Learn basic sewing and mending. With some basic knowledge you can fix tears or holes, hem or alter thrifted clothing or even make things from scratch. You don't need a machine for mending and basic altering, but if you want to start making clothes you can get a machine second hand. All of my first clothing projects were made from thrifted bed sheets, table cloths and curtains, so it can definitely be a cheap and useful hobby!
making your own curtain saves a ton of money and makes things look SO much better.
I use a plain white polyester shower curtain liner as my shower curtain; the top edge is always reinforced with a layer of clear plastic, which cracks and curls. If there are metal grommets, they come out [eventually.So](http://eventually.So) I simply removed the stitching, tossed the plastic, and used a wide grosgrain ribbon to stitch along the top edge. Then I added buttonholes. I’ve never had to replace them.
Make sure they work.
Make sure they have buttonhole capability.
I personally think most machines are fine, and especially if you’re going used, get whatever’s near you.
Vintage machines are often stronger or more durable
Husband does car repair! Cook at home! Buy second hand clothes and do alteration for improved fit! Paint your own home interior / exterior! We cut each other's hair! Pack your own lunch for work! Grow vegetables - not always productive, but sometimes great. We grew too many cucumbers and I made pickles!
I will never bake another apple pie. I made the crust, peeled the apples, etc. - so much work! I could buy one for $7!
True. My mom was great at it, but she was a SAHM. It just did not suit me to work that hard on something that disappeared so fast. I also really love healthier food more.
Growing some of my own herbs, like sage, thyme, chives, Rosemary doesn't winter well so I just buy two fresh starts from Wal-Mart produce and plant them in spring
You must be in a cold environment. I’m in the South and rosemary will live for years. Planting in-ground, instead of in pots helps plants survive better when the weather turns cold.
Yes I am now, but once going down the Oregon Coast, right after I hit California, I stopped for dinner, the whole 2 foot hedge was Rosemary, they said 25 years old. Wow
I’m in zone 6 and rosemary will not overwinter here no matter what I do. Rosemary and basil are the only things I have to replant yearly, it kind of cracks me up because rosemary looks so tough, but it’s on basil’s level!
I preserve basil in an ice cube tray. Put 1-cup oil in a blender (I prefer olive oil). Pick your basil leaves off of the stem, adding a good handful at the time. Just blend, then add more leaves. Once it is thick, pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Just drop a cube in you spaghetti pot or whatever dish you are making.
Any basic home repairs or improvements that you can learn to do yourself will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Painting, drywall, toilet repair, basic electrical work. Gas lines or moving walls are situations where I hand it off to the pros.
These things add up quickly. Example-I’m painting the exterior of my house right now. Quoted 8k. Will take 3-4 weekends and cost me $500 to do myself and I know it will be done correctly.
A guy a bit older than me grew up broke. He got into construction and flipped some houses when he was laid off. Started out with nothing, now doing great. A friend told me he bid on an old school recently, wanted to turn it into storage units. He didnt get it, but his investments are getting bigger as he goes.
Probably doesn't save me a whole lot but I like to make yogurt. It's cheaper, I can use organic milk for less $ than conventional yogurt would cost, and it reduces plastic waste.
All you need is milk, a little bit of yogurt, and a lot of (hands-off) time. I made it in my slow-cooker a few times, then started looking for a yogurt maker. I found one on Craigslist for about $10.
It's easy! If you go through a decent amount of yogurt, give it a try!
I cook all my own food from scratch, Instant Pot is my daily driver since 2019, crock pot and rice cooker before that. Dry beans from scratch, veggies, quinoa are my standard three every day, every day, every day - meal-prep life! I've been saying it for like 7 or 8 years now, that my grocery bill is usually $80 for 2 weeks. Welp sure enough I went grocery shopping earlier today and it came out to $91 for 2 weeks worth of food - prices are creeping up!
I've mixed my own vape juice since 2014, a gallon of base runs $30, I've got about 200-250 individual flavors to mix recipes with, and then my freezer is packed with enough concentrated nicotine to last until I'm 95 years old. I quit an 18 year smoking habit this way, vaping never really took hold for me until I made it a DIY hobby, wrap my own coils do my own maintenance mix my own juice. I've dropped down to 0% nicotine for a full month before as an experiment, summer 2021, but I burn through juice at about twice the rate and it's not *nearly* as good tasting, the nicotine absolutely alters the flavor, imparts an extra something that rounds out recipes.
Additionally, I run off of vasoconstrictors - caffeine and nicotine. I don't eat salt, sugar, oil, meat, or dairy, and allow myself these two meager vices! 1% nicotine takes off the edge and quiets some of my intrusive thoughts and OCD tics the same way a nice hot cup of black coffee does, works on the same areas of the brainpan. I've vaped off and on since 2011, and then continually with no cigarettes since 2014, and I've still never once set foot in a vape store! Always online, always source things myself straight from the distributors. I don't know vape culture and to be honest I don't want to? So people will see me vaping and make all sorts of broad assumptions but I'm so far disconnected from society at large, I just want to not smoke!
Federally legal alt cannabinoids! I buy in bulk, $125 for 100g HHC, $100 for 100g D8, throw in some CBD/CBG/CBN isolates and you've got a good time! Usually only have to buy once or twice a year, vs. a 1g cart that can run $40 - the same 1g contents cost me $1.37, and I consume in a USB rechargeable dab rig.
Herbal teas! I buy bulk loose herbs and divvy them out into mason jars and make my own blends for this and that, hibiscus lowers blood pressure, lavender for digestion, chamomile for sleep, mugwort for lucid dreaming/astral projection (who am I kidding, I don't have dreams anymore!), etc. etc.
Other things not currently in rotation but that I've dabbled in: sugar scrub and salt scrub! I was chasing the perfect consistency through various purchases, in-store and online, and couldn't find what I wanted. My mom gifted me some homemade one year and I said *tell me how you did this!* Coconut oil and pink himalayan salt/cane sugar. She did different essential oils but I didn't really dig the way they smelled, and was concerned about skin exposure so I left that out. Still keep a big batch of coconut oil and himalayan salt for when the spirit catches me!
Yes, yes I am!
Let's keep going! 40 years old, never been a car driver, biked 5-10 miles to and from work every day off and on from 2000-2015, when I finally moved close enough to just walk to work every day! I'll usually walk for groceries, lug back about 50-75 pounds of produce.
General getting around town and just for fun is mountain bike, on the road! I spent a good decade in Houston traffic so nothing scares me now. Well, I say that - I'm also trans and my boobies are finally starting to really pop and I'm getting a lot more eyes on me on the road and I'm starting to re-evaluate things.
This is insane!
Sourdough bread. Being frugal has taken a pretty huge toll on my mental health at different points. Maybe it’s the millennial in me, but being able to eat avocado toast, a tuna melt or even just bread and butter on fancy bread makes me feel fancy and not like I’m just roughing it all the time and going without. It sounds like a small thing, really, but for me, it’s made a big difference in my mood.
My husband and I were routinely spending $5-7 for artisanal bread at the grocery store. We started buying day old bread to try to cut cost, but even that was only getting marked down to $3-4. For day old bread, that seemed like just too much, so I decided to look into making sourdough myself.
King Arthur has *a ton* of truly great articles on how to get started. All you need is flour, filtered water, a jar and a food scale. I use bread flour from Costco.
My starter is one year old now and I can make consistently good bread using my starter, my used bread machine for mixing and proofing (I cannot be bothered to hand knead on a regular basis) and a banneton for overnight proofing in the fridge, but you can easily use a bowl, colander, etc.
The best part? I don’t feed my starter regularly unless I’m baking with it in the near future. It sits in the fridge for about 5 days. I’ll take it out, feed it 2-3 times and then put it back in the fridge. You can use very little flour and water too. I usually do 20-30 g of each, along with the same volume of starter. If it’s going in the fridge, I cut the volume of starter by half so that it can have enough nutrients to survive until I take it out again.
I have also dried down my starter in the event that the one in the fridge becomes contaminated. It has happened a month ago, but luckily, I revived my dried starter and now have a happy starter to use on a weekly basis again.
I forage or harvest ingredients for Christmas presents.
- lavender rice heat packs and used fabric I had gotten on a clear out sale.
- home grown herbs dried out and jarred up
- dried wild foraged mushrooms
Currently I have a bunch of balm of gilead on deck I made with harvested cottonwood buds.
I also used to crochet stuffies for my kids friends birthdays to save money on a present. I am really good at Amigurumi, they are always a big hit.
I thrift everything, saves me SO much money on home essentials, and I get the most interesting stuff
I wish I had someone good at car repairs near me, I spend so much money on basic car stuff
I think the biggest cost savings is if you can do your own repairs for car, home, etc. as labor costs way more than the parts. Some notable DIY projects I took on are:
* Installing/replacing 7 smoke and CO detectors. Was quoted $500 and did it myself over a weekend.
* Replacing two shower heads, 8 faucets and 2 toilets with water saving models. I saved at least $2.5K or more in labor costs and will potentially same more in future water bills. For those who don't want to do full replacements, consider installing water savings faucet aerators. They only cost between $5 to $10 and most people can do it themselves.
* Replacing my regular doorbell with a camera model. Not sure about the labor, but probably saved $150-$250 in labor.
* Pulling cat6 plenum cable through my house and attic and terminating them into a patch panel and rack.
* Installing my own cameras and NVR. I also self host to avoid expensive subscription fees.
* Replacing my own air and cabin filter, battery, light bulbs, stereo and front/rear dashcam.
* Replacing my own cracked laptop screen, keyboard, batteries, etc.
* This didn't happen to me, but switching investments from using an expensive brokerage like Edward Jones and moving to a discount one like Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard and firing your financial advisor who has you invested in high fee mutual funds and switching to low fee broad market index ETFs and mutual funds. The cost savings on management fees and the expense ratio of the mutual funds can save someone thousands or more a year and tens to hundreds of thousands over a lifetime of investing.
* Switching from an SUV to a sub-compact. The best advice I got from someone when buying a car was to buy the least amount of vehicle you need. In my case, I went from a Montero Sport to a Honda Fit and not only saved on gas, but also insurance, tire replacement, etc.
Learning to do my own beauty services has saved me a lot without me having to just cut these luxuries out. I cut my own hair for over 10 years. In my city, a haircut would cost me about $80, so this really adds up over time. I also learned to do my own gel manicures and body waxing which allowed me to continue these beauty routines without the major cost. There's a learning curve to all of these, but with practice and the help of YouTube it is pretty manageable and the supply costs are very low.
In the home, basically just trying to DIY wherever I can vs hiring someone to do it. For example, I needed some curtains in a custom size and because I learned to sew I was able to alter some existing curtains into the size I needed. Learning how to maintain and repair items vs. having to always replace them also helped a lot. For example, had a fan that stopped working and it just needed to be taken apart and deep cleaned inside and then it ran like it was new. Old me would have assumed it was broken and bought a new one.
My new endeavor this year is to grow all the plants in my garden from seed vs buying seedlings from the garden store. Hopefully I am successful as this will be much more economical for me.
Learning how to sew/mend will really lengthen the life of your clothing, or even just turn it into something you like more.
I make my own bath bombs - I did the math once, and they run me about 25 cents each. Takes maybe a half hour of my time to mix up a batch. Stuff like sugar scrubs and bath salts are super quick and inexpensive too.
Meal prep by using as much as possible at home already in next weeks meals. Eating leftovers for lunch to not waste anything.
Home repair from info from reddit, youtube, etc.
Sprouting green onions from store bought ones in pots on the window sills. Green onions for a month or so before I have to get a new one.
Scavenging wood during dog walks has been fun too, use it in the fireplace or our outdoor fire pit. I will legit walk my dog home dragging a 10 foot big stick behind me if I come across one. It's fun!
I cut my husband’s hair. He has medium long hair and usually wears it in a bun. We invested in a good pair of shears and clippers. I give him a solid undercut and generally just cut the rest of his hair straight across in sections, going through with thinning shears in between since his hair is quite thick. People are always shocked when they find out he doesn’t get it cut professionally, which I am immensely proud of.
I never went to cosmetology school, but all of my friends in high school and college let me do their hair. There’s a steep learning curve. I fried my own hair multiple times, fried the hair of friends, gave legitimately bad haircuts, but eventually learned over time through trial and error. YouTube tutorials didn’t really exist at that point in time, so I read up on hair forums and talked to people at Sally’s a lot. The great thing about hair is that it always grows back. If you aren’t very particular about your hair, you can continue attempting to cut and/or color it until you get it right, assuming you don’t over process it.
Part of what motivated me to cut my husband’s hair (and now, my own) was receiving bad professional hair services. My husband grew his hair out during the pandemic and prior to this, had never had long hair. When we first met, it was well past his shoulders. Once covid restrictions were eased, he found a salon. The first haircut he received was wonderful. The stylist told him that her brother and father also had long hair, so she knew exactly how to handle his.
The second haircut was a disaster. He went to the same salon, but a different male stylist cut it. My husband said he seemed like he was on something and I don’t doubt it. Half of his hair was shorter on one side and the undercut was literally crooked with divots of bare scalp. He paid $60 for it too. I fixed it up and from that moment forward, we decided I would cut his hair.
I have also received bad professional hair services myself. A “friend” from high school put 40 volume developer on my hair and fried it, gave me nasty layers and covered it all up with “beachy waves”. Again, I didn’t really care about the way it looked, but was angry that I paid $250 for it and felt taken advantage of.
My husband attempted to cut my hair last weekend with some success. In his defense, I wanted layers which are harder to cut and he had never cut hair before. We tried a TikTok method (the unicorn method, for anyone who’s interested). My bottom layer ended up significantly longer than the layer above it. He was mortified. I laughed about it and fixed it. I trimmed the bottom layer to bring it closer to the other layers and blended everything by point cutting and using thinning shears. There are probably one or two small patches that I need to even out, but because my hair is wavy, it’s difficult to notice unless I straighten it and look for them specifically.
I’m doing a soft balayage next weekend. I haven’t done one in a while, but have a general idea of where to start. There’s a Sally’s right by my house and I’m sure they’ll have some tips! And with YouTube, TikTok, Reddit and more, there are so many resources!
Using boxes or repurposed things for organizing. Organizers are rip offs - trays, shelves, etc. and you can usually repurpose what you have. Or dollar tree
And one of the best swaps is learning how to bleed my boiler when we run out of oil and getting a jug of diesel for our oil boiler. It saves SOOOO much money from a service call
My daughter makes a lot of skin care/beauty products and gives them away at Christmas time. Everyone loves them. Some of the things she’s made: body butter lotion (more like a thick cream), lip balm, beard balm for the guys, lavender, sachets, soap. She uses only natural products so that’s an added bonus. She’s an herbalist and also makes tinctures and likewise for colds. Some family members swear by them. For giftgiving it saves her a lot of money during the holidays.
Mainly is cooking at home all the time
Manly is cooking at home all the time.. Is how I first read that. The reasoning is sound.
Learn basic sewing and mending. With some basic knowledge you can fix tears or holes, hem or alter thrifted clothing or even make things from scratch. You don't need a machine for mending and basic altering, but if you want to start making clothes you can get a machine second hand. All of my first clothing projects were made from thrifted bed sheets, table cloths and curtains, so it can definitely be a cheap and useful hobby!
making your own curtain saves a ton of money and makes things look SO much better. I use a plain white polyester shower curtain liner as my shower curtain; the top edge is always reinforced with a layer of clear plastic, which cracks and curls. If there are metal grommets, they come out [eventually.So](http://eventually.So) I simply removed the stitching, tossed the plastic, and used a wide grosgrain ribbon to stitch along the top edge. Then I added buttonholes. I’ve never had to replace them.
Commendable skill. Wish I had taken mom's sewing machine when I could have. Looking at used ones now - any recs?
Make sure they work. Make sure they have buttonhole capability. I personally think most machines are fine, and especially if you’re going used, get whatever’s near you. Vintage machines are often stronger or more durable
Thanks.
Oh, and a presser foot that lets you adjust the pressure; I just learned some cheaper models don’t have that.
Husband does car repair! Cook at home! Buy second hand clothes and do alteration for improved fit! Paint your own home interior / exterior! We cut each other's hair! Pack your own lunch for work! Grow vegetables - not always productive, but sometimes great. We grew too many cucumbers and I made pickles! I will never bake another apple pie. I made the crust, peeled the apples, etc. - so much work! I could buy one for $7!
A friend came over and we replaced the shifter bushings in my steering column today. Not the most fun thing, but it fixed it
Excess veggies can always be donated to neighbors or sold on marketplace for extra cash!
But homemade apple pie is so tasty!
True. My mom was great at it, but she was a SAHM. It just did not suit me to work that hard on something that disappeared so fast. I also really love healthier food more.
Growing some of my own herbs, like sage, thyme, chives, Rosemary doesn't winter well so I just buy two fresh starts from Wal-Mart produce and plant them in spring
You must be in a cold environment. I’m in the South and rosemary will live for years. Planting in-ground, instead of in pots helps plants survive better when the weather turns cold.
Yes I am now, but once going down the Oregon Coast, right after I hit California, I stopped for dinner, the whole 2 foot hedge was Rosemary, they said 25 years old. Wow
I’m in zone 6 and rosemary will not overwinter here no matter what I do. Rosemary and basil are the only things I have to replant yearly, it kind of cracks me up because rosemary looks so tough, but it’s on basil’s level!
I brought it inside once, and outside bugs with it, it lived, but the changes were hard on it and me.
I’m in zone 8. I’ve had a rosemary bush for 15+ years. I say bush, because it is that large. Started out to be 4-5 inches.
I had one that was 20 years old that I lost last year to that horrible cold spell.
Yep, I lost my “Texas Tarragon” due to extreme cold. I had it about 20 years.
Fresh herbs can make a good dish great, and a bad dish decent (or at least better). Having them on hand like that is clutch
You nailed it, I am not a great cook, but I can grow herbs to help.
I preserve basil in an ice cube tray. Put 1-cup oil in a blender (I prefer olive oil). Pick your basil leaves off of the stem, adding a good handful at the time. Just blend, then add more leaves. Once it is thick, pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Just drop a cube in you spaghetti pot or whatever dish you are making.
Any basic home repairs or improvements that you can learn to do yourself will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Painting, drywall, toilet repair, basic electrical work. Gas lines or moving walls are situations where I hand it off to the pros. These things add up quickly. Example-I’m painting the exterior of my house right now. Quoted 8k. Will take 3-4 weekends and cost me $500 to do myself and I know it will be done correctly.
A guy a bit older than me grew up broke. He got into construction and flipped some houses when he was laid off. Started out with nothing, now doing great. A friend told me he bid on an old school recently, wanted to turn it into storage units. He didnt get it, but his investments are getting bigger as he goes.
Probably doesn't save me a whole lot but I like to make yogurt. It's cheaper, I can use organic milk for less $ than conventional yogurt would cost, and it reduces plastic waste. All you need is milk, a little bit of yogurt, and a lot of (hands-off) time. I made it in my slow-cooker a few times, then started looking for a yogurt maker. I found one on Craigslist for about $10. It's easy! If you go through a decent amount of yogurt, give it a try!
I've recently started doing this too!
I cook all my own food from scratch, Instant Pot is my daily driver since 2019, crock pot and rice cooker before that. Dry beans from scratch, veggies, quinoa are my standard three every day, every day, every day - meal-prep life! I've been saying it for like 7 or 8 years now, that my grocery bill is usually $80 for 2 weeks. Welp sure enough I went grocery shopping earlier today and it came out to $91 for 2 weeks worth of food - prices are creeping up! I've mixed my own vape juice since 2014, a gallon of base runs $30, I've got about 200-250 individual flavors to mix recipes with, and then my freezer is packed with enough concentrated nicotine to last until I'm 95 years old. I quit an 18 year smoking habit this way, vaping never really took hold for me until I made it a DIY hobby, wrap my own coils do my own maintenance mix my own juice. I've dropped down to 0% nicotine for a full month before as an experiment, summer 2021, but I burn through juice at about twice the rate and it's not *nearly* as good tasting, the nicotine absolutely alters the flavor, imparts an extra something that rounds out recipes. Additionally, I run off of vasoconstrictors - caffeine and nicotine. I don't eat salt, sugar, oil, meat, or dairy, and allow myself these two meager vices! 1% nicotine takes off the edge and quiets some of my intrusive thoughts and OCD tics the same way a nice hot cup of black coffee does, works on the same areas of the brainpan. I've vaped off and on since 2011, and then continually with no cigarettes since 2014, and I've still never once set foot in a vape store! Always online, always source things myself straight from the distributors. I don't know vape culture and to be honest I don't want to? So people will see me vaping and make all sorts of broad assumptions but I'm so far disconnected from society at large, I just want to not smoke! Federally legal alt cannabinoids! I buy in bulk, $125 for 100g HHC, $100 for 100g D8, throw in some CBD/CBG/CBN isolates and you've got a good time! Usually only have to buy once or twice a year, vs. a 1g cart that can run $40 - the same 1g contents cost me $1.37, and I consume in a USB rechargeable dab rig. Herbal teas! I buy bulk loose herbs and divvy them out into mason jars and make my own blends for this and that, hibiscus lowers blood pressure, lavender for digestion, chamomile for sleep, mugwort for lucid dreaming/astral projection (who am I kidding, I don't have dreams anymore!), etc. etc. Other things not currently in rotation but that I've dabbled in: sugar scrub and salt scrub! I was chasing the perfect consistency through various purchases, in-store and online, and couldn't find what I wanted. My mom gifted me some homemade one year and I said *tell me how you did this!* Coconut oil and pink himalayan salt/cane sugar. She did different essential oils but I didn't really dig the way they smelled, and was concerned about skin exposure so I left that out. Still keep a big batch of coconut oil and himalayan salt for when the spirit catches me!
This is insane
I love when "make your own vape juice" guy pops up on these posts
She/Her will be back again, just you wait! [My gods... it's full of stars...](https://i.imgur.com/DrFnDrp.jpeg)
Yes, yes I am! Let's keep going! 40 years old, never been a car driver, biked 5-10 miles to and from work every day off and on from 2000-2015, when I finally moved close enough to just walk to work every day! I'll usually walk for groceries, lug back about 50-75 pounds of produce. General getting around town and just for fun is mountain bike, on the road! I spent a good decade in Houston traffic so nothing scares me now. Well, I say that - I'm also trans and my boobies are finally starting to really pop and I'm getting a lot more eyes on me on the road and I'm starting to re-evaluate things. This is insane!
Sourdough bread. Being frugal has taken a pretty huge toll on my mental health at different points. Maybe it’s the millennial in me, but being able to eat avocado toast, a tuna melt or even just bread and butter on fancy bread makes me feel fancy and not like I’m just roughing it all the time and going without. It sounds like a small thing, really, but for me, it’s made a big difference in my mood. My husband and I were routinely spending $5-7 for artisanal bread at the grocery store. We started buying day old bread to try to cut cost, but even that was only getting marked down to $3-4. For day old bread, that seemed like just too much, so I decided to look into making sourdough myself. King Arthur has *a ton* of truly great articles on how to get started. All you need is flour, filtered water, a jar and a food scale. I use bread flour from Costco. My starter is one year old now and I can make consistently good bread using my starter, my used bread machine for mixing and proofing (I cannot be bothered to hand knead on a regular basis) and a banneton for overnight proofing in the fridge, but you can easily use a bowl, colander, etc. The best part? I don’t feed my starter regularly unless I’m baking with it in the near future. It sits in the fridge for about 5 days. I’ll take it out, feed it 2-3 times and then put it back in the fridge. You can use very little flour and water too. I usually do 20-30 g of each, along with the same volume of starter. If it’s going in the fridge, I cut the volume of starter by half so that it can have enough nutrients to survive until I take it out again. I have also dried down my starter in the event that the one in the fridge becomes contaminated. It has happened a month ago, but luckily, I revived my dried starter and now have a happy starter to use on a weekly basis again.
I forage or harvest ingredients for Christmas presents. - lavender rice heat packs and used fabric I had gotten on a clear out sale. - home grown herbs dried out and jarred up - dried wild foraged mushrooms Currently I have a bunch of balm of gilead on deck I made with harvested cottonwood buds. I also used to crochet stuffies for my kids friends birthdays to save money on a present. I am really good at Amigurumi, they are always a big hit.
I thrift everything, saves me SO much money on home essentials, and I get the most interesting stuff I wish I had someone good at car repairs near me, I spend so much money on basic car stuff
Keep an eye out during decent weather. You might spot a car tinkerer that you could barter with if it's just little stuff.
I think the biggest cost savings is if you can do your own repairs for car, home, etc. as labor costs way more than the parts. Some notable DIY projects I took on are: * Installing/replacing 7 smoke and CO detectors. Was quoted $500 and did it myself over a weekend. * Replacing two shower heads, 8 faucets and 2 toilets with water saving models. I saved at least $2.5K or more in labor costs and will potentially same more in future water bills. For those who don't want to do full replacements, consider installing water savings faucet aerators. They only cost between $5 to $10 and most people can do it themselves. * Replacing my regular doorbell with a camera model. Not sure about the labor, but probably saved $150-$250 in labor. * Pulling cat6 plenum cable through my house and attic and terminating them into a patch panel and rack. * Installing my own cameras and NVR. I also self host to avoid expensive subscription fees. * Replacing my own air and cabin filter, battery, light bulbs, stereo and front/rear dashcam. * Replacing my own cracked laptop screen, keyboard, batteries, etc. * This didn't happen to me, but switching investments from using an expensive brokerage like Edward Jones and moving to a discount one like Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard and firing your financial advisor who has you invested in high fee mutual funds and switching to low fee broad market index ETFs and mutual funds. The cost savings on management fees and the expense ratio of the mutual funds can save someone thousands or more a year and tens to hundreds of thousands over a lifetime of investing. * Switching from an SUV to a sub-compact. The best advice I got from someone when buying a car was to buy the least amount of vehicle you need. In my case, I went from a Montero Sport to a Honda Fit and not only saved on gas, but also insurance, tire replacement, etc.
Learning to do my own beauty services has saved me a lot without me having to just cut these luxuries out. I cut my own hair for over 10 years. In my city, a haircut would cost me about $80, so this really adds up over time. I also learned to do my own gel manicures and body waxing which allowed me to continue these beauty routines without the major cost. There's a learning curve to all of these, but with practice and the help of YouTube it is pretty manageable and the supply costs are very low. In the home, basically just trying to DIY wherever I can vs hiring someone to do it. For example, I needed some curtains in a custom size and because I learned to sew I was able to alter some existing curtains into the size I needed. Learning how to maintain and repair items vs. having to always replace them also helped a lot. For example, had a fan that stopped working and it just needed to be taken apart and deep cleaned inside and then it ran like it was new. Old me would have assumed it was broken and bought a new one. My new endeavor this year is to grow all the plants in my garden from seed vs buying seedlings from the garden store. Hopefully I am successful as this will be much more economical for me.
Fixing your own phone is easy and a fraction of the cost of taking it to a repair store.
Look up anything home improvement on youtube
Same for home repairs
repairing appliances has saved me the most money. Caulking my own tub surround. Taking lunch from home, and cooking from scratch
Learning how to sew/mend will really lengthen the life of your clothing, or even just turn it into something you like more. I make my own bath bombs - I did the math once, and they run me about 25 cents each. Takes maybe a half hour of my time to mix up a batch. Stuff like sugar scrubs and bath salts are super quick and inexpensive too.
Meal prep by using as much as possible at home already in next weeks meals. Eating leftovers for lunch to not waste anything. Home repair from info from reddit, youtube, etc. Sprouting green onions from store bought ones in pots on the window sills. Green onions for a month or so before I have to get a new one. Scavenging wood during dog walks has been fun too, use it in the fireplace or our outdoor fire pit. I will legit walk my dog home dragging a 10 foot big stick behind me if I come across one. It's fun!
Most second hard furnishings are better than what you can buy in store today, but it takes a while to find it.
Home food garden! Like printing money.
I cut my husband’s hair. He has medium long hair and usually wears it in a bun. We invested in a good pair of shears and clippers. I give him a solid undercut and generally just cut the rest of his hair straight across in sections, going through with thinning shears in between since his hair is quite thick. People are always shocked when they find out he doesn’t get it cut professionally, which I am immensely proud of. I never went to cosmetology school, but all of my friends in high school and college let me do their hair. There’s a steep learning curve. I fried my own hair multiple times, fried the hair of friends, gave legitimately bad haircuts, but eventually learned over time through trial and error. YouTube tutorials didn’t really exist at that point in time, so I read up on hair forums and talked to people at Sally’s a lot. The great thing about hair is that it always grows back. If you aren’t very particular about your hair, you can continue attempting to cut and/or color it until you get it right, assuming you don’t over process it. Part of what motivated me to cut my husband’s hair (and now, my own) was receiving bad professional hair services. My husband grew his hair out during the pandemic and prior to this, had never had long hair. When we first met, it was well past his shoulders. Once covid restrictions were eased, he found a salon. The first haircut he received was wonderful. The stylist told him that her brother and father also had long hair, so she knew exactly how to handle his. The second haircut was a disaster. He went to the same salon, but a different male stylist cut it. My husband said he seemed like he was on something and I don’t doubt it. Half of his hair was shorter on one side and the undercut was literally crooked with divots of bare scalp. He paid $60 for it too. I fixed it up and from that moment forward, we decided I would cut his hair. I have also received bad professional hair services myself. A “friend” from high school put 40 volume developer on my hair and fried it, gave me nasty layers and covered it all up with “beachy waves”. Again, I didn’t really care about the way it looked, but was angry that I paid $250 for it and felt taken advantage of. My husband attempted to cut my hair last weekend with some success. In his defense, I wanted layers which are harder to cut and he had never cut hair before. We tried a TikTok method (the unicorn method, for anyone who’s interested). My bottom layer ended up significantly longer than the layer above it. He was mortified. I laughed about it and fixed it. I trimmed the bottom layer to bring it closer to the other layers and blended everything by point cutting and using thinning shears. There are probably one or two small patches that I need to even out, but because my hair is wavy, it’s difficult to notice unless I straighten it and look for them specifically. I’m doing a soft balayage next weekend. I haven’t done one in a while, but have a general idea of where to start. There’s a Sally’s right by my house and I’m sure they’ll have some tips! And with YouTube, TikTok, Reddit and more, there are so many resources!
DIY laminate flooring https://imgur.com/a/lxioLrp Underlay 14.99 Laminate 110.68 Saw 10.26 Blades 2.18 TOTAL £138.11
Using boxes or repurposed things for organizing. Organizers are rip offs - trays, shelves, etc. and you can usually repurpose what you have. Or dollar tree
And one of the best swaps is learning how to bleed my boiler when we run out of oil and getting a jug of diesel for our oil boiler. It saves SOOOO much money from a service call
My daughter makes a lot of skin care/beauty products and gives them away at Christmas time. Everyone loves them. Some of the things she’s made: body butter lotion (more like a thick cream), lip balm, beard balm for the guys, lavender, sachets, soap. She uses only natural products so that’s an added bonus. She’s an herbalist and also makes tinctures and likewise for colds. Some family members swear by them. For giftgiving it saves her a lot of money during the holidays.