#1 I Couldn't Find Wall Vases That I Liked, So I Made My Own For Next To Nothing
#2 Put Some Rice Into A Sock, Tie A Knot, Microwave It For 2mins And You Got Yourself A Heating Pad!
#3 Reusing Glass Pasta Jars....for Coffee
But I do not have any good supply of coffee at work, and I do tend to drink 2 to 3 cups a day...so I figured I would start bringing my own supply by reusing my old glass pasta jars my wife and I kept around. I have a glass at work already and a ice maker so this should work.
I guess part of this post is just sharing a idea if someone else likes it, but does anyone use their reusable glass jars for anything "unique?" We use them for supplies, condiments, sauces we make, and fruit (pineapple being the biggest one!) but what else do you guys like them for?
Frugality has a branding problem that it does not deserve. The word carries connotations of deprivation, of cutting coupons under fluorescent lighting and refusing to enjoy anything. The reality, according to behavioral economists, is almost the opposite.
Research from the University of British Columbia found that people who spend money on experiences rather than things, and who are deliberate about where their money goes rather than passive about it, report significantly higher life satisfaction than impulse spenders. So don't pity the frugal person, thinking they are suffering through their choices. They are making them with conviction, which turns out to be the more enjoyable way to relate to money.
#4 Don’t Sleep On Spanish Language Appliances
Intrigued, I clicked the link and found that it had brought me to the same exact dryer—brand, model, features, etc.—only the panel buttons were in Spanish. It was also $150 less than the English one!
Now it is worth noting that both are currently on sale and that their MSRP are listed as the same, but all the same: that’s a big difference in price when the mechanical aspects are exactly the same.
I prefer to buy new appliances because with the delivery they’ll also take away your old appliance and install the new one for about $40. This also includes a warranty which would possibly be voided if not installed by professionals. To me, that’s a sound investment that you can’t get buying secondhand.
Anyhow: Something to keep in mind next time you’re appliance shopping!
#5 Be Mindful Of Fake Sales Events And Prices
I know it's common, but I'm just so tired of this slimy behavior.
#6 $1.00 Homemade Egg And Cheese Hot Pocket
Cost to make entire sandwich: $1.00
Recipe:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup water, room temp
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
Combine all in a bowl. Wisk very well.
Lightly oil and smear pan with parchment. Heat pan for 30 seconds. Remove pan to add batter and swirl to coat. Place back on burner. Cook about 3 min until top is fully matte. Otherwise will crack. Flip over, cook another 40 sec or so, until browned. Transfer to cooling rack.
To make hot pocket, I added sautéed veggies, 2 easy over eggs, ketchup, and cheese. Melted cheese with lid on pan. Then folded it over to "glue" it together and finish heating through.
The FIRE movement, which stands for Financial Independence Retire Early, has turned deliberate frugality into a full lifestyle philosophy with millions of followers globally. The basic premise is that by keeping expenses low and savings rates high, ordinary people on ordinary incomes can accumulate enough to stop working decades earlier than the conventional retirement timeline allows.
Mr. Money Mustache, one of the movement's most widely read bloggers, retired at 30 on a household income that never exceeded $67,000 a year by saving roughly 65% of his income. The math is not complicated. The cultural resistance to living below your means is where most people get stuck.
The grocery shop is where most household budgets either hold or collapse, and the frugal community has more opinions about it than about almost anything else. Unit pricing, which compares the cost per gram or per liter rather than per item, is the foundational skill, and studies show that most people do not use it despite it being printed on every shelf label in most supermarkets.
Buying whole vegetables rather than pre-cut ones, choosing store brands for staple items where the ingredient list is identical to the branded version, and shopping with a list rather than an appetite are the basics. The thread goes considerably further than the basics, into territory involving chest freezers, bulk dry goods, and a relationship with the markdown aisle that borders on competitive sport.
#10 Homemade Granola Bars Save Me ££ Each Month
I experimented with 9 different recipes, none of which worked for the combination of chewy texture and relatively modest calories I wanted + taste.
So I experimented with 3 more self-concocted recipes before landing on one that's perfect for our taste buds.
This is a full sized tray bake and it disappears in 36 hours flat. So i bake these almost every other day now if not daily!
Recipe:
600g coarse cut oats
20g honey
80g oil
130g soft brown sugar
2 large eggs
A splash of vanilla
A pinch of salt
20g chocolate chips
Preheat oven 170 degrees Celsius
Line a large sheet with parchment
Throw all ingredients apart from chocolate in a bowl
Wear a food safe glove and work all the ingredients together rubbing them between your fingers
Dump it all out on a lined sheet. Spread out with your fingers raking it across the sheet
Place another sheet of parchment on top, and press down all over using a flat instrument eg base of another pan or another baking sheet.
Once flattened, use a sharp knife to create shallow cutting lines, not all the way down
Sprinkle on chocolate chips
Press chips into the oats with the back of a spoon
Bake 10-14 minutes until golden
Cut all the way through the shallow lines immediately
Leave to cool, then box up.
Tips
If you have an identical baking sheet,use that to press down the granola. You can also cover the whole thing with a clean towel or paper/cardboard, place all of it on a clean floor surface, then step on it with clean feet to press down.
Use your fingers to tumble the chocolate chips out of the shallow cuts and on to the actual rectangles
#11 Making Oatmilk Is So Cheap- It Saves Money For My Coffee
#12 Florists Wanted $200 For Prom Flowers. Paid $30 And Made Them Myself
The true cost of convenience is one of the frugal community's most repeated arguments, and the numbers behind it are startling when laid out in full. A daily coffee purchased rather than made at home costs the average person somewhere between $1,000 and $1,500 per year.
Food delivery apps add service fees, delivery fees, and tips that routinely bring a meal to double its menu price. Gym memberships are used an average of twice in January and then forgotten for eleven months. None of these things are villainous individually, but collectively, they represent a significant monthly outflow that most people could not itemize if asked, which is precisely how they persist.
#13 “Worry Free Delivery” Or Other Forms Of Added “Shipping Protection” Are Unnecessary Expenses
What they won’t tell you is that, in the majority of cases (may not be universal everywhere, but is the generally accepted standard in the US) is that the seller is already responsible for the delivery of your product. Regardless if you’ve paid the extra dollars. You purchased the item with the understanding you would receive the item in the advertised condition. Even the FTC suggests to file a chargeback if an issue arises and a seller is uncooperative.
So, next time you see “Shipping Protection”, save your money. It’s not shipping protection, it’s the option to give the retailer free money. A lot of less-reputable retailers will also have the box checked by default. So, be careful you don’t buy it unintentionally either.
#14 Frugal Idea. Buy Expiring Food At Clearance Prices And Put It In The Freezer!
The overlap between frugal living and environmental consciousness is also much bigger than most people care to realize. Buying secondhand, repairing rather than replacing, choosing quality items that last over cheap ones that do not, growing some of your own food, and reducing consumption overall are practices that show up on both lists for entirely different reasons.
A 2021 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found that extending the life of clothing by just nine months reduces its environmental impact by 20 to 30%. The person buying their wardrobe from a thrift store is saving money and, incidentally, doing way more for the planet than the person buying a tote bag that says they care about it.
#16 That "Cardboard" Piece Inside Your Microwave Oven Can Be Changed If It Is Damaged
#17 For Cat Owners - Switched To Pine Pellets To Reduce Kitty Litter In My Bed Sheets, Ended Up Saving A Bunch Of Money
The distinction between being cheap and being frugal is one the community draws carefully, and it matters. Cheap is refusing to tip, splitting bills to the penny in ways that make everyone uncomfortable, and prioritizing your own savings at the expense of other people's time or dignity.
Frugal is making deliberate choices about your own spending while being generous where it counts. Research on spending and happiness consistently finds that money spent on other people produces more lasting satisfaction than money spent on yourself, which means the truly frugal person, the one who has built margin into their life by cutting the right things, often ends up being the most generous person at the table.
#19 Didnt Wanna Pay Over $6 An Lb For 80 20 Beef, So I Spent $8 On 3 Lbs Of 85 15 Ground Turkey Instead. Swapping Ground Beef With Ground Turkey Is Such An Underrated Money Saving Hack
#20 I Made A DIY Air Cleaner And Purifier
So, did some research and came across a Corsi-Rosenthal box. It consists of four 20x20x1 inch Merv 13 filters and a 20 inch box fan. You create a cube and set the fan on top of the cube. The cube is the four filters with the air intake pointing inside. On the bottom, seal with a piece of cardboard. Duct tape the bottom and sides so they are enclosed and no gaps. Also, helps to make sure the pleats of the filter are running vertically rather than horizontal which tends to make them more likely to sag or collapse. Then you set the 20 inch box fan flat on top of the cube with the back of the fan on the cube and air flow blowing out. Then you tape around the fan edges and everywhere to seal and prevent air escaping or entering. You can take a piece of paper to see if it sticks to the filter and verify that it is pulling air.
I just made one and it's running.
