car payment. I do not envy anyone with a brand new car anymore. Especially the high trim models. I’d rather save the money for the apocalypse.Learning how to cook.I second this. Used to eat out 2-3 times a day, then moved to a more expensive city and was forced to start eating at home. Now I prefer having my own home-cooked meals over fast food.Getting a reusable water bottle!!! Keeps me hydrated & saves me a few dollars when I’m out and about.Cutting the tops off tube containers like face wash, lotion, etc. and scooping out the rest of what is left has been a big money saver! You’ll be amazed at how much is still left once it stops squeezing out. To keep the product from drying out, slide the cut piece down onto the area where you made the cut.I stopped driving to run small errands. I walk instead.
I really enjoy the walks through my neighborhood. I stop at the store to pick up whatever I need, or run into the bank.
I cut my gas cost in half. And I get the exercise.Eliminating waste. It feels good to use up food before it goes bad. Prior to getting serious, we would throw out so much food waste as it spoiled.Furniture, appliances, home decor: find them gently used on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or EBay. Exceptions for certain personal items like mattresses.Giving up alcohol. I quit last year after going through my budget at the end of 2022 and realizing the insane amount I spent going out. I still go out with my friends, but I drink club sodas instead now- which normally bartenders don’t even charge me for or are free refills. Went from spending $500+ /month on alcohol to maybe $30 on flavored seltzers. Huge huge win, and I am not only better off financially, but mentally and physically also.Reusable floor pads like swiffer but they go in laundry. Reusable dish sponges that go to the laundry . So much better.Did a no spend year on clothes. It was way easier and more enjoyable than expected. I made myself “shop” my own closet and discovered so many cool pieces I’d forgotten about. Other than to replace essential things that get worn out/fall apart, I really don’t need any new clothes. That was a liberating discovery.A bidet. My toilet paper use has gone way down. I cannot believe I went without one for so long.Switching to old-school razor blade razor instead of the plastic ones. Shaves fantastically, lasts forever and razor blades are incredibly cheap.Cutting my own hair. I started during the pandemic because none of the hair salons were open, and I figured if it looked terrible no one would see it anyway. I tend to prefer simple cuts that are easy to do on myself, and this also cuts out the awkward small talk and all the chemical smells that trigger my asthma. If I decide I want a more complicated hairstyle I’ll pay a professional, but if all I want is a trim I can do it myself for free (the hair scissors paid for themselves with the first haircut).Menstrual cup - been using the same silicone one for more than 6 years. So much prefer to tampons for many reasons besides saving cash.This year I stopped getting coffee and drinks outside. This saves me about $125-$150 per month. I’m unexpectedly not even missing it and I’m planning to throw this money into my retirement account.I was extremely skeptical about reusable paper towels, but I was sold the moment I started using them. They are essentially super thin cloths that roll onto a core, just like paper towels. We wash them in our normal loads of colors and roll them back up.
We still have normal paper towels for particularly gross things, but we go through a few rolls a year. We have I think 48 reusable and we’ve been using them like a 1.5yr just fine. The two of us never run out in the time between laundry days.
I would highly, highly recommend. We got two Zero Wastely packs but I am sure any brand is more of less fine. We broke even on the investment within a year.Moving into my tiny house. Major downsizing. One room, bathroom and closet. Catio. Honestly I love it. No kitchen. I have a microwave and a toaster oven. Mini crockpot and a mini noodle pot. Small fridge. And a futon. My cats are happy and so am I.What about eating less and portion control? My wife and I sometimes split meals, at least when we ate out. Though I'm pretty sure I still eat way more than I need, I think developing healthy eating habits or not eating after you're 80% full could be great for your finances as well as your health.To make it even more frugal, I use old tshirts cut up to paper towels size and put them on a paper towel roll. I use regular paper towels for the super gross stuff, but have been going through about 1/10 the paper towels I used before, with absolutely 0 monetary or environmental cost. And it was a fun project to cut up the old shirts! A lot of them were my partners and I love seeing the designs again when I use them to clean.I bring every snack, drink, breakfast and lunch from home every day when I go to work. I work in Downtown Brooklyn in NY which is about as expensive as Manhattan… saves me roughly $400 a month!Using a slow cooker more often. Bought a nice one from Greenpan and boy does it come in handy. My spouse works at a grocery co-op, where they're always giving away near exp foods. It's such a random assortment you cant exactly plan things but it works if you get creative.
I turned 5lbs of questionable honeycrisp apples into overnight oatmeal. Ground turkey and leftover veg scraps became a stew for our dogs-saved on dog food and is good for them. Some of the weird dips/sauces get thrown in with veg and quinoa, comes out like a casserole type dish.Wool dryer balls. It reduces the price of laundry and at the same time it reduces the amount of fragrance there is. Win Win. Reducing the amount of stuff that I have. I've always liked my stuff, after all I bought it all. :) But having less stuff means work taking care of it, cleaning it and storing it.Switching to shopping at Aldi, I don’t think I can go back to a regular grocery store now.Not trying to “keep up with the Joneses” I was in a weird cycle of seeing something on social media & immediately going on the hunt to find & buy. So much less of a burden to take a step back & watch my nest egg grow. It also makes the times I DO splurge that much more special.I canceled my Amazon Prime subscription. I tracked how much my family and I spent year over year and it had grown astronomically. I'm talking well over $15,000 a year. So far this year I've only spent around $50. This month I'm on a no-spend challenge and I haven't ordered anything from Amazon. It may not sound like much, but it was way too easy to order things I didn't really need just because it was available. Since I got rid of Amazon, my urge to spend died down, I'm using and enjoying the things I already own, and started watching movies on Tubi and Kanopy. I also got rid of my Kindle Unlimited account and borrow ebooks from the library using Libby.Gardening. It might not save a ton of money but the quality of my produce has improved and I feel a great amount of satisfaction from sharing meals with neighbors and friends when it's from ingredients that I grew myself. Homemade salsas and salads made with fresh, homegrown ingredients just feels so satisfying. I'm looking forward to growing broccoli this year for the first time and seeing how much different it is when roasted compared to store-bought.Making my own laundry soap. I thought it was just going to be while I was in my hard times (newly divorced, poor) but I ended up becoming so used to it, used to the routine of making it and disliking the price of the actual laundry soaps ? 20 years later still making my soap! Cost is maybe $10-15 a year for two people.Eating beans for lunch every day. On the weekends, I make a large amount of some type of bean dish. Falafel, beans and rice, navy beans soup, bean burritos, etc. Then I just pack it for lunch during the workday. Buying dry beans is like $1.50 for five meals. It’s delicious and healthy.Buying groceries almost exclusively by what's on sale instead of out of habit of buying the same products. It saves a ton of money and gets us to try new products all the time! It's been so great and my partner and I actually have so much fun going through the flyer and seeing what new things are on sale every 2 weeks. Then we get to cook new stuff all the time. It's been great!Bought a bread machine from Goodwill for $15. We used to buy bread that was $3 a loaf, but now making our own bread costs us pennies.We sold our clothes dryer to save on electric costs. I find hang drying clothes to be super therapeutic. I put on music and just zone out.It’s been a while now, but dropping cable and going to streaming on demand. Streaming is not only our cheaper option (we have several free and augment with a rotating selection of two pay channels at a time), such a superior way to watch content.Doing my own nails and saving $50 per visit.I got some more containers and would make as much food as possible. Doubling the amount of food rarely has twice the work. Then I freeze what I know I can't eat. Frozen soup or chili lasts months, I can have a whole buffet in my freezer and not be eating the same thing all the time.
Rice doesn't freeze well. Lesson learnt.Went from using 3/4 of a cup of liquid laundry detergent to a tablespoon. I thought the more soap the better it cleans which is false. Tablespoon is good for my machine and our load size....pause. Also, throw a half cup of vinegar in there as well. Bing Bong! So fresh and so clean.Giving my self a strict budget and when the money is gone it’s gone. I give myself $80 a week but that’s if anything is needed household items, lunch, things for my daughter. Once it’s gone it’s gone I won’t use my Credit card unless an emergency. It’s really helped me make smarter choices on if I really want something. Also bringing lunch has helped me sooo much. I live in a HCOL so lunch in my city can cost me $14. I work Monday to Friday so bringing lunch really helps me save money. I also bring my own snacks like yogurt and lunchables. Yesterday was the first day I actually bought food out. I spent $13 on Taco Bell for dinner and lunch the next day. It was a nice treat but now I have $10 to last me til Wednesday.Having a regularly scheduled menu that is the same every week except for special occasions. After a while, you start to really look forward to the evening meal, for whatever reason. This is a great way to control expenses because you can pick easily affordable foods.I decided to stop ‘solutioning’ - getting stuck on how something could be better & then buying stuff for it. Ex: “it would be so much nicer to have those pull out spice towers installed in one of my cabinets, instead of the way I currently have my spices stored” … I realized what I was doing, and did not buy the solution. I can find my spices just fine right now.
Since then I’ve come to really enjoy making do with what I already have, or modifying existing systems with stuff I already have. So much cheaper & I’m spending so much less time and energy on made up problems.On days that I’m off, I meal prep for the days I work. Then I immediately portion out, label/date and freeze. This way I don’t have to cook on the days I work and I then there are homemade to go frozen dinners. My reheated meals will beat most restaurants fresh food and especially fast food.
Refillable water bottles with drink packets instead of energy drinks.
Planning meals based on what’s on sale or clearance.
My local library for free entertainment, they also have access to online apps for music, movies, magazines, ebooks and audible. Love love love Libby!
Grow my own herbs and freeze extra.
Inventory what’s in my pantry, fridge and freezer so I can fully take advantage of what I have on hand vs buying duplicates.
My home is an ingredient house and have hardly any pre-processed food in it except on rare occasions.
Cooking is my passion and my hobby. I love researching and finding new ways to showcase seasonal ingredients.Twice a month grocery shopping, at my fav asian store and budget is $150. I live alone no man or cat lol. It's pretty fun.I switched to a plant based diet almost 4 years ago for health issues. A great side benefit is how much cheaper legumes, grains, seeds, fruits, and veggies are than processed foods and meats. My grocery bill is almost half of what it was before I changed.I have bought two sets of cheap white (bleach able) towels for cleaning up after the dogs. None of them are remotely white anymore (although the gross jobs that have stained them weren't the puppers' fault) but I've saved a ton on paper towels.I put an antenna on our TV. We get over 50 channels, and they are crystal clear in picture and sound. Way better than the quality you get from internet streaming. Of the 50 channels, about 4 or 5 have stuff on that I have found myself watching.I switched coffee filter papers to a reusable coffee filter made from steel. I expected the investment to broke even in two years or so (reusable filter was 6 euros, a pack of 200 filter papers is 2 euros) but turns out I need 25 % less coffee per cup when using the reusable filter. Apparently some of the coffee doesn't get through the paper. So this breaks even in two months or so.Gave up having the newspaper delivered every day. The price just kept going up and it kept getting smaller. If I'm feeling it I walk to the corner gas station for a Sunday edition.Homemade yogurt! You can put the amount of sugar & or fruits you want in it, and it is so much less expensive and uses no plastic.Flowbee. Had my doubts but looks great. I can't believe how foolish I was paying for haircuts all these years.Glycerin soap instead of shaving creme.Dry air popcorn maker. Much better than microwave. We have an olive oil spritzer so the salt and cinnamon (favourite flavour) sticks to the popcorn (tastes as good as butter and fewer calories!)
Purchased at a thrift store (where I get my coffee maker, slow cooker, and small appliances.Airthreds make reusable air filters for your HVAC system. We bought two and haven't looked back since. It took us 10 months to get our money back, and we've been going strong for at least 4 years.
We are in the air stream for the Canadian wildfire every year, and had no trouble with them at all. It makes it easy on the weeks that the air quality is horrible to switch them out and wash them as needed.
Best reusable investment I have ever made for our house!i make about a half dozen 8" pancakes, cut them into quarters,
refrigerate then eat intermittently with peanut butter as a snack.
doing this i've pretty much stopped buying cookies cakes chips.
i keep playing with my pancake recipe using healthier flours
mashed fruits - thus avoiding added sugar and food chemistry.We like having a land line (old fashioned, I know but my husband is hard of hearing and hears better sometimes on the landline) but it was costing more than $150 a month because years ago I ordered things like caller ID and a second line for work. I finally went to the trouble of cancelling all the extra stuff and got it down to less than $50 a month. Should have done it a long time ago.Pizza. I’ve learned to like frozen pizza over ordering in.
I will be watching the Superbowl by myself and bought a digiorno croissant pizza. It was on sale for $7.99 and I like it. I buy cheaper frozen pizzas at several discount stores for other meals.
Would I prefer a local takeout place? Of course. But for me this is a compromise. I have other things that I had to compromise with that I’m not happy with. But it is what it is.
Also, I just use dishrags for napkins as it’s just me. I could care less what it looks like. I’m not hosting fancy parties or anything like that. Same thing with things in the kitchen that match. Nope, I just buy what I need and whatever is cheapest. Red, green, yellow, black, orange, or whatever. I store them in a drawer so who cares if my kitchen matches colors.People are really going to hate this answer, but along the same vein as reusable paper towels exists reusable toilet paper. Normally made from the same flannel material. Most people just use it for urine and it can really make a huge difference in how much toilet paper you use.Not using credit cards. Zero guilt now.Dairy and wheat. I had to give them both up for different reasons. Since I don’t replace them with GF baked goods or vegan cheese much it saves me a lot of money. Those products are expensive and not satisfying so not worth it to me even when I make my own. Meat and good produce are easier to afford this way. Thankfully oats and rice are still cheap.
