35 Frugal Life Hacks That Might Be Worth Trying

In a world where financial prudence is increasingly becoming a necessity, the ‘r/Frugal‘ subreddit has emerged as a treasure trove of ingenious life hacks that empower individuals to save money without compromising on quality of life.

#1 My Friend Was Going To Throw Away A Torn Sheet, So I Saved It, Made It Into “Yarn”, And Crocheted Myself A Basket. I Added A Bit Of Color With Rags Pilfered From My Mom’s Bin

Image source: mickier

#2 115 Meals For $131

Total meals 115. $130.60/115meals = $1.14 per meal

From left to right:
2 meals in one round container of egg salad.
5 meals of Teriyaki Ground Turkey with Chunked Pineapple and rice.
5 meals of Spinach Feta Scramble
6 meals of Creamy Parmesan Shrimp with Spinach and Bacon.
9 meals of Parmesan Pork over Zucchini Noodles.
6 meals of Bangers and Mash.
5 meals of Korean BBQ Chicken.
8 meals of African Peanut Curry.
12 meals in six containers of Tomato and Carrot Soup.
6 meals in three containers of Chicken Korma.
18 meals in nine containers of Chicken n’ Dumplings.
6 containers of Green Chili Pork Roast.
9 meals of tacos.
18 meals of steamed boa.

I put about 3-4 days of meals in the refrigerator and the rest goes into the freezer. We stay on top of eating the meals “First In, First Out” to avoid spoiling food in the refrigerator and freezer burn on food in the freezer.

Image source: ArtisanGerard

#3 Join Your Local “Buy Nothing” Group On FB, If You’re Able. I Joined Mine And Just Received A Kitchen Island For Free

Image source: Miserable_Drawer1708

#4 Use Nail Polish Remover (Acetone) To Get The White Rubber Part Of Vans/Converse Looking Good As New

Image source: chemistrybro

#5 Made Christmas Cards This Year Instead Of Buying Them At The Store

Image source: lakingsgrl

#6 Frugal Win. I Extended The Life Of My Grubby-Looking Converse Shoes With A Bottle Of Black Dye

Image source: DarrowtheHelldiver

#7 I Had A Stain In My Jeans That I Couldn’t Get Rid Of, So I Covered It Up. Iron-On Patch Reinforced With Stitches

Image source: visionsofdreams

#8 Don’t Throw Away Your “Empty” Lotion Bottles

Image source: Ruler_of_Zamunda

#9 Reusing Sheet Pouches As Cable Organizers And Reversed The Inserts For Labels

Image source: Sennybot

#10 We Get Fresh Fruit On Sale, Cut It Up, And Freeze It For Smoothies

A big bag of frozen pineapple goes for $16 – $19 where I live. We filled this big ziploc with 3 pineapples we got on sale for $1.99 each.

Image source: spiraloutkeepgoing42

#11 Save Your Butter Wrappers To Grease Your Pans. A Tip Learned From My Mom

Image source: thecrayonisred

#12 Couldn’t Get Rid Of This Ugly Stain Right In The Middle Of The Shirt. Used Some Old Dye To Make A Cool Patchy Shirt Instead

Image source: baba56

#13 My Son Wanted A Stuffed Manta Ray For His 5th Birthday But I Didn’t Have Money To Buy One, So Instead I Converted His Old Baby Blanket Into One (Sewn By Hand)

Image source: reddit.com

#14 Repurposed Old Color TV From The Early 80s Into A Cat Apartment

Image source: reddit.com

#15 Picked Up A Used Cardigan That Turned Out To Look Much Better In The Picture Than In Person, So I Turned It Back To Yarn And Crocheted The Yarn Into A Cat Bed

Image source: couchpotatolady

#16 Turned An Old Trampoline Into A Greenhouse

We bought it for our kids 5 years ago. The bouncy part and netting were no longer safe, but the frame itself was in great condition. Almost threw it away but as I was taking it down I started brainstorming and this is the result!

Image source: SMB-1988

#17 Family Thinks I’m Frugal, I Just Like To Think I’m Helping The Environment. Any Time I Get Sealed Air Bags I Make A Slit On One Side To Put My Hand Through And Pick Up My Puppy’s Waste

Image source: DamaNani

#18 For Christmas, I Couldn’t Afford Individual Gifts For All The Kids In My Life (I Have 24+) So I Bought A $10 Silicon Mat And A $45 Bulk Box Of Crayons And I’m Making Them All Name Crayons

Image source: crazyckcslady

#19 A Soap Dish Made From Unused Takeout Sticks Using Glue And Thread

Image source: kaitlin941

#20 Save Sunday Comics For Wrapping Presents

Image source: noodlekoogle

#21 I Was Looking Online For A Product That Would Safely Hold My House Key While Jogging. Then I Remembered That I Already Had Such A Product

Image source: redbucket75

#22 For Cheap Insulation, Put Bubble Wrap On Your Windows To Help Keep The Heat In. Just Spray Them With Water And The Bubble Wrap Will Stick To The Window

Image source: 3-cups-of-tea

#23 My Aunt Requested Crocheted Face Scrubbies To Replace Cotton Pads/Balls. She Asked For 24 So I Put Them In A Repurposed Candle Container

Image source: jenntones

#24 I Made Reusable Gift Bags For The Holiday Season

Image source: howbluethesea

#25 Long Live The Yellow Sticker. My Mum Just Got This All For Under £2

Image source: open_thoughts

#26 I Have Been Looking To Buy One Of These For My Morning Coffee But Ended Up Making It With Items I Already Had

Image source: WeirdOreo

#27 I Finally Understand Why People Buy Large Cuts Of Meat When It Goes On Sale

Trying to be more frugal, we got 2 large top roasts for “buy-one-get-one-free” processed it, and cut it up at home ourselves. Now we have meals for days.

Image source: firelitdrgn

#28 Using Toilet Paper Rolls And Old Metal Takeout Containers To Start My Seeds

Image source: HelloDollEyes

#29 I Needed A Very Large And Sturdy Desk And Didn’t Want To Buy It New, So For The First Time I Tried To Build Furniture. I Think It Looks Pretty Good

Image source: Presenthings

#30 Turned Damaged Vintage Levi’s Jeans Into Shorts, Hat, And Scrunchies

Image source: atp236

#31 Here’s Another $500+ Haul From My Favorite Dumpster. I Haven’t Purchased Groceries In Years

Image source: deserttrends

#32 Our Brand New Bed Broke. I Salvaged The Wood And Turned It Into A Planter

Image source: reddit.com

#33 Pro Tip: Freeze Your Old Candles For A Couple Hours To Easily Remove Excess Wax And Repurpose

Image source: cheyennigans_only

#34 Fellow Parents Of Small Children: Join Your Local Parent Groups

Someone with much more money than me decided to just gift the piles of new diapers (300+) their kid had outgrown. They posted it on our city’s parent Facebook group. A 25-minute roundtrip drive saved me over $100 worth of diapers. A frugal win for sure!

Image source: prettycote

#35 My Public Library Tells You How Much Money You’ve Saved By Checking Things Out Instead Of Buying Them

Image source: banoctopus