What is the most frugal (or cheap) thing you do to save money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we barely spent or spend anything on our dog.

-we get yearly shots at the Humane Society in DC for $10 each.
-we had him spayed there as well. Under $100 including anesthesia and post-op meds
-he's small so he doesn't eat much
-we buy grocery store level dry food (no grain but it's not high end).

If he got hit by a car or something I'd spend a fortune to help him but I don't see the point of spending a lot day-to-day.

Yeah I didn't used to spend much on my dog either - but they get old and sometimes require daily medication and/or special food for allergies. Getting old sucks for everyone.

+1. My dog takes 3 daily meds now. One is $90/month. The others are $30-50/month. Not sure why dealing with a kidney disease is somehow less important than being hit by a car.

Quick tip:

Most dog meds can be filled at the local drugstore (instead of at the vet). You can print out a prescription discount card online that will provide large savings on Rx that are not covered by insurance.

We've saved a lot on our uncovered meds and meds for our dog using this one: https://www.wellrx.com/rx-discount-card/enroll

Once you use it, the drugstore saves it in your account so you can just tell them to apply it, you don't have to carry it around.

This tip saved me $30 yesterday - thanks PP! I had no idea you could price drugs at the various drug stores to get the lowest price on that site. I tried calling around one time to do it, but my dog's medication is a controlled substance so they won't give any info over the phone about whether they have it available and what pricing is. The prescription discount card will easily save me a few hundred on my dog this year. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rent a 2 bedroom in a good school district ($2400) in a centrally-located DC neighborhood.

No car. Take the bus or walk everywhere. Jobs are within walking distance.

20% of pre-tax income goes to Fidelity 403(b) (index funds only) and I get an employer match. Max out annual contribution in Vanguard Roth IRA via bi-monthly automated deposits.

All purchases go on my AMEX (PRG - annual fee is worth it for the perks). We have been able to avoid paying baggage fees on airlines, have received our money back on final sale items, and have used points to buy big-ticket items with this card.

Most grocery shopping is done at Target, Giant, and Trader Joe's and sometimes at local mom & pop stores. Cartwheel app is invaluable and Giant doubles coupons and often has sales on things we eat. We don't eat meat, so that in and of itself is a major savings.

Costco trips every few months to stock up on things like toilet paper, quinoa, olive oil, etc.

Make most meals and coffee at home.

Buy secondhand whenever possible (clothing, baby gear, furniture, etc.)

Exercising restraint when buying in general. Most of the time when we want something, we don't *really* need it. I've been listening to The Minimalist's podcasts for inspiration.

Also:

Live in <1000 sq ft and purge things we don't need (donate/sell/give to friends) on a regular basis.

Repair items instead of trashing them.

Don't you find yourself giving away things to make space only to find that - oops - you wish you hadn't given away that staple gun, art supply kit, or whatever.

One of the reasons that we prefer a bigger place than 1000sqft is because it's nice to be able to store a shop vac, car jack, work bench, etc even though we may only use those items once or twice a year, if that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rent a 2 bedroom in a good school district ($2400) in a centrally-located DC neighborhood.

No car. Take the bus or walk everywhere. Jobs are within walking distance.

20% of pre-tax income goes to Fidelity 403(b) (index funds only) and I get an employer match. Max out annual contribution in Vanguard Roth IRA via bi-monthly automated deposits.

All purchases go on my AMEX (PRG - annual fee is worth it for the perks). We have been able to avoid paying baggage fees on airlines, have received our money back on final sale items, and have used points to buy big-ticket items with this card.

Most grocery shopping is done at Target, Giant, and Trader Joe's and sometimes at local mom & pop stores. Cartwheel app is invaluable and Giant doubles coupons and often has sales on things we eat. We don't eat meat, so that in and of itself is a major savings.

Costco trips every few months to stock up on things like toilet paper, quinoa, olive oil, etc.

Make most meals and coffee at home.

Buy secondhand whenever possible (clothing, baby gear, furniture, etc.)

Exercising restraint when buying in general. Most of the time when we want something, we don't *really* need it. I've been listening to The Minimalist's podcasts for inspiration.

Also:

Live in <1000 sq ft and purge things we don't need (donate/sell/give to friends) on a regular basis.

Repair items instead of trashing them.

Don't you find yourself giving away things to make space only to find that - oops - you wish you hadn't given away that staple gun, art supply kit, or whatever.

One of the reasons that we prefer a bigger place than 1000sqft is because it's nice to be able to store a shop vac, car jack, work bench, etc even though we may only use those items once or twice a year, if that.

Those can be stored in a garage. Find a house with a garage.

Different PP, but we have found it is about 1 in 100 things we throw out/give away/sell we end up purchasing again. If you are worried, put it in a box with other things and label the outside. Put it in storage. If you do not open it up in a year or two. Throw the box out/donate without looking through it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rent a 2 bedroom in a good school district ($2400) in a centrally-located DC neighborhood.

No car. Take the bus or walk everywhere. Jobs are within walking distance.

20% of pre-tax income goes to Fidelity 403(b) (index funds only) and I get an employer match. Max out annual contribution in Vanguard Roth IRA via bi-monthly automated deposits.

All purchases go on my AMEX (PRG - annual fee is worth it for the perks). We have been able to avoid paying baggage fees on airlines, have received our money back on final sale items, and have used points to buy big-ticket items with this card.

Most grocery shopping is done at Target, Giant, and Trader Joe's and sometimes at local mom & pop stores. Cartwheel app is invaluable and Giant doubles coupons and often has sales on things we eat. We don't eat meat, so that in and of itself is a major savings.

Costco trips every few months to stock up on things like toilet paper, quinoa, olive oil, etc.

Make most meals and coffee at home.

Buy secondhand whenever possible (clothing, baby gear, furniture, etc.)

Exercising restraint when buying in general. Most of the time when we want something, we don't *really* need it. I've been listening to The Minimalist's podcasts for inspiration.

Also:

Live in <1000 sq ft and purge things we don't need (donate/sell/give to friends) on a regular basis.

Repair items instead of trashing them.

Don't you find yourself giving away things to make space only to find that - oops - you wish you hadn't given away that staple gun, art supply kit, or whatever.

One of the reasons that we prefer a bigger place than 1000sqft is because it's nice to be able to store a shop vac, car jack, work bench, etc even though we may only use those items once or twice a year, if that.

Those can be stored in a garage. Find a house with a garage.

Different PP, but we have found it is about 1 in 100 things we throw out/give away/sell we end up purchasing again. If you are worried, put it in a box with other things and label the outside. Put it in storage. If you do not open it up in a year or two. Throw the box out/donate without looking through it.

Yeah, those are just examples of items. What about extra blankets, pillows, quilts, jackets, coats, clothes, etc that may only come in handy very occasionally but need to be stored in a climate controlled area of your home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rent a 2 bedroom in a good school district ($2400) in a centrally-located DC neighborhood.

No car. Take the bus or walk everywhere. Jobs are within walking distance.

20% of pre-tax income goes to Fidelity 403(b) (index funds only) and I get an employer match. Max out annual contribution in Vanguard Roth IRA via bi-monthly automated deposits.

All purchases go on my AMEX (PRG - annual fee is worth it for the perks). We have been able to avoid paying baggage fees on airlines, have received our money back on final sale items, and have used points to buy big-ticket items with this card.

Most grocery shopping is done at Target, Giant, and Trader Joe's and sometimes at local mom & pop stores. Cartwheel app is invaluable and Giant doubles coupons and often has sales on things we eat. We don't eat meat, so that in and of itself is a major savings.

Costco trips every few months to stock up on things like toilet paper, quinoa, olive oil, etc.

Make most meals and coffee at home.

Buy secondhand whenever possible (clothing, baby gear, furniture, etc.)

Exercising restraint when buying in general. Most of the time when we want something, we don't *really* need it. I've been listening to The Minimalist's podcasts for inspiration.

Also:

Live in <1000 sq ft and purge things we don't need (donate/sell/give to friends) on a regular basis.

Repair items instead of trashing them.

Don't you find yourself giving away things to make space only to find that - oops - you wish you hadn't given away that staple gun, art supply kit, or whatever.

One of the reasons that we prefer a bigger place than 1000sqft is because it's nice to be able to store a shop vac, car jack, work bench, etc even though we may only use those items once or twice a year, if that.

The beauty of living in an 800 sq ft condo, though, is that we don't NEED any of that stuff. We have a great hardware store down the street that rents out gear that we may need, plus we have friends who lend us things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rent a 2 bedroom in a good school district ($2400) in a centrally-located DC neighborhood.

No car. Take the bus or walk everywhere. Jobs are within walking distance.

20% of pre-tax income goes to Fidelity 403(b) (index funds only) and I get an employer match. Max out annual contribution in Vanguard Roth IRA via bi-monthly automated deposits.

All purchases go on my AMEX (PRG - annual fee is worth it for the perks). We have been able to avoid paying baggage fees on airlines, have received our money back on final sale items, and have used points to buy big-ticket items with this card.

Most grocery shopping is done at Target, Giant, and Trader Joe's and sometimes at local mom & pop stores. Cartwheel app is invaluable and Giant doubles coupons and often has sales on things we eat. We don't eat meat, so that in and of itself is a major savings.

Costco trips every few months to stock up on things like toilet paper, quinoa, olive oil, etc.

Make most meals and coffee at home.

Buy secondhand whenever possible (clothing, baby gear, furniture, etc.)

Exercising restraint when buying in general. Most of the time when we want something, we don't *really* need it. I've been listening to The Minimalist's podcasts for inspiration.

Also:

Live in <1000 sq ft and purge things we don't need (donate/sell/give to friends) on a regular basis.

Repair items instead of trashing them.

+1

We do lots of these things, plus:

- Work opposite schedules. No childcare costs.
- Create registries on Target and Amazon in September/October so that we can stack the completion discount with Black Friday sales. Got an Uppa stroller for half price this way. (And no, I have no remorse. These corporations make bajillions of dollars.)
- Use return protection and/or price adjustments to our advantage.
- Plan ahead. Examples: buy well-made things secondhand in the off-season or the next size up for our little one so we don't have to buy something crappy at retail at the last minute, freeze leftovers or have a few Amy's meals/pizzas in the freezer so that we don't cave and spend $40 on Thai takeout

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rent a 2 bedroom in a good school district ($2400) in a centrally-located DC neighborhood.

No car. Take the bus or walk everywhere. Jobs are within walking distance.

20% of pre-tax income goes to Fidelity 403(b) (index funds only) and I get an employer match. Max out annual contribution in Vanguard Roth IRA via bi-monthly automated deposits.

All purchases go on my AMEX (PRG - annual fee is worth it for the perks). We have been able to avoid paying baggage fees on airlines, have received our money back on final sale items, and have used points to buy big-ticket items with this card.

Most grocery shopping is done at Target, Giant, and Trader Joe's and sometimes at local mom & pop stores. Cartwheel app is invaluable and Giant doubles coupons and often has sales on things we eat. We don't eat meat, so that in and of itself is a major savings.

Costco trips every few months to stock up on things like toilet paper, quinoa, olive oil, etc.

Make most meals and coffee at home.

Buy secondhand whenever possible (clothing, baby gear, furniture, etc.)

Exercising restraint when buying in general. Most of the time when we want something, we don't *really* need it. I've been listening to The Minimalist's podcasts for inspiration.

Also:

Live in <1000 sq ft and purge things we don't need (donate/sell/give to friends) on a regular basis.

Repair items instead of trashing them.

Don't you find yourself giving away things to make space only to find that - oops - you wish you hadn't given away that staple gun, art supply kit, or whatever.

One of the reasons that we prefer a bigger place than 1000sqft is because it's nice to be able to store a shop vac, car jack, work bench, etc even though we may only use those items once or twice a year, if that.

The beauty of living in an 800 sq ft condo, though, is that we don't NEED any of that stuff. We have a great hardware store down the street that rents out gear that we may need, plus we have friends who lend us things.

We were living in an apartment (maybe 900 sq ft) for a few months a couple of years ago. We had to put maybe 2/3 of our stuff in storage. We made due with what we had on hand but it was a pain to have to go to the library or book store when I needed a book that I knew was in storage. And I missed having things - like a nice assortment of board games to play, a well stocked kitchen, an assortment of warm/cool weather clothes, coats, shoes for everybody. It was 4 of us (and 2 dogs) living in a 2 br/2 bath with one smallish living area to share. It wasn't horrible, it was actually doable. But boy was it ever nice to move into a bigger place.

[Anonymous]

Shop at the food bank

[Anonymous]

We buy with resale value in mind. It's worth it to us to spend a few more dollars for something that's well-made and will hold its value so we can recoup our investment.

[Anonymous]

We used an inhome daycare for $200 versus the daycare centers which were about $400 a week near our home. I was worried at first, but the baby loves them.

[Anonymous]

We avoid toll roads whenever possible. However, back when we were living near the Dulles airport and had to commute to Maryland everyday, we couldn't just go on Rt 7 because of the extra time. But when we were going home, we would always get off 495 at Tyson's and go on the toll road entrance off Rt 7, which was free at the time (don't know now because we moved to Maryland).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shop at the food bank

Then I hope I you have a really low income rather are just being frugal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When my husband's flip flops break, he duct tapes them. No joke.

I've done that before lol

When my husband was in grad school, he did that with his glasses (just for a few weeks til an intervention was held.)

I've never used duct tape on my glasses but when I've lost a screw and the lens pops out I have fixed them with little sections of twisty tie.

Np: I've used a small safety pin before - not very noticeable, if they're small enough

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who meal plan, do you also plan out breakfast or it's normally the same breakfast daily?

Same breakfast daily. Except on weekends, but even then, it's generally variations of the same items.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who meal plan, do you also plan out breakfast or it's normally the same breakfast daily?

Usually the same breakfast daily. We like overnight oats (1 part oats, 2 parts liquid - we use almond milk and anything you want to add in) because we can make a few days' worth at at time in lidded Pyrex bowls and grab them on our way out. Filling, cheap (we buy the ingredients in bulk at Costco), and easy! Also fond of making frittatas and taking slices for breakfast.