Frugalty "hacks" that worked for you?

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Hey, I might take it just so I can play nethack on a big screen. šŸ˜‰
 
DarkLight said:
For me, one of the things I had to learn was to study my own tendencies.

I can be very tired in the evenings, and I donā€™t want to fix food. This is when the most temptation to order out comes. If I have 3 or 4 things I like to eat available in an easy form, that cuts down significantly on my desire to eat out.
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When I moved out on my own, all I knew how to cook was 9x13 casseroles. I found I could make one recipeā€™s worth but split it in two for an 8x8 pan or split it in three for a loaf pan. Then I could freeze two and eat my way through one.

The big ticket items when you go out on your ownā€“heating, cooling, insurance, taxes, electricity and so onā€“are things that first-time renters (or buyers) sometimes donā€™t think about. When you go looking for a place to live, the rent is not the only cost to live there. You have to think about the cost of the transportation options, what utilities are or are not included, upkeep and so on. What does the landlord pay for and what is yours to pay for?
 
Turning down the hot water heater saves energy. Energy saving light bulbs are more frugal.
Iā€™m away from home most of the day due to work and donā€™t heat an empty house.
In the morning, a space heater in the bathroom helps me stay comfortable when getting ready for work. In the winter, I might heat my home for a few hours until bedtime, but then the heat is off until Iā€™m home from work the next day.
My brother, who gets up several hours before wife and children to go to work, uses a space heater also and then programs the thermostat to take care of the family.

Funding my IRA helps keep taxes down, and, when I draw on it later, I wonā€™t be earning as much as I do now and will be in a lower tax bracket. Itā€™s a long term investment.
I made the extra house payment each year and refinanced shorter term when interest rates were low. It saved tens of thousands of dollars.
My city has city packages for museums, zoos, science centers which, if fully utilized, can save money for summer excursions.
Our ski resorts offer cheap introductory packages which work well with my limited time to ski/snowboard.
Limiting hotel usage on vacations saves money. One can camp for 4 days or more for the cost of a night in a hotel.
There are lots of free dogs and cats out there-no need to buy a pet.
We have Shakespeare in the park, first Thursdays at museums, Phd. free concerts. I love to read and can get books from Powells that are in new condition for reduced rates.
Rotating tires and changing oil are investments in lowering costs in the long term.
Cooking in bulk saves time and provides reheatable meals on those longer workdays.
 
Bonnie said:
Of course! (Iā€™m assuming Mimi is your cat & my cats - even fat-cat Kelly - would fit. :D)
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Yup, Mimiā€™s the cat. Itā€™s kind of hard to tell how actually big she is under all the fur.

Speaking of cats - most cats will play with anything, but if you want to buy cheap cat toys, buy them right after a holiday. Thereā€™s generally a bunch of holiday-themed cat toys that go on deep discount, and the cats donā€™t care what color the feather wand is.

If you have a 24-h big box store near you, you can also often go there either late in the evening or very early in the morning when stocking is going on and get boxes. Retail generates a lot of empty boxes. Thatā€™s how I did my last move too!
 
I love the ideas here! I have not thought of some of these.

One hack I use is to use ebates or mypoints.com to get some money back from online shopping. mypoints also allows you to earn points for reading their emails, doing surveys and other activities on their site. You can cash in your points for gift cards or for a paypal payment.

I also use the library for so many things including borrowing ebooks.

I accept any and all hand-me-down items from friends who offer. If I canā€™t use things, I then donate them or pass them along to others.
 
SuperHappy said:
I accept any and all hand-me-down items from friends who offer. If I canā€™t use things, I then donate them or pass them along to others.
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Last week a friend gave me a bunch of blankets & clothes, telling me to pass on whatever doesnā€™t work for me. That turned out to be most of it, but thatā€™s OK; I now have a lovely Pendleton throw (the itchiness bothered her), a couple extra blankets, & several new-to-me blouses.
 
Bonnie said:
Last week a friend gave me a bunch of blankets & clothes, telling me to pass on whatever doesnā€™t work for me. That turned out to be most of it, but thatā€™s OK; I now have a lovely Pendleton throw (the itchiness bothered her), a couple extra blankets, & several new-to-me blouses.
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FREE PENDLETON!

Oh my goodness!
 
Bonnie said:
Last week a friend gave me a bunch of blankets & clothes, telling me to pass on whatever doesnā€™t work for me. That turned out to be most of it, but thatā€™s OK; I now have a lovely Pendleton throw (the itchiness bothered her), a couple extra blankets, & several new-to-me blouses.
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I love Pendelton! Thatā€™s a score for sure! =)
 
Lucky! Iā€™m another one of those people who cannot be anywhere near wool. I tried on an absolutely lovely, on-sale cashmere sweater Saturday - had it on just long enough to see it looked good and then, oh my goodness get it off my skin!
 
ToeInTheWater said:
Hopefully this will not become a debate topic. I also wish to add a disclaimer that I realize that just become some ā€œhackā€ worked for me, doesnā€™t mean they will work for everyone.

Now of course there are many ā€œtime-testedā€ hacks such as using vinegar and baking soda for cleaning and supposedly saving money compared to using pre-made cleaning products.

But I am thinking more about tips that are not mentioned in most resources on this topic.

For example, I like to cook and used to spend a lot of money on printed cookbooks, only to find that out of, say, 100 recipes I only found five that I actually cook from. Not to mention how many cookbooks are hardcover and take up a lot of space.

I still buy some cookbooks on sale or used, but I have really started to use the Internet to source recipes. Pretty much all recipes featured on TV cooking shows can be found on the website associated with the show or network.

Also, in an updated version of using recipes printed on the backs of boxes and cans, I am subscribed to the Pillsbury and Teaspoon email lists so I can get free recipes from the companies. Many of them are easily tweaked to use fresh instead of processed food. After all when I signed up for the emails the TOS did not specify ā€œin order to use the recipes you must pledge to use the exact product called for in the recipeā€. šŸ˜‰

I also rarely buy ketchup or soy sauce, because every time I order take-out and am asked ā€œdo you want ketchupā€ I say yes, even if I am not planning on using the packets right away. And usually Asian restaurants will throw in many sauce packets with take-out orders even without asking.

I also patronize pizzerias that have complimentary packets of salt and pepper, grated Parmesan, garlic powder, crushed dried red peppers, etc. (I actually use fresh Parmesan most of the time, but there are occasional recipes where the grated version is preferable).

I also rarely buy paper napkins as I can get them from take out type places.

Now of course I do try to be fair to the other customers, and I do not just grab every condiment packet or napkin available, indeed some fast food restaurants will only give out, say, 2 packets of sauce and make you pay for the extra.

ETA: Also, one caveat to any frugality strategy that involves ā€œstockpilingā€ is, it really only works if you actually use your stockpile in time, so I have found it really doesnā€™t work for me too much where food items are concerned. Even canned and boxed foods have expiration dates, and certainly food quality can decline even before they actually become unsafe to eat.
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I would not take extra packets and napkins from a restaurant because somebody is paying for them and it isnā€™t me. Ketchup, mustard and napkins are not that expensive. As for napkins, make some for your family out of cloth then you are not adding to the land fill.

Other than that, using online recipes are fair game because they are meant to be used.
Not buying process food is a good idea. Not only because home made food is cheaper, it tastes better and is far more healthy.

I am looking for ways to make my own condiments.

Home made noodles are easy to make and so much cheaper than store bought.
Home made bread is also much cheaper than store bought and sooo much better tasting.

Dry beans of all sorts are cheap and a good for you.
Save money by not patronizing restaurants. No matter how many packets you get from a restaurant, a simple home made meal saves a lot more money.

But always keep in the back of your mind not to ā€œstep over a dollar to pick up a dime.ā€

Sometimes is makes sense to spend a bit more. Cheap is not always good money management.
 
HelenRose said:
I would not take extra packets and napkins from a restaurant because somebody is paying for them and it isnā€™t me. Ketchup, mustard and napkins are not that expensive. As for napkins, make some for your family out of cloth then you are not adding to the land fill.

Other than that, using online recipes are fair game because they are meant to be used.
Not buying process food is a good idea. Not only because home made food is cheaper, it tastes better and is far more healthy.

I am looking for ways to make my own condiments.

Home made noodles are easy to make and so much cheaper than store bought.
Home made bread is also much cheaper than store bought and sooo much better tasting.

Dry beans of all sorts are cheap and a good for you.
Save money by not patronizing restaurants. No matter how many packets you get from a restaurant, a simple home made meal saves a lot more money.

But always keep in the back of your mind not to ā€œstep over a dollar to pick up a dime.ā€

Sometimes is makes sense to spend a bit more. Cheap is not always good money management.
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Thatā€™s the thing: condiments of the sort that come in fast-food packets do not make up a huge part of a typical food budget. As for homemade, if you have time limitation you have to consider how you are spending your time, as well. Sometimes frugality requires you to get out the pencil and make some choices in that arena, too. Yes, sometimes your time is better spent making healthy bread that you do need instead of desserts that you ought to be enjoying a lot less often than you do! Maybe on paper you save more by making the pie from scratch instead of the bread, but that is only if you donā€™t consider that you could have enjoyed the fresh fruit on its own instead of encasing it in pastry.

Simply trimming the size of meat portions and choosing legumes and beans instead will make a much bigger difference. There was a time when peanut butter was very cheap, but nuts arenā€™t cheap any more. There are cheaper nuts and more expensive nuts and the less expensive ones are a good choice for that nutritional area of your food budget.

And yes, keep food quality in mind when you buy in bulk, too. As an example: the shelf life of crackers since the trans fats have been removed is drastically lower than it used to be. If you use a lot of chili powder, then by all means save the money you can by buying 4 oz instead of 1 oz. If all you use in a year is 1 oz, youā€™ve paid for a spice that you will wish you had thrown out before it is all gone. And why? Because you hoped to save a dollar or two over the course of* a year*? That is nuts.

Actually, I would say the best ā€œfrugality hackā€ of all is to pay enough attention to your refrigerator and pantry that you aim at never throwing food away. Iā€™ve heard the old saying in Italy was that for every crumb of bread you wasted, you will spend a year in Purgatory collecting crumbs with your eyelashes. Wasting food is wasting money, too.

The only thing worse is to ruin your health by vacuuming up food your body would be better off without because you think food that has been consumed by someone has not been wasted. Using leftovers to abuse your body is not avoiding waste. It is compounding waste.
 
HelenRose said:
Other than that, using online recipes are fair game because they are meant to be used.
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Iā€™m always amazed when people write to advice columnists (reading the Agony Aunts is one of my few addictions) for recipes - online is so much easier & faster!
HelenRose said:
Dry beans of all sorts are cheap and a good for you.
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If beans sit around for too long they will get tough. Iā€™m not sure how to store beans long-term except by canning. Perhaps in an oxygen-free bucket? Canning also makes beans more convenient. I would suggest canning them plain, then they can be used in a variety of recipes. I do that with ground beef.

Lentils cook very quickly & taste so wonderful. I can no longer eat them due to too many carbs - I miss them. šŸ˜¦
 
EasterJoy said:
If you use a lot of chili powder, then by all means save the money you can by buying 4 oz instead of 1 oz. If all you use in a year is 1 oz, youā€™ve paid for a spice that you will wish you had thrown out before it is all gone. And why? Because you hoped to save a dollar or two over the course of* a year*? That is nuts.
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I save money on spices buying in bulk. But still very small amounts - the price per ounce is the same no matter how little you buy. Some things - like the chili powder - last for a while, but herbs like dill and basil lose flavor quickly.
 
HelenRose said:
I would not take extra packets and napkins from a restaurant because somebody is paying for them and it isnā€™t me. Ketchup, mustard and napkins are not that expensive. As for napkins, make some for your family out of cloth then you are not adding to the land fill.
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To be fair, a ketchup packet costs the restaurant less than a nickel. And if you get carryout or delivery theyā€™ll often just throw them in.

I do make my own condiments sometimes, but thatā€™s more because I can be kind of fussy about the taste (being broken and somewhat picky tends to make your cooking skills develop quickly). I also live with someone who canā€™t have MSG or nitrates, so making your own might be the only way to get them.

Also, get your own popcorn maker - either stovetop or microwave. Popcorn can be a cheap and healthy snack, and if you make your own you can control the amount of butter and salt.

The difficulty Iā€™ve found with online recipes is that you kind of have to know what youā€™re doing. Anyone can put a recipe out there, and if you donā€™t know how to tell whatā€™s good or how to rescue a bad dish, youā€™re going to ruin a lot of food. Iā€™d recommend a good basic cookbook to beginning cooks.
 
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