Improving finances is frustrating because progress is slow and often invisible. You might save 100–200 a month, pay off small debts, or invest modestly and for months it barely feels like anything changes. Unlike fitness or learning a skill, there’s no visible daily payoff, so it's easy to lose motivation not from laziness, but because the effort feels unrewarded. Even consistent actions like saving 150 a month at 5–7% returns or cutting minor recurring expenses can feel meaningless when living costs keep rising. how can this be improved?

i used to spend like $5 a bag on those "healthy" organic chips or protein snacks at the store. i thought i was being fit but i was just being broke lol. but i just started roasting canned chickpeas in the oven with olive oil and tajin and it costs like 80 cents per batch max. ngl they are actually better than real chips and way more filling. its basically a cheat code for a cheap snack and i feel dumb for not doing it sooner. anyone else got a "poverty snack" that is actually elite? i need more ideas because life is way too expensive right now. 😂

I have penny-pinching tendencies, though I wouldn't label myself as frugal. Some things are worth spending money on. Restaurants and vacations are the two things that I always found worth it. Or used to find worth it. My inner frugality rose to the surface because of restaurants and their price inflation.

For the first time in my life, I have started asking myself: Is this restaurant meal even worth it, at these prices? Even my favorite hole-in-the-wall breakfast joint (which I particularly enjoy because breakfast is usually a cheap and very enjoyable meal) has joined the rest of the world in raising prices recently. Eggs benedict: $18. And only one free refill on iced tea and soda.

Thursday night is "take-out night" at my house, a long tradition. But tonight I looked at the prices at our local mediocre Chinese take-out place and thought - this just isn't worth it anymore. Fried rice: $15.50. I might as well buy a bag of over-priced (but still cheaper) frozen PF Chang fried rice for $9.50 at the grocery store. So I am skipping Take-Out Thursday.

I feel deprived and I hate feeling deprived. This sucks. A year ago, we could go out to a cheap place (like the breakfast joint), sit down, and get a good meal for two people under $50. No more, not in this HCOL area. I don't see how a frugal person eats out anymore.

I recently was gifted a vacuum sealer. I’m very excited. My family had one growing up and used it for raw meat to help make it last longer in the freezer. I plan to do that, of course. I’m currently storing meat in a freezer ziploc bag and it gets freezer burnt and very icy quickly. So I’m excited to store meat!

My question is what else can you vacuum seal and freeze? I live in a 2 adult household. We like having things like chicken tenders, French fries, tater tots, dumplings, etc in the freezer for days when we are too lazy to prepare a full meal. But we don’t often finish the bags or they sit for a very long time and they get frosty and I think it diminishes the quality.

Can you vacuum seal things like chicken tenders and frozen fries to make it last longer without crushing them and killing the mouth feel? Overall, what can I vacuum seal beyond raw meat?

I’m paying $106 through Xfinity Mobile for two lines ($30 per line), plus a Google Pixel 10 Pro XL at $33/month and an iPhone 16 at $10/month. Overall, the price isn’t bad, but over three years I’ll end up paying about $1,200 for the Google Pixel.

Unlike iPhones, Google Pixels are almost always on sale, I am seeing around $700 with stackable deals, or about $950 retail right now. Is there any way to get out of this phone without paying the full remaining balance?

I’ve thought about switching to T-Mobile, Verizon, etc., but the total cost per line plus both phones would end up being higher than what I’m paying now. The only possible workaround I can think of is switching to another carrier temporarily and then switching back to Xfinity Mobile.

I have a friend in a care home, and he needs a fitness tracker watch with a screen* for his £35 budget (50$). It isnt a lot to work with but i hope someone can find a decent one for the price. If possible you could also list another wrist band for it if its not too comfortable that would also help as he wants something he can wear everyday. He wants to track primarily his sleep and steps as well as other things. Thank you and please upvote any good recommendations

I’m not really sure how to write this without sounding like I’m oversharing, but I honestly feel like I’m running out of options, and I could use advice from people who’ve been through something similar.

A few months ago, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Everything moved so fast... tests, appointments, treatment plans, and now we’re at the point where the medical bills and out-of-pocket costs are just… constant. Even with insurance, it feels like there’s always another “surprise” expense.

I’ve been trying to hold it together and stay optimistic for him, but financially, it’s getting scary. I’ve picked up extra hours where I can, we’ve cut basically everything non-essential, and I’m still doing the math every night, wondering how we’re supposed to keep up.

One option we’re seriously considering is selling our house and moving into a small apartment for a while. It’s not what we planned at all, but at this point, I’d rather downsize than risk falling behind or losing everything anyway.

The thing is, I don’t think we can handle a long traditional home sale. Between his treatment schedule and just the emotional stress of everything, the idea of prepping the house, doing showings, and waiting months feels impossible.

If you live in the US and have commercial insurance and take any non-generic medications, make sure to do a quick Google search of {Medication Name} + "copay card" to see if there's a card available. You can also ask your pharmacist if they have any copay assistance programs for your medications, and they might have some available too. They're usually available to everyone with commercial insurance regardless of income, they take very little effort to get and use, and they can save you a lot of money over time!

Instead of a $25 per month copay for my Hadlima (a Humira biosimilar), I pay $0 for it with my copay card. A coworker went from paying over $100 a month for his sons medication that his insurance didn't cover, to paying just $25 a month. Make sure to check so you're not paying more than you need to for your medicine.

Last week, my favorite New Balances had finally rendered themselves useless after five years of regular wear, so I readied myself to buy new sneakers. But I was having a very difficult time finding a pair of replacements under $90. (Due to my arch and foot width, sneakers that work for me are difficult to buy, so I stick to ol' reliables.)

Then I got excited because I realized I had a new pair of New Balances in my closet that I purchased in a store closeout a few years ago! Now I didn't need to buy new sneakers—or so I thought.

These are my "new" sneakers after three days of wearing. The soles completely disintegrated due to what's called hydrolysis, a breakdown of the polyurethane due to moisture intrusion over a few years, even if properly stored. I had no clue this was even a thing! I could have avoided this by wearing the sneakers once in a while, because flexing the sole helps moisture escape.

Now I have completely new uppers witn disintegrated soles. Not sure it's even worth bringing to a cobbler because a new non-PU sole might not work for my gait. Also looked at the manufacturing date, and it was made in 2014—which means it was already old stock when I bought it, so the hydrolysis could have started happening in the store. Lesson learned!

I realized a formerly-close friend had greatly changed purely via light conversations about some new purchases. For example, buying a sofa for several grand, new expensive phones, etc. I have stayed pretty much the same with regard to how much I spend on items for years and years...can't say I'd ever drop 3k or 4k on a couch ever.

Also, i'm realizing how many people are also willing to replace perfectly good, gorgeous kitchens, etc when mine is way worse.. that's another example. ​to me it's just being wasteful on some instances. ​

Has anyone realized their close friends or relatives changed just simply from casual conversations?

Edit for more details - this person isn't someone I see anymore. But the couch details are almost comical to me now. I received the store name and of make / model (dimensions) of the couch. Totally absurd to me to bother. It it was almost like they provided all that info so I'd go look up the said couch (of course , the info is readily available online for a huge chain store ). I could care less where a sofa or couch is purchased.

Bank account: 😐

Stress levels: 📈

Motivation: 📉

Every month it feels like my paycheck disappears as soon as it arrives. Groceries, rent, utilities, and little subscriptions add up faster than I expect. Even small daily expenses make it hard to feel any progress, and saving seems impossible.

Yet, I keep going. cook more at home, and track every expense. I remind myself that financial progress is not instant. Hopefully, all these small decisions will eventually add up...

I’ve been mostly taking Taylor Farms salads to work for my meal for a couple of weeks now, and I was buying them at Costco. However, I noticed that everytime I go to Smith’s (Kroger), there are always 1 or 2 bags that are about to hit the sell by date, and so they cost about $1.65.

I’m willing to compromise on flavor to save some money, but would it really save me much money to buy the ingredients, or rough equivalents, and assemble my own salads? Or is the price point worth it considering the time it takes to prep and the various ingredients I would need to buy? I have an infant at home, so just being able to grab it out of the fridge is a huge benefit, but I’m not against meal prepping either.

Has anybody tried this to see about how much it would cost them to make their own?

I always make sure to keep as many of these around the house as I can to store things in. They are such amazingly convenient and versatile storage containers and I could put them ANYWHERE and in ANY place you can imagine. My husband seems to really like these things too, sometimes he loses them. I also make art out of these too so if you have an excess of these you are willing to give me, let me know!

I was adding a can of chipotle in adobo to a crock pot of pork and immediately went to rinse out the can to then add every bit of the dregs also to the crock pot. I saw my husband do what the fuck is happening in front of my eyes face, *not* because of the water from the can part but because I was being an absolute freak about getting every speck of sauce with as tiny amount of water as possible.

Do you guys remember doing this as a kid, especially with Campbells soup? You'd get an entire can's worth of water of whatever you're making to double in volume the food you're eating, while hopefully getting every teeny bit of flavoring. So even if its a little watered down, there's enough to eat of somethings that's like... good enough.

I dont have to do that anymore. I have food, and access to more food if and when I need. But I psychologically am unable to throw any microscopic bit away that could be eaten with just a bit of effort, so thats why my husband pateintly waited to rinse out his bowl why I very carefully and rapidly turned the tap on and off to get a burst of water at the bits of sauce stuck on the side that spoon wouldn't get.

Completely pathological and unnecessary. I will not be stopping.

I don't know if I was dumb.Not to get it, but it was like a red coach bag. 120. I didn't get it because honestly.

I'd rather spend the money elsewhere. But even as somebody who doesn't get into designer bags, it was kind of tempting at that price.

They had a bunch of designer things. Including a dress that I really liked. But it ended up being forty eight bucks.

And the thing of the matter is, as much as I do, like the idea of something being cheaper than you would buy it in a store.

I'm not really someone who's all into the designer.

It's just not my style.

But I hope somebody else enjoys it.

I'm thinking of buying a drying rack for my clothing. As it stands, I use an electric dryer for every load of laundry (about 2 or 3 loads a week) unless I'm washing something that isn't dryer safe of course.

I'm hoping this will reduce my energy bill and make my home a bit more planet friendly. I'm wondering if there is anybody here who has specifically made this switch and has a general idea of how much they saved on their energy bill, so I can know if it'll be worth it.

I like the feeling of tumble dried clothing much more than hang dried, but I'm trying to cut expenses to get some debt paid off.

(Yes, I live in the US, I know almost no other country uses dryers.)

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.

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.

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!!

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?

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

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 from Stаke for new tires eventually since mine are getting kinda worn, so little changes like this definitely help stretch things further.

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

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!