If you’ve been feeling the impacts of inflation especially hard recently, you’re not alone, pandas. It seems like every time I go grocery shopping, I end up taking home less but spending the same amount as the week before. So if you’re in need of some easy money-saving tips that will leave your bank account and your stomach feeling a bit more full, we’ve got the perfect list down below.
Frugal Reddit users have recently been sharing their simplest tips for spending less that can really add up over time. From remembering reusable shopping bags to bundling up in a cold house, we hope you find some useful advice below, and remember to upvote the tips you plan on utilizing!
This post may include affiliate links.
I do a thing I call "piggybacking". As much as possible, I only drive when I can hit two spots on one road trip. If I need to go to Costco, I wait until I also need to a)stop at whole foods to drop off an Amazon return, b)pop into home Depot for a needed tool, or c) visit the library. A road trip that is 10 miles round trip seems short, but if you do the math, using the federal rate for mileage, which accounts for wear and tear, that's a $6.55 trip. Why would I spend that twice when I can spend it once, AND help the environment?
I do this to. I live in a small town and unless it is very urgent I won't go to the store. I wait until I need to go to a larger town then If I need to go to multiple stores I do it all at once.
Put warm socks and a sweater on before turning up the heat.
Heat is something I won't compromise on anymore. I feel miserable when cold and extra socks and sweaters don't help at all when I'm just sitting and not moving around.
When you see something you want on Amazon (or Sephora or any other online shopping), put it on a wish list and do t look at it for 48 hours. 98% of the time you won’t go back to buy it.
mozzarellafitzgerald: Similarly, if I get an email telling me about a sale, I immediately delete it, and I almost always forget about it completely
When any container seems empty I used to throw it away. Now I cut it open and get 4-5 more uses out of it. The amount of shampoo I was wasting was shocking.
Every few days, I take stock of the odds and ends in my freezer and fridge, and I come up with ways to incorporate into meals.
A favorite way to deal with random veggies is to make a stir fry.
A favorite way to deal with random bits of bread is to freeze them and make bread pudding when I’ve accumulated enough.
I rent DVDs and stream shows through the library instead of having a streaming service subscription. Each month I go through rotten tomatoes and make a list of things I want to see, then request them from my library. It meets my needs, and saves me roughly $30 a month.
Some library systems in the U.S. offer Kanopy and a certain number of free movies per month. The catalogue is huge. Then see if your county has reciprocity with neighboring counties, and get a library card from them for more monthly movies. I’m up to 25.
We started saving lots of money during the pandemic when we used Walmart grocery pickup. I buy a lot less when I’m not wandering the aisles, and I stick to a meal plan that I then select through the app.
Good idea for people who can stick to a meal plan. I usually find I have no appetite for whatever was planned that day.
I learned that I can use half, or even a quarter as much shampoo, toothpaste, body wash, hand soap, than I used to. It’s a very little thing, but I really do think it adds up especially because when I go to CVS or Walgreens to get shampoo, I always end up getting a bunch of other c**p I don’t need.
Carry tea bags with me to school. It's $1 for a cup of tea, but $0 for a cup of hot water. If I get tea on campus 3x a week for a 14 week semester that's $42 (minus the cost of the tea bags I bring) I can save each semester.
Off campus food is a whole other thing, though.
I remember the premise of a TV show (forget what show) a few years ago where old people would go into a restaurant and just get hot water for tea bags they brought and the restaurant was making no money because all the seats were full with non-paying customers. They resolved the conflict by charging for hot water which dissuaded the old people from being there and the place started making money again.
Selling things we don't use. Selling a $10 item here and there really does add up. It takes pretty low effort and we save the money for vacation. The benefit of less stuff is even better than the money to be honest.
I've tried it, it's a pain and ultimately not worth it. You have to take pictures, write a listing, deal with scam replies and people who want it then ghost you. These days I just take it to a thrift shop to get rid of stuff. Just not worth the few bucks for hours of time and effort.
Not eating meat at every meal has really saved a significant dollar amount for me. Also, challenging myself to recipes with like 2-4 ingredients so I buy less overall. I don’t sacrifice a good meal either, I know how to make it taste good.
Stretch your meat out too. A single pound of ground beef can either feed my family for a single meal (ie. hamburgers) or for 3-4 meals (casseroles, dirty rice, etc.).
I pay with everything using cash back credit cards and pay my statement in full every month.
Yes except now you have to make sure there's not a hidden charge for using your credit card. Especially at restaurants.
I only buy out-of-season clothes. I have a $700 coat that I bought brand new for $100, and it will last me for life with proper maintenance. Helps, too, that I'm a man. We don't really do fashion trends, lol
I stopped buying everything in bulk.
We would make ourselves use up the bulk item before it went bad, the kids would eat through their snacks because there's so many, or sometimes we couldn't go through it fast enough.
Now I decreased the amount of items I buy in bulk, and I get smaller portions even if they're slightly more expensive. The kids' eat more food than snacks, we have more variety and less goes bad.
Oddly, the amount of I spend on food decreased.
You're not supposed to buy everything in bulk, just the staple items. Toilet paper (or install a bidet) paper towels (or use reusable cleaning rags) Flour, rice, beans and whatever other dried goods. Frozen ingredients, like sea food, veggies and fruits (which are usually higher quality with better nutritional content than the "fresh" fare) Also, you can't just be looking at items being sold as "bulk" and presume that they're cheaper. You have to look at the UNIT PRICE, or the price by weight to know whether you're actually getting a discount or just getting fleeced.
When I feel like having something sweet, which is often, I make a mug cake (~$0.36 each) instead of going out and spending $7 on ice cream
When something you use regularly is on sale, stock up. My family likes to make Starbucks espresso at home and a small bag is now $10. When it’s back on sale to it’s precovid i buy 2 or more extra and start to build up a stock pile. Eventually a lot of the foods you use you will have so your weekly bills will be fresh foods.
I went to Trader Joe's for the first time a couple of weeks ago (it's about a 2 hour drive from me). I found bags of noodles for $0.99 each-nearly $1 less than the store brand of my regular grocery store. I grabbed about 6 bags.
I'm based in the US.
1. Buy your cellphone outright (not Apple) and then use a prepaid month to month plan
2. Cloth napkins and swedish dishcloths instead of paper towels - this has saved us a lot!
3. Go easy on the gas pedal
4. Take stock of the pantry and freezer and menu plan around what is already on hand.
5. We have a toddler in diapers. We just aren't cut out for cloth diapers. In our area, the Target diapers are the best value and if you buy $100 worth, they'll often give you a $20 gift card back.
6. Last year I made $1600 by churning checking account and credit card bonus offers. Only do this if you understand credit ratings and are responsible enough to not let a credit balance accumulate, though!
7. We make our own laundry soap. About $3 for a three month supply - only takes me about 10 minutes to make a batch. Also, line drying.
8. I only buy the exact same socks. When one gets a hole, the other still has a match! Also saves time because I don't have to match 20 different pairs of socks every time I wash them.
9. Drink water at restaurants; skip dessert and appetizers
10. Keep nuts or other protein-rich snacks and water in my car.
11. Aldi, baby!
12. Rotate between streaming services so we only pay for one per month.
13. Use the library, or buy used books from Abe.
14. High interest checking and savings accounts
15. I'm not a sweaty person and I work a desk job - some garments can be worn multiple times between washings.
16. Buy high quality garments second-hand on Poshmark or at the thrift store
5. Put some effort into potty training and don't leave it until age 3 or even 4 like so many other people. Will save a ton of money. Most toddlers are perfectly capable of controlling their bladder and bowels by age 3.
1) Using the library- they have low cost Internet access, magazines, study areas and info sharing for community activities. We pay for public libraries with tax money so in reality you're using something you already paid for....
2) Brewing coffee and tea at home. BTW many people give away coffee and tea pots when they upgrade to new ones. I.e. you can get a free coffeemaker if you can't afford one.
3) Yard sales and Estate Sales- pennies on the dollar pricing. Also most Estate sales are done on a short time limit, meaning you can haggle and most will take Best Price Offered. A good way to get a used vehicle, as many retirees barely use their cars & the vehicles get sold to resolve estate debts.
We hit up estate sales on a regular basis. The deals you can get are incredible.
Never order anything but water to drink when dining out. I don’t have any idea how much I didn’t spend, but I’m 64 so I imagine it’s got to be in the thousands by now. I also carry my water bottle or ask for free tap water if I’m going somewhere that sells bottled water.
I once was at the cafe at an aquarium. I got free tap water with my sandwich. I saw a family with 3 kids eating lunch at a nearby table. They had 5 bottles of water that they paid for. $3 each. And nobody finished drinking theirs, they threw away most of it and all that plastic. $15 just for water! They could have had free water, or one bottle and 5 free cups.
Why pay for a watered-down beverage that's 2/3 ice, and contains 20 teaspoons of sugar? Just ask for water, sans ice (the taste is horrid). You can have as much as you want for free, and it's much better for you.
Vinegar as fabric softener. It's cheaper to buy a gallon of distilled white vinegar, it's better for your machine, and it's better for your clothes. Takes only about 1/4-1/2 cup in the liquid softener dispenser. No smell, clothes feel less "coated", and it has significantly reduced the amount of mildew/musty smell in our washer.
Eta: our towels absorb waaaay more water now too!
Careful with vinegar and the rubber seals and hoses of your washing machine. I simply don't use fabric softener.
We grow a big garden and are going to harvest potatoes and sweet potatoes soon. I hope to be able to keep them stored and use them until spring. This is really free food because we used the sprouted ones from last year to plant this year. I have a dog and am going to make my own dog food. It’s important to follow a good recipe because they need specific vitamins and minerals along with carbs and proteins in balance, but I want to give it a try. I can’t imagine eating only dehydrated, packaged foods every day so I wonder if it will make a big difference in dog health. I also think that some table scraps, like meat from neck bones or gizzards, could actually be incorporated into the dog food instead of just being a treat in addition to dog food, which would be more economical
I don’t buy cards with gifts. I tell the recipient “ I spent the extra $5 on your present, rather than a card you will throw away.
Gift +card is a scam.
Switching to a safety razor, the blades are SO much cheaper. It’s been so long I can’t remember the exact savings, but I think I saved about 80-90% of the cost of razor blades when I made the switch.
Menstrual cups. I'm straight up not having to buy pads/tampons anymore. (Aside from keeping an emergency stash stocked). Saves around 10 a month.
Handheld French press. All I need is boiled water and coffee grounds to make my own coffee anywhere. I choose this over coffee pots and keurigs at home, but it's also super convenient when traveling. (Hotel/Motel coffee makers can be super gross if you look too close.)
Buy frozen fruits veggies when they're cheaper. Freeze them yourself when they're not. There are reusable bags made for this, but using and cleaning out a decent/sturdy ziploc bag works for me.
I second the menstrual cup! I never have to worry about buying tampons/pads
I *never* buy brand new furniture. In fact, anything not consumable, I first see if I can get for free, by perusing my local Buy Nothing group, checking Facebook Marketplace & Craigslist, and by asking around.
If I can’t get it free, I look for it cheap.
Of course, I live in an area with a lot of turnover, so that’s possible to do for me.
I also build/make things rather than buy them. For instance, my husband, son, and I built extra long twin bunk beds, for my six-foot-plus sons, out of lumber and a used Ikea king sized box platform, which is only actually two XL twin box platforms, screwed together.
I want a greenhouse, so I tore down a free junky shed for the lumber and anything I could salvage, and have been collecting old fancy wrought iron or steel storm/security doors I got for free or cheap. For the floor, I hauled away a patio’s worth of pavers I got for free. The only thing I haven’t been able to find for free is what I need for the roof.
Editing to say: we seldom eat out, and only get carry-out when we do, bring beverages with us for the road so we don’t buy drinks, no manicures, no hair coloring, and I stick to one thing with cosmetics & don’t shop for novelty items. For example, once I find a good lipstick, that’s my color all the time until they discontinue it.
I'm all for second-hand stuff, but be very, very careful. A free couch is not worth an $1800 bed bug treatment. Trust me.
I buy less than one roll of paper towels a year. 15 years ago, I bought a king size flannel sheet at a thrift store for $3. I cut it into 1 foot squares and put two together and finished the edges on my serger. I keep them in a basket in my kitchen and use them for everything most people use paper towels for, including draining bacon and wiping up spills. I have about a dozen of them and wash them several times a week.
At a conservative estimate of $3 per roll of paper towels and one roll per week, I save $156/year. Over 15 years, I have saved $2340, enough to buy five sergers and a tall stack of used sheets, even considering the laundry expenses.
This is really one of my environment guilts - I use paper towels a lot for cleaning. Not for drying. But for all the nasty stuff to clean um and put in the bin like wet, oily food scraps in the sink or if I clean something moldy...I don't want to have the infested towels sitting in the basket till washing and it's so much more convenient to just put the stuff up with the towel and throw it away in one take...I feel shame but I cannot try the best in all situations...I have not enough energy for it. Also: if some has a tip how to make the dishtowels to soak up water better than just pushing it around, I will be glad.
Not eating fast food. Making my daily coffee. Buying the big bag of Halloween candy and eating a piece or two a night to satisfy late night junk food craving.
I bought a used yogurt maker on facebook marketplace, and it was the best $15 I ever spent!! 1 gallon of milk makes 6 large servings (for me, ymmv), which is much cheaper than buying yogurt. Also, it's fresher, tastes better, has no preservatives (never lasts long enough to go bad!) and I can mix in whatever I want. Lately I've been buying bulk hazelnuts from Whole Foods, roasting them, and putting them in the yogurt with chocolate chips. Delicious!!
I will never understand the purpose of "yogurt makers" My wife has made her own yogurt for 20+ years by putting milk (often raw milk at that) in a jar/bottle, covering the top with cheese cloth and letting it sit for several days. Fermentation doesn't require equipment, it just requires knowledge.
I hang most of my clothes to air dry so that the heat from the dryer won’t damage the fabric.
Pricey coffeehouse coffee is too strong for me, so I get much cheaper iced coffee at Wendy’s.
Nine times out ten the store brand is better than the name brand. The dollar stores have the best store brand.
I line-dried my clothes in our last house. It saved us a month's rent every year by not using the dryer at the laundromat.
I pick up fast food receipts off the ground and enter the receipt code into my fast food apps for the reward points. Then I get free food items and spend nothing. That has added up to 187 free food items on just the app that keeps track of full history. The redemption value so far has been $925 since I always take the most expensive food item reward offered each time. Also, if I see someone waiting for food and they spent a lot without using the app I will ask if I can scan the code for the reward points. They usually have no idea that it is a free item for about $24 worth of spend so sometimes I get a free item by scanning the receipt some guy is holding for a big order.
I pick up discarded hardware store receipts and send them in for the 11% rebate so I get the rebate without spending anything. I do the same for the stores that price match. That has added up well over $2500 since I started doing that. Then I buy tools and hardware that I want or need for my side hustles. I checked my tracking spreadsheet for the totals but they changed how the tracking works so I can't track it all the way back to see what I got once they are delivered so it is more than the total on my spreadsheet.
"I also find most of my meals by rummaging through bins. A kind stranger will often give me small change for a coffee. I save a fortune on rent by sleeping under a bridge."
Note: this post originally had 51 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I live in a lean to made out of old pallets next to a dumpster and only dress myself and my family in garbage bags.
Same here! I've also trained rats to do tricks and charge admission to the rat circus! Our pallet paradise is behind a cheese factory, so we pay the rats with cheese. It's a win win! We're planning on moving behind a dog food factory next year!
Load More Replies...
sad so many people need hacks to make it paycheck to paycheck while companies make record breaking profits all the time.
Make a shopping list and eat an hour before you go shopping. If you go shopping when hungry you'll buy too much food.
I live in a lean to made out of old pallets next to a dumpster and only dress myself and my family in garbage bags.
Same here! I've also trained rats to do tricks and charge admission to the rat circus! Our pallet paradise is behind a cheese factory, so we pay the rats with cheese. It's a win win! We're planning on moving behind a dog food factory next year!
Load More Replies... sad so many people need hacks to make it paycheck to paycheck while companies make record breaking profits all the time.
Make a shopping list and eat an hour before you go shopping. If you go shopping when hungry you'll buy too much food.
