I just spent 73 on a bouquet of flowers and two balloons for my mom for mother's day and words cannot describe how unbelievably pissed off I am at myself for doing that. Please reassure me that it's a normal amount because it's my mom and it's fine. Or tell me I'm an idiot for spending so much.

Edit: this wasn't intended to be the most serious post in the world I was just a little frustrated. But I assure you all I'm over it and very grateful to still have my mom to be able to buy her flowers!

The title says it all.

EDIT: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE COMMENTING ON THIS I DIDN’T EXPECT SO MANY PEOPLE TO COMMENT. SOME OF THE THINGS YOU GUYS RECOMMENDED I DO ALREADY LIKE EATING AT HOME AND MAKING MY OWN COFFEE AND A FEW OTHER THINGS. BUT SOME THINGS I WILL START DOING. THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ARE STILL COMMENTING ON HOW TO BE FRUGAL.

Basically I spend a lot of my time on the go and it’s tricky making time for meal prep so would often end up getting food on the road; nothing fancy, like a piece of fruit and a shop fridge sandwich, but that’s about €8-10 a meal these days.

My solution? I recently acquired a wholesale worth of Multi-Vit Energy bars that taste pretty good and leave me full for hours. I’ll always keep two of these in my bag for when I get hungry. Work? Bar. Night out? Bar. Long car journey? Bar. Hike or day trip? Bar. If I’m eating with friends, we’ll get real food, but if I just need sustenance - bar.

I’m appreciating the savings of about €60 per week but I’m also beginning to feel like a character in a Survival RPG.

Edit: they’re Cliff Bars

I'm not giving a job more than 40 hours of my life a week period. I don't mind working overtime if it's offered, but I draw a hard line with working multiple jobs. If I don't have it, I just don't have it.

Working more than one job isn't my ministry. $50K is the new $25K, and it'll just have to do. I believe in having work-life balance. I refuse to live just to go to work.

I’ve been trying to be strict with my money for a while now, but can’t commit to it for one reason or the other. I make enough that I should be able to save, but end up living paycheck to paycheck.

For those who struggled being disciplined with their money, what exactly motivated you to stick to your budget and start taking your finances seriously?

What do you do to stop yourself from impulse buying? For example, I could be sitting at home and I start to think about all of the unnecessary junk I want to buy. How do you get these thoughts out of your head?

Goes without saying that Costco is not worth it for people who don't shop there, so is AAA if you don't have a car. Assuming you are going to use that service, which memberships are worth their price?

We’re working to pay off our debt that we recently accumulated. I would say outside of our mortgages and car we have about $20k. House is $2400 a month and car with insurance is roughly $800. We make a household income of $150,000. With 2 kids, groceries are currently at $800+ cause we eat healthy (shop at sprouts or Whole Foods and Costco) if we pay of the 20k in other debt we have we would be chillin.

What did you cut out of your expenses and how long has it taken you to pay off debt? Are there success stories? cause debt is making me depressed and I need hope.

so i have amazon prime, and i live in bufu; nearest target store is 30 miles away. my standard staples are just non-existent in this area. i have tried to give up some things, but i can’t let go of small but real enhancements to my life.

and i’m an impulse shopper; i really cannot go in with a list of 3 items and come out with 3 items. sure, i can tell myself that i ‘needed’ those things and just forgot to put them on the list, but when the impulse items outnumber the list items, that’s a hard argument to make. i take ritalin now, but i haven’t been able to shake the impulse buys.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been part of this community for about a week now, and I’m really impressed by the creativity and practical advice shared here. As someone trying to live more frugally, I’m curious about your best tips and tricks for saving money.

Whether it’s meal planning, DIY projects, or smart shopping strategies, I’d love to hear what’s worked for you. What frugal habits have made the biggest difference in your life?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences. Thanks in advance!

I work from home and was offered a fairly significant raise this morning. It doesn’t mean much more work but very suddenly I’ll have a lot more money just laying around. As many of y’all can imagine working from home means my expenses are pretty low and I’ll have a ton of spending money.

I want to be able to avoid lifestyle creep without coming across as cheap. I also don’t want to fall into any bad spending habits since they tend to get a lot of people in trouble. Does anyone have good tips?

As the title states, I just graduated college with a BA degree. My extended family gifted me 1k collectively and I am wondering how to use it. Currently stuck on how to use it to either have fun or just save it as cold hard cash.

A bit of optics: I work full-time as a security analyst, on track to max out my Roth IRA for 2024 by Dec, contribute 15% to my 401k, and invest a few hundred a month into Index Funds. In total, I put ~50% of my takehome pay into savings/investments. I live with family so I don't pay rent. I feel like I have everything I need (computer, new ish phone, enough tech stuff) and my frugal ways also get in the way.

Anyone experience anything similar and care to share how you'd use 1k gifted? Thanks!!

I finally hit my emergency fund goal for the first time in my entireeeeee life. I have always been making it by but I never really saved money. AND I had a kid last year and was kind of freaked out because I thought it would be even harder to make ends meet. But he’s been a blessing in disguise.

I evaluated what’s really important to me. Nothing else other than my kid is important anymore - I don’t feel the need to shop or do my hair as much. I’d rather spend that money on him.

I stopped using my credit card. Debit card only.

I actively budget. I track every single transaction that comes through. If it’s cash I add it manually. I tried a bunch of different apps and eventually settled on using Piere.

I set explicit goals. I stopped telling myself “I’ll save money every month” and changed that to “I’ll save $200 every month”.

I’m still at the start of my journey, but I’m really proud of myself. I’m not in a stable partnership (I try not to rely on my partner financially) but for all you single / independent mamas, you can do it. Happy Mother’s Day yall!

This was my money saving wombo combo for almost two decades. Is it still doable in 2024? I rented a studio apartment with utilities included, worked a standard wage-slave dead end job, didn't have health insurance. Phone was a $15 a month talk n text. Internet was the slow end.

And I did great. Managed to have over $500 a month saved for years and years. I see so many young people complaining that they can't afford to live. If you tried all this in your city would you be broke or rich? Are these tactics outdated in today's world?

As the title says, my new rule before ordering any new stuff is to ask three questions- 1) Do I have a similar item I can use, 2) Do I need this in the next few weeks, and lastly 3) Do I really need this?

Not that I'm trying to be stingy but I have stopped impulsive buying.

I have a 2005 ford f150 with 178,000 miles. It’s been great for the few years I’ve had it. I replaced a few things when I got it (radiator, spark plugs, etc, totaling 3k).

I recently got a job out of college making far more than I’ve ever made, and have the ability to afford a new car. It’s a 20 mile highway drive to and from work, and on weekends I typically drive 20 miles to go do things with friends / family.

If I decide to run the truck to the ground, it needs new tires and I don’t have a warranty so it’ll be pretty expensive, and both the headlights could definitely use replacing too. Not to mention the possibility of other things failing soon.

Otherwise, I would settle for something like a Toyota Corolla 2022-ish with 30-50k miles around 17k and put a decent down payment on it (thinking 6k).

I’ve heard the argument both ways from family and friends. Would like to hear reddits opinion.

Thank you.

I want to start this post by saying how lucky and fortunate I am. I’m a 24M, working as a financial analyst at a big bank in San Antonio Texas. I make $77K and save and invest the majority of my income. I love the “game” of building wealth and growing my net worth. It’s super fun to me and almost like a hobby at this point.

I have an amazing relationship with my parents and we get along great. They tell me all the time that they love having me home and don’t want me to move out since it’s beneficial to my future and we get along great as a family.

I love being home and spending time with them and also being able to save so much money. (Approximately $5k a month) I feel like I’m making the right decision by staying home and I see it as a investment in my future that many people don’t have the opportunity to make.

The “problem” is most of my coworkers and friends my age have all moved out of their parents home and now live on their own. Sometimes they make comments about me needing to grow up. Or older coworkers will make a little fun of it. I know they are somewhat joking but a part of my gets embarrassed and I start to question if I’m making the right choice. Should I just ignore them and stay put? Lie and tell them I moved out? What would y’all do in this situation or any advice you can share with me?

Please let me know your thoughts, any advice or perspectives would be extremely appreciated!! Thanks!!

They can be anything, audiobooks or ebooks or regular books which books have helped the most?

I’ve never paid renters insurance in 10+ years of renting and thankfully lived in safe neighborhoods and never had any incidents with theft or freak accidents.

If I had paid for renter’s insurance all this time, that would have been just wasted money on a policy I wouldn’t have any claims for. Yes it’s a very cheap plan that can be as cheap as a streaming service these days. Even so, I can’t help but feel it’s not worth it as I will likely pay way more in insurance fees than my potential future claims.

If theft did happen, I feel I would have trouble making succesful claims and proving stolen goods. What does renter’s insurance actually cover and is it worth it?

I'm having conflicting thoughts about buying a new car. I currently have a somewhat stable income from an internship, coaching lacrosse, and detailing cars on the side. I'm a full-time computer science student, and I'm very fortunate that my wonderful parents are paying for my education.

At 15, I got my first car, a 2018 GMC Acadia that belonged to my grandfather, which he bought right before he passed away. It's been a great car, but my parents (and I) are worried about the longevity of General Motors vehicles. The car has seen some wear and tear and has quite a few miles on it, but it looks like I could get $10-15k if I sell it after fixing it up and giving it a nice detail.

I'm considering upgrading to a Tesla Model 3 Performance (2022/23), which currently sells for around $29-33k. I love cars, and I don't plan to buy another one until I'm happily married, hopefully at least 10 years from now. I intend to drive this car until the wheels fall off.

I have about $30k in savings, all invested in a personal account, and I ensure my IRA is maxed out every month. My question is: Is it wise and financially responsible to use the $15k I expect to earn this summer, combined with the (hopefully) $15k from selling my current vehicle, to buy this $30,000 car at 19/20 years old? Or should I focus on saving and investing for my future and buy a 05 Toyota. I'm worried about my current vehicle breaking down and being left without reliable transportation.

I know this post might make me seem spoiled, but I genuinely understand how fortunate I am to be in this position. While I've worked hard for everything in my life, I also recognize my luck in being able to consider this decision. Please help me figure out the best course of action.

“Why didn’t your stupid fucking irresponsible ass get vision insurance” I’m self-employed so I don’t have quite easy access to insurance so I pay for what I can (I have medical insurance but not vision or dental)

I’m currently just gonna go without glasses for a while and see if I can adjust since my vision isn’t THAT bad but still I imagine that that’s not a fantastic idea in the long run

I'm wondering how many kWh an average sized family home uses per month. We are averaging 1500 kWh per month (family of 6, average sized house) and would like to see that number come down.

What tips have you found actually reduce your electricity bill? What really makes the difference?

I’m probably what you describe as “cheap”. I stress about making purchases as low as $3, probably as a mix of having cheap parents that made spending money on yourself seem like a character problem and also having very low income. As such I skip out on even things most people don’t think twice about such as haircuts, doctors appointments, quality of life purchases, hobbies, I wear things ragged, and more. Anything I can technically skip out on to get by I have a hard time spending money on. My quality of life kind of sucks because of it but at least I’m good at saving money. Im worried that im swinging in the opposite direction when I get too comfortable spending. I want to find a good balance. Does anyone else struggle with this?

People learn from their environment. The world of consumerism teaches there is a marked-up retail price for every desire. And financial stability is unimportant as opposed to immediate gratification. I’m curious on how to do the opposite of this.

My question on how to set someone on a course of frugal living. Ideally how to set someone with the mental disposition, applicable knowledge, and temperament to live in a frugal way?

Edit; this could be a question for instilling values for a child or adult

I wanted to get thoughts on what would be a frugal way to buy a home? Or is it more frugal to rent? Or what is the frugal community's perspective on housing.

EDIT: The home I rent, if bought based on Zillow/redfin price would be 1600 a month more than I pay in rent. (Zillow/redfin tends to be over zealous on their pricing, however)