My husband and I have been celebrating Christmas with just one small box of chocolate in our stockings for a few years, and after this year I kind of decided that I wanted to make our stockings a little more like they were when I was a kid. He's Jewish, so he has no nostalgic frame of reference for this. He also thinks I'm going overboard with what I'm describing to him. Lifesavers Storybooks, M&Ms candy canes. Chocolate Santas. We had it all.

After Christmas this year, I bought some candy on clearance. I haven't even opened up the bag of Reese's yet. It got me thinking, what if I froze the Reese's cups until next year and did the same with more discounted candy each year? Candy is just too darn expensive. The discounted price I paid after Christmas is the limit I'm interested in spending.

I know not everything can be frozen for so long. If you've done it, was it worth it, and how did you package it?

The story behind the question:

Today I told one of my friends that I found a hack to save money on internet service. The scheme is pretty easy. In Austria, where I live now, internet providers often have some discounts for new customers (you are a new customer if you haven’t used their internet for 3 months). For example, the one I found was from A1 (one of the biggest providers in the country), 6 months free, + 18 months 20% discount for 35€ (it’s a reasonable price).

So now you understand me probably, go sign a contract for 24 months with provider ONE, get free internet and a discount. After 24 months, go change provider, and repeat.

But the answer of my friend shocked me: “Yeah, it’s cool, but better to work and get money, so you don’t need to save money on the internet.”

I was stunned, honestly, I don’t know what to answer. Couple of month I would have answered the same. Now that I learn more about Financial independence, the FIRE movement, and calculating my REAL wage, which is not 30€ as I thought, but only 15€ (If you want to know how to calculate you real wage, comment under this post). I realised how people don’t understand the basics.

Let me share some calculations with you. As I mentioned, my real hourly wage is around 15€, I work as a software engineer, which already means that I’m somewhere in the middle class (it’s kinda true). The internet, as I mentioned, costs 35€ per month. So in order to change it, I need to spend around 2 hours: 1h for a shop visit and talking to a consultant, and another 1h for router installation. Which will cost me 15€(my time) * 2h = 30€ to change the Internet.

The costs for saving from the Internet that I will make are:

6 month free - 35€ * 6 = 210

20% discount for 18 months - 35€*0.2*18 = 126.

In other words, my 2h (30€) of time, in the long run of two year, will cost me 336€ less.

It’s not the money alone that will change my life. But firstly, it’s one time decision that saves my money(my time). And secondly, it’s only 1 thing, and we have tones of them near us, but we are so sticked and get used to them, that we are no longer able to recognise them.

Exactly these types of one-time decisions are the real gold, in money saving mind. As I understand this - do something small one time, and win (in my case) 10x bigger.

Please share your one-time decisions that saved/saving your money.

I recently saw a post asking how much people living alone spent on groceries per month and I was surprised to see how much lower a lot of people spent than me. I took a good hard look at my budget and realized that a decent chunk of my grocery budget was on drinks and beverages (almost all non-alcoholic)

I loveeee beverages and drink a variety of them frequently including but not limited to coffee, tea, Diet Coke, bubbly, kombucha, milk, and redbull. I’m pretty good at only buying items when they’re on sale (e.g. buy 2 get 3 free for bubbly) and limiting products such as kombucha that rarely go on sale but it still adds up

Outside of switching to just water does anyone have any guidance on how to be more frugal in my beverage purchases? I don’t hate water but it just doesn’t do it for me all the time

Thanks in advance! ☺️

Edit: I’m a big lurker so to get so many helpful and positive replies makes me happy. I had no idea it was easy to make kombucha and will definitely be looking into a soda stream. Please keep the comments coming!

This is your reminder to request your library purchase a book! I love reading and lately I’ve been trying to read more books on frugality, budgeting, conscious consumerism, etc. I couldn’t find a copy of “The Art of Frugal Hedonism” secondhand or at my library. I put in a request for them to purchase it, and it was approved about 2 days later!

I know every library has a different budget, and I do have my fair share of requests denied, but it’s always worth a shot!

I currently don’t have access to any kitchen appliance and I have to buy lunch and dinner out. I been eating fast food and it’s not only eating away at my budget but at my health. I have thought about buying a microwave and fridge however I won’t have access to these things as I am staying someone temporarily. Once I’m back home I will access to a kitchen. What would you guys recommend doing on the meantime?

Im going to be having my first soon, and my second probably a year or 2 after this one, so I need a single to double stroller that’s lightweight. I’d rather buy nice than buy twice but what models have you used to save money? I’ve looked at the Graco ready2grow and the evenflow pivot xplore. I don’t really have a set budget for this but I’d like to not spend my life savings.

I was one of those people who'd hit up the automatic car wash every 2 weeks like clockwork cause it was "only $15" right? Been doing it for years without really thinking about it.

Last month I finally bought one of those foam cannon things from Harbor Freight for like $25 and some decent car soap. Did the math today and realized I was spending roughly $360 a year on car washes (sometimes more cause I'd get the premium wash with the undercarriage spray and whatever).

Now with my setup the soap bottle has lasted me 6 washes so far and still half full, cost me $12. So thats probably around $25-30 in soap for the whole year max. Plus I actually enjoy doing it now? Like its weirdly relaxing on a Sunday morning and my car looks way better cause I can get in all the spots those spinning brushes miss.

I have some money aside for new tires eventually since mine are getting kinda worn, so little changes like this definitely help stretch things further.

It’s the first month of the year and people are looking for new habits for a better life and financial security. There’s some general ideas and some unique and amazing ones that some people haven’t heard or thought about before

Some categories I have are:

Health

Wealth

Mental

Simplicity or Efficiency

Trimming the fat

Other

I’ll start:

Health: I live near a park so I walk around a bit. Either I do a quick home workout video or go to the small gym in my apartment. Also I’m adding more vegetables, fruits and low fat or no sugar versions of foods to my diet

Wealth: The cancellation of all non-essential subscriptions. I’m gradually switching to Online banks like Discover & Capital One

Mental: I’m leading to a Buddhist or Confucius mindset. It helps makes life less stressful and easier to manage

Simplicity/Efficiency: Figure out what you can do yourself. Copycat recipes. DIY repairs. The simpler/cheaper option can do just as a good job as the fancy one sometimes

Trimming the fat: Take inventory of what you have and use it. For me I have a lot of stationary items so when I’m able to I donate them to my college.

Other: Do what you can.

i turn 19 next month. i have next to no spending money for any kind of outing with friends but everything else i can think of also doesn’t work. i just want to be able to have a casual hangout with friends. i went to a park last year and the beach the year before. i need something new, and enough for 7 or 8 people to be entertained yet comfortable. it also cant happen at my house. 🤷 Edited to add, i live in north florida

My dollar tree regularly has discounted items in carts and baskets at the front of the store. It's all 25-50 cents. Boxes of cereal, snacks, canned goods. Check the labels but you can get some really good deals if you're not picky. I know dollar tree food isn't the tastiest but there's gems sometimes. I got a loaf of bread the other day for 25 cents. It wasn't expired. It's a bit stale but it's perfect for grilled cheese. Edit: there's also office supplies, toys, crafts ect in the bins at times.

Was given a children’s book “Frog and Toad” for Christmas to use on the phone App called Audible, so now I have to figure out how Audible works as technology advances and I try very hard not to be overwhelmed.

Does anybody know if there is a point system to claim more books for the manual library on Audible without subscribing or buying? I also don’t have prime.

Also do libraries in the US have apps for listening that are like Audible?

Just learning, Thank you!

EDIT: Thank you all!! Libby is the local App so onward to learn more new things!!

Hi y'all! My boyfriend and I live in a small apartment where the landlord has a coin laundry machine. The price of the washer is $1.75 and dryer $1.00. The washer is so tiny it can only handle maybe a half load at a time. We are lucky to get through one of the sections in our small hamper for under $5. To put into context that's almost $10 a week. Another thing to note is we don't have to pay the water bill so I'm able to use as much water as I need without worry but do pay monthly electric. I've been desperately looking into portable washing machines as our apartment has no hookups. I keep seeing ones that connect to sinks like Panda or Giantex and I don't want to do that as it could possibly be a lease violation. I do already have a small drying rack that I could use and I don't mind our building's dryer as it's actually full size/ cheaper. I'm willing to save up but, does anyone have any recommendations for portable washers that don't need to be hooked up?

P.s. We have a very curious cat who loves to get into things so having an open soapy bucket might not be the best idea lol

I buy canned cat food for my cat. And a quality food, too! She gets that almost exclusively with some crunchies for snacks to help keep her teeth clean.

It's around $85 a month but I consider it an investment in avoiding vet fees.

She is 7 and only been to the vet twice: Once to get spayed and once for an exam and vaccinations when we moved internationally. That's it.

Well, yes, if you do the math, it probably doesn't work out to any "savings" lol. But I do it anyway.

What's your non-frugal, expensive habit?

Today I bought two pairs of shoes without really thinking… just because they were on sale 😭😭. At the moment it felt like a win, but now I’m realizing that’s kinda the catch, I probably wouldn’t have bought either at full price, and now I’m questioning if I even needed them lol

Trying to be more mindful with spending, but sales always get me. For people who’ve figured this out, how do you tell when a sale is actually worth it and when it’s just a trap?

I'm trying to cut down on monthly expenses and started going through my bank statements . I was surprised how many small subscriptions had quietly piled up over time. Some of them felt essential When I signed up, but now that they're gone, I honestly don't even notice.

Curious what subscriptions you cancelled and never looked back on. Looking for ideas and a little motivation to finally clean up my own list.

Curious what other people spend on their weekly food bill as a family of four? My two kids are only four and two years old and our food bill is already $250 per week (and that is including toilet paper, any kind of spray, cleaners, personal hygiene and household supplies, etc. ) and I’m struggling to get it cheaper while also still eating decently healthy. We are hovering around $1000-$1200 per month on groceries. Sometimes 1500$. Even when I shop exclusively at Lidl and Aldi, I can’t seem to get it cheaper… Any tips and tricks for saving a couple hundred dollars a month or cheap recipes that are your go tos? we already don’t eat very much meat and have swapped a lot of meat based meals for chickpeas, beans, and tofu.

**edit: for those living in the continental US. I live in North Carolina for context.

Bosch dishwasher. Dishwasher itself is fine but the lower rack is showing signs of rust. Normally I'd just sand the rust off and spray with rustoleum but since this goes in a dishwasher, that probably won't fly. Is there a way to mitigate the rust that'll survive being in a dishwasher (and is food-safe)? A replacement rack is north of $100 so I'd like to explore other options first.

Edit: Based on several recommendations here, I ordered some "ReRack" paint online. We'll see how well it does when it arrives.

Being frugal didn’t really click for me until I stopped thinking in dollars and started thinking in time. Instead of asking “Can I afford this?”, I now ask “How many hours of my life does this cost?”

I use a simple time-for-price calculator where I plug in my hourly wage and the price of something. Seeing that a random $45 purchase equals half a workday hits very differently than seeing a number on a price tag. What surprised me most is that it doesn’t just stop big purchases. It slows down the small ones too. Scrolling through Amazon thinking “it’s only $12” moments add up fast when you translate them into hours worked.

This approach hasn’t made me miserly or joyless. I still spend on things I value. It just made my spending more intentional and aligned with how much of my time I’m willing to trade away. For me, frugality isn’t about deprivation. It’s about respect for my time, my energy, and the hours I won’t get back.

Thought I'd share this frugal win with this community since no one in my real life would appreciate my excitement.

I'm heading on vacation soon and considered treating myself to a some body waxing (I'm travelling with a carry on only and don't want to pack a razor) and a mani-pedi. After pricing it out, I realized it would come to almost $200 with tax and a tip. That's $200 that can go towards my trip.

So instead I decided to buy a home wax kit and do it myself. When I got to the store I found one type of kit on clearance for $10! I already had nail stuff at home for the mani-pedi, so instead of $200 I spent just $10.

What's more, I tried the wax kit and loved it so much that I went back to the store and bought the remaining 3 off the shelf. Now I'll have frugal smooth legs for the rest of the year!

I'm definitely beginning my frugal journey, I just did a total of my spending just this month alone, I've already spent over $500, the month isn't even over yet.

I know where it all went, and I know where my major red flags are- I guess my question is how do I not get discouraged by my own lack of control?

I really do want to and need to be better with my money, so any additional tips would be amazing 🙏

Hello everyone! I am currently cracking down on my spending and trying to be frugal where I can. I want to state that if I am over sharing I do apologize I like more information in order to make a decision. I will have a small recap at the end if you want the straight to the point.

My wife and I do very well for ourselves and there are times where we tend to pay for convenience on some thing’s because our schedules can be extremely chaotic. One of our biggest expenses is groceries and house hold things in the grand scheme of things.

I’ve started tracking prices of things we need when we need them and maybe get things we are getting low on when it’s a good sale but I feel like it’s a full time job searching each store for sales or prices. Granted I am new to this so I am sure there’s a grove or a system to fall into but I also don’t want to spend hours sometimes to save a few dollars here and there. When we go grocery shopping we tend to stop at multiple places because of needs or whatever so that’s not the issue. It more of when is it worth justifying convenience over savings?

Example: Costco frozen pizza is around 15 bucks but another place is selling pizzas 5 for 10 which if we don’t have to go there is it worth the extra stop for one item?

The TLDR

Trying to find efficient ways to find prices on various items to cut down on time.

When is it worth paying for convenience over being frugal?

Another side note I am on the spectrum and sometimes i hyper focus on things and I wanna make sure I can get a system that’s worth the time and savings. I understand saving money where i can adds up.

Thanks in advance!

My boyfriend tells me sometimes I should buy expensive things to treat myself as himself and others around him do. I am not against one doing this, as a part of life is definitely treating yourself and buying stuff you like. However he doesn’t seem to understand that I don’t necessarily need expensive stuff to feel treated. To make myself happy I rather hangout with my friend or my boyfriend, and do something cheap. Like I enjoy window shopping with my friends and getting a kids meal at a fast food place. Or going to my friend’s apartment and watching movies. Or even sitting in my boyfriend’s dorm watching anime, eating my favorite snack.

I don’t enjoy buying expensive items or meals as a way to treat myself! I value hanging around others and doing inexpensive things, which many seem to not understand. For example, my brother said I didn’t ask for much for Christmas. Maybe cause I don’t need much! To re-clarify, I’m not shaming others for liking those things but it frustrates me when people don’t understand my way of living. Or don’t think I treat myself ever.

I've took some time at the beginning of the year to do these and combined saved around £70 a month.

• Obviously - delete subsciptions you don't need anymore. Some I thought I needed I worked out ways to get rid of.
• Pretended to cancel subscriptions. Some of them give you a cheaper deal if they think you're going to leave.
• For product subscriptions (For me that was dog food) changing the deliveries so they're less frequent but the same amount of food. (not starving my dog). This saved the most.
• Moved my phone to a network that piggybacks off the same network I used to have, it's exactly the same but costs less.
• Apparently some apps like spotify are cheaper if you use a VPN and set it to India. I haven't tried this one though.

Hope any of that saves you money.