What is the most extreme frugal thing you’ve ever done? I find it interesting to see what others have to say about this topic. For me, it was attempting to hand sew (without a sewing machine!) cloth diapers. I have no sewing skills. Needless to say, I broke down and went to the store within a few hours of trying that!
I sometimes opt to walk long distances instead of calling a cab. A big part of the reason behind it is I feel like walking at the time, but it's partly because I'd want to save money as well. It's not really logical nor practical, and it's why I mostly don't do that anymore, but remembering myself doing that seems so odd now.
I would have to agree with the above post, I have walked home quite far a couple times to avoid paying a cab. I actually don't mind walking home anyway, it just isn't recommended for safety reasons.
There's a show on TLC called Extreme Cheapskates. Some of the things are really bizarre. One guy washed his clothes while wearing them in the shower, but most of them still go out to eat. To me you aren't much of a cheapskate if you are willing to pay for a meal.
That sounds nasty. There's no way to get your clothes clean while wearing them. I walk long distances instead of taking public transportation. I need the exercise anyway. I admit that sometimes I go overboard and end up paying for the bus ride home.
The walking thing I can relate to very much from my younger years. I would walk miles and miles and I loved it. One cheapskate thing I used to do: I would cook a pot of rice to mix in with my canned cat food and feed it to my pets. It stretched the cat food and saved me a few dollars. I was broke and the cats were hungry, so what can I say? I had way too many cats (4) at the time for the amount of money I was earning.
Scam a vending machine hard. I noticed that when this one vending machine at my school dropped quarters, it would often drop an extra. I would rinse and repeat to get free snacks every day. One day, I went hard on the paint and took about $16 dollars from it. xD
I gave up cable TV and only watch shows online. I rinse off tinfoil and Ziploc bags and reuse them. It's really easy to rinse off a sheet of tinfoil and use it one more time. I put my coffee grounds on my plants to feed them. I know it's trashy but I use jars as drinking glasses when there are no guests, because if I leave my good glassware out, it gets broken. I'm another person that will walk for miles rather than take a bus or cab.
Yeah, gave up cable tv. also cut down on buying books, borrow from the library and actually borrow dvds from the library too rather than rent or buy. I quit drinking beer, both for health and for money reasons. Cut back on fast food and coffee shop coffee, got a thermos for coffee, some of us still use them but I really don't see them around that much. Ryder13
I use a prepaid cellphone, so when I run out of prepaid credits I opt to use those free text messaging websites on the internet instead of buying prepaid credits right away to text someone.
I started to use magicjack for my calls instead of going through a phone company to get services. They charge to much per month and I couldn't see myself paying all that money any more. Now I am going to do something different about my cell phone since they keep going up every month, why, I have no idea, so I will be saying good buy to them real soon.
After watching Extreme Couponing, I actually tried an extreme coupon shopping trip a week or 2 ago. Between the coupons, the clearance items and the sale items, I saved almost $300 but it took ALL DAY. I went to 3 different stores to take advantage of the various sales. I got some great deals and used a stack of coupons, but by the time I got home , it was dark and my feet were killing me. Obviously those trips where they show couponers getting everything for free are unrealistic and I did not have that experience because they don't double coupons in Florida. I did not get anything for free ,but I did save 60% on my grocery order. I didn't do anything crazy except check the weekly ads for all 3 stores, make a list and pull the coupons I needed. It was exhausting to actually go to all 3 stores, but I'll probably do it again next month. The long, curly receipt that listed all my manufacturers' coupons and how much I saved got me hooked.
I experimented with making my own yoghurt. Where I stay yoghurt can get costly but I did not want to give it up, so I learned to make it. That way you get great quality yoghurt at a fraction of the price.
Lets see , walk everywhere, wear hand me downs, shop at the dollar store, portion control at every meal, gave up cable, gave up internet, gave up a cell phone for some time too. Stopped buying shampoo and conditioner separately and started buying the really cheap all in one that's a brand I cant even pronounce. Havent had a mani or pedi in over a decade. Do my hair at home - havent seen a salon for over a decade as well Stopped buying electronics. Lived off of samples for a while such as detergent, soap, cereal, powdered drinks. etc.
A friend of ours carried frugal to a whole new level. She would buy a sliced loaf and carefully cut the slices in half crosswise to make the bread last twice as long. I like weak tea, so I make two cups from one teabag, but that's because I don't want to waste them rather than for reasons of frugality. However, our friend would make 4 cups of tea from one bag - it was too weak even for me! It didn't do her any good - when she died, all the money she'd saved was just left to her children and grandchildren.
I used to watch that show out of curiosity, and I found some of the things people did were interesting, certainly bizarre, and some just plain disturbing. In one episode, when a couple goes out to eat, the husband collects unfinished food from tables that other people have left behind. I thought that was a little much, and I felt bad for his wife who goes through that kind of embarrassment every time they go out. I'm not one to collect other people's food, but I do bring home the portions I don't eat and save them for the next meal or two so that way I feel like I'm at least getting my money's worth out of that restaurant.
Sometime if the paper towel is not dirty just used to wipe something dry I will reuse it. I also rinse out ziploc bags and save coffee grinds for my plants. I saw on pinterest how to make your own laundry soap. I think I will give that a try to see how much money it saves, we have four people in our house. We do a lot of laundry.
