Many folks are looking for additional ways to save money. And in times like this, the easiest thing to do is to fall back on the advice you’ve been hearing all of your life. However, those frugality tips might save you a tiny sliver of cash, at the expense of massive chunks of your time and energy. Which isn’t all that great of a bargain now, is it?
Redditor u/LtCommanderCarter started an interesting and useful discussion on r/Frugal, asking people to share all the savings hacks that they personally think are either totally outdated or just plain wrong. And some of them might make you see how you budget things and spend your (very limited) time in a fresh new light. Check them out below.
Meanwhile, Bored Panda reached out to personal finance expert and best-selling author Rick Orford who was kind enough to shed some light on what someone could do if they find that their expenses are outweighing their income. You'll find our interview with him as you read on.
#1
People don’t account for quality or time at all. Yes I can clean my own house, mow my own lawn, fix whatever is broken, but all of that takes time to do it and it won’t be as good as some who does it for a living. You can always make more money so be frugal with time than money.
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#2
"it's cheaper to buy in bulk"then half of the item goes to waste because of spoilage or freshness.
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#3
Wash your dishes by hand. Yeah my dishwasher uses less power to heat the water and run a load than the hot water cylinder uses just to heat the water. It uses less water than a sink full and can do more dishes in that amount of water than I can. So saves me money there too as I have to pay for water.Actual handy frugal tip incoming, scrape food off your dishes and then just load into the dishwasher. Do not rinse your dishes. Add dishwasher powder to the prerinse section as well as the normal wash section. Select a cycle with a prerinse start. Dishes come out perfectly clean. Use powder, not tablets. Powder is generally about the same price as tablets but will get you twice the amount of loads.
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We probably all know that money won’t make you happy on its own—health, an active social life, and finding purpose in life will help you with that. However, a bigger income can boost your happiness as you find more and more financial stability… to a certain extent.
Research conducted by Daniel Kahneman and Matthew Killingsworth, arbitrated by Barbara Mellers found that happiness rises up to $100,000 per year, and then plateaus. Greater income increased the emotional well-being of those who were the unhappiest the most. However, those people who are already very happy with their lives saw their happiness grow even beyond earning $100,000 per year.
“In the simplest terms, this suggests that for most people larger incomes are associated with greater happiness. The exception is people who are financially well-off but unhappy. For instance, if you’re rich and miserable, more money won’t help. For everyone else, more money was associated with higher happiness to somewhat varying degrees,” Killingsworth, the lead paper author and a senior fellow at Wharton, said.
#4
“Don’t use credit cards, use cash for everything.” - easy way to not have a great credit score when you need a loan. Use the cards and pay it off monthly.
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#5
Delivery services. I do Walmart delivery all the time. I save on impulse purchases, it’s free, and the $10 tip saves me so much time and energy. Plus I can examine the price/weight in more detail.Oh, and my kids can’t beg for stuff or sneak things in the cart.
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#6
DIY. Not everyone has thousands of dollars worth of equipment around and the skills to build something cheap.People reusing plastic containers for food. No, that is not designed to be reused for ten years
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According to personal finance expert Rick, there are two main strategies for building a surplus of income. The first one is increasing our income, such as "by asking for a raise, getting a higher paying job, or even a side hustle." The second approach is decreasing our expenses.
"Increasing income could be as simple as approaching one's boss and explaining why you're valuable, the extra work you provide over and above what's expected, and the current going rate for an experienced role such as yours," the expert told Bored Panda.
"If that doesn't work, there are other options. Thanks to the strong jobs market, now is a great time to dust off the resume and start looking for a higher-paying job."
There are always good opportunities available if someone has the patience to search for them and the courage to act.
#7
I'm in a high cost of living area and the "thrift stores" sell noticably worn t-shirts for $13.99.They haven't been thrifty for more than 8 years in my area.
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#8
Driving for miles to save 2-5 cents on gas. I still see this done today and I don't think it helps at all. But to each their own.Thanks to another reddit user, I will add and point out that the saving 2-5 cents is meant for those who use unleaded or diesel. There are those who use other forms of gas that I was not meaning for this to apply to because they may not have that option. My apologies.
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#9
A lot of people don't save the amounts of money they believe they are saving. Pointing this out to them, even using numbers and math, can even make them angry.
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At the same time, knowing how to control your expenses can be an invaluable skill, too. Rick pointed out that part of making ends meet also means cutting expenses as well as creating and sticking to a budget.
"To start a budget, divide expenses between needs and wants. Needs are necessities that you need to live, like rent, insurance, food, etc. Wants are things that are nice to have, e.g. subscriptions, restaurants, shopping, etc.," the personal finance expert said.
"For many Americans, interest payments are also a big portion of one's budget. As a result, prioritizing paying down debt will result in instant savings (less interest to pay monthly), thereby increasing one's monthly surplus of income," he explained.
"Putting it all together, cutting back means reducing expenses and increasing income at the same time so that you can spend less than you earn and save the rest." For some more great personal finance advice, feel free to check out Rick's blog, as well as his book, 'The Financially Independent Millennial.'
#10
Higher quality cost more. The cost tells you nothing about the quality, it’s better to look at the materials and how something was made.
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#11
Clip grocery store name brand coupons to save money.Except most of the things that have manufacturer's coupons are high markup processed foods. Often another brand was a better buy than the coupon item. Sometimes a different size of the same product by the same manufacturer that didn't qualify for the discount was a better buy.
Buying generic and cooking from scratch are usually cheaper.
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#12
Dollar stores.Usually not cheaper *per unit* —they’re just packaged in smaller quantities to price cheaper.
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It makes sense for anyone and everyone to manage their finances well. Ideally, you want to have an income that’s greater than your monthly expenses. That way, you can pay for everything that you need, slowly get rid of any debt that you might have, and even have money left over to drop into your savings account or invest where you see fit.
A good approach to managing your expenses is to sit down and create a detailed list of all of your monthly expenses. Then, be honest with yourself about where you can cut back. For instance, you might be paying for a few streaming services but never find the time or energy to actually use them. It’d be a no-brainer to (temporarily) suspend those accounts.
Or you might realize that you’re spending an incredible amount of money on sneakers you never wear or on video games you don’t even enjoy anymore. This will look different for everyone. If money is tight, you need to get rid of all the superfluous expenses first before moving on to the stuff that will really feel bad to sacrifice.
#13
**Eliminate monthly subscriptions/daily coffee/small expenses.** I'm so tired of seeing this advice.Cutting $100/month on streaming and small expenses is gonna involve (a) negotiating with my wife and the kids and (b) some amount of disappointment ($100/month would be, like, all of our music and video streaming. So that's a lot of disappointment). In other words, a lot of time and effort for basically nobody to get what they want.
It is easier and quicker to find $100 in savings by refinancing a mortgage, student loans, or car loans, or working on other large expenses like car insurance or homeowner's insurance -- not just because those are larger spending categories, but because the wife and kids don't care who services our debt or insures our cars.
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#14
Just because it didn't cost money, doesn't mean you saved. Your time is worth money. Professionals have insurance and offer warranties, you don't get those if you do it yourself. It's important to factor those in when you're trying to save
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#15
The whole hyper-focussing on smaller issues while not caring about larger things.I know people IRL, who, (despite being comfortable middle-class) will collect coupons for everything, or buy clothes on sales only, or buy gasoline only from costco.
However, if I ask them about their bigger finances, they just draw a blank. No investments, no passive income, most of their money in the bank or in the house in physical form (which is basically deprecating due to inflation). Many don't even know their approximate ball-park net worth or how much rate of interest their bank is giving, and they also don't know how to do taxes to get good returns (despite being educated and in a white-collar job).
But god forbid you buy a $4 milk carton, and they will talk about how you could have saved one dollar if you waited till Friday when they lower the price to $3.
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One major area where you can really cut back is food. For instance, if you’re a big fan of dining out, eating fast food, ordering takeaway, or buying tons of snacks every single day, you can save a ton by choosing to cook at home. You can make inexpensive, nutritious meals very quickly by shopping around for good deals and planning ahead.
You could, for instance, buy certain ingredients at a discount and then freeze them for future use. Meanwhile, when you’re cooking, you can make bigger batches of chili or stir-fry or chicken and broccoli with rice, and then freeze the portions for the rest of the week. This way, you’re saving your time, energy, and money.
So long as you’re focusing on nutrition, you should be perfectly fine. And it’s no sin to dine out somewhere fancy from time to time—good food is good for the soul. But it really does have to be ‘from time to time,’ not daily.
#16
Latte factor!It's like "okay I need to make my money go further somehow' and people are like "stop buying coffee!" It's like you really think that wasn't the first thing to go? Really? It's like when thin people tell me I could lose so much weight if I stopped drinking soda and are stunned or flat out don't believe me when I say I don't drink soda (and if I do it's usually coke zero which isn't great for you but isn't the calorie bomb they're imagining).
Image credits: LtCommanderCarter
#17
My mother will drive around to 2 or 3 different grocery stores to take advantage of various deals, but I'm certain that the time and gas burnt driving around cancels out any savings on groceries. (This may be less true with grocery prices skyrocketing recently)
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#18
In this used car market, you might be better off buying a new car than trying to find a used one. (This only really applies to affordable sedans, though.) You get the warranty at, in some cases, the same price.
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#19
People still parrot the “buy a cheap laser printer from Brother” talking point like it’s 2005. You don’t need a printer at all, just go to a copy shop and spend the 30 cents the one time in a decade you’ll actually need to print something.
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#20
Going cheap on everything. You are not doing yourselves any favors by buying cheap appliances. Cheap appliances break easy and need to be replaced. When you buy something, make sure it lasts and your not throwing money away to replace it every couple of months.
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#21
1) "Black Friday, Boxing day etc are all scams and spending to money is the frugal option." : There is some truth to this but people miss it entirely. using these kind of sales for big purchases if the price is better or comparable to the recent price history of the item. Last year alone i got a new microwave for %50/$150 off let alone cutting my cellphone and internet bills in half. In the past i got much needed furniture, other appliances and general house hold items i really needed on these sales2) " When moving random boxes are free!" : This is my biggest gripe. I will maintain that buying proper moving boxes saves you money and time in the long run. Firstly Random boxes are difficult to stack and move, since you're now playing tetris with them to make it fit. Driving around trying to find boxes wastes time and money in gas, plus transporting the ever popular alcohol boxes means you are now transporting air since they are glued together. Buying flat moving boxes are fairly cheap and you can pick up a bunch at once and go home with them. Every time I've helped people move, when they used uniform moving boxes everything went so much faster.
3) "Costco is a waste of money": Simply put you just don't know how to Costco. People end up buying more then they can consume and throw it out, or they over consume because they buy in bulk. The other problem is people impulse shop. Find what you need and comparison shop, more often then not you'll save a ton of money. Recently I pick up an instant pot for $60 cheaper then anywhere else, that alone is the cost of a membership. In my last trip i picked up printer paper saving about $3-4 over staples, bath soap saving $3-4 over walmart, Shampoo saving $4, mens Deoderant saving about $10, womens deoderant saving $12-15, chicken legs/drumsticks saving about $1 a pound and so forth. Even big purchases like clothes is far better quality then other stores at the same price point.
4) "That costs too much that isn't frugal" This is a personal one. Some people think being frugal means being as cheap as possible. Recently I made a post of some containers i used to clean up my pantry, i spent less then $4 per container which is cheaper then any other option out there except re-using crappy plastic ones and a lot of people jumped on me for it. I also see a lot of frugal things people do and it's either a mess, an eyesore, takes way to much time for what you're saving or all 3. Spending a few extra dollars can alleviate these problems. Remember time is money and value your time as well.
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#22
The general idea that you should keep everything for as long as possible and only replace something when it breaks.For older electric items, especially things like heaters and refrigerators, the energy consumption of an older appliance can be 4-5x higher or more than a new model. Depending on how much your energy costs the cost of that extra energy can be the equivalent of buying a new appliance every few years.
Same with cars. With the amount you spend on repairs/maintenance and the general poorer fuel consumption you're often better off financially buying a newer one sooner rather than "driving until the wheels fall off".
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#23
Making your own laundry detergent. It's performative frugality and a tremendous waste of time. Powdered detergent is cheap.
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#24
Cleaning products. Sometimes baking soda and vinegar doesn’t cut it. Save your body soreness, frustration, and wasted time. Buy yourself some soft scrub!
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#25
My pet peeve is "you need to save 3 months of expenses in an emergency fund." You actually need way more than that. Eight months to a year is recommended to sustain yourself during a recession. And anytime I look for a new job, it takes two months at least before I find something. I wouldn't want to lie awake at night worrying that the last month is going to escape me before my paycheck arrives.
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#26
Thrift stores are cheaper for quality, if you enjoy the search as a hobby.Black Friday has always been a performative consumption marketing ploy.
Wrong frugality is maybe just doing anything that is time consuming and unfulfilling to save a few dollars.
EDIT: And I feel like this will answer a bunch of downthread comments, Black Friday is a Q4 retail nonsense holiday that attempts to put books in the black for new year. SKUs are invented for it specifically. It's cool if you, individually, get nice deals for your family, however the entire idea is nonsense.
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#27
That earning more money means you lose all the gains to taxes. Nope, you always will take home more money if you get a raise. Where a raise does adversely affect a person is if the extra income tips them out of a government benefit, such as below x income receive this tax credit or that assistance program. But you have to usually be pretty low income to get those anyway.
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#28
"Live within your means" is a load of c**p. Increase your income is much better advise.
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#29
"You'll never get ahead if you work for someone else"
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#30
Eating out is just as expensive as grocery shopping these days. It varies , but the price per meal of cooking at home is much cheaper
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#31
New cars are better because you dont get repairs#32
Almost none of these comments are actually things that are blatantly wrong they may just not apply to some people. DIY, buying in bulk, Black Friday deals, finding quality items at thrift stores, are all things that tons and tons of people have had success with.#33
That eggs are now too expensive to eat. Is everyone only eating ramen noodles now?#34
Put a bucket in the shower to catch the water while it’s heating up and use that water for something else#35
That penny pinching is always the best deal. Sometimes it’s a better deal to save time instead of some money. Or buy the expensive item now so you don’t have to replace it 50 times.#36
"tell the dealership you have cash in hand. They'll give you an amazing out-the-door price!"Haven't seen this to be true for the past 10 years. Dealerships make their money off of loans and the APR they can rake you over the coals for. They don't care if you have cash in hand. The point is to sell a loan, warranties, and future service
#37
One of my pet peeves is when people go to the grocery with a list and ONLY buy what’s on it, claiming it saves them money. I guess it’s called meal planning.We buy whatever we want with the basic rule that it gets used and not tossed because of age. My thoughts are keep a full pantry which then eliminates extra grocery store runs and buying when it’s not on sale. So how does that waste money?
#38
Thrift stores are a great place for quality used clothing, if you’re willing to dig.If you’re in a hurry, it isn’t a good idea though.
#39
Almost every frugal person I meet in real life has way too much stuff and is a borderline hoarder, if not a full on. Obviously this isn’t every frugal person, but I have noticed a pattern that they have a quantity vs quality mindset, and thus they think they don’t spend a lot of money because spending 5 or 10 dollars here and there doesn’t seem like much, but when you don’t buy anything in like 6 months and buy one quality item, it seems like you’re a big spender.For instance, all my mom friends scold me because I buy very high end baby gear and better quality baby clothes. I bet one of my mom friends that I still spend way less money than her. She laughed at me. Then I went to her house one day and noticed she had an entire dresser AND closet full of clothes for one tiny human, along with all the stupid s**t they want moms to think their babies actually need. I proceeded to explain to her that she has spent 1000s of dollars on cheap Walmart and carters baby clothes and yet I buy kyte baby but only buy 14 pieces for each kid. We want enough for 2 weeks and that’s it. It makes no sense to have drawers full of clothes when a laundry machine exists, and we both had one in our home. Both my kids clothes couldn’t even fill up a dresser, neither could mine. We are very minimal and we only buy what we enjoy using. I will never ever go to target and just pick up some cheap decor piece because it’s cute. I have no issues with bare walls until I can afford real art. Our garage is empty because a garage is for a car, not storage. Moving is a breeze and my kids are happier, and more creative for it. I would rather buy them few wooden toys that foster creativity than go to a store and buy every piece of junk I see ( Lego’s and magnatiles are an accretion to this rule of course ) yet these people think they are frugal, they are not.
#40
The people who insist credit and debit cards are bad.No, they aren’t. YOU lacked the self control to understand how to manage one efficiently. They are extremely useful if you use it responsibly. They warn everyone else because of their failures. it’s quite comical.
#41
People say that a plant based diet is too expensive. That's only true if you are constantly buying all the plant based substitutes. If you're just getting normal basic food like legumes and grains and veggies and stuff like that, it's a lot cheaper than buying meat.#42
It's cheaper to diy/if you want something done right, do it yourself.My family always said this. I was in my 30s when i finally realized how wrong they were. While trying to plumb in a new bath tub. It took me a week to fail at it. It took a plumber an hour to do it right.
#43
anything that requires to spend like 20 cents to save a dollar.#44
To hoard something incase you’ll need it later.Sure, it saves money as long as you aren’t branching out to storage units. But the toll on your mental health when you push the tip to far has a high cost.
#45
“Never pay a credit card annual fee.”I used to use a 2% cash back no annual fee credit card (Citi Doublecash Mastercard). Now I pay $75 per year for a 3% cash back Visa with one year extended warranty, primary rental car CDW coverage, TSA Precheck/Global Entry, an 4x/year lounge access (for 2). If I use the rewards to book travel then it jumps to 4.5% cash back. Plus I can use it at Costco since it’s a Visa card. The $75 is recovered after $7500 per year in charges.
#46
"Buying in bulk always saves money." It's not true, because you don't always need a 55 gallon drum of mayonnaise. You'll end up throwing out most of it. Plus, Aldi is most likely cheaper anyway. Price/cost per unit is really what matters.#47
Not exactly frugal, but buying a brand-new hybrid to get a few more mpgs. Maybe slightly better for the environment, but you just dropped 40k and have now put another car on the road when your old one was paid off.#48
Cheap paper towels. They're horrible.#49
Coupons. There are exceptions, obviously, but most of them require you to buy multiples of brand name items. You're often better off buying the generic and skipping the coupon.#50
Pretty much all of my (mostly designer) wardrobe has been throated or bought at yard sales/consignment shops, etc. So, that part isn’t accurate at all, it just depends on where you live/travel, and your eye for quality items.Just two days ago I got a bespoke embossed teal leather clutch for $2. Looked it up online and it retails for $160. Just before that, a Waverly duvet retailing at $250, for $5.
You just gotta know where and how to look.
#51
I'm genuinely interested in counterarguments on this one: I feel like the potential savings associated with a professional tax preparer (in the US) are over-stated by people who hire professional help for standard 1040 tax returns. Some members of my family are convinced that I must be missing deductions or credits and overpaying the IRS because I self-prepare with Intuit or HRB software every year.source https://www.boredpanda.com/outdated-frugal-advice-people-give/
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