That's supposed to generally be a good idea to minimize bacterial growth, especially if the dishwasher has a sanitize feature

I'm also looking into ebates.com. they have Amazon, Groupon, and Walmart there. Also, of course shopping at Aldi makes you frugal.

If this is what you have to do. Again, this to me would be defined as "poor". Frugal is being able to afford things yet not doing them because you'd rather gave the no st for things you really value. Lots of people spend money out of boredom or depression to feel better. Think: online shopping.

There's an all-you-can-eat buffet place nearby. You get a box and whatever you fit in there is £7 for takeout.

I'll take a picture of the box next time I go but it is just dying to burst open when I'm done fitting food in there. I will crush the food to make more space for other food. It feels like a brick when I'm carrying it in a plastic bag. I get enough food for at least two people for that cost.

When I got takeout in America, those Chinese places would have free packets of duck sauce and soy sauce. I'd grab a giant handful of each even though the food I was planning to eat did not require them. I just wanted them for future use.

In before this deteriorates into a thread about theft.

But I guess the few extra napkins I take for future use would
trouble some folk here too haha


In my opinion just being focused on not wasting is being frugal these days.
I cringe when I see people drink half a can of soda and toss the rest or
pour a whole glass of juice , take x number of sips and then say f it to the rest.

I bought a dude lunch at a cafeteria a while back, you know a place where you pick
exactly what you want in the line, put it in your tray, they ring you up and then you eat it.

I gave him a hard time because he wasted so much food, Im like why did you order all that if you
werent gonna eat it. Yes I get that sometime you cant eat everything in a meal and its not enough
to really take home BUT dangit this is an ala carte cafeteria setting. I havent treated him to a meal since.

Lidl > Aldi

I think ur in the wrong thread.

I aspire to frugality but rarely practice it. About the closest I come is using a cash back credit card for nearly all of my spending.

The fast food thread has a lot of frugal tips, like $3 total for 2 Big Macs and a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, $1 Wendy's Singles, etc. Too bad those deals ended in September, but there will surely be new deals forthcoming.

Me personally, I also repair things that stop working rather than buy a new one. Saves me a lot of money. Just learn a little bit of handyman stuff. Also, when I need to buy something, sometimes I'll also buy a cheaper item instead that wasn't created for the same purpose but can be creatively used for the same purpose, like making my own mattress for $100 with wooden boards and mattress pads rather than buying a mattress for a few hundred dollars.

That's a good example. I'm the opposite about that stuff. I'd pay someone 10 bucks to go fix my headlight right now, all they gotta do is install the bulb. Pathetic

Damn! So would I when I need a replacement. Have you tried to change a headlight on a late model car recently? Do you have a '57 Chevy? Most headlights are a huge PITA these days.

Actually I'm serious. I had s friend who works on cars in his spare time take 25 minutes to get my front headlight in on this car. **** that just take my 10 bucks so I can browse 2+2 with you fine gents

Beaten to the punch by offTopic. Yeah, microwave your damp sponge daily, you filthy animals.

cheap = spending as little as possible on something, low quality & related suffering be damned.
frugal = maximizing value.

I'm frugal. I don't own a car. When I think I'll want one for at least a couple of months, I buy an older Corolla or Civic for $4k, then sell it for the same $4k when I'm done with it. The frugal aspect of this approach is on buying a reliable high quality item that is already fully depreciated and thus won't lose any additional value prior to sale, which makes it effectively free for duration of use. Even with registration/licensing fees, it's still saving thousands of USD compared to renting for a few months. Other than my very first car when I was a lolpoor, I've never had a vehicle loan.

The last two vehicles I've done this with, I've sold for more than I purchased them for.


It also helps to not care about conspicuous consumption or what others think. Years ago I worked at a tech startup that paid pretty well. Almost all the cars in the parking lot were nice BMWs or high end SUVs. I had a ratty old Corolla that I paid for in cash. More than a few times at the end of the day when walking to the lot with a co-worker, they would confide that they wished they had done what I did and were unhappy with their massive monthly payments on a vehicle they were already upside-down on. When I would ask why they bought it, they usually didn't know.

It's all about value, imo. While I have no problem dropping $200 on dinner at Kabuto because I think that's a steal, I'll still buy most of my non-sailing clothes at thrift stores because there's just no reason to pay 10x the price for brand new stuff. When I lived in lolDC, those places were a goldmine thanks to the amount of money in the area and the focus on status and conspicuous consumption. Picked up a lot of perfect condition (including many still in plastic, never-worn) dress shirts for a fraction of the retail price. Also crushed craigslist for tons of perfect condition household items at 10-20% of retail that people simply got bored of having or wanted a newer model. My friends were baffled that I was making six figures and still doing this, but I converted a few to the church of chop.

My wife and I like BJ's pizza (we live in Reno, so not a lot of great options) - half price on Monday and that's the only day we're having pizza.

Even if pizza sounds REALLY good on Friday.....

MM MD

This!

It is about conscious approach to life and thinking what really adds value to your life, what it is what YOU want from life.

I have done not so long ago something what seems on the first to be not very frugal: I have now a cleaning lady for two hours every two weeks. She helps with ironing and does a round in my bathroom and kitchen. That is despite that I actually like ironing myself. But I have so many other projects and am so strapped for time that it was a significant increase in my quality of life.

Church of chop lol. So are you Jesus Christ, God or Joseph Smith? My Nan knew more about frugality before you were even a twinkle in your parents eyes son and yet strangely she never considered herself a deity.

lapka - exactly

rexx - silence, heretic!

Chop +

I'll go to the casino and bet $100-200 per hand, but when I get home I'll check all the the cereals for the best price per ounce.
WTF's with that. I'm old...

Large paper leaf bags. I use them over and over. I have to take yard waste to the village dump. They are cheap to buy but if they are not soiled at the bottom they are fine to re-use. Some people will throw the full bags away and I will empty the clean ones and take them home. Never bought any. I got alot of trees.

.

Surprisingly chop is actually right about something. The thing is frugality allows more freedom and choices in your life whereas people often think the opposite about it. Also it's enjoyable tbh. Finding great deals on gumtree or at an op shop is infinitely more rewarding than going out and paying full price at a department store. I also like the environmental aspect to it. It's win win really.

i pay ~$16/mo with USAA (07 audi a4), my dads dad was in the air force so the whole family is eligible for their coverage. otoh he still pays ~400/mo for his caddy sts4 and my sisters '15 loaded taurus. all cars owned. im certainly not complaining. i get minimal discounts for safety features, all the airbags, and the 6mo autopay setup. probably save about $20 per cycle between those.

take out containers are the nuts. the quart sized soup ones are great cups.

I also haggle for many things, even things that aren't conventionally haggled for. I just got a new pair of eyeglasses for $100 at the store after trying it on and asking a lot of questions after asking to see the manager and making counteroffers to the manager after the salesman told me that $150 was the lowest possible price.

i will walk/jog home from the bar ~7 miles because i don't want to pay 30 dollars for a cab.