I'll just have water

[Jstpssng]

If I buy water it's by the gallon. I keep two gallons in each truck in aimmertime, ome to fill my water bottles from and the other for emergencies. In winter I keep a gallon with a little poured odx to allow for expansion. If I ever need it I'll have time to let it thaw. Over the course of the day it melts anyways, and you'd be surprised how many cold nights that it doesn't freeze.

 

[ultrarunner]

Repair instead of Replace
Maintain to Extend service life
Do my own lawn and garden
Never had cable… avoid monthly fees and subscriptions.
Still use a 45 year old TV
Still use appliance from the 60’s
Drive the same $800 car from high school 20 years daily and still have it.
Gladly accept hand me downs.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Use a single sheet of toilet paper

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I have wasted a lot of money in my life, but I try not to. It's sometimes hard to decide what is waste and what is simply not being too stingy to enjoy life.

It bothers me to pay too much for antiperspirant or garbage bags (I pay 7 cents each), but when my wife and I went to Singapore and found out I had mistakenly booked a room without the wonderful enclosed shower area I liked, I told the front desk guy to go ahead and charge us an extra grand for two weeks. I don't regret that one bit. But we flew coach both ways.

I just bought a used mower for $5,500, and I will probably end up putting another $750 in it. I could have kept my old mower and made it work for another few years, but removing the 350-pound deck for maintenance was getting really old, a slow mower makes for more time in the broiling sun, the old mower could not get into all the places a zero-turn can, and I was very tired of wondering what would go wrong every Saturday morning when I turned the key.

Diesel mowers are luxury items for homeowners, but on the other hand, I believed it would save me money in the long run. I could have bought a used gas mower for $2,000 less and suffered with gas problems. So am I cheap, or did I splurge? Not completely sure.

Anyway, I could have made the old mower work, but when I sit on the zero-turn and watch the clippings fly, all I can think is, "I should have done this 5 years ago. It would have been worth it even if I had to buy a new one for three times as much." Makes me want to buy a 6-ton excavator.

I like ice cream. I bought a $600 machine from Italy. Refrigerates all by itself. I also have a $30 machine. The extra $570 was worth it. It's better. I used to look for used refrigerating machines on Ebay. I never found one I liked. All those years, I could have been eating ice cream made on a new machine. I could afford it.

I bought a beautiful stainless smoker instead of another charcoal job from Home Depot. I splurged on a propane deep fryer. Tremendous. I'm out over $1200. Don't care. It's worth it. But I waited for sales to buy my stove and oven.

I designed my wife's wedding ring and matching earrings, and I picked out the rubies myself. On the other hand, I found a jeweler who charged at least 25% less than I would have paid around here. The appraiser was shocked.

I can't make myself pay for an oil change. Today I did a change which took 90 minutes because I had had a repair done which made it necessary for the shop to change the oil, and some idiot there cranked the oil plug down like he was trying to win a prize. I used Walmart oil because it's just as good and costs way less. But after I was done, I found out Walmart would have done everything for about $22 more. I think I'm about to crack on oil changes.

My car is a Ford Explorer I inherited from my dad in 2019. Only 84,000 miles. It's prone to mechanical issues, because Ford, but it's still a better deal than the new Land Cruiser my wife would rather have. I plan to keep it until it dies or I can't get parts.

My other car is a 2007 Ram diesel. I see no reason to ever get rid of it. The engine will outlast me, and it has no emissions gewgaws on it to ruin my day.

I alway stop at the BOGO table when I go to the grocery, and I trained my wife to do it, too. Two toilets have failed here, and I installed the new ones. I installed my stove and oven. I installed my pool filter and pump. I move my own downed trees, which is a big job in Florida. I even freeze my own warts off with keyboard dust spray.

I took my wife to Cancun for dental work. You can save 80% on some big items there, and they do top notch work.

I can't tell whether I'm cheap or a spendthrift, but I'm glad I'm not a leggings-wearing millennial male who doesn't know how to hold a screwdriver.

My wife is not totally up to speed on saving money. A few days ago, I found a $500 charge from Ralph Lauren for baby clothes. I could not believe my eyes. We had a conversation. But she is learning.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Use a single sheet of toilet paper

Dude. You're wiping with your hand.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Use a single sheet of toilet paper

Nope. Never.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

This is why we have epidemics.

 

[bigtiller]

Nope. Never.

Bidet for ever!! for faster healing.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Bidet for ever!! for faster healing.

I really ought to, but it's a big adjustment.

 

[BravoXray]

Go to the gas station that's a penny less a gallon

I have a Speedway discount tag on each of my keychains. I scan it at the pump and I get $.05/gallon discount, and I regularly get emails that I can activate that give me additional discounts of $.05 to $.11/gallon. Plus, Every 7th fountain drink is free.

 

[Alan W.]

I have a Speedway discount tag on each of my keychains. I scan it at the pump and I get $.05/gallon discount, and I regularly get emails that I can activate that give me additional discounts of $.05 to $.11/gallon. Plus, Every 7th fountain drink is free.

We use the Kroger fuel points. By shopping on fri. I always save $1 on 35 gallons.
I have Walmart + because of Straight Talk phone service. I always get .10 a gallon off.
Its surprising how so few people take advantage of fuel savings.

 

[BravoXray]

We use the Kroger fuel points. By shopping on fri. I always save $1 on 35 gallons.
I have Walmart + because of Straight Talk phone service. I always get .10 a gallon off.
Its surprising how so few people take advantage of fuel savings.

Also, the local Martin's grocery stores give seniors 10% off on Wednesdays. Don't know about Kroger's.

 

[grsthegreat]

I also have everything paid off, no loans at all. But still frugal. I am particular to restaurant apps on my phone. I usually end up getting free appetizers, or deserts, and lots of free birthday meals every year. I dont think theres a restaurant i go to that doesnt have an app anymore.

Many times a month i end up with free meal. I eat out with regular group of friends, and none of them bother with the apps, so i grab their points.

I dont need to do this, but what the heck. Its free.

As i get older, i also spoil easier. When ordering steak it has to be a filet mignon … stuff like that. It gets to where i cant stand the taste of the cheap fast foods any more. When i used to love it.

 

[not2old]

My dad used to burn all of our household trash once a week in a big culvert pipe stood upright with an air hole at the bottom. Anything that wouldn't burn, like metal and cans, he'd save in a couple trash cans and a few times a year we'd go to the dump. While there, he'd poke around appliances and machinery and rip out motors, pumps, weird things, and bring them home and make stuff. He was very proud of his drill-powered drain pump for unclogging the driveway drain. He'd give me the weird stuff to tear apart and see how it worked. Poor man's Erector Set, I guess. Anyhow, I have great memories of our expeditions.

My lawn mowers all came from the dump until I got into my first new house, which happened to be my third purchased residence about 18 years after getting married. Last year, I dragged home a mower with a Honda motor with the pull cord missing. It was too good to pass up for mowing the areas where I would be seriously abusing my good mower. It's only recently that I've started giving away valuable stuff or leaving it at the re-use centre at the local transfer station.

 

[Runner]

I can't believe I forgot the number 1 thing: (puts on flame-proof suit)

• If you want to save money, don't have kids. That is not my main reason for foregoing having children, but it is definitely an advantage.
• Bonus Answer: If you get married, find someone who does not have expensive taste and is not enamored with material possessions.

 

[MossRoad]

Also, the local Martin's grocery stores give seniors 10% off on Wednesdays. Don't know about Kroger's.

Martin's just got sold again. Hopefully they'll continue their great service. Kroger on west side of SB is closing. Most likely got shoplifted to death. It was always kind of dirty in that store as long as I can remember, and we've lived on that side of town since '85.

 

[MossRoad]

Also, the local Martin's grocery stores give seniors 10% off on Wednesdays. Don't know about Kroger's.

Ha! I still have my original Martin's card from 1985. Pretty cracked up and peeling, and I just enter my phone number usually, but every once in a while I'll get it out and the young cashier will just look at it like 'what the heck?'

And we still get gas points occasionally, but not as often as they used to.

 

[MossRoad]

My lawn mowers all came from the dump until I got into my first new house, which happened to be my third purchased residence about 18 years after getting married. Last year, I dragged home a mower with a Honda motor with the pull cord missing. It was too good to pass up for mowing the areas where I would be seriously abusing my good mower. It's only recently that I've started giving away valuable stuff or leaving it at the re-use centre at the local transfer station.

Last summer I went to the scrap yard looking for a piece of angle iron and came home with a chipper/shredded/vac for $25.

 

[MossRoad]

I can't believe I forgot the number 1 thing: (puts on flame-proof suit)

• If you want to save money, don't have kids. That is not my main reason for foregoing having children, but it is definitely an advantage.
• Bonus Answer: If you get married, find someone who does not have expensive taste and is not enamored with material possessions.

I often take the opportunity to let each of our kids know that we want our $250,000 back.

 

[Runner]

I have a friend that is just as tight with money as me. We are always trying to outdo each other to get a bargain.

Me and another guy at work used to do this. Had the best time comparing dumpster diving finds and roadside pickups. He would also cruise pawn shops to get a good deal on tools, so he would sometimes bring stuff in and sell it to me. Always old mismatched sockets, etc., but perfect to use in the boat tool box, etc.

We would also trade stuff we found/liberated from dumpsters. He put in an "order" for a 70's style leather covered table lamp one time and durned if I didn't find one for him.