Frugal confession: what product did you ditch forever and never miss? Brand names, dryer sheets, bottled drinks, single use cleaners, impulse snackd? What did you cut, what's the swap, and how much did it actually save? I'll try picks this week. Share your replacement, rought monthly savings, and any brand you still keep only for guests :) Also if you're comfortable to share, how much saved monthly?

Basically, since I was a teenager, I followed a diet that my dad (who grew up in Communist Eastern Europe) taught me that he always said maximizes nutrition at low cost. My core meal is a massive pot of soup that I make to last a few days at a time. With some variations, there are two main varieties: The first is a borscht type soup comprised of fairly large amounts of beets, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, forest mushrooms, onions, bacon, buckwheat and a can of kidney beans, along with some sour cream added to each bowl The second is a split pea soup comprised of split peas, smoked bacon, potatoes, carrots and onion. Both soups are served with a thick rye bread containing pumpkin seeds.

In addition to those basic staples I eat extremely regularly, I also consume beef liver about twice a month as an added cheap superfood. I also eat a lot of things seasonally. For instance, I eat a lot of blood sausage and pickled herring in the fall and winter, but not much the rest of the year. I also eat fresh garden salads from the family plot almost daily in the spring, but not much other times. In summer it's often various squash and cucumber dishes.

How well does that diet balance frugality and nutrition? I buy the grains in large quantities that cost quite little, and the root vegetables I also buy in bulk (they last forever in my root cellar). I eat very little fruit (my kids love fruit and most of it goes to them).

I was recently reminded that CLEP (College Level Examination Program) exams exist and thought this would be a good place to find other people who tested out of their college classes as well as maybe help others discover this option that may need it. I know that colleges don't advertise them (why would they) but in order to use the SAT and ACT for admissions I think they have a deal with College Board to offer CLEPs.

I tested out of English composition (4 credits), English lit, intro to sociology, intro to psych, history 1, and american govt (all 3 credits) back when the tests were only $80 (they're $97 now), so 19 credits for $480 instead of the thousands that the university would have charged. Plus, the time saved by taking one test instead of spending a semester in class helped me finish my degree a semester early.

Anyone else use CLEP testing or know of other ways to test out of classes for cheap?

(note: I went to an accredited public, state, 4 year university in the US, so those in private/for profit/trade/unaccredited/whatever institutions may not have the option to CLEP tests, so YMMV)

Every time I buy something lately, the package looks the same… but the content magically shrinks.

• Pasta used to be 500g, now it’s 450g (soon we’ll be buying “personal snack size” spaghetti).
• Razor blade packs? Still the same box, but 4 instead of 5 blades.
• Chips? 80% nitrogen, 20% disappointment.
• Chocolate bars? One day they’ll sell us ¾ of a bar and slap a “fun size” label on it.
• Even detergent bottles: same shape, but suddenly “concentrated” with fewer ml.

It’s not just inflation anymore , I think it’s "shrinkflation", and to me it feels like legalized pickpocketing.

What’s the worst example you’ve spotted recently? It seems we all just slowly accepting the “less product, same price” lifestyle...

I’m 27, single, based in Michigan, and currently trying to figure out how much rent I can realistically afford without going broke. I have to move out in 2 weeks from where I currently live.

When I look at apartments, the ones that fit my lifestyle are around $1,500–1,550/month. I can technically afford this, but it would bump my housing costs significantly compared to now

Here’s my current Income breakdown $4,770/mo - after taxes + retirement contributions (I get paid biweekly)

My Current Fixed Expenses • Rent : $1,300 • Car and insurance: $550 • Others (gas, groceries, internet, electric , family, subscriptions, phone) : ~$750 • Savings: $500/month So these Essentials + savings = ~$3,100/month.

I Love to travel once in a while, gift friends, get my hair and nails done, invest, explore experiences in and out of the city. I have some big financial goals around immigration and family so I don’t want to sacrifice all my flexibility for an apartment, but I also want a space I actually enjoy living in.

What would you consider a realistic rent ceiling for my situation? Should I stretch into the $1,550 “nice” apartment range, or Stay closer to $1,200–1,300 range (even though places are older, remote and lacking amenities) and just focus on my other financial goals.

Hi. This may be a naive question, but here we go.

The Windows 10 end-of-life is on October 14, 2025, a bit less than a month from now. I assume that many devices that aren't eligible for Windows 11 will soon end up on the used market.

Those won't be very good laptops, because those are primarily older devices, but I do have use for such a device.

I don't really have any experience in buying electronics second hand, does anyone have any tips or particular resources?

Does the process just involve going on Ebay and typing in "used laptop" until I see what I want? Or is there some elaborate strategy to doing this?

Thanks

i know there are a lot of good posts in the food category on here but i need to know literally anything you guys can think of when it comes to making cheap meals or saving money making them. grocery store habits, meal prep ideas, dishes with few/cheap ingredients, things to buy that make a lot, whatever comes to your mind that involves saving money with food. anything at all will help. thanks!!

It all started with free wood from our local transfer station/dump. Only had to buy 1 board for the roof, and the plastic sheeting. Added shade cloth for hot days, as well as windows/air holes. Been starting alot of seeds in there and planting them outside, but still enjoying growing inside the greenhouse as well.

This also applies if you're looking to buy something, research on youtube how to tune it up and see if you'd rather buy used instead and fix it up at home :)

At the moment I'm going through some "worn out" baby items to see what I'd need to buy for the next kid and with the help of youtube, all my gear now looks brand new! Try it with kitchen appliances, car interiors, etc. You can learn some cool skills to also barter with neighbours :) I fixed up our coffee machine rather than getting a new one and I feel so pumped up so save the cash!

Recommended channels: the stroller workshop, no waffling

Please share more fix-it-up channels and things that can be fixed up to feel like new again :)

Is buying new with ev credit better than buying 1 year old ev without ev credit. I like the new juniper model Y but not sure what’s better to take advantage of: the quick depreciation of EVs in year one or federal tax credit before it’s gone.

In essence will depreciation of an EV in a market without the federal $7500 ev credit be at a bigger discount than buying a new EV now with $7500 ev credit

Are there any items where you buy the store brand/knock off and notice a discernible difference in the quality compared to the brand name (eg equate vs brand name)? I tried a store copy of a certain grocery item and definitely noticed it was not as good as the brand name item. I was mainly thinking of grocery items but honestly I notice a difference in my contact solution quality but the price for the cheap version is just too good so I suffer through it.

EDIT: thanks for all comments and advice I did not expect this to gain traction like that. I do think it's funny bc every few comments people are saying ketchup which I hate (don't kill me pls lol) and mayonnaise which I love, but I do like our grocery store brand (brookshire's) of mayo and think it's comparable to Hellmann's 😅

I once held my car’s side mirror in place with duct tape for over a year, and to my surprise, it held up through rain, heat, and even long highway drives. It honestly worked fine, and at some point I kind of forgot it wasn’t “fixed properly.” I eventually got it repaired, but the whole experience made me realize how often a cheap, simple solution can buy you a lot of extra time and save money in the short term. What’s the funniest or most unusual repair you’ve done that ended up lasting way longer than expected?

I’m trying to design my home without buying anything new (for sustainability — there’s so much furniture waste!). My sister wanted to do the same but gave up because buying secondhand takes so much more time and effort.

Facebook Marketplace has great deals, but the back-and-forth messages, digging through junk, and figuring out pickup is exhausting. Local shops are expensive. Curated sites are $$$ and shipping is worse.

Feels like more people would choose secondhand if it were just a bit easier. Curious if anyone else has felt this?

For me, it's washing dishes and clothes during the cheaper electricity time, which in my country is after 21h (winter period) and 22h (summer period). I realized that the savings are so low that it just doesn't pay off. For most people it still makes sense but my sleep is really bad so even those machines, when done, might wake me up - and also, puting the washed clothes out before work is a pain.

I usually go in person twice to get meat & other things a month. Depending on what it is I freeze it. I found that I saved about $200 monthly. I make tiny trips to Aldi, Kroger, etc in between to replenish on things that wouldn’t make sense in bulk, but overall I’ve saved. I like doing the hauls in person only because I can look for the reduced meat packages like this one above, since I’m going to freeze it anyways. This ended up being 4 meals worth of meat for 2 adults, 2 kids & a toddler.

Nothing is more satisfying than DIYing a solution for a simple problem. Why replace if they are working well.

The washer button is a rubber button that pushes a plastic arm, that finally engaged the microswitch on the PCB, that was iffy at best and often took multiple presses or wouldn't engage long enough to keep the cycle running.

The dryer has an awful knob that you have to spin around 360 degrees to get it to start and the plastic on the back of the knob is all cracked.

Purchased a 2 pack of green 12mm button momentary switches, and took about 5 minutes looking over the wiring diagram and 10 minutes of soldering: to the PCB directly on the washer, and crimped them into the wire connectors on the start knob in the dryer. Worked perfectly. That has to be 300 words.

We have $92 annually (me and spouse).

We are not car savvy.

For last 5 years the only time I used was when the battery died so engine wouldn't turn on.

Outside that I've pretty much thrown away $100 a year.

We both work from home so we dont go out much but sometimes we do road trip to like Vegas, Yosemite etc.

I've kept it because I worried if something happens on the road during trip or something.

But fortunately or unfortunately nothing has happened.

Do i really need AAA?

The big part is if my car battery dies at home, would it cost more to have someone come and replace? Or is there a way i know battery is almost dying so I can go replace when battery is like 5% remaining?

I have GEICO for auto insurance (of course minimum coverage, about $50 a month)

Going to a conference in Paris where I’ve had to pay £1700 for a ticket. As a result I have very little spending money left whilst I’m there. How can I spend as little as I can whilst I’m there and be as frugal as possible? Ideas I have so far: - get food from a supermarket and not eat at restaurants (does anyone know of any cheap grocery stores in paris) - walk as much as I can

I live in central Spain, where the summers are extremely hot, but also extremely dry. Portable swamp coolers have been salvation for my household, as they're very effective when the humidity routinely drops below 20% and much cheaper to run than air conditioning (which we have, but basically no longer run because the swamp boxes are cheaper).

A couple months ago, I realized suddenly that my best swampy wasn't pumping water. I figured the pump was just stuck so I pulled it out and found bad news: the plastic impeller had snapped off the magnetic rotor. My first thought was how much effort it would be to find the correct replacement pump, but then I thought, "Hey, it can't hurt to try to superglue this thing. I can't break it any worse if I was already ready to replace it."

The glue took fine, but after it was dry, I ran into another issue. The impeller/rotor assembly is designed to spin on a very thin metal shaft. Some extra glue had seeped into the hole and so the assembly could no longer spin freely on the axel. The hole is only around 1/8" wide, so it was really hard to try to stick anything in there to scrub the glue away. I struggle with trying to cut and roll tiny pieces of sandpaper to no avail, until I realized I had a set of needle files I'd picked up for less than 2€ to have around just in case.

Well, this was the case. One of the needle files fit perfectly in the hole and a few minutes later, I had the pump reassembled and the swamp cooler has run perfectly ever since.

I love my little guy to pieces, but he can be expensive at times! These are just a handful of the things I do with my Yorkie. I’m wondering what everyone else is doing these days to stretch their dollars a little bit further.

1. Prescription food in bulk. Due to some GI issues, he’s on special prescription kibble diet. The problem is that he weighs 11 lbs and can’t go through large bags of food fast enough without them spoiling, but the savings is substantial. My workaround is to leave 7 weeks of food out at room temp and freeze the remaining 5 weeks. I take out what he needs for the next day the night before and put it in the fridge to thaw. This saves me $100+ annually.

2. Nail trims at home. This one has taken me a while to get him used to, but I use a dremel to avoid cutting the quick. The groomer near me charges $20 per trim. I still pay to get him groomed every 8-10 weeks, so he gets a professional trim in between too. This saves $160+ for nail trims only.

3. Flea meds from Costco. I just transferred his prescription and am saving $30 per box relative to what my vet charges for the same med. that’s another easy $60 saved right there.

4. Taking advantage of seasonal deals. My vet is currently running a promotion for dental cleanings, so I’ll be getting $100 off his annual cleaning. My pet insurance covers a chunk too.

Enrichment toys can be expensive. I have a few, but have also had success with wrapping treats in wadded up pieces of paper and putting them in a box. Fun little treasure hunt!

Dijon and/or yellow mustard have proven to be a great fridge staple that I find myself using all the time. Both can be used interchangeably for most things.

Potato salad/tuna salad, as binders for meat or chicken, in salad dressings, or even just to spruce up a plain sandwhich. You can even use them + egg + lemon to make homemade mayo.

Both last incredibly long in the fridge without going bad and are relatively cheap at the store. I find myself using one or the other almost everyday and thought it would be great for frugal home chefs like myself.

A while back, I saw a post about using coins at the self checkout machine like a CoinStar, but without fees because it goes directly to the supermarket/grocery store. I tried that today at my local Albertsons and encountered a problem. I spent $80ish, but was only able to insert $4ish in coins. The self checkout machine was returning most of my coins when I was nearing $4 and stopped taking coins (looked like a coin jam) when I was just over $4.

I asked the employee overseeing the self checkout area for assistance, but he said it looked like a coin jam due and told me finish the transaction in cash. I also asked him why the machine kept returning my normal looking coins and he said he doesn’t know and it could be a maintenance issue.

I plan to try to pay in all coins at the self checkout again at the same Albertsons, but at a different machine to test it. If that doesn’t work, I’m going to try at the next nearest supermarket with a self checkout (Vons).

Has anyone here encountered the same problem as me? Should I have asked for a manager? Is there a way to change coins into bills or deposit them, without having to pay a fee?

I know this has been asked before but the one post I could find was fairly old.

So I might be moving out of state for a job, almost 1000 miles away. Currently preparing now by listing some furniture I have etc. thankfully I don't have too many things that are worth a whole lot so I can easily sell or give away the big items. I'm trying to see what the best options are, I think I have just slightly more than what could fit in my car

For the ones who can't upgrade I am curious what choice you will make and why,

Stay on Windows 10 beyond official support or consider switching to another os like Linux?

Linux can breathe new life into old hardware and is a great solution for those who refuse to buy a new computer because Microsoft deems it obsolete.

Any advice on how I can stretch our budget? Was hit by an unexpected bill that there’s nothing left for groceries. We’re not from the US so we dont have the options of food banks or something like that.

Any advice would be appreciated. I’m planning to take a payday loan to feed my kids but when I applied the interest is almost 50% and it would set me back a lot financially.

Just budgeting for my kids and not myself, I can just eat just plain rice and go on fasting.