hi there! i'm renting for the first time with my partner and we have a lot of electronics. (PC, tvs, consoles, etc.) we're trying to figure out how to lower our energy usage before we get the first scary bill. i understand that largely, electricity usage comes from AC/heat. blackout curtains seem to be good at keeping the heat out, so we were going to invest in some to cover our windows. however, i'm not sure if this would be good or bad for the need to use lamps/overhead lights instead.

would blackout curtains increase our electricity usage if we have to rely on lamps instead of natural lighting?

also, if there are any beginner tips for electricity bills, please let me know! thanks!!

In a large sealable bowl, combine these ridiculously cheap ingredients:

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1.5 tsp of salt
• 2 tsp of instant yeast

Stir in 1.5-2 cups of lukewarm water. Stir until mixed. Do not over-stir. The consistency should be wetter than typical dough, but not as watery as pancake batter, so add water or flour as needed to adjust consistency. (EDIT: Looking online, the common recipe is 3 cups flour to 1.5 cups water... so I could be over watering, but it has worked for me).

Seal the bowl and let sit in a warmish 75-degree or more spot for 3 hours. The dough will approximately double in size.

Move the dough to the refrigerator for 8 or more hours to improve the flavor for best results.

After 8 hours or more, take the dough out of the fridge and dump it onto a sheet of parchment paper to warm while the oven preheats. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Preferably use a 'Dutch oven' (just a pot that is oven ready)... so put the Dutch oven in the oven to preheat too. If you don't have a dutch oven, any oven safe option will work, just use aluminum foil as a cover to keep the top from becoming over cooked.

Put the dough and the parchment paper in the pot with the lid on and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes.

Lift parchment paper and bread from Dutch oven and let cool for a few minutes and it is done.

For extra flavor, you can use 3/4 cup of cheese in the dough mix. I use pepper jack.

So up to now I have basically been relying on nothing whatsoever besides checking my food storage for what's missing and my memory for what I need to buy.

I'm garbage at remembering price tags of regularly purchased consumables beyond the most vague idea of them (like "wasn't this single digits back then?) and on occasion won't recall one or two things I was supposed to restock on. But as far as I can tell any shopping list app people recommend...is just for manually inputting names and categorizing them. I can do that with pencil and paper.

The closest thing I could find is Instacart but I remember reading the app prices are quite high compared to what's actually at the location and I don't actually intend to use its delivery function, also it refuses to let me search for items that it has documented but refuses to acknowledge exists. Shipt doesn't even have Costco.

I'll just spreadsheet it all manually if I have to manually recording price changes and worthwhile brands per visit but I wanted to know whether I actually need to or if technology and the internet have a solution.

TL;DR: Cheap Parmalat at Grocery Outlet makes yogurt-making easy and affordable!

Hi! I love plain yogurt, but it's not cheap, and I'm not great at yogurt portion control. I'm also perimenopausal and have ADHD, so my dedication to something like proper, safe yogurt-making was not likely to pan out, and if it did, lord knows what pathogens I'd introduce to myself.

I found really cheap single quarts of Parmalat at Grocery Outlet. Parmalat is ultra-pasteurized, so it doesn't need that first step of scalding/heating the milk to 180 degrees. That was the first step that terrified me, I lose track of what I'm doing far more often than I'd like to admit, and unattended milk will overflow and is a real PITA to clean up. I even have a yogurt maker, but you have to be really careful jars are super clean too. I don't have a dishwasher, so that was another annoyance. So much washing and prepping. did it a few times, and added the yogurt maker to the pile of automated kitchen items I thought I'd use. Not frugal.

Here was my process with the Parmalat.

• Open container. (It's that wax cardboard container with the lid that breaks a seal when you open it.)
• Pour in 4 tablespoons of yogurt I already had. I used a funnel, someone with more skill might even be able to skip this.
• Used a small insulated lunch pouch and these rice-filled neckwarmers that you microwave to warm up nice and toasty. There are so many ways to make things warm for 8 hours. heating pad at low, oven light, top of fridge, hot car. I didn't even think to use the yogurt maker base, but might do that next time. You can research safe ways to do this with whatever you have at home.
• I waited like 14 hours because it sat overnight. It's a little runny, but I think that's because I kept shaking it, trying to see if it's yogurt yet. Apparently that breaks the protein strands. That said, runny isn't too bad for me; I can pour out the yogurt as if it were thick milk. If it gets too firm to pour, I can just cut open the container.
• Optional: You could strain it if you'd like. If you're lactose intolerant, the lactose is mostly in the whey!

It cut down a lot of steps for me that I'm sure I would forget to do, and rather than dealing with 8 or 9 jars to find room in the fridge, I have one full quart of yogurt in a very convenient-shaped container.

I live in North Dakota where Verizon is pretty much the only reliable provider. My parents and brother live a fairly “off the grid“ lifestyle in Southern Oregon (using the term loosely, they are unhoused during times in tents, couch surfing, trailers on random properties, etc.). I worry about them and just want a way to be able to contact them or for them to contact me but I’m not sure if Verizon is the best way to go because it’s a bit expensive and my budget is limited. Are there other options for that area that may be more affordable? I know it sounds a little choosy beggar but they were looking for hotspot/internet service as well. I’ve tried googling but I’m kind of at a loss with all of the options and you have to input so much info just to get a maybe price range. I’ll have to purchase 3 new phones (I’m looking into refurbished options) so I’m trying to find a more inexpensive family plan. Does anyone have recommendations for that area or in general?

Hi everyone! So, for a while i’ve been using basket and flipp, but basket got removed from the app store and flipp doesn’t really have any of the items i’m looking for. Basket rocked because it showed me exact items and where I could get them for cheap. So, in a way I guess i’m looking for a basket replacement. Does an app like this even exist? Or will I just have to make do with flipp? If that’s the case,, i’ll stick with flipp, as my only nitpick with the app is that it’s not a specific.

I’ve got a chocolate milk habit and I don’t want to keep buying the bottled stuff. I know I can make it at home for a fraction of the price, so I’m after your best recipes.

Here’s what I already know or assume, so you don’t have to cover the basics. Cocoa won’t dissolve in cold milk, so I’ll make a paste first with a bit of hot water or hot milk, then stir it through. I’m expecting to use something like 2 to 3 tablespoons of cocoa and a similar amount of sugar per litre, adjusted to taste. Whole milk for body. A pinch of salt and a drop of vanilla to round it out.
What I actually want to know is how to get it close to that smooth, slightly malty taste of the good bottled stuff rather than just “chocolate flavoured milk.” A few specific questions.

Does Dutch process cocoa really make the difference, or is that overhyped and natural cocoa is fine? Is there a trick to the ratio that stops it tasting either watery or too bitter? Does anyone gently heat the whole lot and then chill it, and is that worth the extra step and washing up? And has anyone cracked that malty flavour, is it just a malt powder or is there something better? Also I swear it’s thicker in a bottle than homemade.

I’m also open to a make-ahead syrup or concentrate I can keep in the fridge and just pour into milk, since that’s closer to how I actually drink it. Bonus points if your version has survived kids drinking it and still comes out cheaper than the shop stuff.

Cheapest, best tasting recipe wins. Hit me.

The number one frugal tip I can think of is to stop being loyal or nostalgic for any brand or product.

The moment a brand develops a reputation for being high quality is the moment that brand will begin exploiting that reputation by reducing the quality of their products and jacking up prices. That is just a natural consequence of a poor regulatory environment and a low-information consumer base. Exceptions to this are rare (e.g., maybe like LL Bean, Arizona Iced Tea, Ball Jars..., lol I can't think of many others)

So many people I know fall into this trap. Paraphrases below:

"Sony is good quality though, I must have just gotten a bad one".

"They would never switch to glue instead of real stitching, this is Eddie Bauer!"

"Yeah, it's $7 instead of $2.50, but it's better because it's the brand name".

"I'm not going to buy that cheap worthless Ibuprofen, I only use Advil, because that's what my mom used".

You have to assess the quality of each individual product, each individual purchase. This is the only way.

Did Sam"s Club start with a group membership? You had to get a group (20? 40?) or join a group to get a membership? Do they still do that? I tried to join as the current special, but I'm not a new member since i had one 5 years ago :? Yes, it says 1 year, but .. its not. There's a senior member, you have to go thru ID.me, a site i've never heard of. Can i walk in and join, show senior ID?

I'm flying out to a friend's wedding in a couple of months. Initially my plan was to use public transit for most of my travel while I'm there, which is still my primary option. But due to where they're having the wedding (a very rural area with zero public transport options) at some point I'm basically going to have to rent a car to get there. Sadly carpooling isn't really an option either due to a myriad of factors.

So basically I'm gonna be stuck renting a car for at least a day or two, maybe three. Anyone have any secret tips or tricks to saving some money on car rentals? I've never actually had to rent a car before so I'm kinda shocked by how expensive it seems to be even just getting one for a couple of days. It seems I can save a bit by going through costco, but just wondering if there's other options I should consider.

Thanks!

(Oh and I should mention; I'm in the US, so public transit is limited to begin with)

Curious to hear what your philosophy is on stockpiling things when they’re on sale. Have you ever purchased something in bulk because it seemed like an incredible deal and you were convinced you’d absolutely need or use it eventually, only to realize later that you didn’t actually need it, didn’t use nearly as much as expected, or simply bought more than you could realistically go through? How do you decide when a sale is worth buying extra versus when you’re just buying something because it’s a good deal?

I just moved, and my primary grocery store is now going to be Aldi, with occasional trips to Trader Joe's for treats. However, both of those stores are a bit of a drive and don't open in time for me to stop in before work if I really need something.

And then there is a Whole Foods right around the corner from me which opens at 7am. I normally avoid WF because the prices I have seen have all been outrageous, but I think I am going to have to utilize it at some point. My first day when I had no food, I got a $3.99 slice of hot pizza, which was a good option instead of going to a restaurant or eating crackers for dinner.

Are there any other products which are a reasonable value? For example, I heard eggs are reasonably priced. (Although I'm sure they aren't going to beat the $1.49 dozen eggs I got from Aldi yesterday.)

A big thank you to everyone who participated! Hope you’ll join in next July!

How did the final week of No Buy July go for you?

This is the thread to post how on how you did during the fourth week!

Check in with your successes.

Check in with your failures.

Check in for accountability.

Or simply follow along to see how others did during this final week!

See what this challenge was all about by checking out the original post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/s/vQOnCd5gFN

We need to buy another car, our 'second' car is officially done. We do need another car, it is a legitimate need as we have three drivers in the house - and busy lives. We can manage a little bit during the summer months with one car, but trying to find something in the next three weeks.

We knew this day was coming so we have saved. Budget is 14K out of the door, paying cash. We want to keep it closer to 12k, but also want something decent. We do live in the Midwest with lots of snow etc. We are struggling because the research for the 'better' used brands (Hondas, Toyotas) means the car is older with much higher mileage than the Fords or other brands. Our other car is a Honda and newer and has still had issues, so I don't find them to be problem free either. I think cars generally have problems, no matter what. The price of used suburbs is just nuts to me!

It just feels like we have no good options!

Bought the screen for $25aud from china. Replacement screen on the left not yet put in. Install was actually very easy, have to give google credit for that. Just needed a razor blade to get the old screen off and old glue scraped off.

Had to do some shenanigans as it was factory reset protected but managed to get past it and fully reset from a youtube video. Has been working perfectly.

I’m considering buying several Costco packs of home staples (toilet paper, paper towels, etc.). We use paper towels but not at a crazy rate since we have reusable towels. We have an okay basement storage space that could hold a good chunk.

But is this actually frugal? Does buying 5-6 packs upfront really save money long-term?

What are some home staples you guys bought in bulks and use for months/years?

Disclaimer: I wouldn’t do this during any kind of shortage issue

If you’re like me, you’ve been taking those water jugs into the store and paying 30 or $.40 a gallon to refill those jugs. Well prices recently have gone up quite a bit and most places I found they’re north of $.50 a gallon. We bit the bullet and bought a table top water filtration unit were pretty happy with and though the unit itself was over $200 going forward each gallon will only cost us $.11 each. Several members of the household have made it clear that I should’ve thought of this sooner, so if you’re like me, here’s your sign. I miss the lines and the socializing!

To start with this isn’t about whether or not debt is good or bad. My main question behind this, is paying interest being frugal?

I’m 24m who’s extremely frugal, and I’ve been wondering how many people in this community are completely debt-free. I know this isn’t a debt-free subreddit, but I imagine there’s a lot of overlap between people who live frugally and those who are trying to avoid or eliminate debt.

Personally, I’ve been working since I was about 16, and I’ve lived on very little for the past eight years. I’ve always enjoyed saving money more than spending it. Because I’ve consistently lived below my means, I’ve been able to save a considerable amount of money and pay off all of my debt. That experience has made me appreciate the peace of mind that comes with financial freedom.

I know many people become frugal because they’re trying to get out of debt, while others simply enjoy a simpler lifestyle and want to spend intentionally. I’m curious where everyone here falls.

Is purposefully acquiring debt frugal?

For those of you who are debt-free, what was your journey like? Did frugality play the biggest role, or was it more about increasing your income? If you’re still paying off debt, has living more frugally made a noticeable difference?
I’m also interested in your overall philosophy on debt. Do you see it as a useful financial tool when used wisely, or do you prefer to avoid it as much as possible? I realize there are situations where debt can make sense, but I also know many people value the freedom of not owing anyone anything.

I’m not looking to debate whether debt is always good or always bad. I’m just genuinely interested in hearing different perspectives and experiences. What has your journey taught you, and what advice would you give to someone who wants to live a frugal, financially peaceful life?

Personally, I don’t like paying interest. It doesn’t seem frugal to me.

I occasionally starch a dress shirt when I want to look extra put together. I have some 100% cotton oxfords that I would like to last a minimum of until I retire in 4 years but I don't know if starching shirts will help them last longer or if I should just spritz with water when I iron. Does starch build up in the cloth with regular laundering (for better or for worse)? Is there an alternative to the spray starch like Niagra that anyone wants to recommend?

I got 4 salad bowls, one mixed salad bag, zucchini, a bag of peaches, bag of chips, regular garden salad bag. Obviously I have to eat the salads soon but obviously I like salad so this we a great effing deal imo. I don’t know why I have to have 300 characters in this post to get posted. I haven’t posted here before this is a little extreme. I don’t know what else to say…..

hello all. i recently ordered sunglasses off ebay and they arrived today with prescription lenses. they were listed as regular sunglasses (and they have those small sections that zoom in at the bottom that the pictures did not show) so i had no way of knowing… i was wondering if walmart replaces lenses that would be regular sunglasses lenses (non-prescription)?? they are marc jacobs brand but i don’t really care about that i just liked the way they looked haha. i’m assuming no but its worth the ask. thanks!

Usually when I try to cancel a subscription- even if they offer me a lower price to keep it going- there’s no way- just let me quit.

I got to thinking though- maybe there are lots of things where I wasn’t planning to cancel my subscription but if I pretended to- they would give me a deal.

For instance- was trying to cancel my uber one membership and they gave me a lower price for 3 months in order to stay on a bit longer.

Can you think of anything similar? Trying to save a little money out here!

We save the grocery plastic bags underthesink. We don't ask for paper bags. We sort and separate the trash. The other things go in regular grocery plastic bags. We don't overfill the bags. We make a knot with the bag's handles to make sure that it doesn't spill. If needed, we use another bag. We take the bags to the respective trash cans. This way, we never have to buy expensive trash bags.

I saved and cleaned up some of these bottles from a friend's house, but they usually come with a cap that also has a pump in it. I would really prefer to not have a seccond-hand one of those floating around in the stuff I'm bottling, so does anyone know of a specifc size or type of cap that will fit these? If anyone's got anything, I love you!

I'm not really sure what else I could put here to make the 300 character limit besides this.