25 tips, tricks, and hacks from people who have mastered the art of saving

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 14, 2023. It has since been updated.

As inflation stubbornly continues to push the price of grocery items and sundries higher, being frugal has become a necessity. There has been a lot of chatter about exactly why inflation is relatively high, not only in the United States but globally. While some blame the pandemic, others blame the supply chain and the government. Whatever the reason, increasing prices put pressure on everyone, so we’ve put together a list of ways that users have shared online that you might use to save an extra few dollars for yourself.

1. I’m an avid reader and have saved over $8k using the library this year

2.  Some of our harvests were saved for winter. What started as a hobby has become a necessity.

3. The perks of having a connection to a local egg farm.

4. Mom always said “Don’t waste your money on stupid books!” so here’s my collection of fully thrifted/donated stupid books

5. I needed something to hold my shampoo/conditioner bars, so I made this with chopsticks and leftovers.

6. My lesson for today: check prices carefully! We found these in the regular meat section today and the price was honored!

7. We get our kids to design labels for homemade preserves to give away as gifts at Christmas

8. Replaced luggage wheels for 13 bucks

9. 30 pounds of bananas

10. I had so much fun making these Cartoon gift wrapping! Inspired by the Borderlands videogame

11. $8 worth of food at my local discount grocery yesterday

12. Made my own Swiffer pads with my brother's old sweatpants

13. “Empty” lotion bottles clam-shelled produced 36oz that would normally be tossed. I can’t be the only one out there, right?

14. Cutting open the makeup tube to use it all. Had about 10 days' worth left.

15. Neighbor threw this awesome chair to the curb. One screw fixed the tilt problem!

16. My dryer has been doing laundry flawlessly since it was made in 1976.

17. Just an example of the right place right time (…) they had just switched to new packaging and marked the old label down to 99 cents at my local Kroger.

18. $30 total thanks to the “too good to go” app. Plenty of baked goods for the whole family and the rest will be frozen

19. 4 months ago, I planted some sprouted potatoes in a small pot on my balcony. Here's my first harvest!

20. I love the library most because it saves money

21. Put those butter wrappers to good use and grease your baking dishes with the butter left stuck to the wrapper. You might be surprised how little can go a long way.

22. Made professional-looking candles from babybel wax and old tuna cans

23. I don’t know who needs to hear this but mason jars will perfectly preserve your berries for several weeks

24.  My freebie fire pit! Made from bricks I got on FB marketplace.

25. U-pick farms are a great way to get very inexpensive produce! 22lbs for $22 and we'll make enough jam for a couple of years.