In the face of 40-year high inflation, you can’t help but watch your wallet get thinner. In fact, more than a third of American adults are tapping into their savings accounts to cover increased living expenses, withdrawing an average of $617 during the first six months of this year. As nearly everyone is feeling the effects of skyrocketing costs of everything from fuel to rent to groceries to entertainment, we could all use some helpful tips and tricks to stretch our dollars.
Being thrifty and finding ways to pay less for everyday goods is generally the way to go. But have you ever heard the saying "I’m not rich enough to buy cheap"? Turns out, some tactics that help reduce spending now can easily cost you more in the long run — whether in time, energy, or money.
So when one user reached out to 'Ask Reddit' inviting people to share "false frugalities" — low-cost things that turned out to be expensive — most people are unaware of, the thread immediately became a hit. We’ve gathered some of the most illuminating responses to share with you, so continue scrolling! Be sure to upvote the ones you agree with and then chime in with your own experiences in the comments.
Psst! After you’re done with this list, check out Bored Panda’s earlier piece with tips on how to live more frugally right here.
This post may include affiliate links.
There was a sub about how to budget food/living expenses. And the ideas that people had were ridiculous and required you to be financially well off enough to facilitate their idea of what saving money is. I don't think I received advice from anyone who knew what it was like to be poor, or actually truly need to responsibly budget their funds.
One guy wanted me to plant a garden to grow some carrots or other veg. I explained that I have a small apartment, and that carrots are a dollar for a big bag. He actually got uppity with me and became a total shithead when I explained that I live in a small apartment in the middle of the biggest city in canada. There is no benefit to turning half my apartment into a garden so I can grow five bucks worth of veggies in a few month's span. I can't just go outside and plant vegetables. It's also cold here 9 months out of the year.
I got berated out of the sub after pointing this kind of s**t out numerous times.
I spent about $100 once on soil, plants, lumber for a raised bed, etc. to wind up with about $10 worth of a few veges. No green thumb here.
Bottled water. It's marketed to appear that it's healthier and cleaner than tap water, plus the plastic bottles are not sustainable. Just buy yourself a thermos or reusable water bottle and stop buying overpriced plastic with over-glorified tap water included.
It's healthier if you're in a region that has contaminated water, or parasites, like in Mexico, * for example, and other regions in countries around the world that are otherwise developed around the world.
That's a larger and different problem to pieces where the tap water is perfectly drinkable.
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I think it's pretty obvious that the OP is not talking about regions that have contaminated water but places where the water is perfectly fine yet people still choose bottled water.
Some people really have to learn "if it's not about you, don't make it about you." This is exactly why communicating online is impossible (actually *communicating*). People immediately scream 'what about my odd example you clearly don't mean to include!'
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I live an hour outside Flint and got a letter saying that our water was contaminated. Luckily our fridge has a water filter.
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drinking bottled water only works when you live somewhere where the tap water is contaminated... where I live the tap water has to adhere to far more stringent laws than bottled water...
Where I live, we get a letter every year letting us know that the water isn't safe to drink and can cause long term effects
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Some people pay extra for that, why not just add some sliced cucumbers and enjoy it? (Yes, I know what you are saying and am joking :) )
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Two billion people dont have access to safe drinking water. Donate to charities that fix this instead of buying bottled water where water is safe to drink. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water
Tap water in the Netherlands is literally 1000x cheaper than bottled water. Not bragging, nor exaggerating. It also tastes great throughout the country and it’s produced to a higher standard (more and stricter quality controls) than bottled water produced in the EU. Even here some people keep buying water in plastic bottles. 🤷🏻♀️
Water has taste. Sometimes local tap water is disgusting. Sometimes it's yellow because of pipes and no one does anything about it. Some bottled water is sweet and tasty. It all depends where.
Yes. I drink purified water because I love the taste. “Spring water” is tap water and tastes disgusting to me. I love to chug water and if it’s not reverse osmosis purified, I get a headache. People lecture me on my bottled water habit all the time.
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Living in Scotland the tap water (aka coouncil juices) tastes better than bottled
A lot of businesses in my area will refill your drinking water flask free of charge now too. So you're saving money and avoiding adding more plastic waste!
Or, if you live in an area where your drinking water is questionable, then, if it's available, get a Culligan set up, or something of that ilk. The big bottles are switched when the new bottles come in, so there's no wastage or need for recycling. The bottles hold a LOT of water and when you leave the premises you just fill up a reusable water bottle and go. And the nicest thing? They bring in the bottles and take away the empties, so you don't break your back!
In Jamaica a lot of people have tanks to collect rainwater for washing and laundry. You buy bottled for cooking and drinking. Also can have a clean water tank filled by a delivery truck. Not everyone has piped in water or indoor plumbing if poor
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This one shouldn't even be here. Some regions it's simply not safe to drink the water. I have well water and can't drink it, I have to buy bottled water.
Absolutely and even worse when the ground water is contaminated with chemicals that give people cancer.
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As a Scotsman and with a stereotype to uphold I couldn't think of anything more silly than buying something that is basically free
These famous brands like Perrier and Evian don't sell water. They sell plastic bottles.
No They sell alternatives to coke and Pepsi which have no nutritional value.
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Having only well water means no fluoride. I buy bottled water just to have fluoridated water for the kids. Learned the hard way that regular dental hygeine with fluoride toothpaste and a healthy diet isn't enough to prevent thousands of dollars worth of dental work. I will gladly spend $2 on a case of bottled water every week or two.
lol bottled water, that's hilarious. how does anyone think buying bottled water is saving you money? its one of the most lucrative enterprises out there, in terms of cost of production vs selling price.
Heavy minerals in our region but lovely taste so we have a filter where the water enters the house. We change it once a year. Also lengthens the lives of our taps and shower heads.
Ah the Peckham Spring debacle that forced Coca-Cola's Dasani water out of the UK. Helpful hint if you are going to be selling over priced tap water to the public and have to do a recall for contamination, don't have the bottling plant in the same place that one of the country's most beloved TV shows was set, and that they did a "sell over priced tap water to the public that turns out to be contaminated" episode.
No one that's the point save money by not buying bottles if you can, if your water is safe to drink, or else buy a filter.
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I've had to change my stance on plastic bottles since getting a job on a ferry. I hate myself for using them, but seeing the different tanks of water on the boat.... I choose my health.
This is wildly inaccurate. There are some waters, like Dasani, that are essentially tap water run through a giant Brita filter, however there are actual standards for water that is spring water, like Ice Mountain, where it is not tap water at all.
Yes that's why some are ripoffs. Are they labeled as such?
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If you have access to clean tap water, you can even reuse recyclable plastic bottles. I usually get something like coloured electrical tape and wrap it around mine so I don't throw it away. Just don't leave them in places that are exposed to sunlight (like inside the car or next to an open window) because any water inside will start to grow mould after a little while. If you don't finish drinking it after a while, rinse it out and fill it up with again with new tap water. You can use something like a sanitary wipe to clean the rim, and shake up a bit of mouth wash on the inside to clean it out (beware that stronger alcohol based mouth wash might degrade the plastic in some recyclable drinking bottle brands over time).
Our tap water actually tastes different than the water in bottles it's weird. But compared to water bottles the tap water is pretty gross
I keep old water bottles, fill them 1/3 full of water and pop them in the freezer. Then I can pull them out and have ice water that lasts a super long time.
The house I grew up in had well water with iron and Sulphur in it. Mom wouldn't buy us anything white because it would turn orange within about 3 months of regular washing. You could wash yourself in it, you could wash the dishes and even the car. You didn't want to drink it though, it tasted awful. Once every week or two we loaded the car with all the water jugs and went and filled them up. This was for drinking and cooking water. My parents were very happy when city water became available in their neighborhood and they could switch away from the well.
There's no problem with the tap water in the UK. Why buy bottled, expensive water in plastic?
Maybe instead of buying soda or beer or wine? Or any other not good for you beverage in a bottle.
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I have a Pur water pitcher and change the filter every other month. So much cheaper than buying bottled water.
I'm lucky- we live in a town that has a very clean and good-tasting water supply- we drink a lot of water, right out of the tap. I always wonder why people around here waste money on bottled water. Even a filter would work if they're just concerned about the taste, and be cheaper and better for the environment than all those bottles.
in Croatia tap water is much better and cheaper - bottled water costs about 1 USD for 0,5 liter and tap water costs about 2 USD for 1 cubic meter (1000 liters)
A good portion of people in the US (about 2 million) don’t have access to clean, drinkable water.
Tap water is drinkable throughout Hungary. A water expert said that tap water is much more strictly controlled than any bottled mineral water.
I would rather buy cases of purified bottled water than to have an upset stomach from tap or mineral water.
Bottled Water: (contains) Water that has been circulating around the Earth for billions of years, but somehow it expires when in a bottle.......
Old buildings have old pipes that create toxic hard water. I buy bottled water for me and my cat since I can't move; too poor. Massachusetts, USA.
It's a lot cheaper in the long run to spend a hundred dollars or so and install a reverse-osmosis filter on your kitchen faucet, and fill your own bottles, particularly if your tap water doesn't taste as well as you'd like or if there are issues with the water supply.
At Costco, it's $3.99 for 40 16.9 ounce bottles of water. Less than $.10 each.
You don't even have to buy the water bottle if you are on a super tight budget. Just reuse a water bottle or something sturdier like a Gatorade bottle. Have done many times. I also have a Nalgene bottle I got at a garage sale about 10 years ago that is pretty impressive for a plastic bottle. Firm, doesn't leak, doesn't crack in the freezer, doesn't get sticky or smell funky. I'd never heard of them before that but I'm pretty impressed with it.
Our tap water was tested again local spring waters etc and scored higher But a Britta filter if worried but the cases of bottled water I see bought is waste of money at least in my city.
The water in my city is contaminated so I'm not gonna drink tap water to save money when buying bottled is healthier.
We, living in Mexico, don't drink the tap water. It's probably safe most of the time, but the storage tank on our roof might not be. We buy bottled water - in returnable 10 gallon bottles at under US$2 each. Then we fill the thermos.
Edit - 2.5 gallons. It's early and I can't do maths right now. 20 liters. Work it out yourselves please.
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Where I am, the water is contaminated enough that it would require a reverse osmosis filter, which is pretty expensive. Even so, we use (and reuse) 5 gallon jugs to reduce costs and plastic waste. So even in a contaminated situation, single use plastic bottles aren't absolutely required.
It really depends on the local water supply of tap-water. In some regions it really -is- undrinkable, even if it is nominally safe to do so. Some cities put so much chlorine into their water that the smell/taste really is unbearable. Yes, you -can- boil that off, but the energy cost for that is way too high.
Buying a water cooler was the best investment . $1200 paid in monthly instalments of $70. Then you own it. Free filters for the first year. Then $100 every 4 months . Having icy cold water on tap meant my 4 kids learned to love plain water. The cooler is filled with tap water which is filtered then chilled. I live in northern Australia so it’s a blessing on hot days.
Here where I live, in mid Missouri, the tap water is so bad that my city has issued warnings not to ingest it at all. We HAVE TO buy bottled water because our water is not potable!! The stupidly given "advice" so many give out that tap water is fine is utterly false in many places in America, and you people who give it need to put your heads somewhere that nobody can ever find it/you/your stupid ideas again!
I take my own gallon jugs to the store and get water from their water islands. Cost right now is 39 cents a gallon. Pretty cheap as far as I am concerned and the water taste a whole lot better than city water as far as I am concerned.
I use cooled tap water in a reusable bottle as much as I can. However, in the area that I grew up in, I cannot stand the taste of the tap water. Whenever I go to visit family, I have to drink bottled water. I didn't put two and two together until I moved somewhere else with different water. I *hated* drinking tap water growing up. I thought I hated all water, but no, only this particular areas tap water. And I thought all water was supposed to taste the same...of nothing!!
Plus plus, the bottled water companies are single=handedly lower the water table in a number of areas without paying for the water themselves. And yes, eff those plastic bottles
I posted something similiar (I’m a water borne disease specialist) and people freaked out. If you don’t know specifically that your tap water is unsafe, skip the bottled. US brands are literally tap water.
It's the only option in arid countries where the only water is salt water.
We do give a monthly donation to Water Aid. Every living thing is entitled to clean, fresh water. Nd btw, we boycotted Nestle years ago.
Our tap water tastes vile. Very metallic. I have a water filter jug to use for tea and coffee and a 22litre water dispenser that I rent. Not cheap but the water actually tastes like the spring water I remember as a child roaming the fells in the Lake District. We drink a lot of water in our family.
I buy spring water, but I buy it in a large container. I don't want filtered tap water, but it's better than nothing. There's really good filtered water at my job, so I usually fill my thermos before I go home.
Even in places where it's told to be good for drinking, many old pipes between your tap and wherever it was tested can contaminate your tap water which is why you should simply buy a water purifier just to be safe and plastic free.
I use tap water. However, I once stayed in Toronto for a week. The tap water there was repulsive in smell and taste. Airport tap water was way better. I used to fill my bottle at the training centre, where my course was, at the end of the day, and that had to suffice till the morning when lessons begin, to avoid buying plastic.
I don't understand why this is on this list. What does it have to do with "false frugality"? I've literally never heard of anyone trying to suggest that buying bottled water is in any way frugal or economical. The only way I can think of that it might qualify is if you mean that distilling drinking water at home could potentially be more expensive, but does anyone actually do that? I'm fortunate to live somewhere with good tapwater, but for those who don't, it can usually be sufficiently improved by filtering which works out much cheaper than buying bottled.
Not always true that tap water is healthy. In many many areas of the world it is not and even can be harmful. An alternative to bottled water can be a under sink filter system although the changeable filters for these units can be expensive.
Most major grocery stores have water island where if you bring in your own empty gallon jugs invand fill them up, right now it only cost 39 cents a gallon. Pretty cheap to me.
I've got a tank in my refrigerator which holds, I guess, about two gallons (7.5 liters) of water. Fill it up at the tap, cold water for drinking.
When you live in a hard water area you can be better off with bottled water. People claim it doesn’t taste any different but as an autistic I can assure people it does.
Buy a two stage water filter for your tap water. It makes the best tasting water you ever drank.
We've just discovered that the pipes bringing water into the house are lead - so I'm now on bottled water - but sparkling because I really begrudge having to buy it.
I agree. Between the news about places with unknown lead in their water (usually the problem has gone on for many years) and my family’s passive idea about research I buy 4 cases a month of bottled water. Has anyone considered that we COOK and wash in the water you work so hard to avoid?
Well, actually sometimes tap water just taste bad. In my last apartment where I lived for 10+ years I always drank tap water. but my new apartment, tap water just taste bad. can't explain exactly what it is, but I just can't drink them.
Getting bottled water from source to store is also a great burden on sustainability
But better than doing the same with sodas or beer or wine
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Yes. Thank you. I still cannot believe that people pay so much for a water… Bottle water.
How does anyone think this smart? I have yet to meeta single Australian who doesn't have at least one water bottle. My family has a full kitchen cupboard of them.
Cheap batteries. They don't last, they don't work well, and many of them are duds. When I was in high school, I always, always listened to my discman. One day the batteries died so I walked up to the gas station and chose between the Duracell batteries and the bronze-colored batteries. I bough the cheaper no-names and they died before the day was over. And I had to go through social studies without music.
I learned two things that day; WWI history, and not to buy cheap batteries.
"Rent is throwing money down the drain"
Owning a home is not always smart. It can be, but not always. It's not just the house cost, but costs in taxes, interest, insurance, repairs and maintenance, etc.
Then there's opportunity costs. I know folks who can't move until they sell, and can't take better jobs cuz they can't move. A house can be a big anchor in some contexts.
Cheap, single ply toilet paper. You end up having to use way more just to get the same effect of the good stuff.
And you generally end up with a middle finger in your bum after it pokes through the cheap paper
Aggressive lane changing while driving.
All that accellerating to get into the "better" lane just wastes fuel, and you save a negligible amount of time.
There was a small TV documentary here in Australia I remember watching that did tests on it. They sent two drivers across Sydney in rush hour traffic: one who would change lanes only when it was absolutely necessary (obstructions, turnoffs, etc), and one who was super aggressive changing all the time.
The aggressive driver got to the destination 2 minutes earlier, though with *80% more fuel consumption than the other driver*.
Actually, I've always wondered about that, but had no way of testing it out!
I once watched a show about extreme penny pinchers. One episode depicted a man who spent about 3 hours a day riding his bicycle or walking around looking for dropped change around pay phones, gum ball dispensers, etc. The whole time I couldn't help but think that even a minimum-wage job would yield him more capital for his time, especially once you factor in bicycle tubes and shoes.
In general, people of this nature fail to realize that the benefits of having money is its positive influence on your quality of life. When your quality of life suffers in order to save money, you've completely reversed your priorities to a mind-boggling level.
This is a hobby for some elderly folks. Perhaps reliving an old past time joy of finding coins on the ground. I once found a $20 bill on the sidewalk. I was just walking, going about my day. I wasn't straining to meet quotas and multi-tasking. A minimum wage job, for the amount of work that you end up doing with little downtime, other than your required breaks, does not lead a great quality of life and the pay does not equal the time and efforts. IF I could make the same amount just walking and looking at the ground as I do at my current job I'd choose coin hunting. And the coins aren't taxed.
All construction.............do you want it done cheap? or do you want it done right?
When it’s done right, it’ll usually cost a lot less in the long term than when it’s done cheap.
Not going to the doctor/dentist!
Wellness checkups are important. Your prognosis will always be better if something is caught early on.
Surprised I haven't seen this yet; using third party hotel booking sites. The sites guarantee you a room and a price but not the type of room you requested. Calling the hotel directly will not only guarantee the room you want but often they beat the price of the websites. On my last trip a particular site favored by an Enterprise captain quoted $129 a night, when I called the hotel they gave me $79 a night.
I don't know where ur staying. I work at quality inn and we can't even match those sites nevermind beat them.
Doing the dishes by hand vs. using a dishwasher. The dishwasher requires a lot less water, time and energy.
Or in my case, doing the dishes by hand vs. not doing them at all (no dishwasher, and no space to install one).
When it comes to tools, buy nice or cry twice.
I saw a popular comment here a couple weeks ago talking about reusing those little handwarmer packet things by slicing them open and adding more magnesium flakes obtained by shaving down sparklers.
For f**k's sake, just buy some new handwarmers.
I knew a fellow who owned one of the most expensive houses in town, but was too cheap to run his swimming pool filter except when he was actually swimming. With virtually no filtration, the water would get thick with debris and algae. He would then by stuff to kill the algae, but then he would have water full of dead algae. And the crud would stiff on the pool bottom, making it very hard to clean off. He spent way more on chemicals than he would have spent on electricity. The owner of this cement pond was a retired rocket scientist.
i have always been told that the smarter a person is, the less common sense… because they’re focused on their whatever
i went to greggs, a well known bakery in the UK. I bought a sandwhich and a drink. as i went to pay, the guy offered me the meal deal. "a sandwhich a drink and crips (chips) for only £1.99. a sandwhich and a drink was £1.59. the sandwhich was £1 and the drink was 59p. by themselves, crisps (chips) were 20p but as part of the meal deal they were 40p. this means that the SPECIAL MEAL DEAL OFFER was more expensive than buying each item individually. CLEVER F*CK***
Heating and air-conditioning. Being uncomfortable, irritable, and unproductive isn't worth the few hundred dollars you save by lowering the heat or not turning on the AC.
Depends. You don't need an industrial central air conditioning system in a tiny bungalow, as my my ex's parents installed. They like to be freezing in the summer. Nor does it have to be sweltering in your home in the winter. And they don't need to be kept on all the time.
In many cases, buying a name-brand product with a coupon is *still* more expensive than buying the store-brand.
Or, buying something just because it's on sale, but not necessarily because you need it.
Mobile phone contracts with a free iPhone etc.
You think you're getting a good deal with a free phone but with 35 pounds a month contact for 2 years, they really screw you.
Buying heavily used cars, sometimes. There are exceptions, but all of my friends who religiously buy the cheapest car they can find are always having trouble. Very expensive trouble, that sometimes adds up to close to the cost of a new car, or at least a better maintained used car.
Believe it or not, some people would like to buy a new car, but can't afford one. Crazy, I know.
Travel and times: A lot of people take the cheapest flight they can find, but to me, saving 50 bucks on a $500 ticket isn't worth a 7am flight or a red eye.
"Buying that rent-to-own laptop Consumer Reports checked out is equivalent to paying 311% interest, which is far worse than the 30% interest rate you see on crummy credit cards.
Buying a big cheap house far from your common destinations.
You will pay with time, petrol, housework, sleep, your relationships, and/or career
Instead:
1.Buy or rent a small house with a 10-30 minute commute.
2. Let happiness ensue.
Home brewing beer.
It's a wonderful hobby and I highly recommend it, but don't think you're going to save money.
My ex like to make apple cider moonshine. He had to buy mason jars and a s**t ton of alcohol, apple juice and whatnot. Thought he was going to make all these underground sales from his friends. Pfft. He sold nothing and I got to keep most of the mason jars. Those come in handy for many things.
Extended warranty
You think you are saving cash on the off chance the product you bought doesn't hold on and you need repairs, but I don't know anybody who has ever been happy about this choice
On the opposite end of the spectrum, car insurance for rental cars. My father and his colleagues used to travel the world and rent cars for several weeks at a time. It would only take one car accident in all those years of renting cars to justify the cost. Many of these rentals were for off-road use. The rookies thought to save cash passing on the insurance and would eventually shell out thousands on repair
Cloth diapers. You still have to buy special (expensive) detergent, and run so many loads in the washing machine. I worked it out when we started cloth diapering 3+ years ago, and it cost the same as if we just did disposable diapers.
Plus all the TIME put into washing/drying/assembling.
I like cloth diapering, I do recommend it, but I hate when it gets lauded as a cheap alternative.
(Edit: Yes, really, you do have to use specially formulated detergent. You don't? That's cool. Your diapers are getting build up of both ammonia and detergent. Good luck with that smell and the leaks, and that is coming from experience.
Also, nowhere did I mention the upfront cost of the diapers themselves. When I talk about price, I'm talking about water and electricity bills.)
people don't do cloth diapers for the nonexistent convenience or the not-so-cheap price. they do it because it's more sustainable & better for the environment, & usually far more comfortable for the baby.
Being cheap with anything you’re going to use a lot or over a long time. Better to spend $180 on a single frying pan that will last 10+ years than buy a $40 frying pan each and every year because they c**p out so easily no matter how careful you are with them. This metaphor, of course, fits the bill for almost any frying pan that is non-stick or costs less that $100 to begin with.
Leasing a car instead of buying one. I'm not gonna get into the specifics but it's pretty much always more costly
Only if you plan on keeping your car for longer that's two/three years. But if you plan on getting a new car every couple of years then paying only the depreciation seems like a better deal. But if you keep your car for 5-10 years... then buying is definitely cheaper. Longer than 10... might start looking at costly repairs.
Justifying the purchase of anything solely because it's a "good deal." I hear this misconception all the time.
If you spend $100 on shoes, even if you bought it at 99% off, you're still out $100. You haven't saved a penny, and that'll be a real problem if you needed that $100 to pay your utility bills.
Edit: clarity and $10,000 shoes.
http://www.luxist.com/2010/02/26/louis-vuitton-offers-10-000-alligator-wingtips/
It's all in the intended budget of what you were planning on spending. If you're expecting to buy $200 shoes and had allowed room in the budget or saved for them, and then the shoes are found to be $100 on sale, then, yes, you saved $100.
Professional home repair services. Real companies have insurance, you can sue if things go wrong. Some handyman that someone knows is likely going to do something that violates a warranty, will be judgement proof, and won't get a permit.
I do construction defect claims and this is partly true. A contractor's work product is not covered by insurance. That's if you hire a guy to install Windows and they are defective, insurance does not cover the replacement of defective windows. Not unless they are installed in such a way they cause damage to other parts of the home. I.e. Leaks and damages the interior drywall
People with flex fuel vehicles buying E85 instead of gasoline. The reduced mileage you get out of E85 eats up any saving you get at the pump.
I know people that skip going to the doctor until the last minute to save the office visit payments. It's a terrible idea since by the time they get there the simple cold turns into pneumonia and costs much more to heal.
bad example. going to the doctor for a cold is a waste of time & money. there's no cure for a cold, nothing the doctor can do other than say "you have a cold." so if someone has a cold, yeah they're gonna wait until it turns into something bad to get help; it would've been a needless expense & it's not like they could've known beforehand that this particular cold would be pneumonia...
Not paying off your mortgage to save the tax breaks...
While it is nice to save taxes, the long term financial benefits are astronomical when you free up a mortgage payment.
Completely stupid assertion because it obviously depends a lot on the situation. If the interest rate is very high and the property value not increasing then yeah, pay it off early if you can. If you have a low rate, if the value is plummeting, if you use the extra money to invest in anything with better returns then no, don’t pay it off early and keep it for as long as you’re in the second situation. Never heard of leverage or gearing?
Dining Plans at college. I literally could go out to eat for every meal for the price of them. And I often did. I saved a ton of money because I don't eat that much/snack more often .
Supermarket specials.
Next time you go shopping, grab a calculator and work out the cost per 100 grams (or whatever equivalent weight) and you'll almost invariably find that the products with the big 'Sale!' signs are not the cheapest.
Of course it's impractical to do this with every item so you can of course estimate, or shop at a store that all ready has the cost per 100 grams of the price tag like I do.
In Germany (or the entire EU?) the store needs to put the price per 100g on each item, so you can easily compare.
Shaving with a straight razor. It's a larger down-payment to start into it (simple but nice razor, strop, and brush cost me about $100), but I recouped that in less than a year just by not buying more cartridges. In theory, a razor will last pretty much forever, for free.
Here's the problem, though. I nicked my blade and had to repair it, so I bought about $80 worth of reworking stuff (much less than I could have spent). Then I bought a fancy 1930's blade and restored it. Then I bought a better brush, and a better stop, and a better shave mug, etc.
I started because it appealed to my practical side. Then it quickly became a ritualistic money hole.
You could also split the difference and buy a double edge razor, where you just need to replace the blades, which are cheap.
A $5 pair of sneakers is not a deal, no matter what your wallet says.
Maybe consider them if you only need shoes for another month...
$5 isn't gonna be great quality, but most $20-30 shoes are just as good as $100-200 shoes. so don't go to the other extreme either. depends what type of shoe & how much use you'll get out of them. i've been wearing a $30 pair of off-brand converse that i actually got for half price at $15. they've lasted five years & counting, & they're my go-to everyday shoes.
Where I work, we do price adjustments on products that have gone on sale since the customer purchased them. Most of the time, the refund isn't worth the amount of time, energy, and gas the customer uses driving to the store.
I can't even imagine making the effort to go get the adjustment. It's on sale now and I bought it last week? Oh well. My bad timing.
Steam sales. You think all these games are a great deal, but you end up playing very few of them and proceed to buy new games you would buy anyways. Remember, you didn't save $7.50, you spent $2.50.
Stopping at Costco for just one thing because its cheaper than the grocery store. Sure I save 3 dollars on the initial item that I went in to get, but the bill at the till always seems to average 400 bucks.
Lol this is dumb. I get that it's easy to spend a fortune at Costco (I love costco) but I regularly go in for a couple things and spend less than $50
Cheap legal services.
A good lawyer that takes 3hrs at $300 an hour will do a much better job far cheaper than a shitty lawyer that takes 5hrs at $200 to do the same job.
This is partly why good lawyers are so expensive - because they're cheaper.
People overinflate the hell out of their tires to get better gas mileage, then have to spend much more to get new tires when they wear out far sooner.
Don't mess with air pressure in tires period. Those numbers are not just a suggestion. It may cost you more than just a new set of tires. Does not matter what your dad's nephew's uncle's hairdresser's dog's ex roommate said, keep your tires properly inflated. Also the air you put in tires is already 78% nitrogen, don't pay for the other 22%. Edit: Sorry for any confusion. I am referring to paying for 100% nitrogen in your tires.
Rewards points. You are paying for them.
Not necessarily true. I’ve had a rewards points credit card for 10 years now, and they haven’t gotten a dime out of me. My card carries absolutely no fees, and no interest because I pay it off every month. I get the convenience of paying by card vs cash, and I receive between $200 - $400 back each year in Amazon gift cards. (I purchase from Amazon anyway, so it’s as good as money in my pocket). If you have the discipline to pay off your credit card every month, you can be the person credit card companies hate.
Restaurant specials. It's rarely cheaper and it's typically food that is about to go bad and needs to be sold instead of thrown out.
But then people complain when food is thrown out, and if it's still good enough to be consumed without much difference then it's all good.
Hybrids. Sure, you save $200-$500 dollars a year on gas costs. But every 5-10 years you will have to replace the battery pack, which can go from anywhere from $2,500 to as much as $6,000, especially on some of the new electric cars with larger packs. Not to mention the initial bump in price you pay with most hybrids. You add a small cost for low rolling resistance tires every time you change them.
Furthermore, the so called point of a hybrid car is saving the environment. The materials used in hybrid cars, specifically the batteries and other components that require rare earth elements, not only require more energy, but put out more harmful types of chemicals than traditional processes. The story gets worse if you go with a plug in hybrid, as 60% of wall power comes from coal plants, a less cleaning fuel than gasoline.
Note: this post originally had 48 images. It’s been shortened to the top 45 images based on user votes.
Sounds like a wealthy person that has no idea what it's like to be poor. I disagreed with most of the examples they gave.
Agree. I’d like to see the math behind some of these claims.
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We also need to consider how saving money is much easier when you already have some. Yes, good-quality products are costly and save you more money in the long run. But if someone is poor, they can't afford to buy the more efficient product. And they have to buy the cheap, low quality one, changing it often and being forced to waste money. Financial wisdom is useless if you don't have the money to apply it
Have you read Terry Pratchett? Look up Vimes’ boots theory of economics
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Several of these rely on the assumption that poor people can just - for example - spend 100 dollars once a year instead of 20 dollars every month. But always remember Captain Samuel Vimes "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness: A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
One thing I read that makes a lot of sense is that if you can afford a quality pair or jeans (example) that fit well and you know you’ll wear them often, the math can pencil it out for less cost per wear than something that doesn’t fit well you don’t enjoy wearing. I wear my Birkenstocks almost daily until they are literally falling to pieces ever 3-5 years so I feel ok splurging on a new pair when I need one. This only works if you do t get the poorly fitting ones too.
If your winters are extreme, please invest in good, good coat and boots, if possible.
Buy a good bed...not a cheap one. You will spend at least a third of your life in it, after all. It may take awhile to save up the money, but it will be worth it.
I had a much younger roommate awhile back, and I remember him explaining to me that he would rather drive to his dads house to fill up his tires for free than do it at a gas station for a couple dollars. I pointed out that his dad lives 20 miles away, so he'd be spending 40 miles of gas money to save that couple dollars...but his expression stayed blank...
Didn't see Black Friday mentioned. I mean, there are definitely deals but very often there are also "deals" that, if one kept an eye open throughout the year, are not actually new or even a deal. Another one is those "going out of business sales", where everything gets discounted... Except, it's often over the initial suggested price. I've seen things being sold at prices higher than they were at a competitor that was still in business, yet people thought they actually got a deal out of it. Guess I should say: look around, don't blindly buy based on that one discount.
"High interest savings account" Banks in my area pay One Cent per One thousand $$ per month
People who have the money to buy a gas heating system in their home, but choose to remain on firewood heating because "the gas central is very expensive, wood is cheaper". However, on the long term, wood is usually more expensive
Wood burning is also catastrophic for air quality, both inside and outside the home.
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Dr Phil, before he got Jerry Springerish and I quit watching him, did a show on tightwads who were costing themselves more in man hours, if not actual money, by doing such things as going from one fast food place to another, stealing packets of mustard and catsup and squeezing them into an old store bought bottle. It would take him two hours to gather the packs and fill one bottle. At $5 and hour which was minimum wage at the time, he was expending $10 to save $2.50.
Susie that's true, but some people have more time than they know what to do with. Maybe they don't care about minimum wage.
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How about supermarkets that add barbecue rubs to meet. Don't buy it, that meats going bad!!!!
For the first time EVER I have a dishwasher and I have only used it 3xs I used to say if I had one I'd never wash them again- so much for that one lol
Poor people know that being poor is expensive. We need things now but can't afford a good one so we get what we can. And the result is endlessly replacing crappy stuff and never getting to have nice things. Look up the Vimes boots theory of economic inequality.
People, for the most part, these are general examples, not specific to your particular situation, and yes, subject to some caveats, but most of the replies start "not always". No, not always. And, yes, it's also true that sometimes you don't have the money for the better stuff, no matter how much is saves in the long run. I still wouldn't throw out a lot of these suggestions.
Check youtube for extreme cheapskates (especially look for title: cooks lasagna in the dishwasher)
I encourage you all to join me for “NO BUY JULY”!! For just one month, don’t buy ANYTHING but essentials (food and gas, etc) Borrow big items, clothes for special occasions, etc from friends: If you absolutely need something, buy it second hand, or with old gift cards (I save mine up for lean months). Cook at home, and forgo the delivery services. Many low Income households live this way, and it’s pretty eye opening to see how much you don’t really need.
I encourage *you* to join me for 'stop telling other people how you think they should live summer*! Simply stop 'inviting' people to 'join you' for various things to change how they live. It's pretty eye opening to see how much advice you don't really need.
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Sounds like a wealthy person that has no idea what it's like to be poor. I disagreed with most of the examples they gave.
Agree. I’d like to see the math behind some of these claims.
Load More Replies... We also need to consider how saving money is much easier when you already have some. Yes, good-quality products are costly and save you more money in the long run. But if someone is poor, they can't afford to buy the more efficient product. And they have to buy the cheap, low quality one, changing it often and being forced to waste money. Financial wisdom is useless if you don't have the money to apply it
Have you read Terry Pratchett? Look up Vimes’ boots theory of economics
Load More Replies... Several of these rely on the assumption that poor people can just - for example - spend 100 dollars once a year instead of 20 dollars every month. But always remember Captain Samuel Vimes "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness: A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
One thing I read that makes a lot of sense is that if you can afford a quality pair or jeans (example) that fit well and you know you’ll wear them often, the math can pencil it out for less cost per wear than something that doesn’t fit well you don’t enjoy wearing. I wear my Birkenstocks almost daily until they are literally falling to pieces ever 3-5 years so I feel ok splurging on a new pair when I need one. This only works if you do t get the poorly fitting ones too.
If your winters are extreme, please invest in good, good coat and boots, if possible.
Buy a good bed...not a cheap one. You will spend at least a third of your life in it, after all. It may take awhile to save up the money, but it will be worth it.
I had a much younger roommate awhile back, and I remember him explaining to me that he would rather drive to his dads house to fill up his tires for free than do it at a gas station for a couple dollars. I pointed out that his dad lives 20 miles away, so he'd be spending 40 miles of gas money to save that couple dollars...but his expression stayed blank...
Didn't see Black Friday mentioned. I mean, there are definitely deals but very often there are also "deals" that, if one kept an eye open throughout the year, are not actually new or even a deal. Another one is those "going out of business sales", where everything gets discounted... Except, it's often over the initial suggested price. I've seen things being sold at prices higher than they were at a competitor that was still in business, yet people thought they actually got a deal out of it. Guess I should say: look around, don't blindly buy based on that one discount.
"High interest savings account" Banks in my area pay One Cent per One thousand $$ per month
People who have the money to buy a gas heating system in their home, but choose to remain on firewood heating because "the gas central is very expensive, wood is cheaper". However, on the long term, wood is usually more expensive
Wood burning is also catastrophic for air quality, both inside and outside the home.
Load More Replies... Dr Phil, before he got Jerry Springerish and I quit watching him, did a show on tightwads who were costing themselves more in man hours, if not actual money, by doing such things as going from one fast food place to another, stealing packets of mustard and catsup and squeezing them into an old store bought bottle. It would take him two hours to gather the packs and fill one bottle. At $5 and hour which was minimum wage at the time, he was expending $10 to save $2.50.
Susie that's true, but some people have more time than they know what to do with. Maybe they don't care about minimum wage.
Load More Replies... How about supermarkets that add barbecue rubs to meet. Don't buy it, that meats going bad!!!!
For the first time EVER I have a dishwasher and I have only used it 3xs I used to say if I had one I'd never wash them again- so much for that one lol
Poor people know that being poor is expensive. We need things now but can't afford a good one so we get what we can. And the result is endlessly replacing crappy stuff and never getting to have nice things. Look up the Vimes boots theory of economic inequality.
People, for the most part, these are general examples, not specific to your particular situation, and yes, subject to some caveats, but most of the replies start "not always". No, not always. And, yes, it's also true that sometimes you don't have the money for the better stuff, no matter how much is saves in the long run. I still wouldn't throw out a lot of these suggestions.
Check youtube for extreme cheapskates (especially look for title: cooks lasagna in the dishwasher)
I encourage you all to join me for “NO BUY JULY”!! For just one month, don’t buy ANYTHING but essentials (food and gas, etc) Borrow big items, clothes for special occasions, etc from friends: If you absolutely need something, buy it second hand, or with old gift cards (I save mine up for lean months). Cook at home, and forgo the delivery services. Many low Income households live this way, and it’s pretty eye opening to see how much you don’t really need.
I encourage *you* to join me for 'stop telling other people how you think they should live summer*! Simply stop 'inviting' people to 'join you' for various things to change how they live. It's pretty eye opening to see how much advice you don't really need.
Load More Replies... 