Silly frugal habits you have

[Fishindude77]

We do haircuts at home also.
Don't have to schedule an appointment and saves $15-20 every time.

[riverwed070707]

So many things come to mind, but several already said.

Definitely haircuts at home (I'll go to the salon if its a dramatic change, but even then its only once every couple of years). I cut DH's hair
We have a water dispenser from the fridge and the filters are kind of pricy, but tap water always and I definitely stretch the life of them until the water actually tastes different
Coffee at home always (its better anyway!)
Rarely eat out. When we do, I can't not choose something on the cheaper end of the menu regardless of what price point the restaurant is overall.
We also pack snacks for travel and also bring empty water bottles to the airport - you won't catch me paying $5-8 for a bottle of water
I can't bring myself to spend more than $150 on a hotel and I'm always going to scout for the lowest cost acceptable option. When traveling alone, I often stay in hostels or rent a room in an airbnb even though I'm 38 and most people I stay with are in their 20s.
Car gets backed into the driveway when its supposed to rain - this is the only way it gets washed. Interior I do at home or at a place with free vacuuming
I WILL NOT pay for air no matter how many gas stations I have to drive to to find a free one. I don't care that its only a quarter.
I thrift all my clothes, including shoes. Only thing I buy new is under garments. Most (all??) of our furniture is second hand. I also thrift dozens of books and puzzles each year for a $1 or 2 and donate them back when I'm done
AC doesn't come on before June 1 - don't care how hot it gets. Heat doesn't come on before November - don't care how cold it gets. AC is set to 74. Heat is set to 68 during the day and 62 at night.
I don't consider myself a hoarder, but we definitely have designated spots in our house for used twist ties (primarily from bread bags), the plastic c fasteners that come on the bagel bags, cords of unknown origin that might come in handy some day, grocery sacks and partially used notebooks that make for great scrap paper lol


Nothing terribly quirky but certainly a lot of things that were started out of necessity that just stuck

[QuarterMillionMan]

With DIY haircuts to me more important than the money saved is the time saved driving to and from and the time waiting for your appointment is a time saver doing it yourself. It could save 2 or 3 hours. DIY haircuts takes me 10 minutes.

[disneysteve]

With DIY haircuts to me more important than the money saved is the time saved driving to and from and the time waiting for your appointment is a time saver doing it yourself. It could save 2 or 3 hours. DIY haircuts takes me 10 minutes.

I started cutting my own hair probably 15 or more years ago. I used to pay $15 at Hair Cuttery and I'd go every 5-6 weeks. All she would do (seemingly) was buzz my head with an electric clipper. Not to knock it, but it really didn't seem to take a whole lot of skill. One day we were at the outlet mall and the ConAir outlet had a hair cutting kit in the window for $15. I decided to risk the cost of one haircut to try doing it at home. My wife helped the first time but after that I realized that it's impossible to screw up since you can't cut any shorter than the guide you put on. I've done it myself ever since, upgrading to a Wahl trimmer when the ConAir one died. I think that cost me about $30 and I've had it for probably 10 years now.

One benefit is obviously the monetary savings but what I count as a much bigger benefit is that I now cut my hair every 2 weeks. I keep it much more well groomed by not waiting 5+ weeks. Before, I always struggled timing when to go with any upcoming special events to make sure my hair looked good at the right time. Now, it takes 10-15 minutes to cut my hair and I can do it any time, day or night. Regardless of cost, I would never go back to having to go somewhere to have it cut as long as one of us is physically able to do it at home.

[jenn_jenn]

Ack maybe this is where “my parents spending habits” influenced me more than I realize bc, despite being a saver in the sense that we live below our means and save first / spend second, I do none of the things people have listed.

Some of my more frugal habits:

• I always check resale / used clothing sites first. I only buy new or like new items when doing so and I’ve gotten some amazing deals this way.
• We have a Samsung steam closet that is like at-home dry cleaning and extends our wears between actual dry cleaning. Primarily got this for time savings but is a money saver too!
• I prefer to buy things online using Rakuten rather than shopping in-store. Those 1-2% rebates really have me hooked!
• I love Facebook Marketplace for furniture deals.
• Coupon / promo code queen. Regardless of what we’re buying or doing, I always look for the best deal.
• I won’t donate to the “round up” charities at registers etc. I do donate to charities but for those I like the receipt so I can include as a tax write off!

Overall, we try to not sweat the small stuff and just focus on getting the best utility for our money for us and our lifestyle.

[kork13]

Man, I could go on for a while ... And some of my frugal habits might be more accurately (and embarrassingly) described as "cheap" or "foolish." My dad was (and remains) cheap to a fault, so I've unavoidably picked up at least some of those habits.

Many of the basic ones are probably common to alot of you:
- I almost always only ever drink water, except for an occasional soda or fruit juice -- maybe 2-3/mo, mostly when eating out or hanging out with friends. I have a well-loved steel water bottle that followed me everywhere, and I jokingly call it my security blanket.
- I sometimes cut my own hair (or DW does) ... But I still use a barber about every other cut to keep some of the details looking better (ears, length transitions, nape of neck, etc.).
- When I wash my car (not often, maybe quarterly), I'll wash it myself in decent weather. But in the winter, I'll use a wash rack or automatic wash.
- We always travel with our own snacks. I'm in the airport right now waiting for a trans-Pacific flight & have sizeable bags of nuts, carrots, celery/PB, and granola bars in my carry-on.
- Most of our family's shoes/clothes/furniture are either purchased used, or bought new with high quality then kept for many years. I still have some shoes/clothes from when I was in high school/college (20 yrs ago), and furniture that has been in my family for even longer. The exception is running shoes -- those I always buy new, and they normally only last ~1yr due to my frequent running habits. But they do join the rotation of my shoes from running --> daily walk around --> yard work --> dumpster... That stretches their total life for another year or two.
- I cook most of our meals at home, and minimize eating out. When we do eat out, we mostly stick to lower-cost meals, ~$15/person (or less).


Others perhaps less common:
- I comparison shop like crazy. At the grocery store, it's all about unit price, and staying alert for discounts, coupons, etc. For other stuff (especially online), I research items alot for best quality & price, using a variety of discount or rebate sites I have access to through my military status.
- I try to drive as efficiently as possible, optimizing speed/acceleration for best MPG, plus grouping trips & optimizing routes to minimize my time on the road.

... I'll have to keep thinking, I know that there are a bunch of other things I do ... But my flight is boarding. Lol

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I buy gift cards on discount. I used to do card cookie but also costco. And the target deal? That pays for teacher gift cards for xmas and end of the year. So I just saved 10% on the gifts. I can't help it. I use whatever i have left over on us.

I also travel with snacks. Although more recently I bring a disposable bottle on planes going to hawaii. Going anywhere else? Reuseable. And I'm such a "frugalite" we're going to SF with my girl scout troop on Saturday. To save money for the troop (we are on a tight budget), I suggested every girl bring a gallon size snack bag for the 5 days of stuff they want to eat so we don't have to spend money buying snacks that are individually packed and everyone can have what they like. The other troop leader LOVED the idea and was like "I think you might stretch a dollar further than me." My answer "for sure."

On our recent trip to DC, we did spend on nice meals but we ate 2 meals a day if possible. Breakfast free from hotel and then early dinner and that cut down on the costs and also allowed treats. Also when traveling I never order a meal, I don't have the ability to pack up food so i eat what each of my family members doesn't eat and we wipe the table clean.

I calculate always the cost of an uber or transit for 4. Uber/taxis seem to be winning as the kids get older and we have to pay their fare.

I also look for used stuf on FB marketplace. I consign my kids old clothes and toys. In fact I've just gotten rid of 100 items that way these past 3 weeks and donated what was in too poor shape to sell. I leave tags on clothes and return them if not used within a certain deadline.

I buy it cheap and stack it deep (Mark cuban). I am on 9 years of dental floor I bought in 2015. It was cheap on sale and I still use it. I counted I have another 10 packs of it so it's finally wearing out. And pretty much everything for the home I usually buy it on sale and stack it, because a couple of times I've had to buy it without a sale it hurts me.

I always check costco wherever we go for deals on activities or gift cards.

I don't fill gas except at costco pretty much. Even when i don't need it but know that I won't be able to get to a costco for a bit I'll then top off.

All kids clothes were hand me downs. I never bought clothes for both kids, the younger only knows hand me downs. I never bought books new only used and even then it was rare. I am a library addict and fiend. And to this day my kids mostly borrow even ebooks from the library with their own cards. They know, books from the bookstore? A treat. A bookstore is for browsing and sitting mostly.

I plan ahead and buy things I don't need necessarily at this moment but if I know it's coming then i'll buy it like the third car I bought last month. We really didn't need a 3rd car until next january.

I love travel points and rewards. I always look at stretching my dollars from rewards. And I sign up for every restaurant rewards.

I do google surveys and amazon rewards.

I have only dyson vaccums i bought "refurbished." And they seem to last.

I only buy used iphones for my kids for $100 (iphone SE). I bought myself a used iphone 11 for $200 for my work cell. I buy myself an pixel because i can't fathom paying $1000 for an iphone. My pixel was $25 with the trade in.

I won't buy a bag at a grocery store, I say hang on and go back to the car for my bags.

when traveling I pack foldable bags in case i shop

I don't pay for airport wagons either.

I will pay more for toiletries (usually sunscreen) at a destination because then I can fly with a handcarry, especially if it's not on my preferred airline and I would have had to pay for luggage.

I pack up food I don't eat at my airbnb. My friends we've stayed with will literally buy a TON of food and try to throw it away. I pack it up and take it home and we eat it.

I bring on airplanes ziploc bags, wipes, and napkins in case I get food and dont finish it. I make spam musubis usually to eat on the longer plane rides, i don't buy food on planes, unless it's free.

I know I probably don't have to do this, but breaking the habit is hard.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Do you guys have to buy name brands or do you save money buying non-name brands?
-Coke vs Pepsi vs non-name brands of coke
-Best Foods mayo vs Kraft vs non-name brands of mayo
-Ragu vs Prego vs Kroger
-Ajax vs Comet vs other
-Colgate vs Crest vs other
-Post Raisin brand vs non-name brands
-Breyers vs Haagen Dazs vs Kroger
-Kraft cheese vs Sargento vs other
-other food brands?


-I prefer Coke but will buy Pepsi if on sale but not the non-name brands which I tried and cannot compete with Coke & Pepsi.
-Being I'm from Hawaii we only buy Best Foods mayo, Kraft's seems oilier
-any spaghetti sauce works for me which I add either sugar or salt or other herbs or spices to my liking
-Ajax seem better than Comet
-any toothpaste
-I no longer eat cereals
-any low fat or fat free ice cream or cheeses if I can find it

[QuarterMillionMan]

[disneysteve]

Do you guys have to buy name brands or do you save money buying non-name brands?

We do both. A lot of store brands where we've found it just doesn't matter. In some cases, we even like the store brand better. For some things we stick with the brand name because we like it better and/or it's made of better quality ingredients. But if you look in our pantry or fridge, you'll see many store brand products. We're always open to trying a store brand once and if we like it we stick with it. If not, we go back to the brand.

Overall, I will say that I'm less picky than my wife and daughter. There are things where I'd be fine with the store brand but they aren't, so we get the brand for those things.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I print my own greeting cards (ie, birthday cards, Christmas cards, sympathy cards, etc). I use 8.5" x 11" card stock. I then glue 5" x 7" glossy photo paper to one side of the card stock then print a picture of a birthday cake or Christmas tree and fold the card stock in half and insert it into a 5.75" x 8.75" envelope with money included. I haven't bought a $6.95 Hallmark greeting card in years. The recipients could care less if I spent $6.95 for a Hallmark greeting card or made my own greeting cards for a fraction of the cost which probably gets tossed in the trash after pocketing the money.

[QuarterMillionMan]

[disneysteve]

I print my own greeting cards (ie, birthday cards, Christmas cards, sympathy cards, etc). I use 8.5" x 11" card stock. I then glue 5" x 7" glossy photo paper to one side of the card stock then print a picture of a birthday cake or Christmas tree and fold the card stock in half and insert it into a 5.75" x 8.75" envelope with money included. I haven't bought a $6.95 Hallmark greeting card in years. The recipients could care less if I spent $6.95 for a Hallmark greeting card or made my own greeting cards for a fraction of the cost which probably gets tossed in the trash after pocketing the money.

I used to make all of our cards, invitations, thank you notes, etc. I even made all of the invites and paperwork and seating cards for DD's Bat Mitzvah years ago. Saved a fortune and had items that were truly one of a kind.

These days, we rarely send cards. The couple that we do give DW usually makes on her Cricut so minimal cost other than a couple of sheets of paper.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

my kids make cards for birthday presents we give

[Saakasports]

I still cut open toothpaste tubes to get every last bit out, always bring lunch from home even though I can afford to eat out, and hang clothes to dry instead of using the dryer to save energy and make them last longer. I also buy in bulk from warehouse stores, which saves money in the long run, even if it means storing giant jars of peanut butter. Old habits die hard.