This Internet Group Is Dedicated To Saving Money, Here Are 28 Of The Best “Frugal Wins”

PSA: Bedbugs are insanely expensive to deal with and frankly traumatizing to live with. Here are some tips.
A few years ago my wife and I lived in an apartment that got bedbugs. A lot of this might seem excessive or crazy but trust me you don't want to chance this stuff.

Whenever you come home from someone's apartment or a hotel stay, immediately put all fabrics (clothes, luggage, sleeping bags) into the dryer. Even if you can't see any bugs, the eggs are too small to see and can live in fabrics for up to a year.

If you have an expensive mattress, get a bedbug liner. My wife and I had to throw out a 6 month old $1,200 mattress because we didn't spend $25 on a cover. It's really not worth trying to salvage the mattress once its infested, even if you kill all the live bugs you still need to worry about eggs.

Don't waste your money on "natural" products to kill bed bugs. We tried several and they were straight up ineffective. Rather than buying products that are safe for pets, just buy products that actually work and keep your pets away from the affected areas until you've cleaned up.

If you're going to buy furniture off craigslist (which I will no longer do) try to avoid apartments. No this isn't a stereotype against low income people, the problem is that it's basically impossible to clear a building of bedbugs unless the whole building is treated. Most apartment complexes will try to treat on a unit-by-unit basis which just doesn't work. In addition the risk of re-infestation is high because a lot of infestations start by people bringing bugs home from school or work. More people = higher probability of bedbugs.

Do not let your landlord try to bully you into keeping a security deposit if you are leaving a place that is infested with bedbugs. We had this happen since we didn't try and salvage their wall to wall carpet. They tried to charge us $500 plus our deposit to fix the carpet. Eventually it ended up in collections but after providing state mandated guidelines on dealing with bedbug infested apartments, they backed off, gave the deposit back, and it never ended up on our credit report.

I never saved more money since I started going to church. I'm not religious at all but my wife is so I go to church with her on Sunday. I got to know some of the other church goers and it's crazy how much "free" stuff I have gotten. Need help moving? A carload of Christian teens and a moving truck shows up and loads all your s**t no problem. My roof was leaking? Turns out Jerry owns a roofing company. Gave me the materials at cost and a group of church guys put it up for me. My wife's diamond fell out of her wedding ring? Tom is a jeweler and fixed it for free. I could go on and on but I have never saved more money since I started going to church!

6 months into my " no buy year" and, I've never been better. How freeing it is for me, not to look for things to buy cheaper, but instead, skipping the buy all together. Not to wake up and look on Marketplace, in case there's an opportunity I wouldn't wanna miss. It's not like I was buying that much at all, but it was the void I was filling with the possibility of owning something new. Now my place just has the bare essentials, and I feel so silly that I wanted to have more than I needed! I don't "need" an airfryer, I want one. Now I understood that mindset or wanting, versus needing for real. Like, I need new winter boots this year cause, I've got none, mine were too damaged to keep. That's a real need to me. The airfryer? I can cook in my oven just fine. All I spend on is the food( with a budget), hygiene essentials, my rent( all charges are included) , the city bus, and my internet bill. That's it. I've got no more phone bill ( using Fongo for free), I don't buy clothes ( I've got plenty already), home decoration, I don't eat out ( I wasn't in the first place) and live on a 100$ a month grocery budget, eating plenty as a whole food plant based vegan. Meal prepping everything, it is the best thing I did for myself. It's insane how much I was spending on food because I was not prepping in advance, being influenced by recipes I would see on YouTube and buying more food when I already had plenty. I had all those triggers to spend, all because I felt like I had to. I'm even thinking of doing it longer, since I manage it so well and don't lack anything!!! I don't have a project with the money I'm saving, it's just there for any future emergencies, or my old days. I'm already 50 so... Anyway, anyone else doing a no buy year and completely fell in love with the experience?

Small frugal wins on road trip today. Today I had to drive about 8 hours from my new city to my hometown. Things are tight and I wanted to make the trip as frugally as possible! I needed gas so I filled up at a Shell in a rural area on my way—cheaper than in town and I got the 5 cents off a gallon by being a rewards member. I used Google maps to help navigate, but as I have a not-unlimited data package, I turn off the app when I know I’m cruising on the same road for awhile. I’d packed snacks and a cooler, plus water for me and my pup, so I didn’t spend money for refreshment on the road…but did help myself to a few ice cubes at another gas station bathroom break stop. Wanting a bottle of wine for a hostess gift, I stopped to buy it at a place right before the state line—some things like tobacco and alcohol are taxed more heavily/more expensive in some states than others! Finally, I was happy to use an old gift card I’d had forever at a restaurant in my hometown—this place has family-style Italian food, so giant portions, and I never felt like dining in while I lived here. But getting a giant fancy salad as a to-go order put my gift card to use & gave me a healthy dinner + leftovers after a day on the road. These little frugal wins feel great—though it goes without saying that saving $ on a road trip means driving defensively and (mostly, ha) following the speed limit. Tickets and accidents are so expensive! Happy trails everyone.

Ditching prime and Amazon was the greatest money saver.

Amazon is no longer cheap. It has become a convenience excuse. I use online Walmart, Kohls for better bargains. Also Aliexpress and Temu. I got a kids backpack from clearance aisle in Kohls which costed 11 bucks, same thing in Amazon is like 29. The clothing is Amazon is not even good fit. So long Amazon! I was addicted one time, now I’m done.

What’s the most penny pinching thing you do?

For me I’d say its charging my devices at work (keyboard, mouse, airpods, battery pack and phone). I know I’m saving a negligible amount of money but it feels nice using someone else’s utilities.

Amazon Day is a marketing event, not a deal day.
For those who are unaware, Amazon has been doing Prime Day, a day where they claim to have the most amount of deals for 2 years now. However, research, consumer sentiment, analysts are able to show that Prime Day is more about getting users to sign up for Prime and marketing the brand, than it is about providing deals to existing customers.

I strongly recommend you use a historical price checker like CCC or Keepa to actually verify the prices are lower, as it is a common tactic to raise prices before a sale and then trick customers into feeling like they got a deal with a large % drop, like 50% off. Also keep in mind many sites will be pushing the event despite lackluster deals, because they want people to come to their site to see the aggregated 'deals' (getting ad revenue), and some of them will be linking to Amazon for that sweet affiliate money on anything you buy.

7 random things I do to be Frugal.

I live in wifi 99% of the time. Most cell phone plans are under $10 for 1GB of data. Tello starts at $5

Bunny Ears / Antenna provide over 20 channels of great content. ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, and more for free.

The library is not your library of the 90s. From PS5 games to great movies. Check out weekly for tons of free entertainment.

Cash "Stings" more than swiping a card. If you want to stick to a budget, hand over cash on your impulse buys and feel that sting. Studies show, even on 0% interest cards, you spend 20% more when swiping. Save money buy feeling the money leave your hands.

When going to live events, football games/concert. Park and wait until the game starts. I have seen tickets drop from $150 to $8 multiple times by just missing the kickoff and then walking in. We have set in seats on a premier concert which started at $500 ticket, missed the opening act and got in for under $60. Big Ten College basketball games for under $4 ticket after fees.. People panic when selling 3rd party tickets after the event starts. Enjoy the main act and save up to 95%.

Designate a "no spend month" twice a eyar. February is a good place to start with fewer days. Use every single thing in your house to eat, look for coupons, eat rice and beans. Try to live like you've never lived 2 out of 12 months and it really helps.

Panera Sip Club. Sign ups usually give you 3 months free and next 3 at a discount when you sign up. If you live within a couple of miles, get large drinks without ice and take home. You can get Coffee, Iced Coffee, Tea, Iced Tea, Soda, Bubbly, etc. Go a couple times a day and have plenty of drinks to share without the ice or have multiple times. An Iced Coffee with my own ice, makes 5 cups of my own cups. Full price is $11.99/month. I have been a customer for a year and yet to have paid that much. Probably spent $3,000 in retail pricing.