The Cheapskates Thread

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What sort of things do you do to save money?

I buy clothing at thrift shops and garage sales, when I find something I like that's still in good condition. I also look for unannounced markdowns at grocery stores - again, insisting on stuff that's still good. I don't use as many coupons as I used to; good coupons aren't as common as they used to be, and they expire more quickly.

I shop the dollar stores (specifically Dollar Tree, where everything's $1.00) for bread, eggs, automatic dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, sometimes frozen foods, and the grocery warehouses fr everything else.

I don't buy much other than food unless it's something I need or something I want. A lot of my shirts are getting worn & have holes in them but they still work so i haven't bought new 1s.

I keep bottles of bodywash, shampoo and conditioner that are almost empty so I can try to put what is left in another bottle and turn it into a full bottle. In January, I had about eight in the bathroom cupboard. The bottles were too hard to squeeze, so I had to throw them out.

If I used a hand wipe and it still looked clean, I folded it and put it back in the packet so I could use it again another time. I don't do that anymore. Now I try to find something else to use it for, or see if anyone else wants to use it before I throw it out. I feel bad if I only use them once.

I'm terrible with money, even though I hate spending it. I should do more of my shopping at the dollar store.

I use little bits of string and duct tape and cardboard and cotton batting to extend the life of shoes several times. rather than buy a CD i'll see if I have it in my collection of several thousand LPs/45s first, then digitally dub/clean it up and make my own CD. I rinse out all my food cans and lick the lids clean of any food material, and I use the can washings as the base for soup. I drive a nearly 20-year-old car that luckily so far has been reliable. I mend my old clothing. I live in an old tin can out in the woods, the property tax out here in the middle of nowhere is low. I bundle up in the winter to save on electricity. I buy food at the local scratch and dent store, and if some staple item is not available there i'll get the cheapest version of it I can find at the local wal marché. I bought my tv for half-price at a going-out-of-business sale. my audio system is donated from my siblings who got new things. i'm always on the lookout for bargains. I sponge bathe more often than not to save on hot water. haven't been on a vacation in ages. I avoid travel.

except for small gadgets here and there, i don't buy nonessential material things. i don't have any paper books or cds or dvds. it's not really to save money, it's mostly because i really don't like to own things that i can't pack and take with me anywhere. but the side effect of saving money is welcome, of course

i bought a very expensive laptop last year, but i kept using my old one two years longer than i had planned (it was practically falling apart), so i could buy the new one abroad where it costs less than half what it costs here (the trip was less expensive than the difference). this one is meant to last a decade (the other one was a lower-end, less durable model, but it lasted 7 years, and i still managed to sell it for half the price of a cheap laptop). in the end the expensive computer is cheaper for me than if i bought a regular low-quality one that i'd be forced to replace after just a couple of years and wouldn't be able to sell

a few years ago i wanted an iphone. so i waited until i saw a high-resolution ipod touch on sale, and i bought it . pretty much the same thing, but way cheaper. i used it every day. then after a couple of years i got tired of the small screen. i waited until they launched a small high-resolution ipad (which is much cheaper than all other apple gadgets in my country because of tax exemption), and i sold my ipod for about 75% of the original price (that model was still being sold). i'm still using the same ipad (right now. i use it every day, like the ipod before it), and i intend to keep using it until it breaks (so far it's still in mint condition, and i'm perfectly content with it). i use it as my main camera and for navigation and even for work when i travel (i bought a solar-powered keyboard so i can use it as a makeshift laptop)

i only have a very cheap (dual-sim) phone (i got it on sale) in case i need it for emergencies. i don't have a phone number. when i need one (for password verification and such), i give my mother's phone number and i use my free skype minutes to call her and ask her the code if i'm not home (right now i'm living with my parents -- hah! now this is my real answer to the question of "what i do to save money" ). or i give the number of a prepaid sim card that i got abroad (it turns out my last one is still receiving texts. sometimes it works for a full year without paying anything)

i have a high-quality 21-inch monitor that i love, but i paid maybe 70 dollars for it. it was second-hand but it was practically new. the guy probably bought it abroad (the model was never available here afaik, and it's the exact one i was looking for) and then never used it and just wanted to get rid of it

i've never had to pay specifically for hot water (it was included in the rent when i lived by myself), but i do like to take cold showers as often as possible. even if i'm not paying for it myself, i like the feeling that i'm saving money. and most important, even if it's uncomfortable, it's instantly good for your health

somehow my big backpack only cost me about 30 us dollars. and it's a good-quality one! it has endured several trips already (more than once as checked baggage. it's not meant for it, but nothing adhesive tape can't solve ). it's still just like new. the last time i bought a suitcase was about a decade ago. when my backpack isn't good enough, i use an old (usually broken or nearly broken) suitcase someone else doesn't want anymore. it's just old clothes packed in it anyway

i don't like to socialize with strangers, but price comes first. i stay in hostels or rented rooms in someone's house (or a basement, in one instance). and i eat generic-brand food from the local supermarket. and eggs. lots of eggs

last year i had to deal with some very daunting bureacracy in a foreign country. people normally pay thousands of dollars for someone else to do it for them. i learned the language and did it myself for free (except for fees and taxes. far from thousands of dollars though). thanks to that, now i don't need to worry about insurance in europe anymore

i like to walk. whenever it's physically an option (without being mugged, of course), i walk. hour-long, heavy items, hot sun, cold rain, no sidewalk. no matter. i walk

i drink water, or the cheapest actual fruit juice available. i don't drink soda. i don't drink any kind of coffee. i never buy bottled water under any circumstances unless there's really no other safe (and cheaper) way to hydrate myself

financial reasons are also among my motivations to move to another country that i've been considering (lower taxes for foreign income, but about the same cost of living as here, and better quality of life)

also, with video games:

I like to shop the £1 stores (same as dollar stores) for all practical items. Mine doesn't do much food -- mostly just snacks and drinks, so I still have to shop the big supermarket for that. But everything else, I try to find the "dollar" version of the item, be it a storage container or a notepad or whatever.

For clothes, I see something I want and then wait until it goes on sale, often for half the price. Timing is everything; sometimes if I wait even further, it goes down in price even more. Other times someone's snatched it up when I go back the next day. But mostly I do play the waiting game successfully and get an item I've had my eye on. Recently I got a hat I'd been wanting all summer, whose original price was £10 -- I waited and got it on sale at the end of the season, for £2.50! Funny thing is though, it can go through winter season as it's actually not a summer hat, so that's pretty great. I'm glad I got it for 1/4 the price instead of impulse-bought right away. I also shop at the cheapest places for clothes because even though there's a lot of bad stuff, I always manage to find a few things that are really nice.

For general items that are more big-ticket, same thing, I wait for sales and price slashing, usually when a newer model has arrived and they need to get rid of the old stuff. I'm the person who gets everything at least five years after it was the "newest sensation".

I used to keep nearly all my lights on even in daytime, because I live in a north-facing room and I get depressed in gloomy lighting, but lately I've cut back and now turn everything off until I need it. I'm sick of lining the pockets of my greedy electric company who overcharge as a matter of principle.

I never take trips or vacations. I buy big-ticket items only when they are replacing something that absolutely died of old age. With food I do a weekly shop and only buy enough of items that happen to be portions to feed myself for exactly seven days, so, seven things that can be dessert, seven things that will be a meal, etc. There's nothing left over that could feed a guest, but then, I never have guests.