I’m doing my laundry in this small town Montana and every single machine in here is ancient. We are talking Maytag when Maytag was a hot number in the 90’s.

She keeps all of these machines running. It’s like I walked into a movie or something. She’s currently working on a Wascomat Senior W 125. It’s one of those industrial machines from the 1990’s. I’m just so impressed at the level of frugality in this laundromat.

Why toss a machine because it’s old when you can keep it running if it still works great. All of my clothes came out clean and great btw.

I'm lactose intolerant and love real milk. I can't stand drinking a big glass of fake milk, nut milk, oat milk any of it. Completely unsatisfying. But lactose-free milk is twice as expensive, usually low fat (yuck) and I don't think it's as fresh. You know it's not expensive? Lactase enzyme. The stuff they add to regular milk that turns lactose into sugar. 12 drops, shake and wait 24 hours, it means I can drink whole milk all day without turning my house into a biohazard.

I can normally account for my cat food usage but sometimes at the end of the month I am a little short. I order for pickup from walmart EBT eligible food items that have walmart cash rebates. Once I pick the items up I can use the walmart cash to buy cat food or other essential items. It has been a lifesaver more than a few times for me.

Every year in January I tackle a "big" project in the house. This year the garage was on deck. Last weekend I unloaded the cabinets, shelves and bins. I did the cleaning and put everything back. So far I have been able to reuse or repurpose so much stuff and I have not had to buy anything.

- A shelf was not sitting properly because the part to hold it was gone. In my sorting I found like 5 of the needed part.

- a section of the garage should have gotten some paint like 15 years ago and it just never got done. I used some white paint that is probably going to fully solidify soon and I had all the painting tools handy (from last weeks sort).

- I found a massive ton of tiling supplies. I have a few place in my house that I need to restick the tile and I can do this easily using what I have.

- I have SO MANY bins and crates to sort and store. I had a few smaller shipping boxes that I was able to use to store smaller stuff that can't go in a crate.

- I found some pieces to a wall hanging unit that I can use to improve it's utility/capacity.

- Found some hooks I can use to hang a bicycle to get it out of the way.

- Got rid of a ton of expired stuff in the garage fridge and have cleaned and made it easier to store good deals at the store.

If you think you need to organize a space, aggressive sort and clean it before you buy anything. Reuse what you have or find an item you can repurpose. You may be surprised by what you have around the house that will makes the space functional without spending a dime.

I keep wasting money on individual milk and juice boxes because every container I’ve tried leaks and ends up making a mess in her backpack and ruining her papers from school.

School lunch is free, except she is picky and won’t eat it and you can only get milk if you take the whole lunch. It’s ridiculous, but it is what it is.

Ideally, I’d like one container with milk for lunch and another for juice with her snack.

She’s 10 and cool now, so no rainbows or unicorns.

Links would be appreciated. TIA

yesterday I was robbed and lost my phone, it didn't affect me much since it was only my phone and not my wallet with my documents, and also bought the phone for less than $200 a few months ago. a friend gave me her old iphone 7 and it works for what I use it (calls, tiktok, spotify and WhatsApp), I'm going to use it for a while, but I also want to buy a phone and have this iphone for emergencies (like what happened yesterday), I'm thinking buying a refurbished phone in the future, but i don't want to spend more than $130USD for it since I live in a third world country and unfortunately these things are normal to occur here so I don't want to spend hundreds on a phone. What phone do you recommend with this budget?

Edit: y’all, we don’t have a boring sex life so a birthday BJ or being xtra naughty is just another night of the week. Unless you have specific ideas for something extra special 💁🏻‍♀️

His birthday is tomorrow and we both know we have zero spending money so I know he won’t be disappointed without a gift. But I’d like ideas to make the day special for someone who hasn’t celebrated a birthday in a while. Thank you!!

I’m already planning for a cake, I thought about a “spa night” at home for him w a massage and all that , but is that too girly? Also what are the opinions on naughty coupon book? Is that wayyyy too cliche and dumb?

Every time I’ve tried, it’s too dense. I need fluffy and simple. Paying $4 a loaf is way too much money. Ideally I would like a 2 loaf recipe so we can use one and freeze the other. I don’t mind mixing some white flour as long as there is some wheat. No one in my house likes white bread.

My family likes nature’s own whole wheat or honey whole wheat. The store generics are kind of gross.

Due to some unforeseen events and a job change with a 25,000 income cut, I’m looking for some help on how to live on my new income until I can find something better.

Going from $55,000/year to $30,000/year salary. Single, no car payment but do have student loans. After monthly rent, bills, and loan payments I have about $550 each month for other living expenses. (Food, gas, etc)

Had to downsize and my new home basically doesn’t have a kitchen, I have a microwave and toaster oven. Nothing is set long term and hoping to get back to my old “normal” but the new change in life is hard (I know, first world problems.) I think the most difficult thing so far has been food, I’m sick of ramen and it feels like that is my only option with how things currently are going. I used to eat out 1-2 times a week, and had fallen into speeding routine that I didn’t have to think too much about.

I have savings and an emergency fund, but don’t want to have to dig into it if I don’t have to, being that I’m not going to be able to add to it right now.

Any advice on how to change my spending mindset and also food/meal suggestions on a budget?

Is there any local reddit group for saving money for detroit michigan? Such as r/FrugalCbus

It would be great to have local groups as well to help people find local deals. Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider my viewpoint. :) Appreciate it!

I really appreciate the psychology or mentality behind frugality. It's part of my upbringing as my parents were poor. So it's something that will always be part of me. Some of the very rich people I've read about still drive their old car, look at menu prices, and even cut their own hair. Would you still be frugal if you could essentially afford to buy your whole neighbourhood? Do you know anyone like this?

Edit: Wow, thank you all for sharing!! I'm really taken aback by all your inspiring comments!! I loved reading all your incredible stories, so wonderful to see that most people are still very frugal, regardless of how much money they have.

So I got tired of all the plastic containers that came with my yogurt habit and I started making my own. Easy peasy until it wasn’t. I use a hot pad and wrap up the cultured milk, let it sit for 5 hrs and voila! But the last 3 times it didn’t work. Wasted quart of milk each time. How do you guarantee consistent results without a Instapot?

Hello,

Has anyone here cancelled their prime membership and switched to be a member on someone else's account? I currently have Prime on my own but I don't use it enough to justify the annual fee anymore. I have a family member who said I can join their account as part of Amazon family. Before I do so, was just curious what this looked like, what would I still have access to and what I might no longer have this way. I will make the change either way but would prefer to plan ahead in case I will lose a service I currently use. Thanks!

2025! Any updates about Public Goods products? Any changes on your perspectives? It has been years since I used Public Goods products, and now, I am thinking of going back to its products and leaving Amazon. Will this save me more money, and yet stick with products that aren’t as toxic as others?

I noticed what people spend and how often are all over the place. People are spending like $3k or more! I just got a couple of hybrids for my spare bedrooms (one was $250 the other $600 as I sleep on it often). Another spare room set is over 25 years old and still going strong. The one in master bedroom is 4 years old and shows no signs of wear.

I have a dilemma… I haven’t owned a car in years, due to the nature of my job. I’m a HVAC technician and I’m basically working all day long and rarely have any free time. Boss lets me use and take my truck anywhere I please, I basically use that car for everything- even when I’m not working. So due to both of those factors, I haven’t owned a car in about 7 years. But lately I’ve run into situations where it would have been nice to have a personal car (e.g Dates, hanging out with friends, trips, etc) I’m tired of asking my mother to borrow her car, but frankly I also wouldn’t want to pay an expensive car note & insurance bill, for a car that I may only use once or twice every couple weeks. Any suggestions on what I could do?

I love my Nurse Practitioner (NP), but her supervising physician is a terrible listener and often compares my health to other patients that are worse off than me. My NP excels at routine maintenance but refers me to specialists for more complex issues. I've found an endocrinologist who charges only twice my copay, but he is thorough and focuses on optimizing health. However, he doesn't accept insurance for office visits. Is it sensible to pay out-of-pocket for his care?

I need to figure out how to last a week with only around $10. I’m a college student who is barely making ends meet at my current job, I have a few things in the fridge and pantry (sugar, flour, milk, butter, eggs) but that’s honestly about it. Right now, I don’t care about taste or nutritional value, I just need to find a way to make my few dollars last me until my next paycheck.

Hi. I live in Toronto, Canada. I am a 50 yr old single female who was a full time caregiver to a very toxic parent for 30+ yrs. I finally had the courage to leave and get a studio apartment for myself as the verbal & emotionabuse just kept getting worse. Parent is still alive. Rent is very high in my city & I am on a very strict budget. I used to love watching TV to wind down. I am taking my TV from home & someone is kindly giving me a roku stick. I know TV is a luxury so I really don't want to spend money on cable or a streaming service. I used watch 4-5 hrs a week but now since I will live on my own & can't spend money going out, TV will be my only entertainment. So I will be watching more. I am a fan of British Mysteries & Bravo. Where can I watch these shows for free? I have never had Netflix or Amazon Prime so if I don't get them, I won't be missing much.

I'm trying to be more frugal, but realized recently that it all comes down to a budget. How intentional are you all with your budgeting?

I got YNAB (budgeting software) because everyone raved about it, but it's really overwhelming.

What's your favorite way to keep a monthly budget?

I moved into a new place recently and have been dreading the big grocery bills of buying all the occasionals like cooking oil, soy sauce, dish soap, etc etc.

The other day while unpacking stuff, I needed batteries for a remote. I smugly remembered that I'd recently charged up some AAs, so I found them and I was good to go.

Why it felt like a win is that I bought those batteries like 6 years ago. They've been used and recharged dozens of times and still last way longer than off the shelf disposable batteries. And I think I paid like $50 for a kit of 30 something mixed batteries. I've also saved a ton of material waste!

Buy rechargeable batteries!

When I buy things, I always think about how many times I need to use them to bring the per-use cost down to a reasonable amount. For example, the daily use cost of my $40k car was $109 at the end of the first year, but after 10 years of ownership, it’s down to just $11 per day.

This mindset has helped me avoid impulse purchases, like an expensive bicycle I wouldn’t use often enough to justify the cost. If I were to buy one for $7000 (electric Specialized Creo 2, non essential, hobby item), the first ride would cost $7000, the second ride $3500, and so on. I love cycling, but thinking about it this way, it’s exhausting to imagine how many times I’d have to force myself to ride just to avoid feeling guilty about the purchase.

Looking back on the things I’ve bought, here are a few that have truly paid off:

Express waist belt: $50, 18 years. 0.7 cents

Ray-Ban sunglasses (replying to comments, this was with prescription and i was ripped off at LensCrafters): $500, 13 years, 10cents

And they are still in great shape, not worn out.

What are the items you’ve purchased that now have the lowest per-use cost

I just started trying gig work as I’m unable to work full time or even part time somewhere to due to panic disorder so gig work is a segway into getting a real job. I’m very very low on funds. I’d like to make $15 last me about 10 days if possible. I know staples like rice and I’ve seen people mention things like bag of potatoes. Walmart has a lot of great value stuff for 98 cents. Please let me know what meals or big stews I can make that would last me about 20+ meals over the course of 10 days. All suggestions welcome. I was going to try fasting but typically after 8-10 hours my body feels very strange and it ramps up my anxiety so I cannot skip meals unfortunately. Thanks

Today me and my husband decided to downside the a 1bed apartment. We have no kids it's just us and we are tired of paying $2500 for a luxury 2bed apartment. We found a nice 1 bed often apartment for $1300 in a nice neighborhood had a washer dryer in unit a huge pantry and a huge kitchen. Nice bathroom and walk in closer it's literally perfect for exactly what we need right now.

We have so many goals we are working towards and living in a luxury apartment really was hindering us! Even with paying the one months rent fee to terminate the lease early we still are saving almost $6000 for the rest of the lease term. It was like a weight was lifted off our shoulders! Now we can things done we always wanted to financially!

Do not be afraid to downsize! Like I always say downsize so you can UPSIZE!

I am between getting a Dell Latitude and a Lenovo Thinkpad. I need it for everyday use home use. The Amazon renewed ones are significantly cheaper than the brand new models and I don't want to break the bank. Are the extended warranties at the end of the Amazon check out worth it in this case? The laptop itself only comes with a 90 day money back guarantee instead of the typical one-year manufacturer's warranty. I typically shy away from warranties in general but here it's an extra $50 for two years and $80 for four years from Asurion protection. That's still significantly cheaper than a brand new laptop without the added warranty.