r/Frugal

School is coming up fast and trying to get shoes and clothes for multiple kids right now is absolute pain. It feels like every basic sneaker is eighty bucks minimum now and they just grow out of them in six months. I refuse to pay full retail price for a bunch of stuff all at once. How are you guys optimizing your own shopping to beat the summer price hikes on basic activewear and school sneakers?

Is it normal for all of your clothes to be thrifted?
Excluding underwear, socks and my shoes, all of my clothes are second hand.

I don’t shop at the mall or department stores. I cycle through all the thrift stores in my area whenever I need clothes. And I really enjoy it to. I’d consider it somewhat of a hobby. I’ll spend hours browsing and not even buy anything. It’s just really soothing for me.

Is this strange? Those of you with partners, was this something they found weird? I know a lot of people really don’t like the concept of wearing other people’s clothes but I think it’s some type of shame they have about seeming “poor”

I’ve saved so much money thrifting. I have a great wardrobe with quality pieces that I wear all the time.
I’m realizing it’s a lifestyle though. I’ve met women who don’t even consider a thrift store when it comes to shopping.

Also… household goods… thrift store!

I stopped buying beef a long time ago, but the other day, I was in Aldi and craving a hamburger, so I looked at their ground meat. Their 73/27 was $5.xx a pound and their 80/20 was 6.19. You have to buy big packs of this to get that price. I spied some burger patties, and took a look at them. 80/20, approximately 1.4 lbs. for $4.99/lb. WHAT?? I looked at the package carefully, and saw no fillers, so I bought them, put them up individually and used two for burgers and broke the other two up to put into chili or spaghetti sauce. It cooked up just like the regular 80/20, and was $1.20/lb cheaper.

I don't know, maybe it's a lesser quality meat, but I couldn't tell the difference. I was delicious.

I’ve been making my own from store bought starters for a long time. It’s super easy to do ok. To do well takes some practice.

I finally got a heritage strain of Bulgarian yogurt. To activate you need to go through a few generations. But once stable, you can get consistent amazing yogurt.

I didn’t expect it to be this much better… wow, yeah it is so much better than store cultures.

1 gallon of milk is around $4 here. Makes a Costco sized tub of super thick Greek yogurt.

The acid whey is 100% used in my house: bread, waffles, scones, marinades etc. a sub for buttermilk.

I pair it with a Craigslist special bread maker, and it’s really a great natural combo.

I haven’t bought baked goods in a long time in my efforts to use up the whey!

I can afford my mortgage and bills on my own but having some extra disposable income would be nice. I own a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with access to nice back yard and 2 car garage in central Florida.

I’m thinking of renting out one of my extra bedrooms for about $400/month for some extra side money. The renter would have access to the whole house except my bedroom/bathroom. The whole house would be considered “communal” space.

How difficult is it to find a good roommate that is not a creep? I’m a single young women living alone so I would prefer if my roommate is another woman. I also wouldn’t mind a married couple or someone with a child.

Any tips on how badly this would screw over my taxes as I would be considered a “landlord”? Do I really have to get a lawyer to make a rental agreement or can I make my own rental agreement and have them sign it?

I was visiting some friends in Boston, and they took me on a walking tour of different places. At the library, I told them I wanted to stop by the gift shop to buy something and support them. The gift shop has a pretty bad setup, where you look at a display wall like 20 ft away and then get in line to buy at the counter. Meaning it's not like a typical store where you literally hold what you're buying. I saw a keychain for $6 and that was my goal. Got in line and waited 10-15 min, asked for the keychain I wanted, and they said it was sold out and they only had a different model. I said it was OK and they went ahead. When I tapped the card, it was a premium keychain costing $17. I kinda froze and didn't want to be that person to return it... so here I am with this expensive token, it better last for a lifetime... so painful.

I have MVP at Food lion which can help mostly for some food items, but some things at Walmart are cheaper. Dollar Tree seems to only be good for personal sized items rather than bulk and lots of the things are listed as the same price, or more, than at Walmart. Does anyone know stores that are pretty cheap and which stores are better for what? Like if one store has expensive frozen food, but has cheaper snacks instead than other places.

I have been wanting to buy a PC for a long time but the price is really high. I prioritized buying a tablet 2 years ago then last year my laptop broke and I had to buy a new one. But I need a computer so I can give my laptop a rest and because some of the things I work with require high power. I am a grad student in CS and I don't know anyone who doesn't a PC. I found an expensive PC as outlet PC for $850 (it checks almost all requirements I want but the fact that it is an outlet is bothering me even tho it is according to the retail new with original package missing and I have a 2 years warranty). I live on my own so I have pay bills but since high school I have worked mulitple jobs (uni is free where I live) that I have saved enough to not an economic catastrophe. I really wanted to travel this summer and it didn't work out. The point is that I cannot justify it to my own head. I don't really need it, but it is good to have and I would be happier and I have been wanting it for years now. What do you all think?

Started making vanilla extract a few weeks ago so it will be ready by December. New embroidery project is in the works as well.

Are folks already planning for their frugal / DIY holidays? I always love the posts in this group where people share frugal gift ideas and projects. Last year, there was a great thread on signature frugal gift ideas and it always seems like there are so many Autumn posts about navigating the holidays.

Would love to hear what people are making or planning

If you were in my position and perhaps you have been, would you just down size to a rented room? I currently rent a luxury studio apartment for 1760 a month which consumes 43% of my take home before utilities but those are only like $60. While I can afford this and have thousands left over after expenses, I do not feel like I have the ample breathing room I did when I was subleasing with some roommates and additionally the rent will keep increasing. My net worth is not really growing measurably at the end of the month to where I have real financial options.

I like living independently but rents in my area are all like 1650+ for anything decent. Would you just rent a room to build up real savings?

Looking for a cheap plane ticket for an upcoming trip. Trying to find the best deals, flexible with dates and destinations. If you know any budget-friendly sites, discount airlines, or last-minute hacks, let me know—trying to save as much as possible! If anybody knows of any websites that would be more then helpful. Long story short I have my 2 week vacation coming up and I want to take a trip.

In an effort to reduce my electric bill and keep my apartment from getting too hot during the day, I decided to get some curtains. I found blackout curtains on clearance at Walmart for $4, slightly shorter than my living room windows but close enough. They had a stain (presumably why they were on clearance) but it came right off with a tide pen. I’m hoping that they’ll make a difference with the temperature during the day but Texas heat is no joke so we’ll see. The problem I have with them though is that they are sooooo plain. They’re a light gray, almost the same shade as the walls. The lack of contrast and the neutrality for someone like me who loves bright colors is just so unsatisfying. So I thought about maybe getting a bead curtain to layer on top for some color and texture. But that requires yet another purchase, which I’m trying to avoid. So I am looking for something that I can make but I’m not even sure what to search to look for inspiration. A DIY bead curtain would require a lot more beads than I currently have stashed in my craft supplies and that would again be an additional purchase. I thought about trying to stitch some patches on the curtains themselves but I don’t have a sewing machine and hand stitching would be quite tedious.

Hi all! Hoping to get some help. I and my partner both have SEVERE Adhd that we are slowly starting to manage together with various systems, but the one thing that is a constant problem is SOCKS.

Every Adhd guide says to buy 50 pairs of the same color socks and then you don't have to worry about matching them. That's fine, I never did anyway, but some socks these days are GARBAGE. Hanes fall apart on me in an instant, I think Reebok were the ones that were so tight they left marks. The only ones I've had that I liked were Kodiak? Which I cannot find online anywhere and I've lost all but one. I know darn tough is great and I love them but the lifetime warranty doesn't work when the socks have fallen into the void. And I love wool! One day I'll have a basket full of merino wool socks, but right now I would be doing both the sheep and my wallet a disservice.

I'm at the end of my sock-chain. I know I cannot just fix the problem of losing socks, that is a battle I can't win right now, but PLEASE, someone give me crew socks that are affordable, durable, comfortable, and available in BULK. Bonus points for arch support.

I’m looking for those things where you eventually realize you’ve been paying the “normal retail” price when there’s a much cheaper way to buy essentially the same thing.
For example, did you know Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are basically melamine foam, and you can buy generic melamine foam cleaning sponges in bulk for a fraction of the price?
What are your best “did you know you can buy this like THAT?” discoveries?
Could be:
Something you can buy in bulk
A generic/private label version of a branded product
The raw material/form of a product instead of the consumer branded version
Something sold for another purpose that works just as well
Something you can buy directly from a manufacturer or wholesale supplier