35 Frugal Life Hacks That Might Be Worth Trying
In a world where financial prudence is increasingly becoming a necessity, the ‘ r/Frugal ‘ subreddit has emerged as a treasure trove of ingenious life hacks that empower individuals to save money without compromising on quality of life.
With a community dedicated to sharing money-saving tips and tricks, we’ve compiled a list of some amazing frugal life hacks that might just revolutionize the way you approach your budget.
#1 My Friend Was Going To Throw Away A Torn Sheet, So I Saved It, Made It Into “Yarn”, And Crocheted Myself A Basket. I Added A Bit Of Color With Rags Pilfered From My Mom’s Bin
#2 115 Meals For $131
Total meals 115. $130.60/115meals = $1.14 per meal
From left to right: 2 meals in one round container of egg salad. 5 meals of Teriyaki Ground Turkey with Chunked Pineapple and rice. 5 meals of Spinach Feta Scramble 6 meals of Creamy Parmesan Shrimp with Spinach and Bacon. 9 meals of Parmesan Pork over Zucchini Noodles. 6 meals of Bangers and Mash. 5 meals of Korean BBQ Chicken. 8 meals of African Peanut Curry. 12 meals in six containers of Tomato and Carrot Soup. 6 meals in three containers of Chicken Korma. 18 meals in nine containers of Chicken n’ Dumplings. 6 containers of Green Chili Pork Roast. 9 meals of tacos. 18 meals of steamed boa.
I put about 3-4 days of meals in the refrigerator and the rest goes into the freezer. We stay on top of eating the meals “First In, First Out” to avoid spoiling food in the refrigerator and freezer burn on food in the freezer.
#3 Join Your Local “Buy Nothing” Group On FB, If You’re Able. I Joined Mine And Just Received A Kitchen Island For Free
#4 Use Nail Polish Remover (Acetone) To Get The White Rubber Part Of Vans/Converse Looking Good As New
#5 Made Christmas Cards This Year Instead Of Buying Them At The Store
#6 Frugal Win. I Extended The Life Of My Grubby-Looking Converse Shoes With A Bottle Of Black Dye
#7 I Had A Stain In My Jeans That I Couldn’t Get Rid Of, So I Covered It Up. Iron-On Patch Reinforced With Stitches
#8 Don’t Throw Away Your “Empty” Lotion Bottles
#9 Reusing Sheet Pouches As Cable Organizers And Reversed The Inserts For Labels
#10 We Get Fresh Fruit On Sale, Cut It Up, And Freeze It For Smoothies
A big bag of frozen pineapple goes for $16 – $19 where I live. We filled this big ziploc with 3 pineapples we got on sale for $1.99 each.
#11 Save Your Butter Wrappers To Grease Your Pans. A Tip Learned From My Mom
#12 Couldn’t Get Rid Of This Ugly Stain Right In The Middle Of The Shirt. Used Some Old Dye To Make A Cool Patchy Shirt Instead
#13 My Son Wanted A Stuffed Manta Ray For His 5th Birthday But I Didn’t Have Money To Buy One, So Instead I Converted His Old Baby Blanket Into One (Sewn By Hand)
#14 Repurposed Old Color TV From The Early 80s Into A Cat Apartment
#15 Picked Up A Used Cardigan That Turned Out To Look Much Better In The Picture Than In Person, So I Turned It Back To Yarn And Crocheted The Yarn Into A Cat Bed
#16 Turned An Old Trampoline Into A Greenhouse
We bought it for our kids 5 years ago. The bouncy part and netting were no longer safe, but the frame itself was in great condition. Almost threw it away but as I was taking it down I started brainstorming and this is the result!
#17 Family Thinks I’m Frugal, I Just Like To Think I’m Helping The Environment. Any Time I Get Sealed Air Bags I Make A Slit On One Side To Put My Hand Through And Pick Up My Puppy’s Waste
#18 For Christmas, I Couldn’t Afford Individual Gifts For All The Kids In My Life (I Have 24+) So I Bought A $10 Silicon Mat And A $45 Bulk Box Of Crayons And I’m Making Them All Name Crayons
#19 A Soap Dish Made From Unused Takeout Sticks Using Glue And Thread
#20 Save Sunday Comics For Wrapping Presents
#21 I Was Looking Online For A Product That Would Safely Hold My House Key While Jogging. Then I Remembered That I Already Had Such A Product
#22 For Cheap Insulation, Put Bubble Wrap On Your Windows To Help Keep The Heat In. Just Spray Them With Water And The Bubble Wrap Will Stick To The Window
#23 My Aunt Requested Crocheted Face Scrubbies To Replace Cotton Pads/Balls. She Asked For 24 So I Put Them In A Repurposed Candle Container
#24 I Made Reusable Gift Bags For The Holiday Season
#25 Long Live The Yellow Sticker. My Mum Just Got This All For Under £2
#26 I Have Been Looking To Buy One Of These For My Morning Coffee But Ended Up Making It With Items I Already Had
#27 I Finally Understand Why People Buy Large Cuts Of Meat When It Goes On Sale
Trying to be more frugal, we got 2 large top roasts for “buy-one-get-one-free” processed it, and cut it up at home ourselves. Now we have meals for days.
#28 Using Toilet Paper Rolls And Old Metal Takeout Containers To Start My Seeds
#29 I Needed A Very Large And Sturdy Desk And Didn’t Want To Buy It New, So For The First Time I Tried To Build Furniture. I Think It Looks Pretty Good
#30 Turned Damaged Vintage Levi’s Jeans Into Shorts, Hat, And Scrunchies
#31 Here’s Another $500+ Haul From My Favorite Dumpster. I Haven’t Purchased Groceries In Years
#32 Our Brand New Bed Broke. I Salvaged The Wood And Turned It Into A Planter
#33 Pro Tip: Freeze Your Old Candles For A Couple Hours To Easily Remove Excess Wax And Repurpose
#34 Fellow Parents Of Small Children: Join Your Local Parent Groups
Someone with much more money than me decided to just gift the piles of new diapers (300+) their kid had outgrown. They posted it on our city’s parent Facebook group. A 25-minute roundtrip drive saved me over $100 worth of diapers. A frugal win for sure!
#35 My Public Library Tells You How Much Money You’ve Saved By Checking Things Out Instead Of Buying Them
Saumya Ratan
Saumya is an explorer of all things beautiful, quirky, and heartwarming. With her knack for art, design, photography, fun trivia, and internet humor, she takes you on a journey through the lighter side of pop culture.
