I'm all about trying to save money, especially now. So one of my favorite places to hang out online is r/Frugal, where money-conscious people share their best (and worst) tips for keeping spending down.
Recently, I spotted a pair of interesting threads and had to round up the top replies. First, u/wrecklesslyfinancialasked people to share the frugal tips that they've found to be a complete waste of time. Then, u/jenzie36asked people to share the frugal choices that are absolutely worth it. Here's what people had to say:
1.Worth It: "Packing my lunch every day. My colleagues spend $10–15 a day purchasing lunch. I bring leftovers in a microwave dish with some snacks like Greek yogurt, hummus and crackers, and fruit. It's sooo much cheaper."
2.Waste of Time: "Switching out cat litter. Went from a good brand that also came with a higher price tag to the one at Costco. Deep cleaning the litter boxes became a weekly chore because of how much that cheap litter got stuck everywhere. Went back to the original litter and never again will I switch."
3.Worth It: "Buying thick curtains. One time purchase for long-term savings energy bill-wise. AC and heat are very expensive these days."
4.Waste of Time: "My wife and I drove two states over to pick up a brand new stove and microwave (that we found on Facebook Marketplace) for what seemed like a good deal. Of course, neither one of us had a truck big enough, so we had to rent a U-haul. And pay for the gas. And lose a day. When we arrived, it wasn't quite the model we were expecting from the listing, but we had come too far at this point. Literally. So we took it. Later, I found that exact model on eBay. It would've cost about the same to have it delivered."
5.Worth It: "Meal planning and making a shopping list full of cheap ingredients that are flexible and last for a while like potatoes and celery."
6.Waste of Time: "Making homemade laundry detergent. I saved a dollar, but I spent 15 minutes hand-grating a Fels Naptha bar into tiny pieces. My laundry felt slimy and smelled funny."
7.Worth It: "Learning to fix my own car."
8.Waste of Time: "Coupon clipping. I spend less money when not shopping with coupons. The thing was, even if I had the coupon, there was always a cheaper option so I didn't use them anyway. I stopped bothering with coupons a long time ago."
9.Worth It: "Making bread. We have a bread machine, and our bread tastes better, is astronomically less expensive, doesn't have questionable ingredients, and is easy with the machine. Absolute win."
10.Waste of Time: "Driving to a gas station that is far away just to save 15 cents a gallon."
11.Worth It: "Unplugging my electric dryer during this heatwave from hell. Putting up a rotary clothesline I had in storage. My clothes dry outside anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes. Should have started this midwinter (it never really got cold). I’m not heating up my house with the dryer, thus making the air conditioner work harder. My electric bill is lower, and I get a bit of exercise."
12.Waste of Time: "Trying to save money on moving. Hiring professional movers is always the right choice for me. The stress of family, tempers, and fatigue is too much."
13.Worth It: "Buying Christmas and birthday gifts year-round. I shop clearance everywhere I go and have a covered bin in the attic for all things gift. This has also helped for last-minute invites to birthday parties or special occasions."
14.Waste of Time: "Driving 10 hours each way instead of flying. It'd make sense if it were more than one person, but I only saved, like, $100, and it was stressful."
15.Worth It: "Getting a nicer vacuum sealer and a chest freezer were very helpful choices. We got the sealer as a Christmas gift and the freezer was left by my BIL when he moved. Both have gotten us through a couple months of little-to-no income when they were fully stocked with discount foods."
16.Waste of Time: "I bought an electric bike, but it was too dangerous to ride one in my city, so now I just have an electric bike with a flat tire. I spent hundreds on Ubers until I could afford a used car."
17.Worth It: "I got a bidet. Feel way cleaner, and toilet paper use is reduced by 90%!"
18.Waste of Time: "Cheap toilet paper. I can use the good Charmin I love that does the job with much less, or I can use two to three times as much cheap toilet paper."
19.Worth It: "Creating an Amazon wishlist. Before Amazon discontinued their browser plugin to bookmark from any site, I saved so much money adding things to a list that I thought I needed or wanted to buy. I would eventually go through the list, and a huge amount of things weren’t even available anymore because I had forgotten about them for so long. I’ve since created a Google Doc with the same purpose. It's been so helpful in saving money and realizing I truly don’t need a lot. Impulse spending has been drastically cut."
20.Waste of Time: "I heated my house with a wood burning stove for two years. Spent a ton of time making firewood, managed to tear my shoulder up chopping wood. Now I have an injury. I have to do special exercises to keep my shoulder normal. My roof got dirty as hell with all the soot combining with water or fog and landing on the roof. Ended up buying a hydraulic splitter after the injury, so waste of money there. It was cool having $80 electric bills in winter, and I didn't mind the exercise or getting as much heat as I wanted. It was nice converting the random wood from around my property into something useful. It was just all in all a waste of time, money, and compounded problems/injuries."
21.Worth It: "Buying meat in bulk and breaking it down into smaller packages at home. The cost difference is staggering. Most small packages of meat are only a small amount less than the cost of the larger uncut meat. Like hamburger. I can buy 12 pounds for the same cost as 5 pounds in small packages."
22.Waste of Time: "Man oh man, did I spend money on rainwater barrels that I never set up and became a home for mosquitos."
23.Worth It: "Reusable menstruation products. It’s kind of a pain and time suck to hand wash my pads, BUT I’m saving at least $10 every period. My reusable products have paid for themselves many times over."
24.Waste of Time: "I tried to groom my dog myself, cut her, and ended up at the vet getting stitches. Tried to save $60 and ended up spending $150."
25.Worth It: "I’ve gotten quite good at sewing and crafts, and have learned to do so quite cheaply. Everyone gets handmade gifts from me, and they love them."
26.Waste of Time: "Making homemade butter from heavy cream in my mixer. I found I still needed to use store-bought butter in my baking and some main dish recipes. It tasted great, but it didn't save any on the grocery bill."
27.Worth It: "Always buy the cheap store brand grocery products if they exist for the product. Can often save between 20–60% on these items."
28.Waste of Time: "I absolutely hated grinding my own coffee beans. I hated cleaning the grinder. So I went back to ground beans for my cold brew and noticed only positive improvements."
29.Worth It: "ALWAYS paying off the credit card bills in full every month. Knowing the credit card company is floating me money and not making a dime off me in interest is extremely satisfying."
30.Waste of Time: "DIY projects usually end up costing more than if I bought the dang thing."
31.Worth It: "Taking public transportation to and from work."
32.Waste of Time: "Cord cutting. I spend more on subscriptions now."
33.Worth It: "I use washcloths and rags in place of paper towels. I think my system works better, especially because my space is small and has little storage. They are more absorbent, and if you just use it to soak up water, you can wait for it to dry and use it again. If clothing is too worn/stained/damaged to be donated, I just cut it up and use that, too."
Do you agree with these peoples' opinions, or do you have another tip to add to the list? Tell me what you think in the comments.
