Saving money can feel like a daunting task, but some clever strategies can make it easier. On Reddit, u/TheKikiLover had asked the important question: “What’s the most frugal thing you do?” Here’s what the redditors on r/frugal had to say:
1. Maintaining Vehicles Yourself
“The most frugal thing that I’ve been the most successful with and consistent with is doing my own car repairs/maintenance. Ironically, my whole family and I drive Honda/Toyota, so they barely have issues, but I’ve saved myself thousands over the years by now doing it myself, and I transferred those skills to help my friends and family, which makes me feel better knowing I can help them out financially by doing expensive work for a lot cheaper for them.” – u/anythingfromtheshop
2. Getting All of It
“I cut open all my product containers and use every last drop. It’s more about not wasting stuff, but it’s also frugal. You would be surprised how much product can be trapped in a moisturizer bottle or toothpaste tube. It takes a lot of resources to make our daily products. Using them up is an easy way to reduce my waste footprint. I’m outsmarting corporations who want me to buy more of their products!” –Sad_Goose3191
3. Alternative to Toilet Paper
“Bidet and washable cotton mini towels to pad dry. I haven’t bought TP since the great shortage of 2020.” –icsh33ple
4. Mental Expiration Dates For Stored Food
“Eat all of my food in order of when it will expire instead of what I’m in the mood for.” –ok-girl
5. Necessity Over Desire
“I drive an old, paid-off Honda Civic despite having a seven-figure net worth. It’s fuel-efficient, I have no monthly payments, and the insurance is cheap because I’m not worried about replacing it in an accident.” –Illustrious_Art_1360
6. Starbucks Is Not Required
“I make cold-brew coffee overnight on Sundays, then Monday morning, I refill an old jug (or whatever), bring it to work, and have cold-brew coffee Monday through Thursday at work. (I WFH Fridays). Saves me $7 a day from the Starbucks that’s in my work building.” –Loop_Adjacent
7. Bank Offers
“When a bank has a cash reward for opening a new account with ACH, I transfer the minimum from savings to the account and set up a small deposit from my paycheck until the requirements are met. It’s been a few hundred bucks each time.” –lets_try_civility
8. Grocery Store Discounts
“I shop at a discount grocery store and get crazy deals on oddball items. Like one time, I got an entire case of bananas for $1. A few months ago, I got $70 worth of pasta salad for $3. When I first met my husband, he thought I was nuts to shop at this place. He turned his nose up at the store’s appearance because it wasn’t like Publix, Whole Foods, etc. But he turned a corner and likes to see how we get creative with whatever items this discount store has.” –WeMakeLemonade
9. Repairs Go A Long Way
“I take my clothes to the tailor to have repaired if they rip or get a hole. I’ve had the tailor chuckle at me for bringing her $20 Old Navy flannels to repair, but she’s happily patched the holes, and I still have the shirts. Almost all my jeans have the crotches patched in them, but some of those jeans I ripped the crotches on 5+ years ago, and I’m still wearing them. The repairs are always far less than a new item would cost, and I’m not creating more waste and buying more junk. It’s an all-around win in my book.” –7fingersphil
10. Spending Wisely
“I’m frugal with everything, e.g., I always price compare for the best bargain for my money. Frugality is not about deprivation but spending wisely.” –DiBalls
11. Saving on Gas Prices
“I work construction. We often throw out a disgusting amount of cut-offs and leftover lumber. Between that and landscaping cast-offs that I stumble across, I have not had to buy firewood for many years (I also have a natural gas furnace, but usage is reduced to less than 1/4).” –yoshhash
12. See How Much Fills You
“Me and my wife have been splitting a soda when we eat out for over 30 years. Here recently we usually split a meal. They give you so much food we both end up full anyway.” –Apprehensive-Neck-12
13. Natural Car Wash
“I wash my cars using rainwater to save on my water bill. I soap up my cars when I see dark clouds and let the rain wash away the suds.” –PudjiS75
14. Every Cent Adds Up
“Pick up cans I find on the ground and recycle them for 10 cents.” –Cutieincalvins1020
15. Homemade Pickles
“I buy small cucumbers and put them in my pickle jar when I run out of pickles.” –Captain_Spicard
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16. Starbucks Privileges
“I work at Starbucks. We get unlimited free drinks on the clock and seven free food markets a week. I usually work six days a week, so six days a week, I eat breakfast at work, and oops, someone made an extra sandwich. We don’t want to waste it, so I guess I’ll eat it… Two free meals a day almost every day is pretty nice.” –jayyy_0113
17. Cleaning Up After Your Pet
“Save my bread bags for dog poop. They are actually really good bags for picking up dog poop, though.” –thegirlisok
18. Strict Budgeting
“There are a lot of frugal things I do, but the ones that have the biggest impact are tracking every penny I spend and sticking to a budget. It surprises me how many people DON’T do this. I know people who have never reconciled their accounts (checking, credit card, etc)! I use a free program called GnuCash to do these (and more… keep track of investments, net worth, etc).” –DIYnivor
19. Cut Down Dependence On Cards
“I used to be trigger-happy with my debit card, but now I take out money for expenses for the week. The first month was the hardest because you’re breaking old habits. That and I had to get ahead of the curve with the bills.” –Forfina
20. Cooking Your Own Lunch
“I take my lunch to work every day, and I haven’t bought coffee at Starbucks in years. I make coffee at home every day. It doesn’t even feel like frugality because I prefer it this way.” –abby-rose
21. Recycling/Composting
“This may sound strange, but composting and recycling. Having to separate my trash has made me analyze my food waste and other purchases. It also makes me look at home before purchasing new items.” –Yes-GoAway
22. Phone Bills
“Pay as you go/prepaid phone plan for $30 a month. No complaints, I’m not missing out on anything.” –Kangaroowrangler_02
23. Avoid Impulse Buying
“I wouldn’t say this is frugal but it helps to not spend as much. I guess it’s a form of electronic window shopping — I put stuff in my cart and go back to it days later. Nine times out of 10, I don’t buy whatever it is I was looking at. Helps to not impulse buy.” –Marigold2268
24. Save on Hotel Costs
“As for me, the most extreme thing I do is camp in my car two days a week. I work out of town three days a week and so rather than drive home or rent a room I go to a campground and sleep in the hatch of my car. I save a ton of money but I also just plainly enjoy it at this point. It’s so serene out there that I get great sleep and I usually bring a portable DVD player for entertainment. Then I workout in the morning at the gym and shower. So it helps keep me consistent at the gym too.” –GamingGems
25. DIY Hand Soap
“I bought a few foaming hand soap dispensers a few years ago. I refill them with a quarter inch or less of Dawn dish soap in the bottom and fill the rest with hot water at a slow rate so it doesn’t foam, then I shake it a few times to mix it. It gives you a nice thick foam that lifts dirt and greasy goo easily. I think it is a waste of money buying the overpriced foaming hand soap every time you run out and the regular hand soap isn’t as good.” –Complex_Ruin_8465
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