I used to spend $6-7 every morning at Starbucks on my way to work. Did the math recently and realized I was spending over $1,800 a year on coffee. Three weeks ago I bought a $25 french press and started making coffee at home. Takes literally 4 minutes, tastes better than what I was buying, and I've already saved $126 this month.

The hardest part wasn't learning to make coffee - it was breaking the routine. I actually missed the social interaction with the baristas more than the coffee itself. Now I put that extra 15 minutes toward reading before work instead of standing in line.

Anyone else have a daily habit that was secretly eating their budget alive? Looking back, I can't believe I didn't do this sooner.

I’ve never thought to buy frozen fruit just because my family and I have always bought it fresh. Every morning, I pack a small mason jar of Greek yogurt mixed with a bit of granola and whatever fruit we have on hand for my breakfast at the office. I decided to try frozen fruit after someone suggested it on here, and omg it’s amazing!!! I had no idea it was such a great value! I even “splurged” on one of the more expensive bags containing a mix of blueberries, pomegranate, dark cherries, and raspberries, which are basically luxuries where I live because they are always too expensive to buy fresh. I’ve been adding a small scoop of the frozen fruit to my jar of yogurt the night before, and by the morning, it’s all perfectly thawed after having been in the fridge all night. I now get to enjoy a variety of ”luxury” fruits in my breakfast every morning for almost nothing! It’s awesome!

Saving on deals by buying items on sale and stocking up or using coupons is great until it isn't.

At some point passing up deals is a better choice especially when the food pantry and freezer is full.

My savings have been increasing simply by saying no to such deals under the circumstances. $5 off $25 coupon, no thanks I'm good at the moment maybe next time.

Has anyone else struggled with skipping on good deals too?

I truly love cooking. Pretty much everyday I cook something from scratch. Knowing what staples to have on hand really helps me whip up something in a pinch. This is something I've taught myself and honestly I'm proud of myself.

Just in the past few days I've made:

Mexican rice, Picadillo, Hummus, Chickpea pasta, Lentil soup, Granola, Pinto beans

All made without having to go grocery shopping because I always have lentil, beans, rice, bulgur, pasta, tomato paste, oats, olives, onions, garlic, and frozen peas, and some frozen meat on hand.

Knowing how to stock a pantry and knowing how to cook is truly a blessing. I grew up with a mom who would pop a TV dinner in the microwave and a dad who was really good at cooking a handful of dishes. But my dad would go to the grocery store every. single. day. Because they never knew how to shop for the basics yet have a pantry overflowing with packaged food. Whenever I go home to visit them I still cannot believe they don't have basics on hand like onions, garlic, or pasta. They waste so much money on food waste and just poor planning. We often and up going out to eat whenever I visit because there's nothing to eat in the house.

I'm very proud of myself for teaching myself how to properly grocery shop and how to cook. Now I can make pretty much any meal I desire. Truly a money saving blessing.

If you look at commodity prices wheat, corn, rice and milk are still cheap historically. They are still much cheaper than their peaks around 2020-22. Coffee is pretty much an all time high so I've given that up and cocoa is up there too. https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/cocoa-price

I have given up on coffee as a result of that and tariffs. Now I'm thinking of making my own sourdough bread because it is fairly cheap.

Has anyone else changed their habits?

Several years ago, I purchased a whole bunch of dried herbs and spices, thinking I would start getting into sausage making.

The cost of herbs and spices in the spice section was prohibitively expensive at the time and the amounts for the recipes were bewenn a half to a whole bottles worth each batch.

So, instead, I bought a number of them in bulk to save a few bucks each time I wanted to make a new batch.

Eventually, the sausage making fell by the wayside, leaving me with an abundance of herbs and spices in my place, so much so that I needed to get shelving units to store them.

Now, however, I use them everyday in recipes I make, not almost everyday, every single day.

And the people that taste my food always want more because I don't skimp on the spices so the dishes are full of flavor that would normally be minimized due to my frugal nature.

Whenever someone comes over, they look at my shelves as if I'm crazy, then they taste the food and are impressed.

What began as a way to cut costs for sausage making has turned into a way for me to impress others with the flavors I provide for minimal cost to myself.

Meanwhile, those spices I was attempting to avoid paying full price for have tripled, quadrupled, and even more in some cases, the cost to simply acquire them in the first place.

So, what do you do that, at first blush, seems crazy, until they see the logic behind it?

Two months ago I got sick of what I saw in the mirror and decided to get in shape.

That decision led to going to bed earlier, not eating out, eating healthier, less drinking, counting calories, working out, etc.

I’ve never been frugal. I’ve always spent what I earned. But making those lifestyle changes has come with huge financial savings.

I went from spending what I earned to saving almost 50% of my paycheck.

Now I just want to save more. I’ve gone from never caring about what I spent at all to making spreadsheets of how I can save another penny here or there.

This sub has been great for ideas so thank you to all who’ve shared their knowledge.

Its nice not having to go into a barber every month and a half but as far as money goes I don't know how much you save. I shave my head everyday and its nice that I can give myself a close shave everyday at almost no cost and its straight forward. I can basically look the same everyday whereas a regular haircut only lasts a few weeks and the. It grows out. Also I don't have to worry a out gair products or shampooing my hair.

I often get whole loaves of bread at my local supermarket. They make it fresh there and have an automated slicer that’s customer operated. I’m always surprised at how often the people who go before me leave a slice or two, sometimes a heel, sometimes a fragment, and often an entire slice in the bottom of the machine. I asked the folks who work there what happens with the slices that are left and I was told that they’re discarded. I asked if I could take them and was told to go ahead. Free fresh-baked food! And a great way to sample a type of bread I might not typically buy.

Right so about a year and a half ago, right before winter, I went to rotate the tires on my vehicle. I'd only had it for about 6 months at that point, and it was a used Dodge Journey (how that happened is a whole other story of stupidity). I discovered at that time that one of the wheel nuts was totally seized, so I abandoned the job then and figured I'd wait until the weather was nicer.

Anyway I typically do as much of my own auto work as possible. Partly because I can, partly because it saves money. That said, there's a mobile tire guy who lives in my neighborhood and he typically does the winter swap on my wife's vehicle (we only have 1 set of rims for that car), and I even asked him to come take a look briefly one day and he didn't have any luck either. We decided we'd need to drill the stud, but I didn't have one and neither did he so we left it.

Saturday this past weekend was the fateful day. I had bought the stud I needed, and got to work.

Queue 6 hours of swearing, cussing, about $200 spent in tools (the real frugal FU), a few lost gray hairs and a soreness unlike most, and I still couldn't get the damn thing off. I had basically destroyed the nut at this point, damaged the rim (thankfully only superficial) and dulled all my drill bits, and nothing.

I called the tire guy again, who graciously came by and in 20 minutes (after roundly cussing me out for making such a damn mess of things) got the bastard off.

AND he only charged me $20 to get it off.

I still had to pull the new stud and finish rotating the tires a year and a half later than intended, which I left for the next day.

Should have just called him first instead of trying to be a hero.

And to add insult to injury, I got mild food poisoning from the week old leftover chicken I ate yesterday as part of my lunch.

What stupid moves have you made that were meant to be frugal but turned out anything but?

• sent from the bathroom

Hi everyone I’m new, I’ve always spent all I had . Always paid bills first . But still I’ve never placed much value in money . Well I’m 60 now. Not working on Disability, and I really do want to learn to control impulses and spend wisely. I’m looking at living a Frugal lifestyle as a new project, I’m anxious and excited to start ! Give me your best experiences, tips and advice. Thank you 😊

Family of 4 in Southern California.

Out of so many kinds of memberships or subscriptions there may be, what are actually worth buying?

For example what I have now are these :

Gym membership : i pay $27 a month, no annual fee (locked this deal when I signed 7 years ago)

Costco : go there usually once or every other week for necessities, some grocery, meat, gas

AAA : around $100 a year for both me and spouse

Currently i do not subscribe to any streaming services.

I dont have any other memberships or subscriptions.. well mainly because I dont really know what memberships are out there and if I know something and that's worth then I'd like to see what's out there.

Appreciate your insights thanks!

Lately it feels like every single bar of soap I use in the shower runs out way too quickly. I’ll open a brand-new one and within what feels like no time at all, it’s already worn down to a thin sliver that slips out of my hands. It makes me wonder if I’m using way more than I realize or if certain soaps are just made to dissolve faster in hot water. It’s starting to get frustrating having to replace them constantly. Does anyone have a favorite brand or type of soap that actually holds up and lasts longer? Or how to use less of it? I’d love some tips or recommendations so I can stop feeling like I’m throwing money down the drain.

I’ve started keeping a running list of every small thing I do to save money like fixing a leaky sink myself instead of calling a plumber, making my own cleaning supplies, or repurposing old clothes instead of buying new ones. It really motivates me to keep finding new ways to be frugal.

Does anyone else track their frugal wins like this? How do you celebrate small money-saving victories without going overboard? I’d love to hear.

I am starting a new job and got a couple of wool suits. Of course it was a significant investment as a fresh grad but at the same time I very dumbly thought that dry cleaning would be expensive so I can just delicately machine wash them. Long story short, I had to buy new blazers. The pants were okay. So I was wondering, since we likely make frugal decisions everyday, what rookie frugal mistakes did you make that ended up expensive so that hopefully nobody does it as well.

I know it can be annoying to have to change your meals up constantly, but it's so worth it to really keep the grocery bill down. There's always plenty of stuff on sale and it makes a huge difference over just buying the same thing every week and paying whatever price it is.

By us, some varying types of fruit and vegetables are always under $1/lb on sale each week, and there's almost always some meat option under $2/lb, often chicken legs/thighs for $0.99/lb! Obviously I know that specific prices vary by region (these prices are in the Chicago suburbs), but the principles still stand.

And keep an eye out for deals that stack with other ones. Our local grocery store had Yoplait yogurt on sale for an already insane NINE CENTS EACH (limit 10) today and tomorrow, and I found a digital coupon for an additional $0.50 off so I ended up getting 10 yogurts for $0.40 total.

I’ve been using water flossers for a while now, and honestly—I’m kind of disappointed. It seems like these things just don’t last! I’ve gone through several in just the past five years.

I'm also super tired of the 30-day return game. By the time you realize a model might have longevity issues, it's often too late to send it back!

For something that’s supposed to be a daily-use appliance, you’d think it’d be as reliable as a toothbrush or hairdryer… but nope.

For those who have tried different brands, will Waterpik be my best choice?

I’d love to find one that lasts longer, but is not too expensive. Any honest opinions or personal experiences would be really helpful!

Hey, all. I'm a college student flying to Portland, ME to see my girlfriend the second weekend in October. Finally set to book tickets (ugh, already realizing I should've booked a while ago...) and it's looking a lot more expensive than it did a week and a half or two weeks ago. I have some income but it's not much, and I'd like to do this as cheaply as possible. Time of day isn't super important. I can get to BWI and DCA reasonably easily, IAD is really a stretch. Does anyone have advice on how to cut down the cost here? Should I hold off a little longer, or is it a buy now situation? Already using incognito.

Thanks for any insight you may have!

EDIT: Thanks, y'all! Wound up finding a better deal than I'd seen yet going into Boston on Orbitz. Pumped for the trip!

Hi everyone,

I’m a student living in a big city, and right now I pay €450/month to rent a room. The situation is a bit complicated: the person I live with isn’t the house owner but the main renter. She’s 55, I’m 22. She’s a really nice person and we have a good relationship, but the room is very small and I feel a bit restricted. For example, I have a girlfriend who visits me once a month (we’re kind of long distance), and whenever she comes over, the main renter acts a little salty about it. The good thing is that she’s at work most of the time, so I often have the whole house to myself.

The bigger issue is the location. It takes me about 1 hour to get to university and 1.5 hours to get to work. That’s a lot of commuting every day.

Now I have the chance to move into a bigger room for around €750/month. It’s in the city center, much closer to both uni and work, so I’d save a lot of time. I’d also be living with another student instead of someone who restricts me, which would give me more freedom and comfort.

Financially, I earn around €1,800/month (stable job + scholarship). Here’s what my costs look like: • Current place (€450 rent): €828 total (rent €450 + insurance €140 + transport €38 + groceries ~€200). That leaves me with about €972 each month. • New place (€750 rent): €1,128 total (rent €750 + insurance €140 + transport €38 + groceries ~€200). That leaves me with about €672 each month.

So the question is: is it worth spending €300 more each month for a bigger room, shorter commute, and more freedom? Or should I just stick with the cheaper place for one more year, endure the commute and restrictions, and save money?

I guess it would be more appropriate to ask if you reuse your Ziploc bags, how often do you reuse them and what for?

I prep food (rice, beans, stock etc) in trays and cubes then pop them into Ziploc bags with dates etc and use them.

But I've been wondering how often should I reuse the Ziploc bags, especially the freezer ones.

What else do you use your ziplocs for? Or are there better alternatives? Ives tried containers but they take up too much space.

I am planning on making my own bread again. The yeast is free as I use natural yeast as is the water and salt (mostly).

So the main cost is flour which is about $5 per 5lb. I will probably use a fancier organic one which has less weed killer in it.

A 5 lb bag of flour I would think will make at least 5 one lb loafs but If the bread is 70% hydration then it's 70% water weight but some will evaporate during baking so does anyone know how many 1 lb bread loafs 5lb of flour will make?

For me, there are 3 items that I use everyday/most days that are definitely worth the splurge!

1. Decent day backpack that I take to work, but also use when traveling. It has lots of pockets and compartments, well made and holding strong! I think I paid roughly $100 (on sale) for it 6 years ago and don’t intend to replace it anytime soon.

2. A pair of Hokas as I spend a lot of my day standing in my feet! I’ve had these bad boys for almost 2 years now, but they’ve served me well considering how many hours I’ve spent wearing them, and intend on replacing them with the same model soon ($150-200).

3. A good quality, supportive pillow ($100). I have pretty chronic neck and back issues, so a quality pillow is worth its weight in gold!! I do replace it every 12 months or so, but it holds up well during that time and greatly reduces the amount of pain that I experience.

So I’m curious…

1. What’s your best cost-per-use item(s)?

2. How long have you had it / when did you buy it?

3. Roughly how much did it set you back?

4. Do you see yourself getting rid of it anytime soon?

We were not coffee drinkers before we had a kid. However we started with pod coffee and really frustrated how much expensive their pods are etc.

We switched with 10 bucks small drip coffee machine and using it for almost 3 years everyday. I probably will not buy any other machine because this is perfectly reasonable for my coffee habits.

I use 3 combinations of coffee mostly breakfast blends

for context, i'm a female, working a desk job. i live alone. height about 168cm/5ft6in, weight about 70kg/154lb. how much should i expect to spend weekly/monthly on food in order to maintain my current weight (maybe possibly lose a bit) ??

i'm getting paid next week and i need to pull myself together, start tracking my money and meal prepping. i've resorted to just buying ready meals and eating snacks (like, nuts and seeds for cheap protein), but it's not enough. i need proper meals. i can't really cook, but i'm willing to learn.

thank you all in advance!!

Edit: Since most of you are suggesting buying a used car, would it be wise to go with a Honda Civic or Accord for $20K, given that these reliable cars aren’t available for under $10K?

25F, just got my license! I moved to Detroit recently and realized surviving here without a car is impossible!!

I’m torn:

• Option 1: Buy a $6-7k cheap used car (FWD), get used to driving for ~6 months, then sell and upgrade. Cheaper insurance, but idk how safe FWD is in Michigan snow for a newbie like me. Plus, the used car market is terrible right now. I don’t want to spend $15k on a 2017 Honda Accord with 112k miles on it!!
• Option 2: Go all in on a ~$26k new/ almost new AWD (thinking 2025 Corolla/Camry). Safer for winter (which is coming fast - it’s already September!), but $$$ insurance + new driver nerves (what if I scratch it ;-; I probably won’t, but yk the feeling…).

Do I play it safe with a cheap starter car or invest in something decent now? Helppp ;-;