What are some frugal (or cheap) things you do to save money?

[Anonymous]

Eat less meat. We only eat chicken and some bacon/pepperoni and not every day. Yes, our protein intake is high.

Drink less alcohol. We have wine and alcohol in the house but DH rarely drinks and I might have a vodka + seltzer or glass of wine 1-2 times a week. Drinking $25 bottles of wine between 1 person 4x a week and hosting others adds up very quickly.

Drive your cars a long time and don't buy ultra-luxury cars. We had Audis before kids, which were expensive and a maintenance nightmare. Now we have Toyotas and VWs with extended warranties.

Do basic DIY: clean your own house, mow your own lawn, iron your own shirts, change your own oil, fix a basic sink leak. Many people can't do all of this but do what you can. We do most of these and DH has learned to be pretty handy. Yes, he's busy. Yes, we hire people to do work. But we don't have a cleaner or lawn service and we are able to tackle some $400 things on our own a lot, at least at first pass. These add up to thousands in savings a year.

Don't order DoorDash or other delivery. If you want restaurant food, buy it the lowest-cost way: in person, with deals, takeout with no drinks and lower or no tip. Chipotle for two can be $50 if you door dash it or it can be $22 if you pick up two bowls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reuse plastic bags, aluminum foil, etc.

Keep boxes and ribbons from gifts; reuse as needed. (And not above regifting either.)

Sell/ consign items when possible.

Still driving car from 2007.

Very basic cable package. No Netflix, etc. Rarely pay for any form of entertainment. Books from library.

HHI $450,000. NW $11M

I think you can afford to live a little now.

[Anonymous]

You are in a different league than me, that's for sure. I don't order coffee out, I don't buy anything from convenience stores, we only order water at restaurants, we don't drink, my daughter wears my son's hand me downs, and they mostly get their clothes from old navy and Amazon, I wear a capsule wardrobe, we drive our cars into the group and have paid cash for the last two, I don't get manicures, I try to cook as much as I can, I don't buy random crap for my house.

Splurges: vacations, my hair, art

HHI 400k, NW: $2.5?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reuse plastic bags, aluminum foil, etc.

Keep boxes and ribbons from gifts; reuse as needed. (And not above regifting either.)

Sell/ consign items when possible.

Still driving car from 2007.

Very basic cable package. No Netflix, etc. Rarely pay for any form of entertainment. Books from library.

Agree this is sad.

HHI $450,000. NW $11M

I think you can afford to live a little now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reuse plastic bags, aluminum foil, etc.

Keep boxes and ribbons from gifts; reuse as needed. (And not above regifting either.)

Sell/ consign items when possible.

Still driving car from 2007.

Very basic cable package. No Netflix, etc. Rarely pay for any form of entertainment. Books from library.


HHI $450,000. NW $11M

I think you can afford to live a little now.

Agree; this is sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reuse plastic bags, aluminum foil, etc.

Keep boxes and ribbons from gifts; reuse as needed. (And not above regifting either.)

Sell/ consign items when possible.

Still driving car from 2007.

Very basic cable package. No Netflix, etc. Rarely pay for any form of entertainment. Books from library.


HHI $450,000. NW $11M

I think you can afford to live a little now.

Agree; this is sad.

+1

You can afford to live a bit now.

A 2024 car that you drive for the next 10 years, for example.

Pick one or two streaming services.
Pick something you want and spend on it. You don't need to be that frugal anymore.
What's the point of saving/earning so much if you don't actually enjoy it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reuse plastic bags, aluminum foil, etc.

Keep boxes and ribbons from gifts; reuse as needed. (And not above regifting either.)

Sell/ consign items when possible.

Still driving car from 2007.

Very basic cable package. No Netflix, etc. Rarely pay for any form of entertainment. Books from library.


HHI $450,000. NW $11M

I think you can afford to live a little now.

Agree; this is sad.

+1

You can afford to live a bit now.

A 2024 car that you drive for the next 10 years, for example.

Pick one or two streaming services.
Pick something you want and spend on it. You don't need to be that frugal anymore.
What's the point of saving/earning so much if you don't actually enjoy it?

Plus if your HHI is $450K, selling your old stuff takes way more time than it’s worth. In a dual income household, you’re earning at least $110/hour each. Do you really need to sell those old pants for $10?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I buy Veuve instead of Dom

OMG, same!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reuse plastic bags, aluminum foil, etc.

Keep boxes and ribbons from gifts; reuse as needed. (And not above regifting either.)

Sell/ consign items when possible.

Still driving car from 2007.

Very basic cable package. No Netflix, etc. Rarely pay for any form of entertainment. Books from library.

HHI $450,000. NW $11M

I think you can afford to live a little now.

+1

I'm sensing some money hoarding from that PP. It's not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I buy Veuve instead of Dom

This is a good tip. My daughter and I flew to Europe to watch Taylor Swift. My husband said we could have just used the company suite at the arena, but I think he's missing the point that we saved a lot of money on our Louis Vuitton, La Prairie, etc, that we bought tax free on the trip. Of course we used points etc for airfare (business class, not 1st) and hotel (4 star, no pool). Our private college counselor said DD can work the trip into an admissions essay for merit aid for her HYSPM apps so honestly, I think we made money on that trip.

[Anonymous]

Buy nothing for probably about 75% of kid clothes.

Cooking from scratch.

Mending clothes when they get holes.

Using broken things that still function (eg my immersion blender got dropped so it no longer switches between low and high speeds — but it still blends so I have no intention of buying a new one).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

- always bring lunch to work
- cut and style my own hair
- get shoes re-soled
- only buy fruits and veggies that are on sale
- always carry snacks in my purse so I don't always need to buy food if out and about
- use wool dryer balls instead of buying dryer sheets
- only pay for a manicure or pedicure 2x year. I mostly do them at home.
- avoid toll roads unless I truly cannot
- buy a lot of basic food in bulk from wholesale stores and freeze what is freezeable

Marry me.

[Anonymous]

Have flock of sheep that mow my lawn.

Shear the wool, spin it into thread, weave my own cloth, make my own clothes.

Occasionally slaughter older sheep for meat & leather. Make shoes from the leather.

Cuddle with lambs (cheaper than having a spouse).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have flock of sheep that mow my lawn.

Shear the wool, spin it into thread, weave my own cloth, make my own clothes.

Occasionally slaughter older sheep for meat & leather. Make shoes from the leather.

Cuddle with lambs (cheaper than having a spouse).

Their silence is the worst, isn't it?

[Anonymous]

I do just about everything mentioned except mowing my lawn.

I stopped buying books and now get them only from Libby.

Use public transportation strategically when it actually saves money.

I don’t buy anything that isn’t on sale.