r/Frugal_Ind

Trying to save money doesn't always mean going for the cheapest option. Sometimes spending a little more upfront ends up being better in the long run.

What's something you've found is actually worth paying extra for?

Could be clothes, shoes, appliances, electronics, furniture, or even everyday essentials. Would be interesting to know what you think is worth spending more on.

I am in final year of college, and am earning 35k from two internships.

I save most of it because I've seen my parents experience tough rainy days and it is a constant household fight matter.

That is why I started earning+ saving early.

Now since I am in college, I am very aware of lifestyle inflation due to peers and getting influenced.

I don't smoke or drink. Our hangouts mostly revolve around going to some cafe due to lack of other places and malls.

I try to only spend 5k each month on all this and save 30k, since ofc I live with my parents.

But this expense almost always creeps up to 7k 8k due to having to socialize.

Last week we went to a sushi spot and my share was 600, 100 for travel. The next thing my friends decided to go was go checkout some sale at this famous cheaper retail store, similar to Zudio.

I got influenced too because I hate feeling left out and the only one not getting anything.

I picked 5 things, which I probably don't think I needed and ended up spending 1400. This made me extremely agitated and sad otw back home, it's non returnable by the way.

I love shopping too, just like any other 21 yo girl, but most of rhe stuff I got was "cute" and "needed" and "has to be bought" according to my friends. I loved the things too and in the moment got excited, but afterwards when the cashier announced the bill, my heart sank. Not because I can't afford it, but I didn't want to spend so much considering half the month was still left. Still I couldn't keep it back.

I know it's my fault but I wanted to get some insight on how to deal with this and navigating similar feelings next time on. Please help me out so I'm more mindful next time.

We've been using body washes of various brands for the past many years. But I've found them to be more expensive as compared to body soaps.

How to reduce the cost of body wash? Do we need to shift back to the good old soaps. Kindly suggest.

What do you guys snack on that’s free of flavourings, emulsifiers, stabilisers, preservatives and food colours?

I could literally not find anything except plain puffed rice & wheat. The couple things that seem reasonable in ingredients cost the same as their weight in silver📉

Sure there’s fruits. And I eat an unhealthy amount of them. But they’re always sweet or sour and not satiating or have any calories for that matter.

I’ve checkout out all the brands that claim that they’re healthy. But they all contain flavouring, emulsifiers, stabilisers, etc.

I need to eat about 2800-3000 calories a day, and I am barely able to hit 2200-2400 with healthy food.

And that’s after I sprinkle EVOO on basically everything I eat.

Some days I just get some chicken and eat that for a snack. But 250 grams of chicken is only like 450 calories. Sprinkle 15 ml EVOO on that and it is still under 600 cal.

I feel hungry all day everyday. But there’s nothing in the grocery store that’s healthy and high in calories.

Generally posting here so that everybody is aware and I understand that a lot of these things are pretty much common sense and people already know. However, I do observe that there are quite a lot of young people who might probably not know. These are all things that one might not find immediate savings in large quantities. But over a period of time, they add up to a considerable amount.

1. When you start living alone, you might want to purchase a slightly bigger cooker instead of a small one. This way, rice / lentils / vegetables can all be cooked in one go. Marginal increase in gas use but bigger savings in time and eventual reduction in multiple trips to cook many things.
2. If you use a water kettle, pour only the amount of water you would immediately consume. This takes a shorter amount of time to heat up and consumes less energy. Also, if you can invest in a water kettle that heats water up to a specific temperature (say 60C which is good for drinking) it is even better.
3. Eggs boiler is fantastic. Quickly hard boils eggs and is less expensive than doing it on a pot in the stove.
4. Online medical pharmacies are expensive. Get the number of 3 or 4 local pharmacies where you live. All of them will door deliver and minimum order is often around Rs. 250 to 400 which is quite easy
5. Max out on your and your spouse / children / parents health insurance. This will always come in handy in tough times. Do not be frugal here. Its the wrong place to save on money. Negotiate and get a good price but do not skim on this.
6. Most of the time, you do not need regular sugar on coffee. 40% of it will do just good enough to remove the bitterness. I understand this is more of a taste thing but it certainly helps if you do not want sweet coffee / tea / beverages
7. Soaking rice, legumes, dal in water for at least 2 hours will reduce cooking time, saving money.
8. In the age of the internet, learning how to make simple things like Sambar, Rasam powder from youtube and doing it in big batches and storing it in the freezer and defrosting it in small batches will save you lots of money.
9. Between saving some money and saving some time, prioritize on the time aspect. It will have far reaching benefits in the long run.
10. Bulk purchasing vegetables at a local market every week does many things. a.) You can pick healthier options instead of the regular potato / brinjal / okra kind of things and chose gourd varieties and country variety veggies b.) Evaluate every single thing you buy and purchase avoiding damaged goods and hassle of returns c.) Reduce cost in the long run.
11. Set a schedule to wash clothes. Figure out the maximum clothes one can put in the washing machine for a load and maximize returns.
12. If all of this sounds cumbersome, google calendar (or apple) is your friend. Its free and you can set repetitive notifications. Set it once and it becomes a rigorous habit.
13. 24 hour fasting and if possible 48 hour fasting can do incredible things. It literally reduced my psoriasis problems by 2/3rds and cut down my diabetes from 9.8 to 6.6 Hba1c in a few months. Nothing fixes most inflammation like fasting does.
14. Take the stairs. Its tough at first but habit becomes easy. Its small but consistent additional physical exercise without actually planning for it. Similarly, using smart pickup on ride hailing apps is fantastic because it helps you cut down cost and puts you in walking mode. The only drawback is if you walk with a crutch, like i do, its unsafe in the evening due to street dogs. So chose carefully.
15. Plenty of repair / mending channels on youtube teach you all sorts of things from fixing electronics to mending faded, torn clothes. Put in the effort to learn these things. Stitching torn clothes is something most tailors do not do, in 1st tier cities. When they do, its expensive.

Please feel free to add more and correct anything i have posted.

3 Pairs of cheap socks Will cost 150 rupees. I can use them for 3 months...

Single pair of branded Socks Costs 200-300. I don't know their time period...

What should I do?? Should I Buy Branded One Or Cheap Ones ???

let call my friend as rakesh

I knew rakesh was my classmate but we were not friends. after 4-5 years, i met him in mall it took some time to recognize him. after i came to know that he lives 3-4km nearby my office so we used to meet at chai ki tapri for chitchats and talking about our college days, i came to know he works as software engineer in unknown company with package 4-5 LPA (he didn't told me exact figure) and approx. 2-3 years ago when he had low salary he got PM awas yojana apartment which is i think subsidized home by government.

he told me job is not stressful. every weekend they go outside, loan on subsidized home will come to end next year. after ending loan, he is thinking about buying small kirana store and want to leave software engineering. his wife have teaching government job in rural area school.

he has achieved peace without earning crores or FIRE. he likes to read books. so, he has took subscription of local library. he lives simple and peaceful life. he tell me he most of the time use public bus to save up money, never went private hospital, many expensive operations has done in his family in government hospital due to certain kind of government card they have

and here I'm stucked with dumb manager telling me to memorize the codebase, toxic co-workers, full of politics. i'm not getting even time for my hobbies

sometimes, i think in country like india it is better to have low paying jobs you can buy any subsidized things and use government services

I use mobile only for calling. Bulk of net surfing i can do at home where i have unlimited wifi net. But jio has outrageous rates now. Bcoz of which i recharge with calling plans and data topups. need net outside home only for upi payments etc. Hence i dont but 1.5 gb per day plans. Which is the best mobile plan who use it only for calling and nominal internet usage.

Rather than pushing themselves to achieve their full economic potential, people choose to permanently shrink their lifestyle and standard of living just to avoid the competitive friction of the job market.

Let me give you a little background about myself. My grandfather and my father had a leather and rubber business. So we know our stuff. (Father retired so we dont have that business now)

From the last few years, I have been trying to buy footwear for my family and for myself also. But the outsole material of all the footwear that is available in India is mostly slippery PVC/EVA. whereas it should be PU or phylon or rubber.

So how to check for it? First is, a PU(polyurethane) material or a rubber material will be an added layer of outsole, mostly. If it is not a separate layer and it is made from a single mold, then it is mostly PVC/EVA. Also you can press your finger against the sole and try to rub and try to pull it towards yourself, If there is a very good grip, it means the footwear is good to wear and it will protect you from slipping on floors having water or in rainy season (very critical in india).

Now, in the Indian market, quality has deteriorated and manufacturers think we are idiots who would buy anything and cut corners and use cheap materials without any regard for safety just like food and everything else. Footwear with good grip are rare, very rare. I am unable to find. I am ready to pay the money but even online description says that the outsole has PU or rubber but when I receive those footwear, it is just EVA/PVC.

Now, regarding the footwear part, why are we talking about this here? Because it is a liability and the moment you buy something for cheap, let's say 300, 500, 1000 rupees, and you slip, the cost of hospitalization and medical treatment is more than a few lakh rupees these days. And not to mention time and pain extra and workday loss, amounts to a lot of losses.

So, I am always trying to find proper grip, proper footwear having good grip with PU or rubber outsoles. I am still searching every day for my family, for my kids. very much frustrated. So, be aware and don't fall for the cheap material trap. put some research and effort in buying good grip outsoles, it will be worth saving your life.

Open to recommendations for ladies sandals with good grip for my mother, really having a hard time searching.

I needed to book a doctor's appointment so i downloaded the app. (and visited website too)

1--> created an account.

2--> verified my phone number

3--> verified my email.

4--> filled out my profile.

5--> added my address.

6--> accepted cookies.

7--> Turned off notifications.

Finally booked the appointment. this made me realize maybe somethings were simpler in the previous generations, don't get me wrong life IS convenient now but something feels off and lowkey this sign up process is exhausting

I miss when you could just... call

After all the scandals coming out of fssai raids we are cooking at home. Got a cook for 5k who cooks 1 curry, 1 sabzi and 18 rotis or 35 puris a day. It's saving us unimaginable monies. We also shop for vegs the morning of the day we are cooking them. It's a great experience to almost exclusively eai home food. The 5k to cook is wasool by saving immensely on eating out.

My company gives around Rs 500 a day to order food to office from Swiggy/Zomato (only on days I go to office). They won’t give it as Sodexo coupons, and I have to reimburse it by uploading receipts. I do not want to eat a lot of outside food, so was figuring out ways to order grocery kind of items through these platforms.

One way I figured out was by ordering sourdough bread from suchalis. But I was wondering if there are any other items I can order which would be good for cooking at home? I can’t use instamart - it has to be from Swiggy /Zomato food section