There are so many creative ways to cut your budget! One easy way is to simply not pay for things that aren’t necessary. Check out these fun ideas! (And get even more ideas over here.)
A while back, I posted on our Facebook Page and asked people to share one thing they don’t pay for that many people do. I compiled the most-suggested ideas into this post in hopes it will inspire you with some ideas of ways you can simplify and save money.
Remember, though, that being intentional with your finances doesn’t mean you are miserly and miserable. If you pay for something on this list, that doesn’t mean you aren’t frugal or that you are failing. You get to choose where and how you spend your money. These are just ideas to get your creative wheels turning — especially if you are looking for ways to save more money.
20 Things You Don’t Have to Pay For
- Handyman services — YouTube can teach you how to fix almost anything! Just a few weeks ago, our dishwasher stopped working. Jesse researched online, found the part we needed to order on Amazon, and watched YouTube videos to fix it! (Note: I wouldn’t recommend trying to fix things you don’t feel confident fixing. We’ve had some situations where our attempt to fix something ourselves ended up costing us a lot more in the long-run. So be wise about whether you feel comfortable making the repair before starting!)
- Manicures/Pedicures — Kaitlynn taught herself how to do gel and dip manicures just by (again!) watching YouTube videos. You will need to invest in a few products to do it yourself, but if you are a person who is more artistically minded, you should be able to pretty easily learn to give yourself (and others!) a great manicure — for pennies compared to what you’d pay at a nail salon. (By the way, you can also “cheat” and use something like Impress nails — which work surprisingly well!)
- TV Streaming Services (or cable) — You can often watch shows free online (such as through Tubi or Peacock). Yes, there are commercials, but free is free. 🙂
- Paper Towels — We stopped buying paper towels many years ago and learned that we were just fine using rags/wash cloths! You can see what we use instead here.
- Bottled Water — Get a water filter and refill a reusable water bottle or cup. (Read more how I drink a gallon of water every day.)
- Hair cuts — With a simple trimmer set, you can learn to cut boys’ and men’s hair. Janelle commented on Facebook and said: “My husband is an active duty Marine and is required to get a zero fade haircut weekly. That was costing us upwards of $60/month (sometimes more depending on the location he was stationed at). I have been cutting his hair for over a decade now saving us over $7200 total!”
- Books — Use your local library, Libby, and Hoopla or earn free books from MyReaderRewards. (Here are other ways to get books for free or almost-free.)
- Amazon Prime — While it can be a convenience, you can just wait until you have enough stuff in your cart to qualify for free shipping. (I wrote a post awhile back on whether or not Amazon Prime is worth it.)
- Dining Out — Learn to make restaurant meals at home and/or buy take n’ bake or frozen pizza when it’s on sale to have in the freezer when you don’t feel like cooking!
- Beverages — One of the most over-priced items are sodas and coffees at restaurants. Either drink water or bring your own from home if you are going to be out and tempted to stop and get a drink. (Here’s an idea to drink more water!)
- Pet Grooming — Dana commented on Facebook and said, “I groom our dogs myself. Just one is over $75/groom. When figuring up they need grooming every 6 weeks and we have 3 that have to be regularly groomed, I save our family a lot of money by learning this skill and doing it myself.”
- K-Cups — Buying coffee in bulk packages is much less expensive than buying K-cups. Kimberly said this on Facebook, “$10 for a box of 12 is ridiculous when I can finish it in 2 days. A canister of Maxwell House will last me over 3 weeks.” And you can use a reusable K-Cup if you want to make coffee in the Keurig without paying high prices for K-Cups. (And by the way, don’t forget that you can get a FREE month of unlimited coffee and tea at Panera right now.)
- Oil Changes — Learn to do them yourself and you’ll save a lot of money!
- Gym Membership — You can invest in your own workout equipment (my treadmill that I use pretty much daily and have for years has paid for itself over and over again!) or go outside and take a walk/run or find free workout routines on YouTube. (Another very inexpensive option is to buy a one-year subscription to GetHealthyU TV for just $3 for an entire year!)
- Pre-Packaged Snacks — Find some quick and easy snack recipes your family loves and make them yourself. It’s likely going to be a lot healthier, too! (Here are some of our favorite homemade snack ideas.)
- Straws — I invested in a few steel straws a number of years ago and we use them pretty much every single day!
- Hair Coloring — You can do it yourself at home or ask a friend to do it for you. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, check to see if there’s a local cosmetology school that offers services to the public.
- Magazines — There are often so many options to get free subscriptions to magazines (we always post them here when we find them!) You can also often read magazines or access them online for free from your local library.
- Music Streaming Services — You can listen to music for free on YouTube or Spotify (with a free subscription).
- Photo Prints — Walgreens and CVS regularly offer free photo prints! Take advantage of these for gifts and for your personal collection.
Looking for even more ideas? Check out this list of 35 more ideas!
Join local Facebook groups. I belong to several “buy nothing” pages in my town. I have gotten tons of clothes, electronics, baby items and food and have given many items as well.
A tip for Military families: see if there is a local Operation Homefront chapter near you. They offer several events throughout the year such as school supplies, holiday meals and baby supplies. These events are also open to retirees in some locations.
Vettix.org offers free tickets for Veterans and active Military and their families. There is a small cost to transfer tickets (less than $20). This has afforded our family the opportunity to see many concerts, sporting events and expos that we wouldn’t have been able to afford normally.
Thank you for these great tips!
re: #4 How do you manage the washing of the towels/rags? I am hesitant to try this because I’m not sure where to keep the used, wet items until they can be washed.
We just stick them straight into the washer and then wash them in the load for that day.
We have done this different ways. One house we had an outside line that I would hang used wet rags to dry, we have an indoor line in the basement of our current home, and a place by our utility sink that they can dry (or even on the edge of an empty laundry basket). Once the rags are dry they get tossed with the dirty laundry, I typically wash them with my load of towels on wash day. Many of our rags are old clothing items that aren’t nice enough to donate and I cut out the seams and toss in my rag box under the sink (old t-shirts are awesome for this!). It’s a great way to keep old clothes out of the trash and prevent the waste of paper towels (we do still have paper towels, but use them sparingly). And when I have to use a rag for something extra gross, I just toss it in the trash when done cleaning up. Good luck! It’s totally worth a try 🙂
Drying clothes. A friend’s encouraged me to just hang them on the line or use a rack of it’s rainy. It’s been a year since I turned on my dryer. Can’t believe I wasted so much money (and natural resources) on drying clothes when all needed to do was be patient.
My mom used to line dry a lot of our clothes and she loved it!
Thanks for this great list!
In response to #17 of coloring your own hair, I colored my own for many years before deciding to dtich the dye altogether saving even more time and money. It’s also helping me to learn to accept my silver highlights. I’ve found a great Silver Sister’s Fb support group.
I love that!
I loved how so many of the above comments were sustainable as well as economical!
Yes!
We don’t pay for water as we have a well. We don’t pay for garbage pickup since we live in the country. We can burn paper in our burner barrel, recycling goes to town and we take the rest to the local dump a few times a year. We don’t pay much for heat as we have a wood stove. My husband cuts down trees and splits the wood. We have a garden so don’t need to buy many vegetables. God provides!
Great ideas!
I buy furniture from Facebook marketplace. I have a high quality leather living room set ($350) and kids twin XL captains bed with memory foam mattress ($350) and a custom made King bed with built in dressers for ($700- it would have been 5k new).
We furnished our first apartment for $100 by accepting hand-me-down furniture from others and buying a living room set for $100 used!
I live in a pretty affluent neighborhood and i buy almost EVERY stich of clothes that my granddaughter wears from goodwill. Shes 8 and I’ve paid consistently $1.49/ garment piece. I also am in an elite online garage sale and don’t spend more than $5 -$10 max when i shop there. And that’s mainly dresses and coats. WHEN KIDS ARE YOUNG THEY COULD CARE LESS WHAT THEY WEAR!! I ONLY buy top quality from goodwill and have several people tell me how cute my grands clothes are. PLUS sending a kid to school you don’t worry that she will ruin it with dry erase markers cause all you paid is $1.49 for the clothes. Then i take them to a resale shop when she’s out grown them and they buy them back for more or close to what i paid originally. win win!!!!!
YES! I’m right there with you! Almost all of Kierstyn and Baby D’s clothes are from consignment sales or hand-me-downs. We’ve saved hundreds of dollars in the past few years by not buying hardly any new clothes for them! And our girls are really getting into the thrill of shopping at used clothing stores. They find such cute things for just a few dollars each or less!
My company dress code requires us to wear apparel with the company logo. We get a small wardrobe stipend, but the out of pocket cost can still add up. However, my work location has a rack of logoed apparel donated by employees who have left the company or cleared out their closets. And as coworkers, we will often offer our castoff apparel directly to each other as well. If I’m willing to wear a unisex shirt instead of the women’s fitted style, or clothes with last year’s company clothing trends instead of this year’s, I can easily browse the rack for free work clothes that are still perfectly good and professional looking. It’s worth asking about at work, for those in a similar situation to mine.
Would you be allowed to cut the logo out of an older piece of clothing and applique it onto something new?
This sounds like what our kids do with their school logo shirts/sweatshirts! They are always passing things around when someone no longer can fit into it or don’t like it anymore. We’ve saved SO much money on school apparel this way!
I buy the Kiss nail sets and use Krazy Glue to glue them on. I’ve got the entire process down to 10 minutes and it’s a LOT cheaper than going to a salon. Tip: After you file and before you start gluing, make sure to wash your hands and clean your nails thoroughly. If you trap water under the fake nail, your actual nails will turn green.
Love that — and thanks for the tips!
Fresh herbs, maybe some other produce. I’ve been building an herb garden in my front flower beds using herbs that we like to eat. Most people have room for a small container of herbs. Pesto is expensive but growing basil is an almost free alternative.
Did you know that you can eat hostas? Cut them when they first come up and are still tightly coiled. They will come back and look normal. I like to saute them in garlic butter. The taste is similar to asparagus.
Such great ideas! Thank you for sharing!
Oil changes… we’ve been getting them at our local mechanic who often runs a full synthetic oil change for $40. With the cost of the oil ($7+/qt) and the filter, it may be possible to have the service done for about the same cost. Our Walmarts (Arkansas) also offer conventional oil changes for $20 – less than I can purchase the supplies.
That’s such an important point to make sure you are actually saving money by doing it yourself!
Babysitting! I don’t live near family, so I trade with friends for date nights and appointments/errands without kids. As a bonus then we can help keep each other accountable to follow through on having a date night once a month.
That’s a great idea!