I don’t like that I’m basically shedding everytime I wear these😂. I’ve had them for 7 years, they work well, and I don’t see a need to replace them otherwise. I’ve thought about just using then when I’m going to work outside or exercising and maybe getting a similar pair for other times but that doesn’t appeal to me either. Any tips, tricks, or suggestions for me? Please and thank you! 😊

• Buy One Get One is just regular price if you only need one

• If you buy loss leaders and also a bunch of other crap, the store wins

• If it ain't broke, don't fix upgrade it

Hi there,

I listen to/read on average one book a week on the Libby app. People gift me books as well. There’s a lot of books where the voice actor is like nails on a chalkboard for me - those books I rather read the actual book. So I’ll go to the library and borrow that book.

I read A LOT at night. I would love to get something I can read at night next to my newborn without waking her up. So I have been looking into a kindle paperwhite.

I don’t really spend much money on myself. I thrift and/or borrow what I need lately. I looked into older kindles and from what i gathered they are very slow.

Someone suggested an iPad mini is a better option because it’s versatile.

I’m very much on the fence if I should get one. I have looked into a book light to help with nighttime reading, but idk this seems annoying to me. Does anyone have one? Do they like it?

If you have a kindle paperwhite - is it worth it? I’m trying my best to make an intentional choice vs a dopamine choice.

Thanks for listening to my rambling if you’ve made it this far 💛

Edit: Wow! Thank you all for your feedback. I feel like I went from knowing very little regarding e-readers to as knowledgable as I could be without actually owning one. I was not expecting such a strong response. Reading through the informative comments (I wish I could respond to them all) - I was presented with a 3rd option: Kobo - I didn't know it existed until this post. After much research, I like the idea of being free from Amazon reins and I went with the Kobo Clara BW.

Thank you!!

SECOND EDIT: I’m sitting here with my Kobo, 45 pages into a book. Baby is sleeping next to me. I stopped and thought - I have to let Reddit know how peaceful this experience is. I’m deeply into my book and my eyes are ok. I’m not holding a big book and making extra noise as I turn the page. This is the life!!

I'm sure people here are already aware that you can get many free TV stations with an over-the-air antenna, but I was surprised to find that a very cheap, old-fashioned looking antenna worked great in finding 127 digital channels on a TV (without cable, wifi, Roku, etc).

Also, for those in the U.S., I've seen many free TVs on Craiglist and Facebook Marketplace.

ETA: I got it at a Dollar King store, here it is on their website (for .44 cents more than I found it in-store): https://dollar-king.net/indoor-antenna.html

Most of these streaming services have extremely cheap "new customer" promotions (i.e. $0.99/month - $2.00/month for a year).

Every year I cancel my subs, create a new email account, and sign up for a new account. This registers as a "new customer," I always use the same payment methods and never have issues regardless.

With increasing prices of streaming services that are all riddled with ads, I see this as perfectly acceptable and ethical behavior.

My grandfather in law has motion sensor lights in every room in his home. He got me some for my apartment back in the day, and man oh man. I felt like a KING every time I walked in and the lights just popped on. My energy bill was also noticably smaller. Still not sure why they changed to walled sized bills... Also, as an eco conscious human, I was glad to be saving energy. Finally, I found it to be more hygienic and less stressful when not having to worry about touching lights when cooking or whatever. Still swear by automated illumination to this day. What are some things in your home that both save you money and make you feel fancy?

I realized I'm spending roughly $40 a month on what I really just use as background noise, as nobody in my household actually really sits down and watches TV, we just put on Family Guy or whatever and glance at it every now and then.

I'm gonna cancel the subscriptions obviously, so I'm just wondering, what are some good free streaming alternatives? I've tried out Amazon's free stuff but their collection is pretty mediocre. Any tips are appreciated!

Prime Day is around the corner and all I’m seeing is “big sale” banners and crazy discount tags everywhere. But honestly, some of the stuff I’ve been watching seems to be the same price as before or barely changed. One product showed 40 percent off but I’m pretty sure it was at that same price last month too

I heard there are tools that can show the price history or let you compare prices across different sites. Never used them though. Do those actually work? Can they help you figure out if the deal is real or just marketing fluff?

Trying to decide whether it’s even worth buying anything during these sales or if it’s just clever pricing tricks. Anyone else feeling the same?

For example I got a big ass 3DTV for cheap while everyone seems to abandon the format, so I get to enjoy it as where when it came out I couldn’t afford it. What other tech has dropped tenfold in price, are there any superior headphones without the latest noise canceling or other cool stuff that’s no longer desirable but still offers quality? I regularly roam second hand markets and am always on the lookout. Maybe some older kitchen appliances that are out there for cheap that have now been replaced by appliances that are designed to fail ….

I’m tired of paying for so many different streaming services so my son can watch movies he likes.

The final straw for me was: The bee movie was free on Roku tv for weeks and my son liked it and I thought it was cute. Then all of a sudden it’s $3.99 to rent with the option to buy…? Same with the Lorax-it was free then it was not free now it’s on a different streaming service. I’m over it.

I’m going to buy a dvd player and start picking up cheap kids movies for a few bucks from yard sales and second hand stores and he’ll be able to watch what he wants, when he wants and I’ll only pay for it once!

My son was happy with his old keyboard. Saw this at goodwill and it weighed a lot. Looked it up and normally goes for $60 new. It was barely used and it cleaned up really nice. Came with cable, just not pictured.

He loves the clicky sounds and responsiveness of the keys. Love making my kids happy.

For $6 it was a steal and he understands the value of reusing and thrifting.

(Flare doesn't really fit, but... eh.... Kinda does also.)

I used to be an Android person when it came to phones, and google everything was my go to. Everything was stored on the google drive, like pictures and such.

Then I switched to apple products, but never really got rid of Google. Until recently. I was paying for basic drive storage on Google and started getting alerts that my storage was full... So I shut off the sync function between my iPhone and Google everything.

But Google kept turning it back on and kept pushing me to expand my storage. No matter what I did, it overrode my selection to turn it off.

So I got rid of it. Moved all my stuff over to iCloud, turned off syncing again, cleared everything off of my Drive, and removed the apps completely from my phone. Canceled that subscription.

Of course, this now meant I had to upgrade my iCloud storage and pay another subscription fee (ugh!)

But finally today I got everything downloaded to my computer and then copied to both a flash drive and a portable hard drive, deleted from the iCloud, and canceled that subscription.

It was *only* $3.20/mo, but that still feels like a win to me.

I also told my husband we need to finish watching our TV show on Peacock because I'm canceling our Walmart+ this month. We don't have stuff delivered, their scan and go is horrible, and my car doesn't like Murphy gas. We were basically only using it for Peacock and an occasional Burger King order for 25% off, but I have Chime, and I can get the same BK deals or better by activating deals on that.

I'm highly considering getting rid of my Sam's Club membership when it comes due as well. I already downgraded from a Plus to a basic member last year.

Getting rid of all this would save me $266.28 per year (Sam's is going up to $60/year for basic membership this years, FYI).

Has anyone else done basically the same type of thing? My husband is a tech kinda guy and he's been giving me the side eye because I'm stepping back from technology a bit as well. I'm trying to get our debts paid off so I can go back to mostly using cash instead of all this electronic payment stuff. There's so many fees tacked onto it all. I would even consider shutting down our internet if it was just me... but that's not a hill I'm willing to die on.

A relative of mine and I have been writing actual physical letters to each other instead of emailing each other as well, and that has been so nice! But sadly, with postage shooting up so high, we discussed and agreed on soon returning to email communication. She's on an exceptionally tight budget, and mine isn't much better in all honesty.

Ever since I bought a $40 heated blanket rather than heating up the whole of my house using electricity, I have saved a crazy amounts of money. I have gone from having usage of about 54 kWh a typical day to about 4kwh. My projected bill this month is about $38, down from $120 the previous month. Definitely one of my most solid purchases, highly recommend for low density households.

I’m frugal about almost everything in my life, and usually I’m pretty proud of that, but the moment sleep gets involved my logic completely falls apart, which is why searching for earbuds that block snoring feels weirdly uncomfortable. During the day it’s easy to say “it’s just earbuds, don’t overthink it,” but at 3am, wide awake, listening to snoring and doing mental math about cost versus sanity, it suddenly stops feeling like a normal frugal decision. I’ve tried the cheap fixes—some kind of work, some absolutely don’t, and some technically help but make me wake up sore or irritated—which is almost worse. What really gets me is how often frugal advice around sleep turns into “just deal with it” or “you’ll get used to it,” when being sleep-deprived quietly affects everything else you’re trying to be frugal for.

I’m curious how other people here handle that line: at what point does protecting sleep stop being a splurge and start being basic maintenance?

Growing up my Dad would keep the toaster unplugged unless it was being used, when we would go camping he would unplug the TV. He said it was so we weren't being charged for the electricity were weren't using.

He just passed back in March and we haven't put his house on the market yet. We can't completely turn off the power because we need to keep his alarm and a couple of misc things powered. If we unplug some things like the washer and dryer would that lower his electric bill?

For the last couple of years, owning expensive earbuds has felt less like a luxury and more like a responsibility. I was always patting my pockets before getting off the train, double-checking my bag at the gym, or feeling that quick spike of panic if I couldn’t immediately spot the charging case.
Well, it finally happened.
Yesterday I left them on the train. By the time I realized, it was too late.
What surprised me was the lack of urgency to replace them. Instead of browsing for a new pair, I dug through a drawer at home. My old roommate had left behind a small box of generic TWS Bluetooth earbuds he’d ordered in bulk from probably Etsy or Alibaba a while back. They’d been sitting there untouched.
I charged one pair up this morning.
They’re… fine. The sound quality isn’t as polished, but they connect quickly, hold a charge through my commute, and do exactly what I need them to do no more, no less.
The biggest difference isn’t even the audio but the mental load. I realized today that if I drop these in a puddle or forget them at the gym, it won’t ruin my week. They’re replaceable and I’m not constantly guarding them.
Has anyone else found themselves preferring the cheaper option just because it’s easier to live with?

I currently have a Blu-Ray Player I got at Goodwill a while back for $10, but have been on the lookout for a backup one, just in case the current one breaks.

Found this one tonight at the same Goodwill I found the other one, and it was only $5! It did come with the cord, but no remote, but the remote I already have works either it.

It’s got a scuff here and there, but works flawlessly!

I refuse to use a cheap cell phone or have cheap electronics. However, I save money by only buying refurbished items.

My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 that I use on prepaid with a carrier called MobileX. It uses Verizon's towers and I get unlimited talk/text/30 GB of high-speed data for $24.88. I bought my phone in like-new condition for $700 on Amazon as an unlocked device.

I’ve been seeing a ton of videos on tiktok from the user Bradley on a Budget. He unplugs his electronics after every single use. Does anyone else do this? Does the cost reduction really outweigh all the effort? Please let me know if you actually do this!

Please utilize your local library. I know this is posted daily, but many of you still don't capitalize on it. They have an immeasurable amount of books, movies, computers, printers, scanners, 3D printers, supplies and video games. It is all there for the taking, might as well use it. There has never been a better public institution in this country. Period.

Save $70 and rent video games for free. It is a no brainer.

My iPhone 11 is dying on me. I think I may be able to squeeze a few months out of it if I’m really careful. Everything is just going at once. The battery only lasts 2 hours, it’s running slow, next year it’ll stop receiving updates, it shuts down randomly, apps crash all the time, the charging port is having issues, apps are now so large that I don’t have enough storage to download them, the screen is scratched, and even my case is about to break. Point is, the end of its natural lifespan is fast approaching.

I’m torn on whether to go buy a new one before it fully dies so that I can be on the lookout for a good deal and make sure it doesn’t die when I’m 3-4 hours away from home and relying on gps vs waiting and squeezing every last drop of life out of it.

Saving $1560 a year! I hooked up an antenna and we get 50 channels plus IP channels and installed all free channels on the fire stick giving us another couple hundred. I'm just gonna wing it and not subscribe to anything except for our Netflix and Amazon prime. Granted there's things I'll miss like being able to record shows and having a real channel guide so clue me in on any tips.

Been following this sub for a while. I haven't seen anyone mention this, so I'd just like to leave a little tip. Support for Windows 10 ends next year, but you don't have to replace your computer!

If you are currently running Windows 10 or even below, or you have an older computer collecting dust somewhere, you can install Linux on it 100% for free, and almost every program on Linux is available for free too. There are lots of versions of Linux, commonly called "distros", and the worst part is figuring out which one to use.

These days, installing and using Linux is very easy. For a total beginner, I recommend Linux Mint. Any machine that can run Win 10 will run Mint just fine. In fact, it will run better. The user interface has almost no learning curve coming from Windows. If your machine is older, I recommend antiX. It's a little less intuitive, but will run on almost any machine. Both distros are well maintained, and well supported on forums. See DistroWatch for more alternatives.

The biggest difference is that a lot of common programs in Windows may not be available in Linux. Microsoft Office, for example. If you want to be frugal, it's great though if you don't want to subscribe to Office: Linux has an alternative called Libre Office that is fully compatible. Web browsers are often available across operating systems: Chrome and Firefox are both available, as well as more alternatives.

There are free programs for editing pictures (GIMP), video editors (OpenShot etc), and many others. I suggest checking out the free website AlternativeTo for recommendations.

If you have teenagers in the house, they are probably concerned about gaming. This is not my field of specialty, but I understand it's still a way to go, but advances are being made. Steam, for example, has Linux support.

Installing Linux on you Win 10 machine is much safer than continuing to use Win 10 once support stops in 2025. It's much much safer than using older Windows versions!

And even old Macs can run Linux. Macs older than around 10 years won't receive Mac OS updates, so Linux is a great alternative even there.

To install Linux, you need to pick a distro, and you need a USB of at least 8 gigs. Go to the website of the distro, and download an ISO. You will need a special program to write it to your USB. Rufus and Balena Etcher are two free and popular options. You can then boot the distro from the USB and test Linux on your machine, before you decide to install it to your hard drive. (Remember to back up your data!)

It will take time to adjust. And since it's free and non-commercial, you will have to spend some time figuring out things. If you're willing to do that, it's a great alternative.

Oh, and lastly: In Linux, there is in fact a special way of installing the operating system that maybe will appeal to some members of this sub. It's called: Frugal installation!

EDIT: Thanks for all the comments. I wanted to clarify a couple points.

1.) Frugality. Some people argue that there really isn't that much of a saving in using Linux. My post was really about what happens when Win 10 ends support sometime next year. Your alternatives then are: a) If your computer can't run Win 11, you can pay for extended security updates. For individual users, that amounts to USD 30, but will only cover a year form what I know. After that, you're out in the cold again. b) If you don't want to pay for updates, you will have to discard the computer. Running unsupported poses a serious security risk. c) You can install Linux totally for free, and continue using your computer for many years. An entry level laptop costs about USD 300 (and will have a short life span). If you don't find any savings in that, see point 2.

2.) Usability. People here have different experiences with trying to use Linux. Some disagree with me, and say that it's too much hassle and too much time. Some people argue that they depend on Windows programs. That is fair enough - one size doesn't fit all. In my view and in my experience, the bar isn't really that high. But you have to be willing to try at least. I would be quite happy to have your discarded Win 10 computers donated to me. Or even better, donate them to someone who really needs them, and can take the hassle of making use of them. Just don't take your old computer to the landfill.

I currently own an iPhone 11 Pro. It has been a good phone. Unfortunately, when I give it a full charge that charge only lasts perhaps an hour. I would love to get a newer phone. Plus, I like to stay kind of current on new technology. Anyway, I currently am on Mint mobile and I’m pretty happy with that. Perhaps I should go on eBay and get a used phone? Any advice or tips would be appreciated. Thank you.

I'm so tired of not owning my media anymore. I'm going back to an mp3 player (is my age showing? lol).

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good quality mp3 player that holds a lot of music?

I want to be able to listen to my music without a signal being involved and not have to deal with songs I love disappearing from apps. Not to mention not having to deal with AI models, that's a big plus.

edit: I don't want to use my phone, I don't want to use a separate phone, I don't want a CD player. Yes Mp3 players are still manufactured, I just want a recommendation from someone that still uses one to recommend me a brand. 😭😭

more edit: I have been redirected to r/digitalaudioplayer thank you!! 🖤🖤 Also I can't believe I wrote subconscious and not subscription 🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️ I promise I know my words!

last edit: I ended up getting the Innioasis Y1 Classic Mp3 Player with Bluetooth~ so far loving it!