" Since I begin doing this , it lasts about 4 to 5 time longer . "
1.“Read every manual, even if you think it’s dumb. It turns out a lot of things have specific instructions that extend the life of the product. My steam mop, for example, takes distilled water only. They clog with minerals easily. It’s easy to dismiss instructions on very basic items, but they often have key points to extend the life of your purchase.”
2.“We collect the water from the shower that gets wasted as it’s heating up. We then use that water to water our plants.”
3.“Knowing exactly what the power company charges me throughout the day. Just doing laundry, running the dishwasher, and charging the EV after 6 p.m. saves $200/month for us compared to using that electricity before 6 p.m. We didn’t realize how many plans our power company offers, so we found one that gives us the best price for the easiest routine.”
— Sea_Bear7754
" It ’s cry time of utilisation rates . It has to do with supply and demand . When everyone comes home at 6 p.m. , turn on the oven , starts laundry , turns on the TV , etc . , need is very high . If you hold off until the need goes down , your power is cheaper . "
— Ok_Firefighter7108
4.“I dry my clothes outside on my clothesline. Saves the electricity that the dryer would have used, and keeps the dryer from warming up the surrounding room in the summertime.”
5.“Price-match an item every chance I get. Not a lot of people know about price match policies at your favorite retailers, but you can almost always find it cheaper elsewhere.”
— DealHunter513
" But also , please be courteous about it . ( Not saying you are n’t , just as a general wind ) .
I work in a foodstuff store that merrily will price mates , but some customers are so rude and exact about it . Like , assure me you ’ve got a competitor ’s advertizing and desire to price match , do n’t insist I change a monetary value . Or say , ' Well , it ’s only 1.49 at [ blahblahblahblahs ] ' and bear me to know what you require . "
— lopingwolf
6.“Over a decade ago, I bought a little plastic toothpaste tube roller from the dollar store. That thing is still going strong and gets out every drop. I love it.”
7.“Years ago, the hem on a good pair of pants had unraveled. I took brush-on super glue, and I glued the hem back together. Those pants lasted nearly three more years, too.”
— Round_Daisy_23
" Gorilla tape ( the high - final stage canal tape ) can be used inside denim to patch tears and holes . You have to iron it from the other side so the gum melting into the material , but the tape itself is strong enough to hold quite well . "
— DaCrazyJamez
8.“I sold the car. Even if I ordered a taxi every day, which I don’t, it would be hard to spend as much on it as the total cost of ownership of a car was every month.”
— Random_Name532890
" Oh , to live where we are n’t car dependent 😭 . "
— evey_17
9.“I like to garden, but plants are expensive, and growing from seed can be difficult, plus most methods require a lot of expensive equipment. Then I learned about winter sowing. You take old milk jugs or other containers, cut them in half, fill the bottom part with soil, put the seeds in, tape them back up, and put them outside after the winter solstice and let nature do its thing. It’s so much easier and cheaper than any other method I’ve tried, and also more successful.”
10.“Buy a water softener if you live in an area with hard water. It saves you on every soap, it will extend the life of your washing machine, shower head, water heater, dishwasher, etc. My husband couldn’t believe how much less shampoo we went through with soft water.”
11.“I shave with conditioner. It works great and I don’t have to buy a second product in a pressurized canister that will run out of pressure before the product is gone.”
— Satrina_petrova
12.“Not that weird, but I’ve been using cloth napkins for years. I found some really cheap at a yard sale and also have made my own out of linen fabric. It feels kinda fancy, too.”
13.“Sometimes this can backfire, but looking at my bank account before every purchase. Especially effective if I’m setting goals for myself — looking at my account helps realign my priorities.”
— fyregrl2004
14.“Instead of buying Swiffer refills, I use microfiber rags tucked into the holes of the Swiffer and use vinegar spray or another disinfectant to spray the floor and mop clean. Then I throw them in the wash.”
15.“Buy quality, timeless clothes that will stay in fashion. I still have jeans, sweatshirts, jackets, and hiking pants from 20 years ago that I wear regularly.”
— Sedona83
16.“Tracking spending is a huge help. You can’t set an arbitrary budget without knowing where you’re already at.”
17.“I pay off my one credit card weekly. This means I track what I use it for more carefully. Before I use the card, I pop open my bank app and make sure there is money in my checking account for the purchase. If not, no purchase, it can wait til payday.”
— Antzz77
18.“I bought a little spatula thing that I use to get every last bit of lotion or product out of my toiletries. It was only $5 or 6, but it works great.”
19.“I clean and reuse glass containers and jars. Old peanut butter and pasta sauce jars can be used to store dry goods like beans and raisins. They keep things fresher than the original plastic bags, and glass jars keep food protected from vermin like ants, mice, weevils, etc.”
20.“The number of people who don’t use their local library is crazy. My library has a section called The Library of Things where you can borrow gardening equipment, kitchen appliances, and tools. They also have a sweet DVD collection. You can download a streaming service called Kanopy that links to your library card and lets you stream 30 movies per month.”
21.“Bulk cook and freeze some grab-heat-go food. I always have some type of homemade burritos stashed in the freezer.”
22.“I wash all my clothes inside-out, and it enormously extends their life. This is especially applicable to socks because of the way terry cloth has a pile texture on the inside of the socks (the little loops that stand up from the cloth). When you wear the socks, that pile flattens. Washing the socks inside-out fluffs up the pile, which makes the socks better at their job (cushion, wicking, warmth, etc) AND delays the inevitable process of the socks going threadbare in the places where they undergo the most stress. Since I started doing this, my socks last about 4 to 5 times longer.”
— quinnigyver
23.“I patch and resole my own shoes. I mostly wear leather flip-flops or leather boots, and since I walk a ton, the sole wears off much faster than the leather wears out. Enter Shoe Goo and a sheet of rubber sole material I got off Amazon like 5 years ago. The leather does wear out eventually, but patching the soles extends the life from about 1 year to more than 5 .”
24.“I have five cash back credit cards to cover every spend category at between 3 & 6% back. I use Rakuten on all my cards & just add all of the in-person offers to minimize mental load. Each month, I get a $5-10 PayPal deposit. I end up netting about 3.7% back across all purchases (~$1k) per year. That $1k I save goes into a brokerage account to continue growing. My catch-all card is 2% with cash back, directly deposited into a high-yield savings account as my emergency fund.”
— Schemingharlot
