Cheapest thing you have ever done

[Cal]

I figured this thread would be good for a laugh.

Me....In college I would rollerblade to the grocery store, take off my blades, buy my groceries, put the blades back on, and push the cart home, unload the groceries, then put my blades back on and push the cart back to the store so that I would get my quarter from the cart. HA! Then of course I would have to blade home again.... the exercise was good for me.

[FrugalTrader]

Great thread!

When I was younger, I used to always check the telephone booth coin dispenser for quarters left behind!


Just recently, I went to two separate macdonalds drive through solely for the free coffee. :)

[MoneyGal]

My sister and I used to hold competitions (in university) about who could feed the household (we had roommates and we shared meal prep) the most cheaply. It was years before I could bring myself to eat brown rice and lentils again. :)

[brad]

I can't think of anything I've done that's silly enough to be worth mentioning, but I had an acquaintance whose car would routinely run out of fuel (several times a year) because he kept driving around town when his tank was nearly empty, shopping around for the station with the cheapest gas price.

I'm sure he wasted more money on gas by driving around than he would have if he'd settled on a higher price, and certainly spent a lot more on the occasions when his car had to be towed. And one time he got rear-ended when he ran out of gas in the middle of a busy road, so those expenses need to be added to the picture as well.

A great example of how extreme cheapness can cost you more in the long run!

[MoneyGal]

Yeah - What economists call the "consumption vs. expenditure puzzle." Yes, you can save on gas by driving around and finding the cheapest gas station...but this only works if you completely discount the input of your *time.*

Erik Hurst (http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/080612/hurst.shtml), an economist at the University of Chicago, writes about this issue extensively.

[brad]

Yes, you can save on gas by driving around and finding the cheapest gas station...but this only works if you completely discount the input of your *time.*

Not just your time, but all that time you're driving around you're burning gasoline, and very inefficiently at that, since fuel economy in city driving is so low. So you're losing money every minute you drive around looking for that bargain gasoline.

I actually think from a practical perspective, most of us can safely discount the value of our time unless we're paid by the hour; I take a dim view on this aspect of opportunity cost as it's not relevant to most people. Yes, you could put a dollar value on your time if you could be doing something else that earns you money (or at least doesn't spend it), but most people don't do those kinds of tradeoffs in real life.

[MoneyGal]

What Hurst writes about is "consumption vs. expenditures" and specifically what is called the "retirement consumption puzzle." The puzzle is that people tend to spend much less in retirement than they did when they were working - as much as 30% less. Why is the drop, coincident with retirement, so great? (It isn't that people perfectly time their mortgages to end at retirement, for example.)

The answer economists have come up with is to distinguish between consumption and expenditures. So when you are driving around looking for cheap gas to save on your gas expenditures, you are consuming time (as an input). (And, as you point out, you are also consuming gas...)

Whether or not you value your time with some kind of imputed hourly rate isn't the issue - it is that time is an input to these kinds of attempts to reduce (money) expenditures.

I think this is a useful way to think about my expenditures generally - especially given that as a working mom my time is inherently limited and highly in demand. I will sometimes substitute cash for time to get something done.

Coming back to say that it isn't as though I place a (discounted) monetary value on the time I spend "searching for bargains." It's more that I recognize that there are times and circumstances in which, in order to save money, I have to spend time - and I can make the tradeoff once I'm clear about it.

[brad]

Coming back to say that it isn't as though I place a (discounted) monetary value on the time I spend "searching for bargains." It's more that I recognize that there are times and circumstances in which, in order to save money, I have to spend time - and I can make the tradeoff once I'm clear about it.

Ah, that makes sense, and I agree. If you have more time, you can spend more time focusing on ways to live more frugally.

I think it follows a sort of bell-shaped curve over our lifetimes: when we're young we generally have more time than money (it amazes me that I once was able to live fairly comfortably on an amount equal to one-fifth of what I now pay in income tax every year), but in that case it's mostly a case of "doing without." In our working years, we usually have more money than time. Then in retirement we have more time than money again, but now we have a lifetime of experience (and possessions) so we don't necessarily have to do without, we can just spend more time figuring out how to meet our needs with less money.

[Ben]

I haven't actually done this in earnest, but I walked by a drive-thru the other day and noticed a coin or two on the ground that I picked up. One could make a habit of this I imagine, so long as you were passing by anyway.

[Dana]

I have a relative who scopes parks and schoolyards early on Saturday and Sunday mornings for empties (beer and liquor bottles) that she can return for the deposit. She finds quite a few.

[Racer]

When I was about 9 years old I learned about conservation (reduce, reuse, recycle stuff) at school. I came home and brightly suggested to my father that we should reuse the loose kitty litter that collected in the bottoms of the plastic bags, after cleaning the litter box.

The look he gave me: priceless. (Though I didn't realize it at the time. My mom loves telling this story...mainly to boyfriends and such during my teen years.)

[Berubeland]

I guess the cheapest thing you can do is get things for free.

I use coupons all the time and I also call stores on the Scanning Code of Practice.

Basically if a store makes a mistake and the price at the register is higher than the shelf price you get 10$ off or if the item is less than $10 you get it for free.

So this method of shopping has drawbacks, basically you have to remember the price of everything and then be willing to stop the line up at the grocery store while the cashier calls the floor stocker to go check the price and then you usually have to wait for the manager to come to approve you getting the item for free.

So anyways for several weeks the Metro had baby food jars on sale then when you would go to the register it was higher. So I went there like every day until they changed it. And I every kind of baby food was a new item... So I got tons of free baby food.

I also made my own baby food but honestly it is nice to have some around for trips or laziness :)

[Spidey]

Probably the cheapest thing I've ever done is to cut my own hair. :o

(I've since given up the practice.)

[steve_jay33]

1. Pick up coins on the road
2. When there are lone shopping carts in the parking lot push them back to get the quarter.

:D

This post make me laugh

[Racer]

Probably the cheapest thing I've ever done is to cut my own hair. :o

(I've since given up the practice.)

This is for spidey: http://www.flowbee.com/

:D

[brad]

When I lived in the Boston area, I had a housemate for a few years who kept a map on the wall that showed the garbage collection days for every town within an hour's drive.

He'd go out early every morning with his pickup truck and troll the streets on garbage day looking for good stuff that people had pitched out. He made some amazing finds: he was a carpenter, and he picked up his table saw, a band saw, and a drill press for free--all in excellent working condition--over the years, plus any number of bedframes, sofas, couches, etc. that he kept in storage for when he eventually bought his own house.

[Ben]

He'd go out early every morning with his pickup truck and troll the streets on garbage day looking for good stuff that people had pitched out. He made some amazing finds: he was a carpenter, and he picked up his table saw, a band saw, and a drill press for free--all in excellent working condition--over the years, plus any number of bedframes, sofas, couches, etc. that he kept in storage for when he eventually bought his own house.

We like to do this too, on a lesser scale. Usually just a walk around our immediate neighbourhood. Large-item pickup day brings a lot of hidden treasures to the curbside. Got a solid wood dresser that I restored, etc, and just 2 days ago an Exersaucer that just needs a wash and a 75cent replacement part. Nice bundle of assorted hardwoods another time.
There's some jesting in the house about getting a nice Honda Ridgeline and installing a jib crane in the back - going pro.

[humble_pie]

some of these practices, like collecting & restoring usable articles from curbs, are near-priceless because they serve so many purposes. On the one hand they provide a new life for an object in a new home. And often, in the case of wooden furniture for example, what is being discarded was built years ago from solid and valuable wood such as maple, pine or walnut, whereas most furniture manufacturing today uses engineered and veneered wood product that can off-gas for years to come. Perhaps most importantly of all, such practices rescue the discarded articles from being tossed into landfills, and so they are a form of husbanding and caring for the earth.

i'm a knowledgeable gatherer of wild edible & medicinal plants from the country. This is not a cheap practice when you factor in the high cost of reaching the country in the first place. I'm also a passionate gardener. My contribution is that the cutoff tops of beets, turnips, radishes, cabbages and other brassicas and roots will grow excellent baby green salad leaves if you plant them in pots. Even in winter, on a sunny kitchen windowsill.

usually the cutoff will generate 3-4 crops of greens before it finally fails (the thing cannot root permanently.) One year, though, i had amazing radish tops that grew into strong healthy green-leaved plants like radiccio and lasted all summer, even producing pale pink clusters of flowers that were highly edible.

[MoneyGal]

Humble! That is exciting news. I *love* radishes and am going to try this now!

By the way, related to your name: "humble pie" apparently refers to a pie made from "humbles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humble_pie)," or offal (sometimes called "variety meat" in North America - organs, not muscle meat). Eating "humbles" is a very cost-efficient way to get protein, and I am personally interested in incorporating more organ meats into my diet...I have a beef heart on order at my local butcher.

I am also a volunteer historic cook for the City of Toronto's museum programs, and spend a lot of time investigating and testing historic (thrifty!) recipes.

Back when Freecycle was a new thing I was featured on CBC's "Marketplace" talking about giving and receiving via freecycle. A surprising amount of the stuff in our house is freecycled or curbside finds...it helps that my husband is trained as an industrial designer and is often able to fix/restore discarded items.

A thread after my own heart. Beef heart, that is...

[brad]

Eating "humbles" is a very cost-efficient way to get protein, and I am personally interested in incorporating more organ meats into my diet...I have a beef heart on order at my local butcher.

True, although avoiding meat in general is even more thrifty. I'm not a vegetarian by any means, but for about 10 years I rarely ate meat (red meat maybe twice a year, chicken once a month, fish every couple of weeks) simply out of habit, no particular motivation for health or ethical reasons. Then I met and moved in with a French woman who likes to eat meat, and my food budget quadrupled. In recent months she has decided to cut back on meat as she finds she feels healthier without it, and I've definitely noticed the effect on my wallet (I buy all the groceries here and do nearly all the cooking).

[MoneyGal]

Yes, avoiding meat would be thriftier (I was raised by vegans and I am raising a vegetarian) - I just personally do better on a diet which includes meat. Chacun a son gout!

[CuriousReader]

Some friends and I were picking up a friend at the airport and the flight was delayed so we were stuck hanging out at the airport.

Guess what we did?

We walk around the parking lot to find those left-behind luggage carts, collect them and push them back in to the machine to get some change ... I think it was like 25 cents per cart.

I think all that effort paid off the parking fee =p

[the-royal-mail]

Some friends and I were picking up a friend at the airport and the flight was delayed so we were stuck hanging out at the airport.

Guess what we did?

We walk around the parking lot to find those left-behind luggage carts, collect them and push them back in to the machine to get some change ... I think it was like 25 cents per cart.

I think all that effort paid off the parking fee =p


Viktor Navorski did that in The Terminal!

[montyloree]

lol... funny stuff...

When I was young and inexperienced...
In order to save money on purchasing roses for my wife...
I bought her Rose brand toilet bowl cleaner, Red Rose tea, and a package of Blue Rose flour. (the brands all had "rose" in their name)

I'm not sure if this was frugal, or just plain dumb....

I still hear about it 20 years later! :)

[humble_pie]

great reading your message MG.

speaking of cooking for museums, may i offer the most amazing foodie website i've ever seen.

http://www.playingwithfireandwater.com/foodplay/2009/12/index.html

this link is to a series of blogs she wrote last fall about cooking first nations dishes in a boston museum. Not first nations cuisine today, but historically accurate first nations cuisine as it existed prior to the arrival of any europeans. Just the research is mind-boggling because of course the 15th century northeastern woodlands nations left no recipes ...

she is an astonishing cook, writer and photographer. I think i'd be a bit intimidated to sit at her table, but reading about it is undiluted creativity.

[Sampson]

Wow, this thread is hilarious. I've always considered myself cheap, but not sure if I've done anything worthy of posting here.

I guess I can label myself as officially frugal - not one of you cheapos claiming to be frugal ;)

[MoneyGal]

aaaaah, but nothing beats the "smell sandwich" tip, from one of the Tightwad Gazette books.

A reader sent this in as a way to save money on lunch (based on a Monday-Friday work week):

1. Sunday night, make this sandwich: mayo (or some other condiment, e.g., mustard), salami, cheese (go crazy), on bread. Lettuce, tomato, etc. are okay, too.

2. Monday morning: Remove the salami and cheese. Spread mayo on two new slices of bread. Put the salami and cheese in between the new slices of bread. Lettuce, tomato, etc. as desired. Wrap this new sandwich and put in fridge. Take the 'smell sandwich' of mayo, bread, lettuce, tomato, etc. to work for lunch.

3. Tuesday through Thursday mornings: Repeat Monday.

4. Friday: indulge and take the whole sandwich to work for lunch.

[brad]

speaking of cooking for museums, may i offer the most amazing foodie website i've ever seen.

http://www.playingwithfireandwater.com/foodplay/2009/12/index.html


I'm a musician on the side, and more than once I've played for my supper, but the most unusual case was when a harpist and I got asked to play for a fundraiser supper at a local nature center. Our "payment" was free supper. And the supper turned out to be bugs.

It was an "insect dinner," in which they hired a gourmet chef to come up with interesting recipes that used insects; the guests paid top dollar for the experience and all the funds went to the nature center. I ate bee-larva pate, grasshopper quessadillas, foccaccia with crickets, and ice cream with ant sauce. The only things I couldn't bring myself to eat were the Japanese beetle sushi and the live giant mealworms that people were consuming as appetizers.

[MoneyGal]

uuuuuugh! I feed my kid's gecko mealworms but am personally very freaked out by them. She loves them, though. :eek:

[brad]

uuuuuugh! I feed my kid's gecko mealworms but am personally very freaked out by them. She loves them, though. :eek:

You gotta admit, though, as a protein source it's even cheaper than beef hearts! :p

[DavidJD]

My wife and brother-in-law and I went to Typhoon Lagoon (water park) in Florida and rented lockers. There is a $5US deposit on the key. Late in the afternoon everyone started leaving and we did too. While waiting for our ride I realized that I forgot our key in the locker. I ran back to get it and it was gone - but there was 9 others in other lockers. I turned them all in and got $45US.

[PoorPablo83]

This is great reading!

I roll change. For me, it works as a great (and minor) source of forced savings. I started when I used to work as a server in restaurants. My tips always included loonies and toonies and I got in the habit of using my paycheck for living expenses, savings etc, my bill tips (anything $5 or over) as cash in hand (to pay for food, gas, etc) and I would roll all my change and save it in a separate jar. Believe it or not I paid for an entire 6 week trip to Italy in under 2 years with this method. (That trip was a lesson in frugal living in itself... mamma mia!)

On that trip, I bought a new wallet that didn't have a spot for change. Only card slots, and a bill clip. Now whenever I buy something I take the change from my pockets as soon as I get home and it goes in a giant jar that I pour out and roll ever few months. This has REALLY made me see how much money I was wasting on little things, like going out for coffee, snacks on the go and such. Now whenever I pay for a $2 coffee with a $5 bill I know the other $3 was going to end up in my jar, and now I think a little longer and harder about anything I need tomorrow that I can't get if I break that $20 bill today... (I should add that I only use cash for day to day expenditures... I guess this system wouldn't work too well if one were to pay for everything with a debit card).

It's a bit of work, but it's amazing to see how often I'm going back to the bank with $100 in rolled change! All the bank tellers at the TD I use know me for this (and I'm sure laugh at me for it) but they do keep me well stocked with new rolls!

On an unrelated note, I managed to make a dent in my summer produce bill by keeping a very compact, but awesome little potted veggie garden on my tiny apartment patio. I made a few long, trough shaped planters for herbs out of scrap cedar that I hang over the sides of the hand rails and a couple of bigger pots (again from scrap cedar) for tomatoes and such on the ground.

[wealthyboomer]

My wife and brother-in-law and I went to Typhoon Lagoon (water park) in Florida and rented lockers. There is a $5US deposit on the key. Late in the afternoon everyone started leaving and we did too. While waiting for our ride I realized that I forgot our key in the locker. I ran back to get it and it was gone - but there was 9 others in other lockers. I turned them all in and got $45US.
Sounds more like THEFT to me. :(

[DavidJD]

Sounds more like THEFT to me. :(

You are right. I should have ran after the 6,000 people with children scrambling to get to their vehicles in North America's 2nd largest parking lot, stuggling with coolers, strollers and bags and scream, "Excuse me! EXCUSE ME! Has anyone forgotten their key in their locker? I have your $5 deposit!" Sure.

[Berubeland]

Kind of like returning an extra cart at the grocery store is stealing.... not

[msimms]

back in the college days (late 1990's), spend 2 months living off $12 a week on food.

Breakfast: Toast
Lunch: Bologna Sandwich
Dinner: Bologna on spaghetti with tomato sauce.

Rinse and repeat everyday for 2 months.

[bean438]

You are right. I should have ran after the 6,000 people with children scrambling to get to their vehicles in North America's 2nd largest parking lot, stuggling with coolers, strollers and bags and scream, "Excuse me! EXCUSE ME! Has anyone forgotten their key in their locker? I have your $5 deposit!" Sure.

LOL that was awsome.

The cheapest thing I did, (I mean i heard that some guy did this once), was I wanted to order a book from chapters.ca. I needed 39 bucks for free shipping so i ordered a second book to qualify for the free shipping.
Then i took the "shipping" book to the brick and mortar Chapters and told them it was a gift from my mom, and i would like to exchange it, BUT she lost the receipt.
They were glad to help me out, but since there was no bill, I had to take a gift card instead of cash.

[hboy43]

Probably the cheapest thing I've ever done is to cut my own hair. :o

(I've since given up the practice.)


I've recently started, but only because my wife refuses to cut my hair any more. Nothing fancy, just put on the number 2 and take it down to 1/4 inch.

Of course, I could get my hair done by a barber for a year on what my wife spends every appointment, but this is a problem without a solution.

[kenwood]

go to tim horton's before they close and ask for left over donuts

bike to work instead of drive to save on gas

charge all your batteries at work rather than at home

repeat lining up for food samples at costco

[ashby corner]

in my hown town...many many moons ago, I used to see this dude go to a newspaper box, put in a quarter. THEN take them all out, and sell them on the corner.

Theft, yes. And no, it wasn't me.

[CanadianCapitalist]

Sounds more like THEFT to me. :(

I dunno. It sounds more like putting that $5 bill you found on the street in your pocket to me.

[CanadianCapitalist]

Speaking of cheap, anybody read this article in The Globe today?

Would you skip a shower to save a buck? (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/work/would-you-skip-a-shower-to-save-a-buck/article1478105/)

- Not showering everyday
- Not flushing the toilet every time
- Turning underwear inside out

[brad]

I dunno. It sounds more like putting that $5 bill you found on the street in your pocket to me.

One of the more UNfrugal things I did involved such a bill, but it was bigger than $5.

When I lived in a small town in Vermont, I went to the Post Office one day to mail a parcel. As I walked up to the front door, I saw a bill sitting there on the landing. I picked it up, figuring it was $1, but in fact it was a $100 bill. I looked around, figuring this was some kind of social experiment, because the bill was sitting right there in plain sight, almost as if it had been placed there on purpose to see if someone would pick it up. But I didn't see anyone, so I thought someone might have actually dropped it by mistake, and figured I would give it to the postmaster. I did of course briefly consider keeping it, but this was my town, a village really, and not a wealthy one at that.

I put it in my pocket and stood in line. Eventually, an older gentleman in front of me got to the front of the line and went to the counter. I saw him pull out a bill to buy a money order, but then he started going through all his pockets frantically and looking increasingly distressed. I stepped out and said, "Sir, it looks like you lost something -- if you tell me what it was, I may have found it." He looked at me and said, "It was a picture of Ben Franklin." I laughed and gave him the bill. The look of relief and gratitude he gave me was worth $100.

[brad]

Speaking of cheap, anybody read this article in The Globe today?
- Not flushing the toilet every time


I need my daily shower, but we don't flush the toilet every time -- the old phrase I grew up with was "if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down." A bit graphic, but it works. ;)

It's silly, because we don't even pay for water use (water is unmetered in my city), but it's mostly driven out of a desire to conserve resources. We also have a rain barrel and use that to water all the plants on the porch in summer; I have another rain barrel in the basement that I fill up with water from the dehumidifier, and use that water all winter long to water our house plants.

[Sampson]

I need my daily shower, but we don't flush the toilet every time -- the old phrase I grew up with was "if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down." A bit graphic, but it works. ;)

It's silly, because we don't even pay for water use (water is unmetered in my city), but it's mostly driven out of a desire to conserve resources. We also have a rain barrel and use that to water all the plants on the porch in summer; I have another rain barrel in the basement that I fill up with water from the dehumidifier, and use that water all winter long to water our house plants.

I'm with you here brad.

It's not a money thing, its a conservation thing. And I don't even live on the coast. ;)

[DavidJD]

Being aware of our utility consumption should be a normal part of our lifestyles. Not what I would classify as cheap.

We hang our clothes instead of using the dryer - we also have a front load washer so they come out almost dry, and with much less water. Also the lint trap does not get filled with fibres from our clothes - making them last longer.
I have new shower heads which significantly reduces the amount of water per minute.
I spray foamed my entire basement with 2lb closed foam AND NOW IT IS TOO WARM! I have a hot-water boiler system and the pipes in the basement would radiate heat on the way to various radiators in the 1st and 2nd floor. I had to wrap most of my hot water boiler pipes with insulation to bring the temperature down to a comfortable level. I can't even begin to calculate the savings in energy.

This may not be the cheapest thing I have ever done bur my wife thinks it may be one of the smartest

[brad]

We hang our clothes instead of using the dryer

Ditto here. In fact I lived without a dryer for almost 30 years; it's only since we moved to our new house two years ago (which doesn't have any good place for drying racks, at least no place that is acceptable on the domestic tranquility front) that I've started using a dryer, and at that we only use it in winter. Not only does it save a lot of money, but your clothes last a lot longer (which also saves money). I still wear some nice "timeless fashion" shirts that I bought in the 1980s; I don't think they would have lasted more than 10 years if I used a dryer.

I have new shower heads which significantly reduces the amount of water per minute.

These are also very smart and pay for themselves quickly. When people hear "low flow showerhead" they figure they're in for a pathetically weak shower but in fact the opposite is true. Although if you have a lot of hair (not an issue for me), it can take a bit more time to rinse out after shampooing. But the savings in water and heating energy add up. When I lived in apartments, I had a low-flow showerhead that I used for nearly 20 years, taking it with me from apartment to apartment. My ultimate return on investment was something like 800 percent. ;)

[Jon202]

I take the stamps off of envelopes of letters mailed to the house that aren't post-marked and reuse them.

[DavidJD]

Ditto here. In fact I lived without a dryer for almost 30 years;

Oh yeah - one more tip - on my dryer vent pipe/tubing, I have a plastic box i picked up from walmart that allows me to divert the heated air back into the basement rather than directly outside. It has a small screen to catch more lint that needs to be cleared avery 2nd or 3rd use so i keep it accessible. In the warmer season I pull a small lever and the shield opens the airflow to the outside. When we gotta use the dryer in the winter we recover a lot of the energy/heat.

[FrugalTrader]

Oh yeah - one more tip - on my dryer vent pipe/tubing, I have a plastic box i picked up from walmart that allows me to divert the heated air back into the basement rather than directly outside. It has a small screen to catch more lint that needs to be cleared avery 2nd or 3rd use so i keep it accessible. In the warmer season I pull a small lever and the shield opens the airflow to the outside. When we gotta use the dryer in the winter we recover a lot of the energy/heat.


But wouldn't that put all the moisture into your basement during the winter?

[MoneyGal]

Yes, which is where you want it. Free humidification! ;)

[Ben]

Oh yeah - one more tip - on my dryer vent pipe/tubing, I have a plastic box i picked up from walmart that allows me to divert the heated air back into the basement rather than directly outside. It has a small screen to catch more lint that needs to be cleared avery 2nd or 3rd use so i keep it accessible. In the warmer season I pull a small lever and the shield opens the airflow to the outside. When we gotta use the dryer in the winter we recover a lot of the energy/heat.

Seems not a bad idea to me overall.

You'd probably want to have a humidity metre in the basement to make sure you don't over-humidify and grow mold and mildew.

With an over-humidity control valve to automatically divert the dryer exhaust outside...if you were a controls engineer.

[brad]

Yes, which is where you want it. Free humidification! ;)

That may or may not be useful. There's quite a bit of information online from NRCAN and other resources about the need to avoid excessive humidity in your house in winter. As long as the humidity in the basement stays in the 30s or so, it's okay, but if it starts climbing much higher than that you could be causing larger problems down the road.

Case in point is our house, where none of the previous owners ever ran a dehumidifier in the basement and our beams and sills are full of dry rot. We will have to get them replaced in the next five years or so, which will cost a lot of money (probably at least $20K).

[MoneyGal]

I'm very mold-aware. ;) I actually hang my clothes to dry, which produces less intense humidification over time. I also hang them in my upstairs hallway, not in the basement; using a cool space-saving, ceiling-mounted hanger (http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=1&p=63436&cat=2,42194) from Lee Valley. (I live in a small downtown house where space is at a premium.)

[groceryalerts]

1. Pick up coins on the road
2. When there are lone shopping carts in the parking lot push them back to get the quarter.

:D

This post make me laugh


I love to do this (Everyday I walk by a grocery store and I enjoy the habit!)

It is weird.

[Andrej]

I laminate my small bar soap onto the new large soap. Haha! I noticed that my girlfriend did this one Sunday morning before she found out that I did it as well. We had a good laugh and I realized I was in love. :)

[Happyvdubber]

I traded my hockey elbow pads to settle a bar bill ($20).

[swoop_ds]

One time when I was buying pizza for a group of people, I got out the calculator and figured out the cost of a pizza per square inch (using the area of a circle equation) based on size (large vs extra large). Obviously the extra large was cheaper by the square inch but I wanted to make sure...

I dono why I did that but it is definitely the cheapest thing I've ever done.

-Dave

[kenwood]

Speaking of cheap, anybody read this article in The Globe today?

Would you skip a shower to save a buck? (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/work/would-you-skip-a-shower-to-save-a-buck/article1478105/)

- Not showering everyday
- Not flushing the toilet every time
- Turning underwear inside out

shower at the gym
brush teeth and use toilet in the office
don't wear underwear

[hboy43]

Speaking of cheap, anybody read this article in The Globe today?

Would you skip a shower to save a buck? (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/work/would-you-skip-a-shower-to-save-a-buck/article1478105/)

- Not showering everyday
- Not flushing the toilet every time
- Turning underwear inside out

I don't shower every day, not to save money so much as to save time. 10 minutes is 10 minutes.

Toilet? On 28 acres, I usually mark my territory somewhere.

I don't see how turning underwear inside out would help.

hboy43

[Jungle]

Lately I have been picking up pennies, nickels or dimes, if I find them laying around. (I won't hunt for them, only if it's in my path)

In the last little while, I accumulated $0.97 worth. I also received a two dollar tip the other day too, so I put that in my wallet. In total, I had $2.97

So then the other day, I forgot my metro pass as it was the start of the month. I had no other money and one fare is $3.00. I needed to get home.

I asked the TTC teller if he would accept $2.97 for a fare. He said yes, so I used the money that I found $0.97 and the two dollar tip to get me home. :)

[DavidJD]

Gotta share this one...

I was a kitchen and bath show and there was a booth by Shaw signing up new customers with new deals. I have always been satisfied with Shaw and really annoyed with MTS (local competition). I said that existing and loyal customers should be offered an incentive. The guy said absolutely give us a call and we will look after you.

I called and they did. My bill was $135/m with taxes. They dropped a new PVR for free for 3 years, added some channels, increased my internet speed and download amount, added free long distance to my phone and removed the fees for the extras. For the next year I get all this for $85/month.

That works out to be $600/year for making one phone call and I get more services. Oh yeah the PVR is free for two years after this deal expires.

[groceryalerts]

Gotta share this one...

I was a kitchen and bath show and there was a booth by Shaw signing up new customers with new deals. I have always been satisfied with Shaw and really annoyed with MTS (local competition). I said that existing and loyal customers should be offered an incentive. The guy said absolutely give us a call and we will look after you.

I called and they did. My bill was $135/m with taxes. They dropped a new PVR for free for 3 years, added some channels, increased my internet speed and download amount, added free long distance to my phone and removed the fees for the extras. For the next year I get all this for $85/month.

That works out to be $600/year for making one phone call and I get more services. Oh yeah the PVR is free for two years after this deal expires.

David this is smart.

Do you have Telus in Manitoba yet?

You can compare the price and get your bill down even lower.

[spp_24]

a few $$ saving tips gleaned from my (cheap) uncle:

- when finished with a shower, wipe yourself down with a facecloth. This will prevent most of the soap/skin/hair from accumulating in your towels. You will have less towels to wash and dry (but more facecloths which are cheaper to wash/dry)

- if you live in the city never fill your car more than 1/4 full of gas. Why lose fuel economy to haul around gas when there is a station on every corner?

[Addy]

a few $$ saving tips gleaned from my (cheap) uncle:

- when finished with a shower, wipe yourself down with a facecloth. This will prevent most of the soap/skin/hair from accumulating in your towels. You will have less towels to wash and dry (but more facecloths which are cheaper to wash/dry)

- if you live in the city never fill your car more than 1/4 full of gas. Why lose fuel economy to haul around gas when there is a station on every corner?

This sounds like a good idea, but if you plan on keeping your vehicle for many years this isn't good for your fuel tank, and your pump if you let it drift down to near empty often enough.

[Racer]

All right. Confession time...but ONLY because I have had 3 beers and am a sad lonely soul trolling the forums...

When I was in first year university and greatly under-stimulated at my cashier job, I got this great idea to switch out all of the American pennies for Canadian pennies, and then conduct my own little small-scale arbitrage business.

Well, a little bit of due diligence soon confirmed that banks wouldn't bite. LOL

So I spent countless hours teaching myself to count cards. Hour after hour, flipping cards and muttering, "Negative one, zero, one, two, one, zero, negative one, negative two..."

Imagine my heartbreak when I discovered that most casinos work with a six-deck shoe, thus requiring me to calculate fractions.

Common sense now tells me I should have tried to find a better-paying job. But my more adventurous side still tries to calculate the odds at the blackjack table...

[the-royal-mail]

This sounds like a good idea, but if you plan on keeping your vehicle for many years this isn't good for your fuel tank, and your pump if you let it drift down to near empty often enough.


Also, the payment fees (debit) or credit (interest if you don't pay on time) plus 4x as much time spent sitting in line road raging with the other people in line at the gas station. 4x greater chance of being there/affected if a robbery occurs etc. The list goes on. Time is money.

[DavidJD]

David this is smart.

Do you have Telus in Manitoba yet?

You can compare the price and get your bill down even lower.

I am not sure if it is available yet or soon - of course I will look into it.

Another thing that would be 'cheap' behaviour is my parking situation. I own a home meters from the downtown and the offices where my wife and I work. Our home is also very near an international corporate head office with hundreds of employees so we rent three parking stalls for $65/month - which pays for our property taxes. We still have a parking stall for ourselves. The City offers a yearly, street parking pass for $25 that allows us to park in 'our neighbourhood' without worry about 1 or 2hr parking limits. The best part is that 'our neighbourhood' is considered by the parking folks as 75% of the downtown!

We live so close to our offices that it is silly not to walk - even on the coldest of days. So I also rent out my subsidized parking stall at work to an employee in my office.

[Addy]

That is smart David! If we lived closer to downtown I would do that in a heartbeat. We do rent out our spare room and that brings in a tidy sum, helping pay the bills. Plus I like having someone in the house for security reasons... the more people in a house (that you can trust!) the better I figure (as far as security goes).

[the-royal-mail]

I don't like downtown. Too much crime, too many bums, panhandlers and noisy fire engines every 5 minutes.

But I've lived in cities where being 2KM from work still meant living in a nice part of town. It was great, didn't need a car. Saved a ton on insurance, gas, repairs and parking. Walk everywhere, sidewalks.

[DavidJD]

That is smart David! If we lived closer to downtown I would do that in a heartbeat.

Oh yeah mileage! Hardly any:)

[Larry6417]

I shop at Costco and have a Costco Amex card. I originally got the card just for convenience and rarely use it. It provides a cashback reward. Since I rarely use it (it's a no-fee card) the cashback coupon was only 26 cents. The last time I was at Costco I spent about $600 - and cashed in my coupon for 26 cents.

[high octane]

Gotta share this one...

I was a kitchen and bath show and there was a booth by Shaw signing up new customers with new deals. I have always been satisfied with Shaw and really annoyed with MTS (local competition). I said that existing and loyal customers should be offered an incentive. The guy said absolutely give us a call and we will look after you.

Yea I was quite impressed with Shaw while I was out west. Everything from the customer service, install, internet quality and billing was a breath of fresh air compared to the pain and suffering any other time I deal with telcos in Canada


Cheapest thing I have ever done? Hmm.. When I bought my home theater from a sleazy salesman I accepted all kinds of overpriced cables, wires, accessories and warranties so that I could negotiate a dirt low price on the hardware. Then I took it all back and ordered the wires I needed online instead.

[Y&T2010]

a few $$ saving tips gleaned from my (cheap) uncle:

- when finished with a shower, wipe yourself down with a facecloth. This will prevent most of the soap/skin/hair from accumulating in your towels. You will have less towels to wash and dry (but more facecloths which are cheaper to wash/dry)

- if you live in the city never fill your car more than 1/4 full of gas. Why lose fuel economy to haul around gas when there is a station on every corner?

LOL! Wow, losing fuel economy to haul around gas, now that is a cheap cheap idea! =)

But wouldn't that be bad for your engine? Running on <1/4 tank of gas all the time? Maybe compromise and do 1/2 tank. =)

[Y&T2010]

I take the stamps off of envelopes of letters mailed to the house that aren't post-marked and reuse them.

I do that too! =) It's an acquired skill to make sure the stamp doesn't look too wrinkly or torn =)

[Addy]

I do that too! =) It's an acquired skill to make sure the stamp doesn't look too wrinkly or torn =)

This is one of the reasons I don't mind opening the mail at work :) Free stamps! One time a large parcel was mailed to us and not cancelled, so I had about 6 or 7 bucks in free postage stamps! I just reused the envelope it came in and put a new sticker over the mailing address when I sent it out again.

[the-royal-mail]

Back in 1997 when striking postal workers were legislated back to work, they went on the CBC National news and said in retaliation they would be accepting mail without postage. Since then they've started to forget, though, as I've had some stuff returned with insufficient postage in more recent times.

[clark_danger]

Scavenge recycling bins for empties!
I would figure out which zone in the city had recycling pickup the next morning and walk across the city to that zone with 2 large baseball equipment bags that I acquired for free. I would fill the bags and walk home. Sometimes the bags would be about 70 lbs each. The glass wine and liquor bottles have a deposit of 20 cents and weigh a lot. Beer cans and bottles are 10 cents. if I was almost full I would swap out the heavier bottles for cans so that I would burn less of those costly calories. I made about $50 one night after thanksgiving! I would uselly only make about $10 for a couple hours of serious labour.
Right now I only pick up empties when out walking my dog. The dog has to be walked anyway and it keeps the bottles off the streets (kids like to smash them, I don't want my dog to cut his feet)
There is a bylaw that forbids scavenging but no police have ever said anything to me about it.

Food costs too much. once in awhile I will fast for a few days to save money and reset my body.

I just traded my airmiles in for chapters gift cards and bought 3 books about "Earthships". Earthships seem like one of the cheapest ways to exist and I would love to build one.

[peterk]

I pulled up to a stop sign next to a grocery store. I saw two apples sitting in the gutter at the side of the road, and got my passenger to hop out and grab them. We enjoyed a delicious free apple treat that afternoon!

[Four Pillars]

Wow, these last two posters are a real inspiration! :confused:

[hystat]

years ago i drove a 1992 Hyundai Excel (Howdy Eggshell)

when I did the brakes, I found out the rotors were part of the hub and had to be pressed off by the dealer to be turned.

so, I tied the caliper out of the way, started the engine, put the trans in 5th gear, let the clutch out and let the rotor spin while I dressed it with my angle grinder.

the next 3 or 4 brake jobs I repeated this and the car went over 400,000km on the original brake rotors.

[Jungle]

years ago i drove a 1992 Hyundai Excel (Howdy Eggshell)

when I did the brakes, I found out the rotors were part of the hub and had to be pressed off by the dealer to be turned.

so, I tied the caliper out of the way, started the engine, put the trans in 5th gear, let the clutch out and let the rotor spin while I dressed it with my angle grinder.

the next 3 or 4 brake jobs I repeated this and the car went over 400,000km on the original brake rotors.

I love that one.

How about this one? A guy I know works security night shift and kicks homeless people off the property at night time. After work, (off duty), he puts on a rough looking lumber jacket, hood up and stands in line at the salvation army truck, with the same homeless people he kicks out during the night. The salvation army truck gives out free food for the homeless..

[Cal]

A guy I know works security night shift and kicks homeless people off the property at night time. After work, (off duty), he puts on a rough looking lumber jacket, hood up and stands in line at the salvation army truck, with the same homeless people he kicks out during the night. The salvation army truck gives out free food for the homeless..

That sure would beat having to pack a lunch every day!

[DavidJD]

I quit drinking. When my second baby came along (the first was only 13 months) I realized I had way less time (and sleep) in the future and decided that booze was not going to give me more time or energy and thought, what the hell. Some friends quit because they had to and I could spend more time with them. What I never realized was that I would lose weight (pants too loose) and have WAY MORE CASH.

I know the latte factor is always bandied about as the invisible sinkhole in personal budgets, but if you deduct drinks it from your meals in restaurants or on patios (and the liquor store on you visa!) you would be surprised.

12 pack of beer every 1.5 weeks or so, 2-5 times for 'drinks with the guys/month(+tips) and you are looking at $200+/month - easy.

Try it for a couple of months and see if you notice as big a difference.

I will let you know in 25 years what impact it had on my health.

[kcowan]

Are you worried about the claimed beneficial effects of moderate drinking?

[HaroldCrump]

Are you worried about the claimed beneficial effects of moderate drinking?Like Your Drinking = Dividends for Me = Better Health for Me :D

[DavidJD]

I am sure a glass of cranberry juice is as beneficial.

[Financial Cents]

Like others, I used to cut my own hair (for a few years) in university. Ballcaps came in handy, often.

A bunch of us were low on cash one fall in university (too much money spent at the pubs), so we bought about 40 lbs. of potatoes from a farmer and used them for every other meal for about half a month between 4 guys. Mashed potatoes, homefries, french fries, baked potatoes, BBQ'ed potatoes; you name it, we made with potatoes.

Scurvy never had a chance in our house. :)

[Jungle]

Glued the soles of my shoes with contact cement (at work of course) and continue to wear them with holes. My co-worker's and I laugh hard at this stuff. :D

[MoneyGal]

ha! My husband's fave shoes (Keens) have a hole. We have a friend who is an actual shoemaker (used to work with the Canadian Opera Company; now works at a hospital making custom shoes for people who require custom shoes, like with artificial limbs). We were at her house on Saturday and he asked her how to fix the shoe - she said...contact cement! ;)

[kcowan]

Black felt pen covers up wear spots. I have used it for sofas, clothes, and the boxcutter cuts in my bathroom sink (caused by a sloppy contractor). It can also be used on some shoe soles especially around the heel.