62% of employees have reduced their short- and long-term savings contributions amid high inflation and concerns about a possible recession. Moreover, 71% of employees said money-related stress has negatively affected their work and personal lives, a 7% increase from 2021.
And while we at Bored Panda don't have the instruments to change the monetary policy, there is something we can do to help the situation. Have a laugh about it. After all, humor makes everything better, doesn't it? So this time, we invite you to join us in exploring the subreddit 'Frugal Jerk.'
Its 147k members constantly share memes about being poor, often taking things to ridiculously extreme levels to accentuate the painful realities of bills, taxes, and everything else related to personal finances.
"We, the proud few who stand on the cutting edge of frugality. We hold our heads high as we steal toilet paper, shoplift lentils, reuse condoms, syringes, and drink our own piss to save multiple dollars each year," the people behind the online community write in its about section.
So continue scrolling to check everything out and don't miss the chat we had about spending and saving with Doug Nordman, who managed to retire at 41 and now runs the website Military Financial Independence and is the author of The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement.
This post may include affiliate links.
When The Machines Try To Take Over
Call me crazy but if you buy a robot vacuum you can't be considered frugal.
and it would be a lot easier to beat a broom to the popcorn!
Load More Replies...How To Furnish A Home
Check out the Johnny Cash song, "One Piece at a Time" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uErKI0zWgjg
And afterwards check out Phlake “IKEA Episodes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGJVrQClF_4 😊
Load More Replies...The president of Ikea just became president of his home country. I hear he is still assembling his cabinet.
In my hometown there is a mythical story that some factory workers stole one or two parts from a tractor production line at a time, and eventually stole enough to build themselves a whole tractor. Everyone who worked there at the time (1980s) swears they knew who was doing it, but nobody has ever been identified publicly.
There's an old Soviet joke about someone who works in a crib factory and steals parts until he has a whole crib. But whenever he trys to assemble it he ends up with a machine gun.
Load More Replies...With a little help from friends you could have an entire house within a few years
Nordman told Bored Panda the biggest mistake he sees people make in their early steps toward financial independence is trying too hard.
"Frugality is challenging and fulfilling, and it's sustainable," he said. "Deprivation has its uses (paying off credit-card debt) but it can lead to burnout. Strive for work/life balance, lead a quality of life that makes you enjoy the journey, and put your investing in autopilot."
Saving Money This Christmas
i was about to ask the meaning, then it dawned on me… 💀
Load More Replies...As someone who's currently crotcheting dragons for her niece and nephew let me tell you it isn't cheap.
I love typos... I suspect that any truly 'crotcheted' dragons would be rather painful.
Load More Replies...Could Becoming A Murderous Clown Be The Secret To The Ultimate Frugal Lifestyle?
Pennywise, the ultimate millennial life hacker... would like to add wears one outfit, travels primarily at night to reduce idling and traffic, not only advocates for population reduction but takes an active role in reducing the cost of living in his community by restricting a landlords ability to increase rent what with all the dead kids, and eventually he finishes almost every meal he's started really reducing food waste.
It's The Thought That Counts 😍😍😍
And, unlike some other questionable practices mentioned on this thread, it doesn't actually involve physical harm to those intimately involved or to innocent bystanders...
Load More Replies...ha! my husband,of almost 53 yrs, have been doing exactly this for over 25 yrs.....with the saved cash,we buy a bottle of champagne...☺
Think this is funny - my husband and I actually did this one year. We still laugh about it. One has to find one's fun where one can.
Given the cost of cards these days I might start doing the same thing.
This seems better because buying a card which you'll most likely throw away isn't really cost effective
It's easy to form bad financial habits. For example, a 2021 study found that panic buying transformed into impulsive buying.
The survey of 2,000 online shoppers, commissioned by Slickdeals and conducted by OnePoll discovered that Americans impulsively spend an average of $276 every month. (That adds up to an extra $3,312 spent every year and about $198,720 in a lifetime.)
The most common spontaneous emotional purchases were food and groceries (48%), household items (42%), clothing (40%), and coffee (33%).
Live Frugal, Die Frugal
This is the send off that I want! I don't want my family paying £1000s to chuck me in a hole! Save the money and give it to charity, I'm not going to know any different!
Leave your body to be used for medical science, much cheaper!
Load More Replies...Tip: How To Do Laundry For Free!
So maybe he was just pranking. Maybe he desperately needed clean clothes. Either way, in the end it didn't cost you much to do a load of laundry for him.
That's the bastard that was supposed to buy my unibrow trimmer! Same M.O.- "try it out; get the money from the car" he said -Right. At this point, I honestly don't think he's going to buy my toothbrush either
Save A Fortune In Christmas Presents
Just bring up politics at Thanksgiving dinner, and you can be done with Christmas shopping in no time.
I told my family 20 years ago that I was done with buying Christmas presents. Problem solved. One of the best decisions I ever made.
Or group message them and pretend to borrow money. They will think you are broke and will not expect presents from you.
How To Get Absolutely Hammered (In A Frugal Manner)
Eating before you go out so you can drink more before you pass out. Not eating is for beginners.
To get rid of these pesky (and often expensive) habits, we need to be mindful about our budgets.
"Start by understanding your spending," Nordman suggests. "If it's valuable to you then you're willing to work for the extra years of life energy to pay for it."
If You’re Not Part Of The Economic Elite That Can Afford To Flush
Everybody sing it with me: Boss makes a dollar while I make a dime, that's why I poop on company time.
I make a penny the boss makes a buck, that's why I work like I don't.... care as much as I should
Load More Replies...Nope. I only drop anchor at home port. I'm not using those cast-off ghost skins they call toilet paper. Also, if the seat is warm, I like knowing it's because the sun came through my bathroom window.
So fun story: the HR girl at work tried to make me desist from pooping at work (using the nicer toilets upstairs nonetheless) but she was clearly uncomfortable about the conversation and i know that 1. i always clean after myself and 2. there is no rule about using the services outside of your department. So i told her to write me up if it was a formal complaint and i never heard about the matter ever since.
My teen son started his first part time job this spring. He keeps track of his time on the shitter at work on his phone, he wants to see his lifetime total.
I worked at a govt building for awhile. Got to wipe my a**e with taxpayer money!
I'm an anxious pooper. Plus I have to shower afterwards. This is mandatory.
Did anyone actually ask u this question? Plus, after a while, ur coworkers will come to recognize ur personal "brand" and they may make unkind comments about the bathroom smells that u create. And probably the noises too.
We keep a can of air freshener in our work bathroom for exactly this reason. When you have to poop, you have to poop. It's not good for you to hold it in. As a supervisor, any worker making unkind comments to another worker about pooping at work will have to deal with me. Which will not go well for them.
Load More Replies...Cat Trying To Collect Insurance
Cat: Oh no i have been hit with this car. I will need to collect $5,000,000 from you
siiiigh.... this brought up unnecessary trauma.... Puppy why were you so trusting
Deli Meat And A/C Are For Fat Cats
Walk around naked downtown and spend the rest of the summer in a nice, air conditioned all you can eat city jail cell....
DO NOT STARE INTO THE SUN. Serious point, you will go blind, permanently.
Less mocking frugality and more mocking people who think those that can't live on minimum wage aren't trying hard enough.
Many, many moons ago a friend of mine invited me to brunch. I was quite puzzled when we arrived at K**b Hill and my friend made a beeline for the front doors. Perplexed, I asked, ‘ where is the restaurant?’ With a flourish she pointed to the doors of the entrance. Once inside, it was aisles and aisles of groceries on at least one story industrial metal shelving. It was remarkable how many ENTIRE families there were pushing shipping carts with one of two items. Instead of muzac all that could be heard was the sound of chewing!!! Almost everyone inside of this cavernous grocery store was meandering through the aisles…. Eating!!! The few employees we encountered were also eating. People were very conscientious too! If we approached a shelf where someone was making a sandwich or who had an open package of eg. crackers there would either take so d and leave the open box in front of us or offer us some!!! I was ASTOUNDED. Needless to say locations began…
to close like the mouths of so many satisfied and very full, customers. This was during a severe recession…. I wonder if the store ever figured it out.
Load More Replies...Well, yes... eventually he will, but it sure does take him an unconscionably long time getting to the point...
Load More Replies...It's The Perfect Crime
I wouldn't be as worried about the keeper as I would be about the other guy
Lions eat cows :) pretty sure they were referring to the lion’s food
Load More Replies..."If it's wasted spending then cut it ruthlessly and invest it in your retirement accounts. Here's the important part: automate your investing so that it's a habit you won't have to decide with every paycheck," Nordman added.
"You used to be a person who lived only for today. Now you’re the person who’s stacking new habits for a better life."
Not A Bad Idea
Pro tip: Defer his second birthday for another year. In the meantime, teach him rudimentary reading/math skills and other stuff. By the time he enters kindergarten, your 'four-year-old' (who's actually five at this point) will be more academically advanced than his peers and the teachers will assume he's gifted. If you're worried he'll be taller than his classmates, limit his diet to non-nutritional food to keep his height down. That's what I did with my three boys. Although it would also work for girls.
My dad was lied to about his age so that they could get him into school early - apparently he was a nightmare they wanted to have some space from. When he found out they gave him two birthdays to make up for it.
Load More Replies...Just fib and tell him kids under 5 don't get presents...worked for me
Or... throw a birthday party that your 2-year-old will never remember or appreciate and guilt all of your family and friends into spending their hard-earned money on your kid!
Haha mine is next week but my wife already went all out so I guess we have to tell him
2 year olds are happy with anything fun you do for them. If you can't throw a birthday party for a 2 year old without spending money you should probably rethink parenthood.
Tell your kids they were born on Feb 29 and you only have to party once every 4 years.
5 Dollar Thrift Store Chair. On Mondays Everything Is Half Off So We Got It For $2.50. Upon Bringing It Inside We Found $3.88 In The Cushions. #blessed
The point of being thrifty is so you can afford things you want, like tattoos. Do not mistake thrift for poverty.
Load More Replies...Wow, why is everyone making such rude comments about this guy. He got a killer deal. Good on him.
Chill out, people. Judging the book by the cover usually gets Pandas in a serious snit. Now you're doing it to someone else.
Once bought 3 pair of jeans at goodwill for 20.00. Found 20.00 in the pocket of a pair of them.🤗
Everyone making fun of this guy is just jealous of his free money chair hack
Everyone stop bullying this guy, someone drew on his forehead while he was asleep and then scattered extension cords all over his house.
Imagine, if this were anothr post about how he battled addiction, or depression, or whatnot, nobody would dare make fun of his teeth or nose-ring. Everyone would comment on his happy smile. WTF does it matter if the guy has tattoos, a nosering, has his hair long and bad teeth? Maybe he got in a fight or an accident and they broke, or he's waiting for the dentalwork to continue. It takes a long time, if you got implants to fix the new teeth, since your jawbone needs to heal from being drilled into and having metal sticks screwed in there. And then it takes time until your new dentures are ready and fitted. So unless you know anything about the circumstances, how about we focus on the matter at hand! Dipshits, all of you! (=all of you who made rude comments)
Join The Revolution, Brothers
aight (dirtifies) (edit: ty for all the likes and compliments, pandas!)
*holds out a pot* got some fresh dirt, your royal dirtiness
Load More Replies...Nooo, then people will always try to drag me out of my comfortable home only because "the sun is shining!"...
Load More Replies...Worms have a unique ability to digest dirt that we don't. But go ahead and try to digest dirt. Too damn many people on the planet anyway.
This actually sounds exactly like something that David “Avocado” Wolfe would claim.
Always someone higher up what if there are beings above us. When you suddenly die they just snacked on you or squashed you. When you die slow they are roasting you in a slow cooker. It's 1am and this just came into my head 🤣
This Wendy Person Is Clearly An Elitist Fatcat!
Plenty of people that broke: working two jobs, barely making rent, not eating full meals. It sucks but that's what happens when minimum wage is below a living wage.
Load More Replies...I was once so broke I had to walk home from work (hadn't been paid yet) with one shoe on because one of my shoes was old and had the back of the heal fracture into my foot (yes my foot was bleeding). I was POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR.... know what though? I had 50c. If not, I could easily find 50c.
It looks like people have been increasingly interested in saving (or earning) an extra dollar. At least on the internet.
For example, membership on the subreddit r/FinancialPlanning grew 87% between June 2020 and 2021 to more than 241,000.
And in the past year, it nearly doubled, reaching 423,000.
This Genius Has A Good Idea About Keeping Rent Low
I have told this story before. Moved into a new house in new neighbor hood. I was outside cleaning my throw rugs with an oldtimey wire thing. Cop pulls up, asks me if i heard anything, they have had reports of gunfire. No, i havent. He drove away. I thought " where have i moved to?" . Picked up the rug beater, hit the carpet. Oh.. um my bad. Beat the carpets a little less vigourously from then on.
First night in a new apt I was startled by what sounded like gunfire. Given the neighborhood, it could have been that. It was the sound of ice cubes dropping into the ice bin in my empty freezer.
Load More Replies...For anyone who seriously considers this please shoot down into the ground. That bullet might kill someone when it comes down. Also, call 811 to find out where the underground stuff is first. It's okay it's free.
Might ricochet up though... end up shooting yourself 😲 Ooh, choices choices. Tough when you need cheap rent.
Load More Replies...Bullets still have a killing velocity when they come down unless you fire directly 90 degrees into the air [the only way to get a bullet to reach "terminal velocity" thus making is no longer "deadly], which the human hand is simply not adept at doing [the experiments I've seen where this is done always uses a special rig/contraption]. Firing into the air is literally just as dangerous as just firing "In no particular direction." - Someone "may or may not die" - Same result. If you're going to fire at gun at all, do it at a shooting range or something..
How 'bout we shoot in the ground. Much safer. Bullets that go up, must come back down. Sometimes, its a long ways. Stray bullets hurt folks.
Seen similar before. However in most countries this would just bring a SWAT team and the Tactical Firearms unit... Guns aren't that common in the 'rest' of the world...
How To Get Free Grapes
Rounding!!! I would know that's not in the US even if it didn't say kg!
The number of college students I've had to teach rounding to is quite astonishing. I also write in cursive if I don't want them to read what I'm writing. Education in America is a sad, sad joke.
Load More Replies...I BOUGHT TWO GRAPES AT 8PM FOR FREE SO DID I REALLY BUY THEM OR IS THE MOON MY GODFATHER? ALTOIDS!
It depends. We use the same basic system of rounding. 0.5 and above is rounded up.
Load More Replies...So does it ever round up? If not you can get 99 free which is like a 2 or 3 bunches.
At least in new zealand they always round up or down in increments of 5 1-4 cent -> 0 cent 5-9 cent -> 10 cent I guess it's similar in Australia.
Load More Replies...I always eat a grape before I buy grapes, to make sure they're sweet. That's how I get free grapes.
My Father, Smuggling Cheese Slices Into A Local Burger Joint, Rebelling Against Their $.60 Upcharge... Resist!!!
Maybe he should resist the cheese altogether and find a barber who can give him a symmetrical mouth beard. (Is his beard too far right, or is his mouth too far left?)
That's not cheese, it's plastic garbage, but more power to your dad for beating the system!~
Imagine Thinking You're Poor When You Have Four Whole Slices Of Bread!
this is hella legit... specially when the lights are off because they were Too Much
Rather like the forthcoming winter... we've topped up our stock of candles, matches and other 'power-cut' necessities!
Load More Replies...Excuse me, cinnamon? Butter? Ooh, fancy! Some of us will be happy with our scrape of margarine on a mouldy crust.
Load More Replies...We only had the sandwich bread. Hotdogs, burgers and garlic bread... unheard of delights.
Load More Replies...My sister and I used to toast bread at the electric fire when we were young.
Try having to buy gluten free bread! It runs between $5 - $8 for a 14 oz loaf. And you don't want the $5 one as it's dry and crumbly, not to mention it tastes like cardboard. They've improved a lot the last few years but that comes at a cost.
Toast first, then cut. I can’t afford those fancy toaster tongs to dig those little triangles out! 😁
Load More Replies...For investing-specific conversations and news, over 2.1 million users turn to r/investing. (That subreddit's membership grew 83% between June 2020 and 2021.)
Then there's the subreddit r/personalfinance with a whopping 16.6 million-member army that hosts conversations about anything and everything related to spending, earning, saving, and investing.
So there's much more than memes to discover. Although these are savage, not gonna lie.
Practical Thinking
(Loudly) Eat it all at once! See what happens!
Load More Replies...It's not a bite imo, the bottle was laying sideways and this is how the pills melted / solidified.
Load More Replies...I'm just staring at the shape and imagining that they cut the bottom of the bottle off to get it out without destroying the form.
Use a grater for daily vitamin chips hehe…. But besides that: I‘m afraid that maybe the heat destroyed all the positive effects of the vitamins
If it got that hot it changes some chemical compounds in there. Good luck.
That's most definitely some liquid that has been frozen inside the bottle. There's not enough product in these bottles to fill the whole container like that
This Guy Understands Us
WM was just giving you the idea...no sense spending $20 unnecessarily though on fake stuff
Look At Mr Fancy Pants Here With Tupperware. I Use Leaves To Carry My Food
You can find a lid that fits? That almost never happens in my house. :)
Load More Replies...Just a commonly used term due to brand knowledge. Like how we call tissues - Kleenex, hot tubs - Jacuzzis, etc...
Jacuzzis are a brand of hot tub?? How did I assume they were their own thing? Not that I could have described how the two differ though. What do you call Tupperware that isn’t Tupperware brand? I have never called it something else, but apparently I didn’t actually know what a jacuzzi was either… is it seriously just a container??
Load More Replies...My Tupperware are consists of the plastic containers the lunch meat comes in and nice take out boxes.
The letters in “Tupperware “ can be rearranged to spell ‘a pure twerp.’ So there’s that.
How about when you order take away Chinese food based on the level of the sturdiness and reusability if their packages? We have a local "rainbow china" that I swear uses such good stuff, newly weds only need a gift certificate there and they can acquire food and dishes!
My daughter take away one - if we get a Chinese instead of fish and chips we get free Tupperware
I have a Choco Cat bento box and one with All Might. I protect them with my life at work.
Lpt: Peel All Produce Before Weighing To Save $$$ At The Grocery Store
Hold on, let me place these beautifully crisp banana jpegs on this naturally blurry self-checkout machine...
Imagine putting peeled vegetables on that filthy counter?
Load More Replies...I like to debone and trim the excess fat from my meats before I check out.
Saving On Graduation Pics
Just in case anyone missed it, GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES GRADIMAGES
Just got school pics of my niece and nephew with lifetouch across the bottom and I ain’t even mad cause I can still see them 😝
What? Why? The photographer has to pay his rent, too, somehow! Do you think they do it for fun?
Load More Replies...Easy Grill
Before anybody actually tries this. That's likely made from galvanized steel. You could get zinc poisoning or worse if other metals/compounds are present.
Psht, everybody knows to put a sheet of foil down first on a cartgrill.
Load More Replies...Camping once, making burgers and forgot a pan. Pulled a hubcap off a friend's truck and used that.
What and get rid of some of the flavouring? Live dangerously, it's cheaper as it's shorter!
Load More Replies...I Got Outed As A Fat Cat
I do pole vault with an invisible pole. I'm not very good.
Load More Replies...THE BATTERY IS FREAKING ME OUT PLUG THE CORD IN NOWWWWWW
I've had my balls for a lot longer than 6 yrs, and they were free. ;)
Cardboard crafts, cheap hot glue can be used as a texturing tool as well
I used to give my step son a bag of socks every Christmas until he stopped wearing through them like they were tissue.
'The Hell kind of tricks can you do with rolled up socks anyway? Three sock Monty?
Our New God?
When I was a kid I told my mom that my younger cousin ate a cockroach. My cool headed mom (she was an RN) told me to relax that it's just extra protein.
Load More Replies...This reminds me of an old missionary joke. How you can tell how long a missionary has been in the field? 1st term, they pick out the bugs from the food. 2nd term, they leave the bugs in the food. 3rd term, they put bugs into the food.
Save for the gemrs, which were hopefully killed, insects are more efficiently produced and healthy than vertebrate meats.
I Already Live In A Cardboard Box And Don't Eat, When Do I Get The Money???
Interestingly, in Japanese, the expression for saving money actually means making money.
Load More Replies...I did... Also, where does that $57 figure come from anyway? I eat way more than that in my mind (since we're making numbers up)!
Load More Replies...Dear blondie, with that kind of math you can become a millionaire by the end of the month 😂
I guess the upside is saving all that money by not eating will more than cover the cost of your coffin
‘Delusional Entitlement’ is a mindset. Inability to comprehend poverty, the hierarchy of human needs is utter stupidity and grandiose callousness. I hope this individual, ( and likeminded individuals), experiences the despair of poverty.
Of course you won't live a year, but then that's someone else's problem, right?
NaBrO, I spend roughly a fiver a day for food. Also your multiplication sucks.
Found This And Thought It Was Fitting
Wasteful Fat Cats
My mom made an awesome hot dog soup. She browned some onions and fried up the dogs a bit to brown them, chopped into pieces, added chopped carrot and cubed potato, salt, pepper, bay leaf and I dont remember what else. It was delicious .
One memorable episode of my favourite show had a girl who had broken bones, because of osteoporosis- she was undernourished because at home all she ever got on hot dog night was the 'pink soup'.
lol, Hot Dog Water! a fun character from the scooby doo mystery inc series
Finally Had My New Pool Installed. Nice Knowing You Jerks!
Who said anything about stupid? I'm filling mine up next garbage day (tomorrow)
Load More Replies...Well given the bin is from Glen Eira council, in Melbourne, if it's summer you do what you have to do!
Stickin' It To Those Goodyear Big-Wigs
Last month some poor lady pulled into my driveway with a hole in her tire the size of a golf ball. I helped her put her spare on but the rest of her tires were really low on tread. she tried to pay me for my help, I told her to spend it on new tires. I hope she made it where she was headed safely.
Next Time You Are Visiting Someone's Home, Try To Get Yourself Alone With Their Toaster. A Great Bounty Awaits You
Ooh look at me I’m rich and can afford cream cheese
Load More Replies...Fellers I'm Set For Life! I Found A Beverage With Infinite Servings Therefore Infinite Calories
You Know The Vibes
There are cheaper alternatives for salt and wet tissues. Don't do it half way, Zayn.
I know. Have you seen the price of tissues ? Go into fast food place, use their bathroom ( free water and paper ) then go over and get some napkins, free salt and pepper. If your lucky, score some creamers. Amature.
Load More Replies...I dropped half the letters from my name to save $15,000 a century. I sold two ribs to be used as proxies for wealthy oil barons. My head has been converted into advertising space.
Should garble the words to make it seem you can't think straight anymore
Today I'm Mortgage Free At 27!
oh hey, my house is like that too! i was able to save a little and upgrade to an Amazon box though… 😎😎
Pfft. Name brand blow hard. Mine is completely unmarked (aside from the bloodstains of the previous tenant).
Load More Replies...Instant Breakfast! Eat That You Fat-Cat Bastards!
The Gods Smile On Me Today
Now Who's Really Controlling The World??
Replying to you from the lentil camps. It's so dry and arid here, I fear I may not last. Bucholz fell into a lentil pit and suffocated last week. Tex... oh my god, Tex. The lentil wolves got him. I'm scared. Tell my wife she can have my Tim Horton's mug.
Load More Replies...Last night, I fell asleep to a yt documentary telling me that the world relies on China for rare earth elements, and technology as we know it would be doomed if anything happened to the supply chain. So, tonight, I've decided to fall asleep to cartoons!
Arrivederci, Suckers! I Just Scored Some Sweet Waterfront Property. Off To Join The 1%!
Holy S**t Guys, This Ice Cream Store Has A Cup Of Sample Spoons Covered In Free Ice Cream Just Sitting There
These Crumpets I Found Behind The Tesco Came With Free Antibiotics To Cure My Infection!
True fact! Penicillin is a bread mould. Of course, there are other bread moulds and some of them are carcinogenic...but this is why a mouldy bread poultice is a traditional treatment for an infected wound.
free therapy to most of the people here 😅 not trying to be offensive
free therapy to most of the people here 😅 not trying to be offensive
