Frugal

I've had no ISP-provided Internet access since Feb. 2023 or so and, while it's been a pain at times, I still haven't caved into returning to the evil monopoly that is Spectrum, so far, and probably won't for as long as I can't land a remote job. ArrowDL, while not perfect, has been pretty good at download management for the most part in conjunction with mobile data-hotspotting.

Is there any way to get either YouTube Premium or Spotify at a heavily discounted rate? Are there any cheaper alternatives?

Hey, c/frugal, I was reading through this little post, (https://lazysoci.al/post/23833029) when a comment about baking bread reminded me of something I had heard back on reddit: that apparently baking bread is a great way to be frugal. I haven't had bread for a while, and would love to engage with the bread-eating community again, and so I wish to ask your favorite frugal bread recipes! From loaves to naan, I would love your input :) P.S. I would also love to ask what you all think of breadmakers, are they a good frugal buy?

I need to get some sort of gift for a friends birthday (who lives nearby) and for a kid of my extended family (lives further away).

Do you have any recommendations for gifts that go along with sorta frugal lifestyle? I can't think of anything right now (pressure is on, birthday 1 is tomorrow)

I'm looking to have tasty and balanced food while maintaining a reasonable budget and being more organised.
I know how to cook. I already have tasty yet not complicated meals I'm use to make but I never needed to be organised about it before.

So I decided to start to write menu in advance, do a some meal prepping probably a bit of batch cooking.
I found resources online to start following a plan but maybe you have advices for the beginner that I am.

Thank you!

about adapting to frugal lifestyle after an incomebreakdown 🫠

my adhd is giving me a hard time not spending for any impulsive ideas but I am left with only round about a quarter of my former income and I can't adapt well. I had enough before and since half a year I don't, but my brain wants to spent money like before.

we don't eat expensive, but we snack expensive. i usually don't buy a lot of clothes but I lost a lot of weight and most doesn't fit anymore (and I'm going to look for a new job soon, so I need at least one proper outfit).

we got a cat and a dog, which had super heavy health scares last year. so I pay for the insurances instead of waiting for the worst. the dog is allergic af and I have to buy expensive special food. i am a single parent and have to take care of the teenagers needs as well.

I'm going to sell my car soon, because I just have to to get by. social aid doesn't pay anything at this point because I was couple of bucks over the limit so far. But they don't consider the high debt I got. So I'm actually pretty concerned right now. i used to be poor before, so I kinda know I will get over this episode, but it terrifies me at this point.

long story short: i need a network of no-buy-buddies that helps keep me from spending too much. anyone out there?

Buy Nothing Challenge

I would like to reduce my ecological impact and disassociate from the consumerist mindset. I don't like the direction the US government is taking and I would like to decouple from the US economy.

My challenge is to buy nothing* for one month, and at the end of the month, see if I can continue for another month.

*I will continue to purchase items that I consider necessities.

Necessities that I will buy as required:

YES: Food

YES: Health and medication

YES: Daily necessities (toilet paper, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.)

YES: Bills (phone, rent, insurance, taxes)

YES: Repairs (home, bicycle, vehicle)

YES: Gas/Transportation (walk or bike when you can)

YES: Receiving gifts, trades where no money is exchanged

YES: Camping, hiking, bicycle travel

YES: Giving charity

Items I will avoid purchasing during the challenge:

NO: Fast food, coffee shops, restaurants

NO: Entertainment devices, books, subscriptions

NO: New clothes or impulse purchases

NO: Hair services

NO: Amazon orders, streaming services

NO: Vehicles

NO: Acquisition of things for new hobbies

NO: Use of credit (credit cards or loans)

NO: Hotels, vehicle based travel

NO: Google, Meta, Reddit, X products

This isn't about how to find a cheap flight, but if you have a ultra basic no-frills essentials-only bottom-dollar economy ticket, and need to figure out how to pack and make the most of it. I'm most experienced with Flair Airlines and flying in Canada but I expect many airline procedures to be similar, ymmv. In the past you could often get away without measuring the bag but they have been getting a little stricter about it recently.

• Think beforehand what you actually will bring and what you plan to bring back. Will you pack food that will be gone before you return? An empty bottle? How many days of clothes do you need? How much in souvenirs will you get (if any?) Toiletries and extras, are there small things you will be able to pick up at minimal cost (such as soap bars that you get at a hotel)? Keep in mind that anything that you forgot to bring and end up buying at your destination will amount to more luggage on the return trip.
• Wear multiple layers of clothes to serve as next days changes. If you are going from a cold to warm climate, wearing several layers will save you from bringing the jacket you won't need the whole trip. Warm to cold, stay in air conditioning, avoid overheating yourself, only wear it when baggage is being sized, either at the check in counter or the gate.
• Have your outermost layer be one with many pockets to put any extra stuff. Just don't forget to take pocketed items out for scanning to have an easier time through security.
• A bottled drink at the airport is very expensive but if you are short on space you can use that instead of bringing an empty. (Important: Buy drinks after security!) Or pack one of those fillable water pouches which are very space efficient when empty.
• If you bring a bag that is slightly bigger than the size limits, make sure you can fold in or squeeze any parts that would stick out. A 30L backpack can fit when squeezed. Avoid packing your stuff too tightly and keep delicate stuff that might break when squished hard in your pockets until the bag is sized.
• Remember that once your bag is sized and you have a valid tag affixed, there will be less scrutiny to the actual size, so you'll be able to pack more in your bag after validation. If you are near the back of the line when boarding, there is often even less scrutiny. Don't go overboard with it, as the bag will still need to fit below the seat if overhead bin space is limited.
• If you have multiple people in your party not getting checked in at the same time, or someone you know well is dropping you off at the airport, place a lot of the contents you plan to bring in a separate plastic bag or whatever and leave it with your buddy, have your bag sized in the holder easily. Get the validation tag, then away from the counter, place the other contents back in the bag. This won't work if you travel alone or in one group who are all checking in together, you don't want to be marked as suspicious by leaving stuff unattended at the airport. Leaving stuff temporarily in your car at the airport parking, or in a nearby rental locker are alternative options, but give yourself extra time and research ahead.
• Once on the plane, if space permits you might be able to place your jacket and personal item in the overhead bins. Please be respectful to your flight attendants and fellow passengers, if you are asked to place your items under your seat you need to do that.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/26917080

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If you have a friend with a costco membership, you can ask them to buy you some $25 Costco Shopcards, which you can use at the entrance to get into the store and at checkout to verify you can make a purchase. Anything you have over $25, they'll allow you to use an alternative method of payment to pay for it.

They make you turn in the card at checkout, so it's certainly not worth it if you go more than a handful of times a year, but for those who go less, it's a good way of avoiding the membership fee.

Stolen from Reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1ftmkwt/oc_foods_cost_vs_caloric_density/

But I loved it. Also this has Shrimp removed, because it was on the OG chart due to an error and this is an updated version.

EDIT: Here is one for protein! https://www.reddit.com/r/budgetfood/comments/1fp2ytb/foods_cost_per_gram_of_protein_vs_protein_density/#lightbox

Mine--don't laugh--is random fruit from fruit trees hanging over walls and over the sidewalk.

Although, I once tried to take a plum from a wasp who was sitting on the fruit, and she turned and looked at me, and I quickly let go and let her have it.

$40

I recently moved to a new city and don’t know anybody here yet.

I want to try out some things and meet new people and avoid sitting at home all day (but sometimes is ok)

My ideas are hiking, volunteering and reading. What would you recommend? Any good ideas?

It's been a week since I posted the last one...right?

I'm afraid I haven't been very frugal this week. Got some things mildly on sale, but still too much, so I don't think they count and won't post them.

I know someone would immediately jump in with water if I didn't caveat that, haha. Tap water is the most frugal drink, yes I know, but for me plain ol' water more of a basic survival thing. And I like to be happy too, not stuck permanently in survival mode, even if I'm also being frugal.

So.

One of my "vices", if you can call it that, is fancy tea.

I'm American and we're not really a tea-drinking culture, so I was taken by surprise when I got into drinking tea and learned you can get surprisingly nice quality loose leaf tea online that blows grocery store tea bags out of the water, and it's not a terribly expensive habit. Grocery store tea in tea bags is basically 'tea dust' left over from processing better teas, and basically almost any loose leaf tea is a better quality than bagged tea dust, so you don't have to break the bank to see immediate improvement in your tea quality.

And that surprised the heck out of me!

I eventually realized that's because tea is a dry good and cheap to ship--it's light, dry, packs small, ships well. Much easier to get your hands on than, say, alcohol or liquid drinks that are heavy or distributed in glass bottles.

So yeah. It's not as frugal as water, but I found I can usually still have some nice tea around even if I'm pinching every penny, and it can help tide me through tough spots without the downsides of other vices (like drinking, smoking, etc.)

What are your guys' favorite frugal drinks?

I was just thinking in the back of my head about how cheap LEDs have made types of lighting that would've cost way too much (both to install, and in electricity usage) no longer stupidly expensive.

For example, I noticed on Amazon some cheap furniture that has LEDs/power outlets sort of integrated right into them. Looks pretty cyberpunk-ish to my eyes. And I know years ago that sort of thing would've been marked up to high heavens.

Fancy lighting in general has changed drastically in price/design.

So...what are some things, due to changes in demand or changes in tech or changes in anything...that would've been really expensive back in the day, but which no longer seem to be, making them more frugal than they used to be?

Just curious what you guys have been able to score recently.

I don't have anything really good to share, been spending too much. Let me live vicariously (and frugally!) through you!

So each clothes dryer appliance has an exit port. You connect a hose to it to vent the damp air to the outside.

I want all dryers to have an intake port so that I can use cold air from the outside for drying. This will keep me from using (expensive) warm air from the inside of my house.

I suspect this will also make the dryer more efficient because the cold incoming air could contain less humidity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

That's a quote from Terry Pratchett's Discworld books.

Anyway--I'm gonna need some work boots probably in the near future. And I'd rather buy boots as decent as I can on a frugal budget.

Do any of you have recs? Particularly for someone with very small (for an adult) feet that get cold easily? I'm looking for winter boots that will actually keep my feet warm for 8-10 hours outside in the winter. But I also need to be able to afford them...which is why I'm posting here and not in a buy it for life sub.

...I know the title sounds like some clickbait crap, but I'm honestly looking for some ideas that I might not have thought about myself.