Silly frugal habits you have

[disneysteve]

This topic has come up in a couple of different threads so I thought it would be a fun conversation on its own. Many of us have gotten where we are largely due to a Live Below Your Means (LBYM) frugal mindset. However, many of us are also now at a point in our lives where those frugal ways aren't really necessary anymore but we keep doing them anyway. We could abandon those practices with zero impact to our financial well being but they're just so ingrained at this point.

Let's hear some of your examples.

Here's a few of ours.

We tear dryer sheets in half. We learned from the Tightwad Gazette years ago that half a sheet works just as well as a whole sheet so why spend twice as much.
We almost always drink water when we eat out. I hate paying $3 for an iced tea but have no trouble dropping $50 on the meal itself.
We have a 5-gallon water cooler in our kitchen but we don't buy water bottles for it. I just refill the one bottle we have from the tap. Every year or so I'll swap it out to get a fresh bottle but that's about it.
We reuse ziploc bags. This is partly environmental but also financial. We write on the bag what it's for and just use it over and over for that item until the bag wears out.

I'm sure I can think of dozens of others.

[bjl584]

I normally order water when eating out as well
I do most of my own car maintenance, repair work around the house, etc. Being handy has saved me thousands over the years
I keep wearing clothes and shoes for probably way too long

[crazyliblady]

This topic has come up in a couple of different threads so I thought it would be a fun conversation on its own. Many of us have gotten where we are largely due to a Live Below Your Means (LBYM) frugal mindset. However, many of us are also now at a point in our lives where those frugal ways aren't really necessary anymore but we keep doing them anyway. We could abandon those practices with zero impact to our financial well being but they're just so ingrained at this point.

Let's hear some of your examples.

Here's a few of ours.

We tear dryer sheets in half. We learned from the Tightwad Gazette years ago that half a sheet works just as well as a whole sheet so why spend twice as much.
We almost always drink water when we eat out. I hate paying $3 for an iced tea but have no trouble dropping $50 on the meal itself.
We have a 5-gallon water cooler in our kitchen but we don't buy water bottles for it. I just refill the one bottle we have from the tap. Every year or so I'll swap it out to get a fresh bottle but that's about it.
We reuse ziploc bags. This is partly environmental but also financial. We write on the bag what it's for and just use it over and over for that item until the bag wears out.

I'm sure I can think of dozens of others.

I think I am still in the phase of my life of needing to be frugal for the sake of my future retirement. As for my frugal habits, I have more than a few:

1) I grow some of my own vegetables like green onions, lettuce, kale, basil, parsley, etc. This simple thing saves me a lot of money not having to buy salad ingredients. The amount of time it takes is mainly in planting seeds and watering, but it's not huge, maybe a an hour total per week.
2) I harvest the herbs I grow, wash them with water, and hang them in a mesh bag to dry. Later, I grind them in a grinder and have my own home ground and dried herbs. Some herbs are very expensive, so this is a money saver. The time it takes is around 1/2 an hour every other weekend.
3) I save money out of each pay check, putting it into 403b, Roth IRA, 1 high interest savings, and several regular savings accounts. I divide up my savings by the purpose for which it is intended.
4) I drink either tea or water most of the time. We rarely go out to eat because I have food allergy/sensitivity issues and most of the time, our "eating out" is actually a pickup order from a restaurant and we never get beverages or dessert.
5) For a year or so, partially to save money, I have been using a Bissell vacuum that doe not have vacuum bags.
6) We don't use dryer sheets at all. We use dryer balls that we bought at least a decade ago. We use Molly's Suds laundry detergent (free of chemicals and scents because of my eczema) and only very rarely use bleach.
7) I take my lunch to work nearly every day.

Addendum:
8) I forgot about this one. For many years now, whenever I would save money at the grocery store, get a rebate, tax refund, or other unexpected money, I have always applied it to either a debt or put it in savings. The more I do this and see the effect it has on my networth and FICO score, the more I want to it. That's it. I admit it. I am addicted to frugality and improving my finances.

[ua_guy]

Our "Tupperware" fleet in the kitchen is mostly reused containers from lunch meat or take out. They last for years and years. We also save plastic and paper grocery bags. Reused amazon boxes have helped organize stuff on garage shelves.

I wear everyday clothes until wardrobe malfunction. I do keep nicer clothes for going to town and going to mom's, but stuff like t's, jeans, shorts, shoes, boots, socks are worn until holy.

DIY vehicle maintenance is a given..

On the road, travel days, we try to pack food so we don't have to eat out. Mostly in the motorhome; we have a full kitchen available, so why not. That's what it's for, right?

Things around the house - we always try to DIY diagnose and fix first before calling in help. We do a lot of DIY maintenance for the yard and annual maintenance on the house, ourselves.

We try to fix things when they break before buying a new one or throwing it away. A good example is our dog food container. The plastic lid broke at the hinges and instead of throwing it away, I used some scrap metal to reinforce the hinge area and some spare screws to put it back together so it can continue to be used.

It's surprising how little laundry detergent needs to be used to clean laundry. Instead of a full scoop for a full load, I've noticed filling it to 3 or so is just fine and is way better for our septic system.

[crazyliblady]

Our "Tupperware" fleet in the kitchen is mostly reused containers from lunch meat or take out. They last for years and years. We also save plastic and paper grocery bags. Reused amazon boxes have helped organize stuff on garage shelves.

I wear everyday clothes until wardrobe malfunction. I do keep nicer clothes for going to town and going to mom's, but stuff like t's, jeans, shorts, shoes, boots, socks are worn until holy.

DIY vehicle maintenance is a given..

On the road, travel days, we try to pack food so we don't have to eat out. Mostly in the motorhome; we have a full kitchen available, so why not. That's what it's for, right?

Things around the house - we always try to DIY diagnose and fix first before calling in help. We do a lot of DIY maintenance for the yard and annual maintenance on the house, ourselves.

We try to fix things when they break before buying a new one or throwing it away. A good example is our dog food container. The plastic lid broke at the hinges and instead of throwing it away, I used some scrap metal to reinforce the hinge area and some spare screws to put it back together so it can continue to be used.

It's surprising how little laundry detergent needs to be used to clean laundry. Instead of a full scoop for a full load, I've noticed filling it to 3 or so is just fine and is way better for our septic system.

I thought I was the only one who takes food with me when I travel. I sometimes travel for work, and because of food allergy/sensitivity issues, I take along food that I can easily incorporate to my daily activities and combine with other foods that I find a long the way. I have never traveled in a RV, only by car, bus, and occasionally plane. I would love to take a trip on a train.

[Fishindude77]

When making a second pot of coffee, just sprinkle a small amount of new grounds on top of what's in there rather than using a new filter and a bunch more grounds.
Hand wash the majority of dishes rather than running the dish washer.
Have cube trays for making drink ice and freeze jugs for cooler ice.
Save containers from Chinese food carryout for future Tupperware.
Wash my own vehicles by hand rather than a $15 car wash.
Grow a vegetable garden and harvest wild edibles; berries, mushrooms, etc.
Get free hogs from neighbors and butcher ourselves.
Harvest lots of wild game and fish and eat every bit of it.
Cut & burn firewood for supplemental heat.
Drink tap water.

[disneysteve]

7) I take my lunch to work nearly every day.

I packed my lunch to work nearly every day for 31 years. I was always shocked by how frequently my coworkers ordered out. In recent years I knew they had to be spending $12-15/day based on what they got. And these weren't fellow physicians earning 6 figures; they were techs making $18/hr. Of course they also showed up to work in the morning with their Dunkin/Starbucks coffee and donut or breakfast sandwich which must run another $6-8. Then they all sit around talking about how broke they are.

[disneysteve]

Hand wash the majority of dishes rather than running the dish washer.

That's not a frugal habit. Hand washing uses more water and energy than running the dish washer.

Drink tap water.

We definitely do this. We never buy bottled water unless we're away somewhere and it's the only choice. At home or out, we drink tap water. I mentioned refilling our water cooler with tap water. My wife does have a Brita pitcher in the fridge as she prefers that to make coffee, but it's still tap water. Changing the filter once a month costs very little compared to buying bottled water.

[Fishindude77]

That's not a frugal habit. Hand washing uses more water and energy than running the dish washer.
Not when you're only doing a couple dishes at a time. Can't justify running the dishwasher for that.
For a full dishwasher load I might agree with you.

[disneysteve]

Not when you're only doing a couple dishes at a time. Can't justify running the dishwasher for that.
For a full dishwasher load I might agree with you.

Sure. But you said you hand wash "the majority of dishes". Why not just load the dishwasher and run it when it's full even if that's only every few days? We run ours every other day. When DD was in college, we probably ran it every third day.

[QuarterMillionMan]

-cut my own hair
-5 gallon bucket to wash my car
-sharpen knives with wet stones (ie, 250 grit, 500 grit, 1000 grit, 3000 grit, leather strop, etc)
-bring home lunch to work daily
-take out meal stretched into 3 or 4 more additional meals after I add boiled broccoli or cauliflower or canned corn, etc. Also, I'll add my own baked potato or cooked rice. So let's say I buy a $13.99 BBQ chicken plate from L & L Hawaiian BBQ, I'll order it with macaroni salad instead of rice.
-cheaper hotel in Tijuana is $30 a night but often the TV doesn't work or non-existent TV so I always bring a portable 7" TV with OTA antennae. $50 or more hotels usually have functional TVs but I'll take my chances with the $30 hotels and bring my own TV, lol.

[scfr]

None of the things mentioned seem silly to me!

In addition to being frugal, many meet goals of helping the environment. Some seem to build self-reliance and/or community, save time, or reduce stress.

I'm sure everyone defines "silly" differently. For me, it's when it crosses the line to where it serves no good purpose.

I could say that I've crossed that line with streaming services (I don't pay extra for any on-going subscriptions, although I do have Paramount+ because it comes with my Walmart+ subscription that I use for grocery delivery to my mom), and instead I've started chasing sign-up promos and free trial months. But not having a regular one I think keeps me reading more and that is a good thing!

I could say we cross the line with travel by using credit card sign up bonuses to cover hotels and/or transport, and doing things like bringing airplane snacks, buying food & drinks at grocery stores to enjoy in our hotel room for dinner, and planning our itinerary with an emphasis on free activities. Some people might find it silly. But that's still fun for us, we stay energetic and well-rested in spite of a fairly full schedule, and it's just how we roll. I did put my foot down on our recent trip to Ireland & London when DH decided our first meal out would be at KFC because he thought that would be cheapest - blech. That was my definition of silly. I showed him that for the same or maybe just a few bucks more (which we can easily afford) we could eat much better & healthier, and we were both happy.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I was just about to throw away a long khakis pants due to the bottom being tattered and frayed. But it dawned on me that I should cut off at the knee and hem and sew it to make it into a short pants because the top half is still good. Ingenious, lol. Yup, I have a sewing machine that I use often which paid for itself long ago.

[disneysteve]

None of the things mentioned seem silly to me!.

I didn't mean that the activities themselves are silly. I meant that it can be kind of silly to still do some of them when the financial need to do so is long past.

I mentioned tearing dryer sheets in half. A box of 250 sheets is $7.50 at Target, so 3 cents per sheet. Each time we tear one in half, we save 1.5 cents. Let's say we do 10 loads of laundry a week. We save 15 cents on dryer sheets or about $7.50/year. Certainly we wouldn't notice if our annual spending increased by $7.50 but still we tear those sheets in half.

[ua_guy]

Haircuts and carwashes, absolutely. Been cutting my own hair since I was about 20. Best part about it besides saving money is not having to suffer small talk in a place like Super Cuts.

The carwash thing comes from my obsession with cars. I like clean vehicles and most automatic washes are too abrasive and don't do a good job. It costs cents to wash my car at home - never mind having to buy or rent a place where you can do that - it's just one of the perks