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50 Frugal People Share Everyday Life Advice

Being economic with your money and resources isn’t something that you should be ashamed of. Quite the opposite! Throwing wastefulness in the bin and embracing frugality, thriftiness, and creativity are the way to go—especially if we want our wallets and our environment to reap the rewards.

The r/Frugal subreddit, a community housing nearly 1.9 million savings-minded members, encourages people to take a different approach to spending. Using our heads more instead of opening our wallets wider, lies at the core of their philosophy. We’ve collected some of the best life hacks that will help you budget better and help protect our lovely Planet Earth at the same time.

Waste not, want not, so let’s get scrolling. Upvote the hacks that you found to be the most useful and if you’re feeling generous, share some of your own frugal-living tips, dear Pandas.

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I Work At A Travel Agency, And When We Have To “Destroy” Our Outdated Maps, I Reuse Them As Wrapping Paper

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50 Frugal People Share Everyday Life Advice

I Work At A Travel Agency, And When We Have To “Destroy” Our Outdated Maps, I Reuse Them As Wrapping Paper

Girlfriend And I Wanted A Large Mirror On Our Wall, But Didn't Want To Spend $$$ So We Found 6 Small Closet Door Mirrors On Sale For $4 Each

I Saw A Previous Post Which Used Old Maps As Wrapping Paper, So Here Is My Old Music Used As Wrapping Paper!

Enjoying The Porch Of Our New Home, Where We Live Rent Free As Caretakers Of A Wildlife Sanctuary. Eight Hours Of Labor A Week In Exchange For What Would Be At Least $1300/Month

Didn't Want To Waste The Failed Films So I Turned Them Into Little Paintings

Don't Pay For Scientific Journals

Money Is A Bit Tight Right Now So I Made Some Homemade Halloween Decorations. Turned Out Pretty Good, I Think

I Made Shelves Using Recycled Thrift Store Speakers

My Wife’s Great Aunt Has Been Saving On A Birthday Card For 35 Years With Her Friend As They Just Send Each Other The Same Card Back And Forth To Each Other Every Year. How Cool Is The Card And The Story That It Has Created?

Our Canning Haul For The Year, Still Have To Do Apples Yet. All Home Grown Veggies

Been Using My Great Grandfather's Razor For A While Now. Decided To Clean And Polish It This Morning. Most Frugal Way To Shave. Blades Are Dirt Cheap! Before/After

Both Of Our Children Used This Crib For The First 2.5 Years Of Their Lives. Trying To Get Another 5 Years Out Of It!

Wedding For Under $3k USD. Dress For $15 USD. This Was Right For Us

I Asked My Local Farm Stand If They Had Any Damaged Produce They Couldn't Sell. They Gave Me All Of This For Free!

I Recently Lost A Lot Of Weight And Had To Replace My Whole Wardrobe. I Didn't Want To Throw Away Old Clothes That Still Had Some Kind Of Life, So Here We See 11 Leggings, 9 Tank Tops, 1 Top, And (Part Of) One Skirt Repurposed Into A Rug

Check The International Foods Aisle For Spices. Price Difference Of Two Aisles Over At My Local Grocery

Built A Table Out Of Shipping Pallets Left For Trash Outside A Shipping Center! Total Cost: $23

To Whoever Shared Wine And Painting Date Night Idea - Thank You!

I Built A Chicken Coop For Free Out Of Materials From Craigslist

Beaded And Appliqued This Rust-Stained Dress And Wore It To A Wedding

Pet Tip (Oc): Save All Semi-Viable Parts Of "Dead" Dog Toys, Order Some Replacement Squeakers, And Make A New Super Fun Franken-Toy!

I Made A Two Piece Outfit Out Of This Men’s Shirt I Got For $2.50 At Salvation Army

Couple Years Back I Ripped Out A Deck For My (Now Passed) Great Uncle. My Grandpa And I Saved The Pieces For When Eventually I Could Have My Own Back Yard! We Just Built It Today! Free Wood And 5 Hours Of Work!

My Husband Loves Berry Jam, But Berries Are Quite Expensive This Year, So I Decided To Forage Instead Of Buying, And Picked Over 4kg. Of Them

Some Cheap Rit Dye Made My Old Backpack Look New Again

The Tool Set Gift I Got My Dad For Father's Day Was Heavy And Awkward To Wrap Traditionally, So I Bought A Small Tarp And A Pack Of Colorful Bungee Cords To Act As Gift Wrap And Ribbon! Practical And Only Cost Me $10!

Oh The Life Of An Electricians Wife, Forced To Strip For Extra Cash!

I Combined A Broken Hockey Stick And Rake Into A Much Stronger Rake. Is This A Win?

Spent $2 On 4 Heads Of Garlic Last Fall, Now I Have Over 70 Heads Of Garlic All Braided Together

Lowe's Employee Here: My Manager Told Me To Throw Away Bags Of Seeds Because We Needed Floor Space For Other Products. I Asked For A Deal And Got Each Back For 3-5 Cents. Regular Price Is $1.09-$2.49 269 Bags For Retail Price Of $646.59. I Payed $5.40

Not Paying For Expensive Spices Shelf. Instead, My Boyfriend Made This From Old Bed Slats. Jars From Mustard, Jams Etc. To Keep Homemade Seasoning Blends

Whenever I Get A Dish Sponge That Is Past Its Lifetime For Washing Dishes, I Always Cut It In Half And Then Retire Those Sponges For Household Cleaning Around The Bathroom And Other Dirty Areas. Cutting In Half Make Sure That They Never Get Used For Dishes Again

Learned This From My Mom. Everytime You Buy Chives/Green Onion Just Cut Most Of It Off And Use Them Or Store Them In The Fridge. Then Put The Roots In A Cup With Half An Inch Of Water. Regrows Back To Full Size Or More Within A Few Days. Can Repeat Up To About 2-4 Times If You Have A Good Batch

I Think You'll Like The Gift I Got From My Frugal Aunt

A Little Cleaning And A $30 Leather Repair Kit, And It's Almost As Good As New!

In An Effort To Make My Iced Tea Obsession Less Expensive And Also In Trying To Be Less Wasteful, I Took The Labels Off Of A Pack Of Snapple Bottles And I've Been Using Them To Make My Own Iced Tea For A While. It's Seriously Has Cut My Drink Cost Down By Like 90%

Finally Figured Out How To Extend The Life Of My Fresh Spinach To Avoid Waste And Enjoy It Longer! Transferring To A Zip Lock Bag After Purchase And Inserting A Folded Paper Towel Reduces The Moisture That Collects In The Original Bag. Still Fresh Weeks Later Instead Of Spoiling Within A Week!

Made Some Cinnamon Sugar Cookies From Leftover Pie Crust

I Used To Throw Away All The Stuff My Kid Gets From Goody Bags At Other Birthday Parties. Now I Recycle Them And Put Them In A Piñata On Her Birthday

My Local Supermarket Sells 'Miss-Shaped' Fruit And Veg For Several Dollars Cheaper Than Regular Produce - Easy Way To Save A Few Bucks, Plus The Packaging Is Super Cute!

Cloths Pins Are $1 For 100 And So Much Better Than Plastic Chip Clips

Made A Staircase With Rocks And Repurposed Cement Slabs

I Got Bids From Tile Setters To Do A Backsplash For $2000. I Ended Up Doing It Myself For Under $200

Basically Getting Paid To Exercise, While Helping Clean Up The Neighborhood. Collecting Cans While Getting My Steps In. Frugal Af!

My Frugal Friends, I Just Made My Bathroom Counter Look Like This With An $11.99 Roll Of Adhesive Paper. Now I Wanna Cover Everything With It

Never Buying Bread Again. I Realized I Can Bake About 50 Loaves Of Bread From 50 Lb Of Flour. Mega Savings

Always Check The Weight

Psa: It's Time To Oil Your Leather Boots

May Be A No Brainer But, Never Buy Prepackaged Fruit. This Was A $2 Watermelon That Would Have Cost $20 Precut

I Hated My Black Table. Instead Of Buying A New One, I Painted It. Love How It Brightens Up The Space

I Found Myself Buying Makeup Removing Wipes Every Few Weeks.. But No More. With Fabric Remnants, An Old Hand Towel, And A Few Hours Of My Time, I’m Saving Money And The Planet!

Free Empty Wine Crates From A Local Liquor Store? Free Bookshelves!

Started Couponing And Got All Of This For $7!

My Library Receipt Shows How Much Money I’ve Saved By Using The Library

My Kids Love Happy Meals. I Don't Like Spending $15 On Each Trip. So I Made My Own At Home (Saved The Packaging From A Previous Trip). They Loved It!

This Is 2 Lettuce Butts (After Getting Chopped) After 2 Weeks Of Sitting In Water. Easy Way To Save A Little Cash And One Less Reason To Leave The House During The Pandemic

Til Wd-40 Removes Sticker Residue. The Middle Bottle Still Had A Snowman Label On It; My Bathroom Is Going To Look Civilized Again

My Way Of Recycling Disposable Masks. They Are Stronger And Longer Than The Average Twisted Ties

Protip, Throw Hairpin Legs On Any Piece Of Wood To Instantly Upgrade Your Furniture

My Local Rural Gas Station Makes Fresh Food All Day Everyday And Throws Everything Away When They Close. 30 Min Before Closing They Gave Me All This For Free. They Offered More But I Was Modest About Taking Too Much

Finally Convinced My Girlfriend To Consider Cooking Meals At Home More Instead Of Eating Out. A Nice Meal Of Salmon, Organic Grain Mix And Broccoli For Two From Trader Joe’s, All For Less Than $20. A Boston Restaurant Would’ve Easily Charged Over $40. Hopefully We Keep This Trend Up!

A Little Effort Can Save A Lot Of Money! Got This Stool For Free And Used One Can Of Spray Paint, Discounted Remnant Fabric, And New Rubber Feet!

I Just Learned That When The Box Wine Stops Pouring You Can Cut It Open And There's Another Glass Or Two Of Regret Still In There

Decided To Put My Hobby To Use And Make Reusable Swiffer Pads! I Have Three Cats And One Dog And I Get So Tired Of Buying Those Ridiculously Expensive Dusting Pads To Get Up All The Pet Hair. You Can Also Wet This, Dip It In Cleaning Solution, Wring It Out And You’ve Got A Mop

Instead Of Spending $20 A Month On Printer Cartridges, I Spent $60 On A Continuous Feed System That I Can Fill For Almost Nothing

Just Made 22 Burritos For Lunches Instead Of Chipotle

I Was About To Buy The Bigger Bottle Until I Noticed The Difference In Concentration And The Directions!

Turned A $2 Thrift-Store Top With Awful Sleeves Into My New Favorite Sweater!

Have A Crappy Desk Chair That Offers No Back Support? Slide A Pillowcase Over It With A Firm, Fluffy Pillow

Polishing Your Shoes Is The Frugal Choice

Save Clothes From The Trash With A $10 Fabric Shaver. Sweater Went From Fuzzy And Pilled To Like New In A Matter Of Minutes

Every Pair Of Jeans That Start To Wear Out Become Jorts In This Household

Made My Own Lunchable To Pack In The Cooler. Normal Lunchable Is $2.48 For 6 Pieces Of Ham, Cheese, And Crackers. I Paid $8 For A Pound Of Cheese, Box Of Crackers, And Package Of Ham Which Will Last Weeks

My Pillow Case Kept Sliding Off, Instead Of Buying A New One I Just Made Two Slits And Tied A Ribbon In It To Hold The Case!

Every Morning When I Get Into Work, I Mark “Black” If I Didn’t Eat Out Yesterday And “Red” If I Did To Track My Eating Out

I Really Wanted A Backpack Vacuum But Was Off-Put By How Expensive They Are. Luckily I Already Had This Guy And A Box Of Rope

$23 At A Warehouse Store - 13 Years Ago!

My Method For Reducing Reliance On Paper Towels In The Kitchen! "Un-Paper Towels"

Dry Erase Marker On The Fridge Was A Game Changer For Me. It Saves Me So Much Food. It Also Makes It Easier To Just Pick A Weeknight Meal, Instead Of Endlessly Scrolling Through Recipes