Being economic with your money and resources isn’t something that you should be ashamed of. Quite the opposite! Throwing wastefulness in the bin and embracing frugality, thriftiness, and creativity are the way to go—especially if we want our wallets and our environment to reap the rewards.
The r/Frugal subreddit, a community housing nearly 1.9 million savings-minded members, encourages people to take a different approach to spending. Using our heads more instead of opening our wallets wider, lies at the core of their philosophy. We’ve collected some of the best life hacks that will help you budget better and help protect our lovely Planet Earth at the same time.
Waste not, want not, so let’s get scrolling. Upvote the hacks that you found to be the most useful and if you’re feeling generous, share some of your own frugal-living tips, dear Pandas.
#1 I Work At A Travel Agency, And When We Have To “Destroy” Our Outdated Maps, I Reuse Them As Wrapping Paper
Image source: saxamaphone710
#2 Girlfriend And I Wanted A Large Mirror On Our Wall, But Didn’t Want To Spend $$$ So We Found 6 Small Closet Door Mirrors On Sale For $4 Each
Image source: KyZar0
#3 I Saw A Previous Post Which Used Old Maps As Wrapping Paper, So Here Is My Old Music Used As Wrapping Paper!
Image source: Beanut_Putterr
#4 Enjoying The Porch Of Our New Home, Where We Live Rent Free As Caretakers Of A Wildlife Sanctuary. Eight Hours Of Labor A Week In Exchange For What Would Be At Least $1300/Month
Image source: harpo02
#5 Didn’t Want To Waste The Failed Films So I Turned Them Into Little Paintings
Image source: pastel_lamb
#6 Don’t Pay For Scientific Journals
Image source: _you_know_my_name__
#7 Money Is A Bit Tight Right Now So I Made Some Homemade Halloween Decorations. Turned Out Pretty Good, I Think
Image source: WilliamHarry
#8 I Made Shelves Using Recycled Thrift Store Speakers
Image source: MuchoGrande
#9 My Wife’s Great Aunt Has Been Saving On A Birthday Card For 35 Years With Her Friend As They Just Send Each Other The Same Card Back And Forth To Each Other Every Year. How Cool Is The Card And The Story That It Has Created?
Image source: iredditonthenet
#10 Our Canning Haul For The Year, Still Have To Do Apples Yet. All Home Grown Veggies
Image source: hippo_lives_matter
#11 Been Using My Great Grandfather’s Razor For A While Now. Decided To Clean And Polish It This Morning. Most Frugal Way To Shave. Blades Are Dirt Cheap! Before/After
Image source: joeyisnotmyname
#12 Both Of Our Children Used This Crib For The First 2.5 Years Of Their Lives. Trying To Get Another 5 Years Out Of It!
Image source: thepixarlamplala
#13 Wedding For Under $3k USD. Dress For $15 USD. This Was Right For Us
Here’s our cost breakdown. Only the daughters needed shoes. I did my own makeup, but purchased a few high quality items. Our marriage license cost includes the cost to have a mailed copy of the marriage certificate. Ring cost does not include the engagement ring. Thanks to Covid, we stayed well under budget. Full disclosure: we’re having a destination wedding (vow renewal) in Oct 2021 with just immediate family, where we’re paying for accommodations for all 25 people. I’d be happy with just our Covid wedding, but we are fortunate enough to be able to do both.
Venue (Park):$0.00- Justice of the Peace:$130.00- Marriage License:$70.00- Photographer:$200.00- Floral:$34.00- Attire: $258.53 (Bride $15.00, Groom $52.64, Son $52.64, Daughters (2) $138.25)- Makeup:$70.00- Rings:$1,986.88
Total $2,749.41
Image source: fruitybuttons
#14 I Asked My Local Farm Stand If They Had Any Damaged Produce They Couldn’t Sell. They Gave Me All Of This For Free!
Image source: tbaumandsauce
#15 I Recently Lost A Lot Of Weight And Had To Replace My Whole Wardrobe. I Didn’t Want To Throw Away Old Clothes That Still Had Some Kind Of Life, So Here We See 11 Leggings, 9 Tank Tops, 1 Top, And (Part Of) One Skirt Repurposed Into A Rug
Image source: reddit.com
#16 Check The International Foods Aisle For Spices. Price Difference Of Two Aisles Over At My Local Grocery
Image source: timopod5
#17 Built A Table Out Of Shipping Pallets Left For Trash Outside A Shipping Center! Total Cost: $23
Image source: eugeneden2010
#18 To Whoever Shared Wine And Painting Date Night Idea – Thank You!
Image source: fire_path
#19 I Built A Chicken Coop For Free Out Of Materials From Craigslist
Image source: RealMoneyRobert
#20 Beaded And Appliqued This Rust-Stained Dress And Wore It To A Wedding
Image source: isacookiep
#21 Pet Tip (Oc): Save All Semi-Viable Parts Of “Dead” Dog Toys, Order Some Replacement Squeakers, And Make A New Super Fun Franken-Toy!
Image source: jadeblanket
#22 I Made A Two Piece Outfit Out Of This Men’s Shirt I Got For $2.50 At Salvation Army
Image source: frankiishirey
#23 About 6 Years Ago I Ditched Paper Towels And Switched To Cotton Shop Towels. I Bought 150 Off Amazon For About $30. They Have Been Life Changing For Staying Frugal And Eco Conscious! I Keep A “Garbage Can” In My Kitchen To Separate These Out And Wash When Full With Hot Water, Detergent, And Bleach
Image source: King-Anonymous
#24 Couple Years Back I Ripped Out A Deck For My (Now Passed) Great Uncle. My Grandpa And I Saved The Pieces For When Eventually I Could Have My Own Back Yard! We Just Built It Today! Free Wood And 5 Hours Of Work!
Image source: Rogue_Mongoose
#25 My Husband Loves Berry Jam, But Berries Are Quite Expensive This Year, So I Decided To Forage Instead Of Buying, And Picked Over 4kg. Of Them
Image source: golden_eyed_cat
#26 Some Cheap Rit Dye Made My Old Backpack Look New Again
Image source: dogmetal
#27 The Tool Set Gift I Got My Dad For Father’s Day Was Heavy And Awkward To Wrap Traditionally, So I Bought A Small Tarp And A Pack Of Colorful Bungee Cords To Act As Gift Wrap And Ribbon! Practical And Only Cost Me $10!
Image source: Mercury90210
#28 Oh The Life Of An Electricians Wife, Forced To Strip For Extra Cash!
Image source: albiet
#29 I Combined A Broken Hockey Stick And Rake Into A Much Stronger Rake. Is This A Win?
Image source: wireframe88
#30 Spent $2 On 4 Heads Of Garlic Last Fall, Now I Have Over 70 Heads Of Garlic All Braided Together
1. Separate the heads into cloves
2. Plant in dirt 6ish inches apart in the fall
3. Wait until summer when the leaves start to die back
4. Harvest and braid into beautiful vampire necklaces
Image source: kempmesilly
#31 Lowe’s Employee Here: My Manager Told Me To Throw Away Bags Of Seeds Because We Needed Floor Space For Other Products. I Asked For A Deal And Got Each Back For 3-5 Cents. Regular Price Is $1.09-$2.49 269 Bags For Retail Price Of $646.59. I Payed $5.40
Image source: Dwingledork
#32 Not Paying For Expensive Spices Shelf. Instead, My Boyfriend Made This From Old Bed Slats. Jars From Mustard, Jams Etc. To Keep Homemade Seasoning Blends
Image source: emmabovary238
#33 Whenever I Get A Dish Sponge That Is Past Its Lifetime For Washing Dishes, I Always Cut It In Half And Then Retire Those Sponges For Household Cleaning Around The Bathroom And Other Dirty Areas. Cutting In Half Make Sure That They Never Get Used For Dishes Again
Image source: IAmAPhysicsGuy
#34 Learned This From My Mom. Everytime You Buy Chives/Green Onion Just Cut Most Of It Off And Use Them Or Store Them In The Fridge. Then Put The Roots In A Cup With Half An Inch Of Water. Regrows Back To Full Size Or More Within A Few Days. Can Repeat Up To About 2-4 Times If You Have A Good Batch
Image source: drderanged
#35 I Think You’ll Like The Gift I Got From My Frugal Aunt
Image source: iamthechiefhound
#36 A Little Cleaning And A $30 Leather Repair Kit, And It’s Almost As Good As New!
Image source: IAmAPhysicsGuy
#37 In An Effort To Make My Iced Tea Obsession Less Expensive And Also In Trying To Be Less Wasteful, I Took The Labels Off Of A Pack Of Snapple Bottles And I’ve Been Using Them To Make My Own Iced Tea For A While. It’s Seriously Has Cut My Drink Cost Down By Like 90%
Image source: paigeelizabeth3660
#38 Finally Figured Out How To Extend The Life Of My Fresh Spinach To Avoid Waste And Enjoy It Longer! Transferring To A Zip Lock Bag After Purchase And Inserting A Folded Paper Towel Reduces The Moisture That Collects In The Original Bag. Still Fresh Weeks Later Instead Of Spoiling Within A Week!
Image source: Crohnies
#39 Made Some Cinnamon Sugar Cookies From Leftover Pie Crust
Image source: humbleaf
#40 I Used To Throw Away All The Stuff My Kid Gets From Goody Bags At Other Birthday Parties. Now I Recycle Them And Put Them In A Piñata On Her Birthday
Image source: uberchelle_CA
#41 My Local Supermarket Sells ‘Miss-Shaped’ Fruit And Veg For Several Dollars Cheaper Than Regular Produce – Easy Way To Save A Few Bucks, Plus The Packaging Is Super Cute!
Image source: Kiloura
#42 Cloths Pins Are $1 For 100 And So Much Better Than Plastic Chip Clips
Image source: cleverraptor2
#43 Made A Staircase With Rocks And Repurposed Cement Slabs
Image source: Fusiontechnition
#44 I Got Bids From Tile Setters To Do A Backsplash For $2000. I Ended Up Doing It Myself For Under $200
Image source: jwaltersweathermen
#45 Basically Getting Paid To Exercise, While Helping Clean Up The Neighborhood. Collecting Cans While Getting My Steps In. Frugal Af!
Image source: rust_in_pieces
#46 My Frugal Friends, I Just Made My Bathroom Counter Look Like This With An $11.99 Roll Of Adhesive Paper. Now I Wanna Cover Everything With It
Image source: SkippingLittleStones
#47 Never Buying Bread Again. I Realized I Can Bake About 50 Loaves Of Bread From 50 Lb Of Flour. Mega Savings
Image source: Chops888
#48 Always Check The Weight
Image source: j-j-j-j
#49 Psa: It’s Time To Oil Your Leather Boots
Image source: Starving_Poet
#50 May Be A No Brainer But, Never Buy Prepackaged Fruit. This Was A $2 Watermelon That Would Have Cost $20 Precut
Image source: Pete_the_rawdog
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