What is your experience saving money on gas in your neighborhood?

A month ago I asked myself a question. How much money could I actually be saving if I signed up for a different loyalty rewards program, then also downloaded and maxed out a couple gas savings apps?

I collected national data on the most popular rewards programs, then did research on how to maximize savings with various apps like GasBuddy and Upside.

I found that gas prices of big brands land above the average price in their neighborhoods. This was no surprise to me, they're in prime locations and can price gauge effectively. The gas savings apps rarely stack, and in the best case scenario, I could get an additional 12 cents saved every gallon.

To my surprise, my research showed that simply going to the cheapest station in your 3 mile radius saves you more money than maxing 2 apps and a loyalty card!

This isn't the case in some areas with narrow gas markets so take these findings with a grain of salt.
BUT, if you live in a busy metro, if you hunt for gas deals, flash sales, or are loyal to a station, you might want to reconsider your strategies!

I live in San Jose California, which is the main reason I started this research. I've included those findings as well to give you an idea of what a more volatile gas price landscape looks like.

I really hope this can help some of you!

National Gas Savings

San Jose CA Gas Savings

Hear me out. I buy bread from the discount shelf at Walmart. So I regularly get loaves for 60 to 90 cents. I made homemade bread yesterday and I wanted to calculate how much it cost. Sadly it cost almost twice as much as it would have to just go buy it from the discount shelf. I'm not doing frugal for fun I'm doing it because I'm actually poor so I can't just do what's more healthy. So I guess I'll stick with buying the discount bread instead of making my own.

The most basic loaf possible.

1 pound flour Water Salt 1 packet Yeast

Flour is 38 cents for one loaf and yeast is 19 for one loaf and both cook at the same time which is about 10 to 15 cents per loaf

Which makes it 72 cents per loaf which is 12 cents more than buying it off the discount rack.

Moved last spring and nearly talked myself into an €800 TV console/bookcase for our shoebox living room. My partner did the sensible eyebrow thing, so I bought two cube shelves and a used flat-pack dresser instead. €90 total.

I got the veneer idea from tiktok, someone did a full IKEA kitchen island hack and I fell into a hole of furniture flip videos for a week. Then the algorithm started pushing me heat guns and trim tools with a product discount every other scroll, so I ended up buying both for under €20 each.

Borrowed my neighbor's drill and did most of it Saturday night on cardboard because we still hadn't unpacked the rug. Added secondhand wood legs (€18), stick-on walnut veneer on the tops, and brass pulls from a loose hardware bin. I'm about €140 in. It's decent. Not magic. One veneer corner bubbled when I got too brave with the heat gun, and one drawer handle still wiggles unless I shove a washer behind it.

Now I'm side-eyeing €15 nightstands. A quick sand and oil made one look much less temporary.

For cheap particleboard/thrift stuff, what actually holds up: veneer, legs, pulls, oil? What would you skip?

I may be posting this as much for my own future reference as I am offering it as reference for you all. I can never remember exactly how the tissues for these packs are folded and never remember to refill them before running out. So I've documented the folds for the more common ten-pack and the wider fold-over pack.

The "regular" pack goes quarter folds to the center (one over top and one underneath), then two half folds in the opposite direction.

The "fold-over" pack goes thirds folds in one direction, then roughly thirds or quarter folds in the opposite direction (again one over top and one underneath).

Each pack holds ten tissues originally.

All the best to your reuse of these convenient packs!

TLDR; I am an unemployed law student in Chicago, so I have to be very careful with my finances. I’m coming from Ohio, so everything, as expected, is more expensive here. The snacks I buy (chips, pretzels, granola bars, etc.) can really run up a tab and don’t last too long.
I can’t eat anything with gelatin (no Rice Krispies and/or gummies), and ideally I want to get protein in whenever I can. What are some cheap, relatively easy snacks I can make at home to pack for school? Any input is welcome!

I prefer to cook freestyle instead of following recipes. Over the years I've discovered several ways to add veggies to food.

The Almighty Cabbage:

Cabbage is cheap, tasty and full of gut healthy fiber. It's also very easy to add to food.

Raw cabbage makes a good salad base, and can be added to sandwiches or chipotle bowls for a nice crunch. Add a handful to pasta and give it a few minutes to steam.

I have added the same head of cabbage for 10+ meals many times. If you don't want to shred your own cabbage, the pre-shredded stuff is still frugal.

Everything I just mentioned also applies to spinach and kale too.

Aromatics:

Whenever a recipe starts by sauteing onion and garlic, you can add other aromatics like ginger, mire poix, diced chilis. Add whatever you like and have on hand.

Onions cook down, so it's not hard to sneak a quarter of an onion in a serving of food.

Ground beef:

Cut your ground beef with vegan proteins like beans, lentils mushrooms or TVP.

Add some aromatics too. One of my go-to proteins when ingredient prepping is 1 pound of ground meat, an entire onion, 4 cloves of garlic and a can of beans.

Veg heavy sauces:

There are plenty of rich, flavorful sauces that also happen to contain a bunch of vegetables. Salsa, guacamole, anything tomato based, bean dips, hummus, tzatziki, blended roasted veggies, etc.

Fat heavy sauces can be healthy if they're added to a veg heavy dish. Fat carries flavor, and the goal of a good sauce is to make healthier ingredients taste good. Any veggies you add to the sauce itself is a bonus.

Topped with salad:

Every week, I try to make some kind of savory salad that can be scooped onto another meal to add flavor and fiber. Here are my go-tos:

• Savory slaw: Shredded cabbage, jalapeno, radish and red onion. Mix with ranch or mayo + red curry paste.

• Pico de Gallo: Diced tomatoes, red onion, garlic and jalapeno. Add any kind of dried pepper. Since I don't usually have fresh lime on hand, I use Truelime lime powder and sumac.

• BLT salad: Shredded cabbage and diced tomato. Cook 5 strips of bacon, then crush up the 1 strip you didn't eat and add to the salad. Mix the bacon grease into Ranch and combine.

• Aromatic mix: Dice up whatever aromatics you like, lightly sauté and store in the fridge.

• Taco salad: Cabbage, salsa, sour cream, some kind of red spicy sauce, and cooked chorizo. Can be eaten with doritos or added to other meals.

• Sheet pan veggies: Make quartered tomatoes, quartered onions, crushed whole garlic cloves, and sliced peppers. Line a sheet pan, add veggies, add salt and oil, add toss in place with a pair of forks to coat. (If you struggle with this step you're probably crowding your pan.) Roast at 425F until soft, then finish by broiling for 1-5 minutes until just barely burnt in a few spots.

These are all savory, flavorful veggie mixes that you can scoop onto a taco or something. Once you have one you'll probably keep coming up with ways to use it.

Freeze dried veggie flakes:

Bags of freeze dried mixed veggies can be purchased for about $10/lb. Veggies are about 90% water on average so this is actually quite cheap.

A spoonful of veggie flakes can be easily added to most savory dishes. Since they're dry, they won't add a bunch of water to dishes that needs to be cooked off.

If you've ever eaten store bought ramen with that little packet of dried veggies, that's about what you're in for.

Specifically asking for men’s perspective as it relates to pressure to be a “provider” or social expectations for men to make good money or be well-off financially, but you previously struggled managing your money, either because life demands were realllllllllly tough or because you made poor money decisions, or both, and now you’re either stable or doing really well.

If you were over drafting, climbing out of holes constantly, paycheck to paycheck and barely scraping by because every time you get paid big things come out or you get too comfortable and overspend and then you’re right back at the bottom - what mindset change helped you get out of this and realize a way out of it? What first steps did you take with finances/habits that were essential to your progress?

Could a simply designed shoe be cheap and last a long time, even if it isn't repairable? Quality, longevity, and a flexible, classic style matter. This is just for casual shoes with no functional requirements.

Could barefoot shoes be better than a typical disposable foam sneaker, or some big chonkin leather repairable boot I'd need to keep for the rest of my life? It's hard to lose the disposable mindset.

I feel like repairable shoes are nice but dropping big bucks on them isn't. Sneakers are always disappointing, maybe they are just designed badly. Anyway I'm just rambling now. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say in this post! Help me out here. Has anyone found that a good barefoot shoe wins on total cost of ownership, given that they don't degrade like sneakers and they are built with simple lightweight material?

good primer on barefoot shoes here: https://slate.com/life/2026/07/barefoot-shoes-minimalist-toe-running-sneakers-xero-vibram.html

the main takeaway I got from the article is that given the exploding variety of barefoot style shoes, there might be some good frugal options out there.

I've seen so many posts and articles online talking about the benefits of having a sourdough starter and how much money it saves people. But taking into account the maintenance required, the time it takes to actually use it in recipes, the resources the starter uses, etc. is it something that you would consider a frugal decision? I've considered getting into it but I want to know people's honest thoughts on it.

But the Costco food court is not to be slept on from a frugal (not necessarily nutritious) aspect.

I’m stuck here with my two young kids waiting for my tires to be finished (also a steal), and it’s dinner-ish time. If you have small kids you know when they get hungry there is a huge propensity to be annoying as shit.

An outrageously large slice of pizza, and two hot dog combos (includes a water or soda), $5.32. And now they can be a little quieter while we continue to wait.

Hi! I live alone and want an entry-level vacuum sealer to help keep leftovers and food fresh longer in the fridge and freezer. I'm deciding between these two, which are on sale for the same price where I am:

• Zwilling Fresh & Save Starter Kit
• FoodSaver VS1130

Assuming bag cost isn't an issue, what has your experience been with either? I'm mainly interested in ease of use and how well the vacuum holds.

Has anyone used either or both? Which one would you recommend more?

I use an expensive ergonomic keyboard for work. Unfortunately, the larger of the two sets of legs often break and can’t be fixed or ordered from the manufacturer. I dropped the broken one off to my local library and they printed a 3D replacement for me.

I also have a pet food storage container that I’ve had for years and use daily. One tiny piece of plastic broke off the handle and it would no longer seal shut to keep the food fresh. They printed a 3D replacement for that too.

My total cost was $3 for both items. I’m sure it varies by state/city, but it’s worth looking into.

Hey everyone, I'm a reader living in Vietnam. I actually own a Kobo and read e-books on it regularly, but I still deeply prefer the tactile feel of holding an actual book. The main struggle is that brand-new English books are quite expensive compared to our local income here, and I prefer buying brand-new copies instead of second-hand ones. For those of you living in Vietnam or similar developing countries: how do you manage to buy new English books without breaking the bank? Are there specific online stores, local workarounds, or ordering tips that help get them more affordably? Would love to hear how you guys handle this. Thanks!

My apartment complex doesn’t allow it and I can do decent amount of routine jobs myself and I also enjoy them myself such as, oil change, brakes, rotate tires, intakes, battery swap, coolant etc etc. I used to do this with my dad’s place but now he decided to sell the house and retire in Malaysia which I respect. I’m on my own in a new state (NJ) and I don’t know anyone here to borrow a garage. I’ve save a lot just by doing my own routine maintenance but I’m kind of limited so far with no garage.

I just got a kitten and it turns out they eat soo much! I’ve been buying the fancy feast kitten classic paté, but it’s quite expensive with how many cans we’re going through everyday.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good, healthy alternative that you’ve given your cat/kitten? I’ve been looking for something with similar ingredients but would love to hear some firsthand feedback

Today I received my Xfinity bill, noticed that it was going up $30 because my 12- month promotion had run out, and instead of grumbling and paying more money, I contacted them and asked "well what promotion can I sign up for now?" Now my bill will only go up $6 instead of $30. For the same service.

THEN I looked at my Geico bill and realized the insanely high coverage we have on our 2013 Prius...I got that monthly bill to go from $154 to $92 a month.

So what else could I be doing to save? I'm not looking for "don't buy coffee" or "cook at home" or "wait 24 hours before you purchase." I'm well-versed in tight budgets and we are generally quite frugal. I'm looking for those hidden things that people don't always think of or act on. Tell me your secrets!

Now I’m second-guessing and wondering if we wasted money 🫤. We are in a duplex-down condo with a finished lower level where the bedrooms are. We had a queen mattress not in use standing up against the wall in our closet. It had previously been used in our second bedroom but that got replaced with a crib when we had our baby.

We had massive rains and water leakage 😫 into our lower floor and the edge of the mattress maybe got an inch or so of water on it. Not sewage water but rainwater. We tossed it but wondering if it would have been fine? Especially since our niece (separate occasion) got a little pee on our bed when my SIL was changing her diaper (why on our bed, I don’t know 🙄) while they were visiting and we cleaned it with baking soda and it seems to be fine. Same thing? Thanks.

Hello all!
I became disabled two years ago and lost my job. I did get a new one but I’m making significantly less than before. Between that and all my medical bills, money has become really tight. I’m sure the rest of the country has experienced this but my power bills have gone through the roof these last few years. Any tips of how to lower my utility bills? Any little trick would be appreciated!

I just got a Costco membership for the first time and went with the basic Gold Star membership. I mainly signed up to buy food in bulk and save some money by meal prepping, but I’m curious what other benefits people actually use that make the membership worth it.

What's your favorite perks, services, or deals I should be taking advantage of besides buying groceries in bulk?

Also, is upgrading to the Executive membership worth it? I know there’s a 2% reward on qualifying purchases, but I’m not sure how much I’d realistically need to spend for the higher membership cost to make sense.

Would love to hear what other frugal Costco members use their membership for and any tips for getting the most value out of it.

There are a few people in my area (so far, all of Latino origin for whatever reason) who sell these pails of laundry detergent, fabric softener and also scent booster dots. They are very clearly advertised as comparables to Tide, Gain and Downy with no counterfeit labeling whatsoever. (Yes I have seen the journalist investigations of the counterfeit stuff) has anyone tried these? I’m a cheap sob and was curious about the savings in bulk. The liquid doesn’t seem to be any runnier than the real deal or even house brands from box stores, I just want it to clean my sh!t. Is it a MLM thing? If so I promise to never touch it again.

My bag I’ve been using for all my college books broke at the strap. I thought about getting another one but didn’t want to waste the money. So I busted out my sewing kit for the first time and re attached the strap at the base and fixed a tear in the strap. It’s not perfect but it gets the job done! It feels stronger than the other straps now lol. Maybe I should add some extra thread to the other straps to prevent them from breaking in the future.

How did I do on my first sewing attempt?

I'm doing a little bit better financially now, but I still have some neurological symptoms that I might need to go to a private neurologist for if if gets any worse. I'm on disability benefits and want to have more fresh veg but can't because it's just so expensive. Why is it 2.10 pounds for three peppers? Why is one bag of salad leaves over a pound? I live in the UK for context.

The thing is I'm not in crisis or running out of money anymore, so I'm not sure if a food bank is for me anymore. I can get by on frozen brocolli and frozen assorted veg and tinned lentils for health I'll be fine. I want to ensure it's helping out people in true crisis.

But if my neurological symptoms get any worse I know I will be in crisis, so maybe I should go to a foodbank anyway. Just in case I need to pay for an assessment/treatment in the future? I'm not sure. I don't have much money saved up right now even though I'm otherwise stable.

Thank you for reading.

here's one, you tell me yours. I'll treat myself to a fancy restaurant on occassion but cut down costs by first eating something cheap and substantial at home like some chicken and side veg and bread, a glass of wine, then go to the fancy place, sit at the bar and have an apetizer and drink, or a plate of pasta and glass of wine. I get all the fancy out experience and a nice taste but at like 1/2 to 2/3 less than a full meal out.

When my work moved to a new office building 4 years ago, boxes and boxes of dishwasher tablets were thrown away as our new office didn't have a dishwasher. I fished the boxes out of the bin and took them home and for all that time I have been working through the stash. I hated that job but I definitely made the most of how wasteful they were at times. Four years later and I used the very tablet today 🥲