I love to save money for all sorts of reasons.
It’s satisfying. It feels like wise stewardship of our resources. And mostly because it frees up more money for things that matter to our family — experiences (travel! kids’ activities!), needs (food! clothing! shelter!), and giving.
But not all money-saving strategies are created equal.
Big-picture decisions — like buying used cars or a modest home — have a much larger impact on our finances than daily penny-pinching. For example: we own two used vehicles. Sure, we could try to manage with just one, or find cheaper cars (John has a penchant for German vehicles). But in the grand scheme of things, we’re still saving a lot in terms of insurance and sticker price. Same goes for our house — we bought the best deal we could find in the town where we wanted to live. That single choice has probably saved us more money than years of every other frugal habit combined.
We also travel overseas with our kids. We do it as affordably as possible, but let’s be honest — that’s a luxury, not a frugal necessity.
Today’s post isn’t going to be about big things. And know I am missing loads of things I do (or don’t do), so maybe I’ll write a follow-up post as more come to mind.
TOP FIVE
- Buying secondhand. This one’s no surprise. I own almost no new clothing, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. (We buy a lot of things secondhand.)
- Eating at home. We do go out — for fun or convenience — but I’ve never had food delivered to my home. Ever. In my entire life. And the vast majority of our meals are prepared at home (with ingredients we’ve purchased on sale).
- Drinking water. I rarely drink my calories. No juice, no alcohol. Just water. I do enjoy about six cans of sparkling water a week; this isn’t free, but it’s far cheaper than most other alternatives.
- Low-maintenance hair. I get my hair cut about once every 18 months. I don’t dye it, perm it, or use expensive products. I had a keratin treatment earlier this year for only the second time in my life, but in the grand scheme of things, I’d say I average about $100/year on my hair inclusive of everything.
- Using the library. Do I always get the book I want right away? No. But do I care enough to pay for it? Absolutely not.
Bonus: Shopping sales — especially loss leaders at the grocery store.
BOTTOM FIVE
- Reusing tea bags. I did this back in a season where we were pinching every last penny. John knew someone growing up who was independently wealthy and reused tea bags. I respect the hustle, but life is too short and tea bags are too cheap.
- Turning down the thermostat at night. I know this saves money over time, but I can’t do it. We already keep the house cooler than I’d like, and if I wake up cold, I’ll be cold all day. The thermostat stays where it is.
- Mending clothes. This one is shame on me. Other than a simple button or the easiest of seams, I can’t do it. And forget hemming. That goes straight to the pros.
- Taking short showers. See above re: temperature. I don’t shower every single day, but when I do shower, it’s going to be long and hot. Period.
- DIY home repairs. It is obviously MUCH cheaper to paint, patch drywall, and things of this ilk. But we’re terrible at home repairs.
Bonus: line-drying clothes. We used to have a clothesline, and while I LOVE the smell of line-dried clothes, I find it such a faff. We no longer have a clothesline, though we air dry lots of things in our laundry room.
There are lots of ways to save money, but not all of them make sense for every person, or in every season. Being thoughtful about the big decisions gives us the freedom to be more flexible with the small ones. Some popular frugal habits just don’t work for me…and that’s okay! We all have our own version of what’s worth it and what’s not.
It’s your turn!
- What are your Top/Bottom Five frugal choices?
- What small savings feel worth it to you?
- What “frugal” habits do you refuse to do, even if they technically save money?
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My bottom five:
*Drinking diet coke. I try to give it up or minimize it. Nope, never works.
*buying some name brands for food. Sorry, Jif and Peter pan are the only pb good for sandwiches. I’ll spend the money on food we will eat than waste it on items that would linger forever in the cupboard.
* buying new clothes for my teen boys and daughter. They’re past the ages where there’s a wide assortment of options at the thrift store. I just don’t have the patience or decent enough thrift stores to go on the hunt.
*buying donuts to bring to work. Builds camaraderie for $7 a box – worth it.
* joining the YMCA. We could just walk in our neighborhood, or my husband use the weight room at his work. But this has a pool and open more hours, and my husband likes the flexibility.
Top five:
* buying used cars.
*buying an old home
*having preset schedules on the thermostat to turn down heat at night and during the day when we’re not at home. ( sorry, Elisabeth, you’d be miserable here at 65F ( 18C) and 59F (15C) at night. I’ll turn it up for you if you ever wander my way!)
*not using the AC much in the summer.
* marrying my husband, who can fix cars , renovate houses, repair appliances, and do just about everything to save money. ( this weekend- the noisy dryer, the car leaking antifreeze, and putting up storm windows.)
Bonus- having cats. For <$20 a month in food and litter, we have entertainment, affection, and a warm fuzzy body to cuddle with at night. ( you know I couldn't post a comment without cats!)
Another bonus: put money into retirement accounts and HSA automatically, so we save a lot on taxes, build our nest egg, and never miss it as we don't see it.
One thing I won't do: join Facebook. I am tempted by marketplace and buy nothing, but I just don't like the whole creepy big brother vibe. I know Google and Amazon already know a lot about me; I don't need one more omniscient overlord in my life. I'd also waste too much time looking at people's pet pictures.
I would be MISERABLE at those temperatures. But it saves money and, I think, it’s often said to be very good for sleep!
I am like you with a few brands; I have a favourite ketchup (President’s Choice) and favourite peanut butter (Kraft) and favourite boxed Mac n’ Cheese (also Kraft).
Sometimes you can’t really put a price on something that brings people together; $7 for doughnuts sounds like it more than pays off!
Love how you reframe cat ownership and I’m proud of you for finding a way to weave cats into this answer 🙂
I’m not on Facebook either. I constantly hear about the amazing deals on Facebook Marketplace, but we’re fundamentally a hard pass on Facebook so I “miss out” on lots of those deals.
Ha, I love this list! Totally with you on the food delivery – no way! And reusing tea bags… that’s one frugal step too far.
My top 3 frugal habits:
– Tracking every expense, no matter how small. The little things add up fast.
– Walking/biking whenever possible instead of driving.
– Zero food waste. We shop carefully so nothing ever has to be thrown away.
My bottom 3:
– Coffee after workouts (it’s my treat, and coffee shops aren’t expensive in Cape Town).
– Running shoes.
– Vitamins and supplements – they’re pricey, but I like to think they’re keeping me healthy.
Zero food waste is huge both economically and environmentally. All sorts of gold stars for this!
Going to my favourite coffee shop to get tea is just a sheer delight for me. It brings me a lot of joy for a relatively low investment.
Also, investing in things like running shoes (both because they support your exercise habit and new running shoes help protect your body) and the vitamins feel like they could save you a lot of money in the long run because of health declines. So they’re like an insurance policy. You pay up front, but in the long run it can pay off in dividends!
SQUISHING TOGETHER TINY PIECES OF SOAP!
I do that all the time and it probably saves almost zero money, since I buy Dove soap in bulk at Costco. But almost zero is not zero, Elisabeth!!
I do 2, 3, 4, and 5 off your top five list but not specifically to save money, although obviously it does. We rarely eat out, and I drink a lot of water. Although I do drink coffee (OBVIOUSLY, NO ONE WANTS TO DIE) and I have cocktails and/ or wine on the weekends. But those are at-home beverages, so I’m saving money! Rob is very handy and fixes things around the house, so that’s something. I use the library but some books and authors are automatic buys for me (did you know Margaret Atwood’s memoir just came out?? I put it on my Christmas list).
We keep our house quite cool at night, the heat goes down automatically. And it’s the opposite in summer, we don’t keep our AC at a low temp (is that we keep the AC high or low? I don’t know, our house is like 24 degrees in the summer). So those are my frugal things!
Almost zero is not zero; words to live by, my friend. It feels very akin to “a penny saved is a penny earned.” Plus, all these tiny pieces of soap must mean you are exceptionally clean.
No one wants to die – hahaha. Your post this week to too funny, what with the horror of having a potentially useless coffee machine. I laughed out loud.
I did know Margaret Atwood had a memoir out and I thought of you immediately. Don’t unfriend me but…I haven’t read a single book by Margaret Atwood yet. Can we still be friends?
We keep the AC relatively high (as in, 24ish degrees), but I need it to be 22 (at minimum) in the winter for the heat. I’d like it to be 24, but that feels like a step too far and my family would likely revolt. Everyone else runs MUCH warmer than I do.
Yes to frugality, or having respect for money as I like to call it. I’m in week two of early retirement, and I’m very grateful for the pennies that 20 year old Birchie pinched to make this possible.
One thing that I love is that my husband and I have different skills, so we complement each other and eliminate the gaps that we have as individuals. I’m not good at finding deals on cars or at home repair, so he is the one that is racking up our savings in those areas. I led the push to save in our 529 accounts instead of complaining about the cost of college.
The only top five for you that I don’t do is to shop at thrift stores – not because I don’t want to but because the selection isn’t great where I live. My idea of getting food delivered is sending Hubs to pick up our takeout orders. I agree with all of your bottom five, although I have a live in handyman to take care of most repairs.
I have a high degree of ick toward reusing tea bags and my #2 is excessively reusing ziplock bags. If it needs to be washed then it has served its purpose and we’re moving on.
Respect for money. What a wonderful reframe!
Yay for being able to retire. Yes, Younger Birchie did a solid favour for current Birchie who now gets to live her best life.
All thrift stores are not created equal and so I am very cognizant of the fact I’m very fortunate to have a wonderful selection where I live.
PLEASE TALK TO MY HUSBAND ABOUT REUSING ZIPLOCS. I hate washing them out and would bury them in the trash when they were dirty so John couldn’t see them. But he took it upon himself to assume all responsibilities for washing the bags. So we stockpile them (I mean they’re not filthy, we’re talking things with cookie crumbs or what was used to cover up cheese – NO RAW MEAT, etc), and then once a month or so he washes a huge load of them. It is a hill he will die on, so I leave him to it and now at least don’t have to wash any Ziploc bags.
Growing up, my parents always turned the thermostat down at night and I HATED IT SO MUCH. It was so incredibly miserable getting out of bed in the cold! And like you said- then I was cold all day. If I lived in a cold climate, that is one way I would NOT save money.
Home repairs- we’ve learned the hard way to hire someone to do it. Some things we’ll do- like I’ll paint (I can handle that) and my husband will do minor repairs if he can find a youtube tutorial- I know he’s fixed the garbage disposal a couple times. But in general we’re just not very handy.
I agree there are some things that just aren’t worth saving money on, and that varies from person to person. I’m with you on drinking mostly water (with some sparkling water as well). Alcohol will really jack up that grocery bill! We used to get a bottle of wine once a week, and now we don’t even do that. And it’s not to save money- we just don’t drink much these days. But now I’m appreciating the fact that we’re saving money as well.
We’re twins. My dad’s idea of winter heating was to put on another sweater. It was so cold. I remember sitting by the baseboard heater and sticking my toes inside on the element because I was so cold. I guess I’ve always been cold-blooded??
We are so unhandy. It’s almost comical at this point. Both of us are pretty much useless.
It always amazes me how much alcohol costs. Good thing I don’t enjoy it! I suppose if I did, it would seem like money well spent? But I don’t and that’s a very easy way to keep down grocery/entertainment budgets. And it means when we eat out I just order tap water…which is the perfect price of free.
My top 3 would be eating out infrequently, keeping our thermostat high in the summer and low in the winter, and using the library! I wish we would spend money on a house cleaner. I am enjoying the service gifted to us by colleagues and really wishing Phil would just accept that it’s a worthwhile use of $$. But we’ll see how he feels after we are out of cleaner gift cards!
Something we do differently from you is buy new cars. We buy Toyotas and the difference in new v used pricing is not very significant! We intend to use the car until it’s not economical to do so anymore. We did sell my Toyota Camry in 2023. I paid something like $22k for it in 2016 and we sold it for $19k in 2023. So we did not really “lose” money on that overall. Phil’s 2014 Corolla has less than 50k miles on it so it’s probably going to eventually be one of our kids’ cars! We are lucky and do not drive all that much so have low mileage on our cars.
Another decision we made was to buy a house that did not need significant updates. This is a total personal preference/personality thing, though. We liked the certainty of the financial outlay for the house. We did consider buying one house that was extremely cheap but would need significant renos. We had a friend’s BIL who is a contractor tour the house with us, and the cost was going to be so much that the ‘deal’ on the house was not really a deal any longer. But we are NOT DIY people, so any updates would need to be hired out. So we accepted a higher priced house in exchange for more certainty about future outflows. Of course, that means we had a certain level of privilege to choose between the 2! But we also bought this house when we were 38. Phil bought his first house in 14 when he was 33. So we owned homes later in our lives (although now the average age of a first time home buyer is 40 because of how unaffordable the housing market is). I feel like there is a huge emphasis on buying v renting but in our case, renting for longer was better (and Phil’s rent was stupid cheap! Mine was not…).
I hope this is all it takes for Phil to finally come around to having a cleaning service again. You both work out of the house for such long days and I am 1000% in your corner on this one. All my fingers and toes crossed he takes the leap!
I did not really want a house that needed work, but where we live it’s a very hot housing market and it is HARD to find a reasonably priced house that doesn’t need work. We would definitely still be paying our mortgage if we had not bought a fixer-upper with good bones. That said, I told John I NEVER want to do it again. We are not DIY people, but I also underestimated how stressful it would all be. That said, MOST of the things haven’t been incredibly major and what we’ve invested in upgrades has more than paid for itself in the leap in value on our house.
Top Frugalness: Never have bought takeout food to bring home, no to-go coffee (I do meet friends for coffee and we’re usually there 2 hours!), we do all our paint and wallpaper/drywall type jobs ourselves, cut the grass/blow leaves/snow blow driveway ourselves, no gym memberships (we have a home gym in our basement), no memberships to Costco/Sam’s Club, etc., no paying for any apps, have always done our own taxes (that will finally change next year as it’s now included in our financial advisors plan, thank goodness because it’s become too complicated), buy the cheapest shampoo, deodorant and other body care as I’m not that picky about most of those things, don’t turn our heat on until November 1st.
Top Splurges: Only buy new cars (my husband says he doesn’t want to buy someone else’s problem, but we buy the cheapest Honda CRVs), we eat out every weekend for date/couples’ nights out and it’s generally healthy food ($$), I’ve only ever bought new clothes (I can barely find things I like that fit me in major department stores, as I’m ultra picky about fit), we generally stay in pricey boutique hotels if it’s just the two of us, renting a huge house for a week in the summer to host all my kids/grandkids.
It’s funny about the tea bag because I use each teabag twice (once after lunch/once after dinner), not to save money but because I don’t like my tea to get too astringent. It’s fun to read everybody’s preferences!
These are fascinating. Like you, we do most yardwork ourselves. We used to do our taxes, but hire someone to do corporate taxes and included in that fee he does our personal taxes which I am more than happy to outsource.
I mostly but whatever soap or shampoo is on the best sale.
I let me tea steep for quite a while, so I think the second time around it’s always so watery and I would put it in the fridge and then it would taste funny and…just NO! But it makes a lot of sense about it being easier on your stomach when it’s steeped a second time and less astringent!
I don’t think I am particularly frugal, but I try to make reasonable choices and compromises.
I try to maintain the attitude “whatever my old car lacks, it also lacks a car payment. And no car payment excuses a lot of shortcomings”.
I live just far enough out of town that there are only a few pizza/food delivery options, and none of my favorites so I never get delivery. I occasionally pick up pizza or fast food, but often just make frozen pizza or chicken fries at home. It tastes good enough and is probably cheaper.
The HOA doesn’t allow clotheslines, so other than a few sweaters that need to drip dry, all of the laundry goes in the dryer. I prefer the scent of dryer sheets over line dried laundry anyway, so I was ok with moving to an area with this rule.
This is such a great sound bite: ““whatever my old car lacks, it also lacks a car payment. And no car payment excuses a lot of shortcomings”.
We used to have a clothesline and I know it’s easier for fabrics, etc, but I felt like it took forever to lug clothes up from the basement to outside, hang them all up (especially when the kids were younger and all there stuff was so darn tiny), wait for it to dry, bring it all in…and sometimes I would still have to use the dryer!
Ooooh I feel a lot of guilt about my ziploc bag habit too. They are just so perfect for what I need them for, but can become less so as time goes on…
John does eventually toss them after they get too worn to function properly. To be honest, I don’t use a ton of plastic bags. When I can, I prefer to put things in glass containers because then I can put them in the dishwasher!
This is so interesting!!! I also enjoyed reading other people’s comments.
Top 5:
1. always be buy stocks/putting money into index funds/max out our retirement
2. instant coffee (I love it lol)
3. I am the same with my hair!
4. No memberships/monthly subscriptions/etc
5. My Subaru is 7 years old.
Bottom 5
1. I do like new clothes from *kind of* expensive retailers (Bloomingdales)
2. Travel – not cheap but WORTH IT
3. Landscaping service- someone else is beautifying our lawn (used to be Tony)
4. Skincare- you know I love all the French stuff I brought from France last summer.
5. Gifts – when it’s a friend’s birthday I like to give a good gift.
We definitely have some monthly memberships: two Oura rings, Disney+, Netflix, and Spotify. The only one I would NOT want to lose is Spotify. I love having all the music I could ever imagine at my fingertips. But I’ve never been big into TV/movies, so it makes sense that those aren’t my prized subscriptions. That said, I do enjoy Netflix documentaries and the kids and John really use Netflix and Disney+ a lot so for now they stay. But if we were ever looking to cut way back on expenses, I could definitely do without those two streaming services.
You always look so lovely and have a wonderful sense of style. Plus, I feel like you buy classy, timeless staple pieces that you take care of and wear for an extended time, so in the end that alone is very frugal.
If I could only keep Spotify and Netflix I’d be happy but Tony likes the variety #eyeroll
I agree with you on saving money to be able to spend and enjoy other parts of life.
Spendy:
1. My hair sucks and I went years paying very little to get my hair cut in someone’s basement. My current hairdresser is pricey and I try to limit my cuts to like 4 a year, but this is money I’m willing to spend because she works small miracles with my hair.
2. Clothes: I do buy clothes on sale and I’ve recently discovered a few thrift stores that I really like, so I think this area will be a shift. I almost never buy something full price, but I am fussy about brands. I want quality clothes that will last. I tend to keep my clothes for a very very long time. (I feel a post growing in my brain right here)
3. Running shoes – gotta have the ones that I love. I did just find a website that sells last year’s model or something so a slight discount
4. Groceries – I love to buy things on sale and we do have the space to store lots of things that I know we will use, but I won’t compromise on buying food no one likes and I don’t have the time to go to multiple stores to chase down deals. I do shop at Costco, so that helps
5. I go for quality for home things like siding and top notch windows with a lifetime warranty – I’m all about keeping heating costs down, etc. and I feel like my house is an investment
Thrifty:
1. We don’t live in the fanciest neighborhood in the most expensive area around. We opted to buy a house we could afford and even with our addition – we are in a position to pay the house off if we think that makes financial sense
2. thrifting/sale clothes: When the kids were tiny, everything was hand me downs (I remember opening a bin of the older boys’ clothes and seeing the SAME dino shirt or truck shirt and thinking, Not again!) and all bikes and outdoor ride on toys and other big ticket items came from garage sales. My kids are older now, but I do not buy things if they aren’t on sale and we still buy used whenever possible. Without facebook, I’d not have met most of the families I babysit for. I find them in FB mom groups, so while I don’t use FB much – it’s been a godsend for my business and for buying used things.
3. library – I almost never buy books. Back when Blockbuster was the main source of entertainment, we rented movies from the library for a buck. Not they’re free. Love my library and it saves me so much money.
4. camping/road trips – we don’t do a lot of family trips anymore, but when the kids were little we camped and did road trips, visiting national parks. Cheap way to travel.
5. Dinners – we rarely eat out and if we do, we often have a gift card. When we travel, I bring a crockpot to plug in at the hotel. I’ve even packed soft-sided coolers in checked bags with food to save time and money.
6. Haircuts – I don’t cut the girls’ hair anymore, but the little girls go to a neighbor lady who does a great job and charges 10 bucks a haircut. I’ve always cut my boys hair and Coach’s. Until they left for college, the boys never had been to a barber.
7. This is an outdated item, but I potty trained our kids really early and saved so much on diapers. 😉
8. Coach is handy and he has done/can do a lot of our fix it type stuff, which is helpful. Nowadays I do prefer to pay someone though, because his time is too precious. I need him to do things like family stuff with the little girls. We also only use the AC when we have to and we keep the heat turned down upstairs in the winter as low as possible without kids turning into popsicles in their sleep
My sister will often take her InstantPot or crockpot to hotels! And she has served some fantastic meals when we’ve travelled! It saves so much money (and time).
Potty training. Eeks. I don’t want to remember those days and I only had to work with TWO kids!!
I am forever grateful for having a library and make much use of it 🙂
The tea bag thing made me laugh. I use one tea bag throughout the day. Sometimes it lasts even more than one day. It’s not really a frugal thing for me – I mostly just like to sip hot water, so the tea bag is kind of bonus.
I actually love mending as an activity, but often, I question if it’s really worth my time.
Ways I find it easy to be thrifty/frugal:
-using the library and my library card.
– running, doing yoga videos and going to our county rec centers fitness rooms, which are free . I’ve never paid money to join a gym and maybe have gone to a handful of paid fitness/ yoga classes. I used to do fitness classes at the hospital because they were so inexpensive. I think part of it is also that I’m intimidated by group exercise and I feel like I don’t want to pay a lot of money for something where I’m going to feel self conscious.
– I very rarely go to see a show unless I can get free or discounted tickets. As a theatre professional, I feel bad saying this because I want people to come to the theatre/opera, but the truth is live entertainment is expensive – deservedly so because we all need to be paid a living wage for the work we do – so I rarely pay full price for a theatre ticket. I am VERY grateful to people who do pay full price for tickets, though. Especially these days.
– Packing my lunch (and dinner) every day for work. Bringing my own tea. I find going out to eat never as satisfying as I want it to be for the money that it costs.
-taking public transportation or my bike when I can.
Frugal habits that aren’t really for me:
-couponing. I mean, maybe discount codes if I’m already buying a thing (and I do often shop via Rakuten, which gives money back), but I don’t clip coupons – too much work, and I typically like what I like.
-Credit card points for travel or other ways of credit card hacking. Seems like a lot to keep track of. I just accept that travel will be expensive.
-using cash or tracking spending. I know that a lot of people do this to rein in spending, but I’ve never been able to do this consistently.
-Shopping at Aldi’s. I know Aldi’s is cheaper, but I like consistently being able to find what I need and the brands I want from both my local Mom and Pop grocery store, Hmart, and the Giant.
I also don’t coupon; years ago I used to but it took A LOT of time and often I ended up buying things just because I had a coupon. I almost never use coupons now.
I put everything I buy on my credit card (that I can) and get cash back on the card for spending; John spends everything he buys on his CC which is a points card that goes toward Aeroplan points which is the only thing we do in terms of travel hacking!
This is a great post. I like to be frugal, too but I definitely don’t take it to the cheapskates level.
Top Five:
Using a cashback credit card. ( I always pay it off.)
Buying in bulk when it makes sense.
We also just drink water, tea and coffee at home. I rarely buy juice or soda.
I also exclusively use the library, mostly digital these days.
I don’t pay for subscriptions (except for my Peloton and Netflix).
I have a cashback card, too; ditto, always pay it off!!
You top five are al things we do and a couple of your bottom five are things we do too. Namely, we do DIY a bunch of things (like painting and minor repairs). Major things like getting new windows installed or anything electrical we do hire someone to do! My husband also has started doing a lot of low level car maintenance – he changes the oil, swaps snow tires/summer tires/, and recently learned how to change the brake pads and rotors. We also hang a lot of our laundry, inside. Basically we dryer dry the cloth diapers and kitchen towels and everything else we hang up. Turns out that our dryer costs about $1-2 per load depending on how bulky the load is. We easily hang 8-10 loads a week, and that really adds up in terms of electricity bill savings! The electricity bill is the only one we have much (any?) control over. We’re on city water and it’s a flat rate so no financial incentive to scrimp on water usage (environmental reasons, yes!). We’ve negotiated as low as possible on internet and the bill isn’t usage based.
So interesting that city water is a flat rate! I’m intrigued. We pay by usage where we are in Nova Scotia.
I know our dryer definitely costs many dollars a week, but it’s just so easy…that said, I do feel like there are always quite a few things to hang up so I might be saving a few pennies here and there…