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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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?

[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?

Around 280k.

That being said I'm not familiar with your industries. For some of my friends I roughly know what their jobs pay. There is no way they are earning more ban 400k. I also know they live in 1.5 million dollar homes, have car payments, cleaning service, vacations etc. I know they are spending all of their money and possibly getting money from family.

[Anonymous]

I shop at Aldi's for most groceries. Cut my grocery bill in half. No joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do my own hair. I was spending a lot of time and money at the salon. Now I do my own.

Really? That is the MOST frugal thing you do? I wish I had your life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wear the same clothes and shoes until I'm no longer able. Im talking on the verge of having holes in them.

When I go out with a friend, I secretly hope they'll offer to pay because I don't want to spend my money. Or I'll tell them I don't want to go out just so I don't spend my money.

Rarely turn on the a/c or heat which has helped me keep my electric bill to under $40 each month.

I don't pay for Netflix, use my sibling's account instead.

99% of my napkins came from restaurants. I tend to grab a handful and just save them.

Use olive oil to remove makeup.

The library is my friend. Haven't bought a book in about 10 years. I used to live in Borders and B&N.

Only use my printer if I must otherwise I print from work.

These are not frugal/cheap, these are stingy. Do you never offer to pay for a meal? Ever? Or you wouldn't say, let's split it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I steal k cups from work and reams of paper. I also shop in the supply closet for school supplies.

Theft is not frugal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Around 280k.

That being said I'm not familiar with your industries. For some of my friends I roughly know what their jobs pay. There is no way they are earning more ban 400k. I also know they live in 1.5 million dollar homes, have car payments, cleaning service, vacations etc. I know they are spending all of their money and possibly getting money from family.

Ill ask the oracle this. How much is my HHI? DH sales, me controller. Both IT. Live in Reston, work in Reston. House worth about 800k, public schools, 10 & 7yr old cars, one nice vacation a year. We have an AuPair.

[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?

I think you can generally guess income (though NOT net worth because family money and savings/debt are unknown) if you work in the same industry as people (or if you work with them).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Around 280k.

That being said I'm not familiar with your industries. For some of my friends I roughly know what their jobs pay. There is no way they are earning more ban 400k. I also know they live in 1.5 million dollar homes, have car payments, cleaning service, vacations etc. I know they are spending all of their money and possibly getting money from family.

Ill ask the oracle this. How much is my HHI? DH sales, me controller. Both IT. Live in Reston, work in Reston. House worth about 800k, public schools, 10 & 7yr old cars, one nice vacation a year. We have an AuPair.

Hard to tell with a sales job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I shop at Aldi's for most groceries. Cut my grocery bill in half. No joke.

Same here. Aldi is awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wear the same clothes and shoes until I'm no longer able. Im talking on the verge of having holes in them.

When I go out with a friend, I secretly hope they'll offer to pay because I don't want to spend my money. Or I'll tell them I don't want to go out just so I don't spend my money.

Rarely turn on the a/c or heat which has helped me keep my electric bill to under $40 each month.

I don't pay for Netflix, use my sibling's account instead.

99% of my napkins came from restaurants. I tend to grab a handful and just save them.

Use olive oil to remove makeup.

The library is my friend. Haven't bought a book in about 10 years. I used to live in Borders and B&N.

Only use my printer if I must otherwise I print from work.

These are not frugal/cheap, these are stingy. Do you never offer to pay for a meal? Ever? Or you wouldn't say, let's split it?

I've offered plenty of times; I've said let's split it plenty of times

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wear the same clothes and shoes until I'm no longer able. Im talking on the verge of having holes in them.

When I go out with a friend, I secretly hope they'll offer to pay because I don't want to spend my money. Or I'll tell them I don't want to go out just so I don't spend my money.

Rarely turn on the a/c or heat which has helped me keep my electric bill to under $40 each month.

I don't pay for Netflix, use my sibling's account instead.

99% of my napkins came from restaurants. I tend to grab a handful and just save them.

Use olive oil to remove makeup.

The library is my friend. Haven't bought a book in about 10 years. I used to live in Borders and B&N.

Only use my printer if I must otherwise I print from work.

You're a mooch.

Lol, no I'm not but I know plenty of people who are. And I'm actually the one my friends come to when they want to borrow money because they don't know how to budget theirs. The only 2 people I ever ask for help are my parents but I haven't had to do that in years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I shop at Aldi's for most groceries. Cut my grocery bill in half. No joke.

Same here. Aldi is awesome.

I am not driving 40 minutes each way for a grocery store.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Per Early Retirement Extreme, the biggest outlays are housing, transportation, and food. That's where to focus on if you want more money left over.

By extension, our biggest frugal move was to buy a house that was the equivalent of 2x our projected salary when we moved to the area. Salary increased and we paid it off in 3 years. Everything else pales in comparison. However, we also make it a point to only buy used cars and in cash. On the food end, we spend more due to aiming for fresh this and that, but we also rarely eat out and don't buy soda / beer / etc. The healthy eating is also much cheaper in the long run due to reducing odds of all kinds of health issues when we're older, so we see it as long term health insurance.

'Early Retirement Extreme' must not have kids. For a lot of parents, the biggest expenses are childcare for kids under 5 or private school for kids over 5. Food is just a rounding error compared to the cost of daycare. Sending my kids to public school is one of my frugal actions, having only one car and using public transportation to commute to work is another.

You are so fantastically out of touch it would be funny if it weren't so sad. The overwhelming majority of parents in the United States do not send their children to private schools. Similarly, your private helicopter expenses are also irrelevant to what people are actually spending money on. Housing, transportation, and food are the primary expenses for 99% of households; this isn't new information.

NP but most people I know (middle class and working class) spend more on daycare than rent or mortgage.

We did way back in the late 90's and early 2000's. It is not a new phenomenon, but it is temporary. It last about a decade of a 4+ decade working life.