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

[Anonymous]

We groom our dog. He was a bit hyper so we were always charged extra. It got to be too much - even though we could afford it.
We cut his nails and do everything except anal glands (there are some things that are worth paying for)

We also try not to waste food so we have leftover nights.

We turn off hot water if we go away for more than 48 hours.

I make home cleaning products but mostly because it's healthier.

We rent a car to go to the airport. Then we drop it off there and it's cheaper than a car service or parking at the airport. Only works because car rental place is really close to our house.

We do almost all home repairs ourselves and my husband fixes the cars. A $700-$1,000 repair sometimes takes him 10-20 minutes and the cost has been as low as $10.

We have a lot of money in the bank because of my family. My husband won't touch it. I respect him for that. He grew up very poor and is very careful with money.

He'll spend $60,000 on a car but it must be a year old so we aren't taking the depreciation hit. He lives in fear of being poor and living beyond our means. Money in the bank doesn't comfort him. He must be sure our lifestyle isn't too much for our annual income.

[Anonymous]

I remember reading Baby Sitters Club books growing up, and the Pike Family used to do "smorgasbord night", where they would take everything out of the fridge and eat it for dinner, any combination of anything they wanted.

I try to do this at least once a month. It's fun and an easy way to use up leftovers and really evaluate what you have in your fridge and which condiments need to be replaced.

[Anonymous]

I reuse stamps that aren't canceled. Yes, I know I'm not supposed to...

Get Kindle books from the library only. (Kindles were free from winning contests)

Vaccuum my own car (no detailing)

Get hair cuts at Hair Cuttery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you guys are all over your heads. I never said I use stolen passwords. I said that I am in IT and know how to get stuff for free.
I exchange some of my accounts with others that have those services. I can get free accounts to say WWE mania, as well as Tennis TV through work. I then exchange those accounts for netflix, hulu etc.

You should get your head out of your asses and stop accusing people because you dont know squat. Everything I do is 100% legal

The private school tuition is the one that gets me. So you make $1.4 million and expect other parents to foot the bill for your kids tuition? I don't care if they are the best basketball players (or whatever) on the planet, that's just greedy.

I assumed that one of them worked for the school.

And each make $700k? That would be high even for a HOS.

+1 more detail or it didn't happen.

[Anonymous]

I shop at giant and use points for gas at shell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I shop at giant and use points for gas at shell.

If that's the "most" frugal thing you do, you're living the life

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:how about this.
I am in IT so I know how to get most of digital stuff for free. So:
1. Free internet.
2. I get IPTV password from friend so I watch HBO/Cinemax/all channels for free
3. I have passwords for hbo now, netflix, hulu all for free
4. I rent out my 3 bedrooms in my basement which offset my mortgage 100%
5. My mortgage rate is 1%, due to me signing in for a special program(we talked about it here). I do have to go to a couple of classes a year
6. I greatly reduced my house taxes by applying and getting a tax abatement approved(down from 10k taxes per year to under $1000 per year now)
7. I get 90% off grocery bills by using employee rates, coupons, cashbacks, giftcard schemes, I barely pay for groceries, and I always go to Costco, Whole Foods, never to Giant, Safeway, etc.
8. When I pay for gas it is like 40c per gal again due to cashback schemes and programs.
9. When I need to shop at Kohls, Walmart, etc. I usually score 70% plus off again due to coupons etc.
10. My 2 kids go to private school for free( well close to free, like 2k per year total - cant divulge more)
11. We both drive 2016 Priuses and barely use any gas
12. just as anybody else no haircuts, my DW does everything herself.
13. We earn 700k each year and grow every year and are still like that but TBH this is how we became rich, by being frugal and reinvesting back.

My God, can you teach a class?

My DH and I work very hard to pay full tuition for our 2 kids at private school ($80,000 per year) on an HHI of $400,000 per year combined (both of us working). I truly hope you are not receiving financial aid at the school. I assume not, since you each earn $700,000 per year (and that would be disclosed on financial aid forms). But if you are somehow getting financial aid, you are taking the money from people who are honest and ethical enough to pay tuition, and are also taking it from students whose parents genuinely cannot afford the tuition and could benefit from that financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Pack lunch. Work from home to save $12 parking.
Bought an extra freezer for the basement for Costco stuff and make double for dinner and freeze once a week - and we use those meals instead of getting take out. Had an energy audit done on our house and improved our energy usage. Use sites like eBates and ibotta to save on things we were buying anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember reading Baby Sitters Club books growing up, and the Pike Family used to do "smorgasbord night", where they would take everything out of the fridge and eat it for dinner, any combination of anything they wanted.

I try to do this at least once a month. It's fun and an easy way to use up leftovers and really evaluate what you have in your fridge and which condiments need to be replaced.

I call this Friday or if we go out, Saturday lunch. I meal plan and cook with a theme each week - Indian, Italian, Mexican - so the mix and match isn't gross.

[Anonymous]

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.

How can I find out more information about this for my puppy

[Anonymous]

I grow rosemary in my garden. It blows my mind how much fresh herbs cost, and I am the one who likes them.
I also grow basil, chives, asparagus, tomato and squash.
My corn got eaten by the deer, but I still enjoyed growing it.
Potatoes were not very successful last summer, but I got some

[Anonymous]

In the summer I put water bottles in the cooler with ice bricks. It saves me from buying water when we go on trips

[Anonymous]

I clean my own house. Normal for the rest of the country, but frugal for DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make over 400k but:

1. One car
2. Bring lunch to work
3. Make coffee at home
4. Take the bus
5. Cook often at home
6. Groom our own dog
7. Clean our own house

Dontnthink this list is frugal or cheap. We make a bit more than yiu andnit has never even occurred to me to pay someone to wash our dog and clip her nails. Taking the bus seems frugal though, but all other things are pretty normal.

Sadly I think they aren't that common. Always every couple we know at our income level sends their dog to the groomer and has a cleaning lady. They also buy their lunch at work.

How in the world do people know what their friends income level is? I've never divulged my income level to my friends, nor have I asked or been told what income level my friends are at. It is just not a topic that we sit around and talk about.

Just got our w2s and i brought in 293K and DH 164k. We live in the same house for 10 years, we drive japanese cars, mine is 9yrs old, and I've never had someonw groom our dog. I bring my lunch to work to keep my weight down and save time. I cannot imagine how someone could guess or know what we make.

It's pretty easy to guess.

How? Tell, me how would you guess? For example, this is my family: we live in a row house in Shaw worth about $900k. I work as a director of public relations for a large well known non-profit. My spouse is a journalist. We have two kids age 7 and 9 who go to charter schools in DC. We have one car, a Honda CRV which we bought new three years ago. We go on a lot of vacations and eat out regularly. What's our income?

Seriously, how would I guess? How about the $900,000 house?

[Anonymous]

All of you on here bragging about being frugal and having 300k+ income - what is the point?
Why don't you just enjoy your lives. Eat out more, buy a nicer house, travel, etc. Whar are you saving all your money for? Just so your kids can inherit it and have a luxurious life? You only live once and many of you just sound pathetic. I have a good job and work hard so I don't need to think twice if I want to grab a coffee at Starbucks or eat out with friends or get a cleaning person. The psycho poster who claims they make over $1M but don't pay for private school or groceries is nuts. He is clearly doing a lot of unethical and shady things. Not how I would want to live my life. Cash does not bring you happiness. It is having a well lived interesting and full of experiences life. Get out there and do stuff people!