What are your favorite frugal white whales? Products and services that are among the cheapest, but also among the best...

killenger · 4 months

Freecycle. You can get tonnes of free stuff you need and pass on your old junk too.

miss_j_bean · 4 months

My husband makes breakfast burritos that I'm happy to eat every day for a month and they cost 50 or 60 cents each.
Four cans of black beans, a dozen eggs, 4 packs of flour tortillas (approx. 24), whatever cheese sounds good to you, and whatever other toppings you want (sometimes ham or bacon, taco sauce or salsa, onions, etc). Last time we made them the ingredients cost about $13.00 and it made 25 burritos. (one of the packs of tortillas had an extra)
He cooks the eggs and beans together in a frying pan and then mixes onions, meat, or whatever other toppings. Then we have an assemply line on the table - a big spoonful of filling, some cheese, some salsa or taco sauce, fold, and wrap in saran wrap. We put them all in the freezer and when it's time to cook them, remove from plastic wrap, wrap in a paper towel, cook for about 1:45-2 minutes in the microwave.
Easy, yummy, and inexpensive!

gene_wood · 4 months

monoprice.com Best prices, best customer service, highest quality products. I don't understand it, but I've been buying from them for years and they're amazing.

EDIT : Oh ya, and they offer Overnite Express (Norco) for shipping in California, Nevada, Arizona so you get next day shipping at a lower cost than UPS ground. 4 dollars and change

shatterly · 4 months

White vinegar. It can clean nearly anything. Combine with equally inexpensive baking soda for fun foaming action!

rawrrrrr · 4 months

Dr. Bronner's soap. Suddenly I don't have acne, and my skin isn't dry. It's not the cheapest at amazon, but you can sometimes snag it at whole foods for $9 for a huge 32oz.

It can also be used to clean, as a shaving soap, as shampoo (make sure you still use conditioner), anything.

I particularly like the Peppermint in the morning, and the citris when I'm not trying to wake up.

wreckemtech · 4 months

Eggs.

Delicious, convenient, healthy, versatile, and dirt cheap. I eat buy cage-free eggs and they cost me about $2/dzn. I eat 2 everyday for breakfast with a side of beans and a cup of coffee, for a total cost of about $1/day.

chonnes · 4 months

I bought a new pressure washer for $40 including shipping from Ebay about 2 years ago. It has saved me the $5 per vehicle that I would normally spend every other week or so at the car wash. With (2) cars, I save at least $200 per year in addition to being able to easily clean home windows, grimy stovetops, pet cages, sidewalks, gutters and a slew of other things.

madgeezer128 · 4 months

mine is find a washine machine that is not running (not pump related). its usually the brushes in the motor that have worn out. cost $2.50 for new ones and you get a fairly new washing machine.

loganz · 4 months

Feline Pine cat litter. It's compressed pine pellets, they react with urine, turning into saw dust. They are $8 for a 10 pound bag, doesn't smell bad like clay litter. Better for your cat, clay is nasty stuff, your cat could get UTI (which my cat did). If you maintain it properly.. scooping out solids daily, and sifting out the saw dust at least once a week, it will last forever. I go through one 10lb bag a month with 4 cats. I bought a metal mesh off of amazon for $5 that i use to sift out the litter. It also does not track litter all over your house. I have wood floors through out and all other litters would end up everywhere (even in our bed YUCK).

If you have a feed store nearby, they sell horse pine pellets for $5 (40lb bag), it is the same as feline pine.

procyon112 · 4 months

Amazon Prime.

mandyvigilante · 4 months

For certain kitchen staples like flour, sugar, or baking soda, I have found that many super markets carry a brand that is cheaper (sometimes MUCH cheaper) than even the store brand. At Price Chopper it's called 'Clear Value' and it is remarkably cheap.

max_p0wer · 4 months

The library In addition to books, they're a great resource for free DVD's and CD's.

imaunitard · 4 months

Dollar Tree for cleaning supplies. I have seen brand name cleaning supplies (ie: Clorox toilet bowl cleaner) there for $1. I saw it at Target the next day on sale 2/$5. Don't go to those fake dollar stores like Dollar General, though. Dollar General is a rip off. Dollar Tree be where the party at, yo.

Also, I have 2 young kids. They love the Dollar Tree. They have a lot of cheap (and I do mean cheap) toys for $1. They get to pick out whatever toy they want, and it costs me $2 for the 2 of them. I know they are going to play w/ it for a little bit, then get tired of it. It beats going to Toys R Us and dropping $30 on two toys that are going to give them the same result. I'm not saying I don't buy them nice toys, too...but this saves some money occasionally.

TL; DR: Dollar Tree, bitchez

mredding · 4 months

Beer and wine brewing and fermenting. It's a neat hobby that will produce award winning quality product, with a bit of practice. Midwest supplies are my trusted vendor. Kits are about $70, ingredient kits are ~$30. It comes to about $0.55 a bottle. If you're like me and drink the $5-6/bottle stuff at the bars, because you enjoy your beer and it's not about getting drunk, then you should recoup your costs in the first batch.

Shave with a straight edge razor, if you can develop the skill. Buy old razors from antique stores, usually for ~$20, and they should last you years. New razors go for ~$100. If you can shave with a straight edge, still worth it. I started out on a $20 model, new, with disposable blades, then upgraded. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't have been out by much.

Body salts. It's an antiperspirant. Comes in a stick. Apply liberally after a shower, while still wet. Don't be shy. It'll last you years, and usually comes MUCH cheaper than the crazy high tech name brand stuff, if you can find it.

Free software. There really isn't much of an argument against it these days. Desktop gaming is a bit of a fuss, but you probably have a 360 anyway...

Cord cutting. There's even a /r/cordcutters. I don't watch television myself. At all. Perhaps not for everyone.

Gardening. If you live in an apartment, then get some pots and plant herbs by the windows.

Nutmeg. Buy it whole, and get a Microplane (a brand), not necessarily a micro grater, which I don't prefer. The Microplane has micro cutting edges, as opposed to those little tiny puckers that will snag your knuckles. Grate it fresh. You will thank me. My fiancee has, in fact, been putting fresh nutmeg in just about everything she can shake the grater at.

Don't buy a clay block kit for your car. Go to a hobby shop and pick up a small block of modeling clay. Use a spray bottle of water instead of that conditioner stuff. It's all the same, if you ask me. (Look into this if you're a stickler about car care. I won't buff or wax a car without doing this first. After the first time, I was sold).

CFL and LED lights, duh. Don't use CFLs in the bathroom, they burn out too quickly. Put a threshold on your exterior doors, and on your garage door, if connected to the house. Expanding foam from a can is the handy man's secret weapon to fill drafty cracks. Close storm windows in the winter. Use removable caulk on your old windows for the winter.

Drop the temp down to 62 and wear socks, or at least drop it down if you have the oven on. Reverse the direction of your fans to blow hot air down instead of sucking cold air up, as you should have set for the summer.

Buy block cheese. Grate it by hand, or if you have a food processor, with it's grater attachment. You can buy more for less when you buy in bulk. If your cheese has a rind, you may want to cut it off first.

Buy whole frozen chicken. Quarter it yourself. The less processing your meats go through, the cheaper. Save up the wings in a freezer bag and make buffalo wings. Save the tenders, too. Save the carcasses, and boil them, when you have a few, to make chicken stock. Freeze the stock in ice cube trays and bag it. Use ice cube trays specific for this purpose, unless you like chicken flavored ice cubes later.

Do the same thing with duck.

Make your own pasta. It's not a complete replacement for store bought, but it's definitely a change of pace, it doesn't take too long, and it's fun, especially with the kids. Roll out flat sheets and make your own ravioli.

Buy green coffee beans and roast them in a popcorn air popper.

Grind as many of your spices from whole as you can. Less processing means cheaper, and spices lose their potency from oxidation, hence my aformentioned fiancee's recent obsession with nutmeg.

DasHuhn · 4 months

Aldi's Grocery Stores. The majority of their products are fantastic - and their prices are cheap. They don't always have EVERYTHING, but they have most things.

enervation · 4 months

A bike. Drastically cheaper than driving, way more fun, keeps you in shape, and often faster than sitting in traffic. Obviously it's not practical for everyone to bike instead of drive but if you can, you save an awful lot of money.

csguydn · 4 months

I reuse my triple blade razors by doing the jeans or towel trick. Each <$1 disposable lasts me anywhere from 6-8 months on average.

chucksense · 4 months

If you have a Canon DSLR: the Canon 50mm f/1.8. A fast prime lens for a hundred bucks. It's definitely not perfect, but at that price you can buy three of them before the next better one.

of_obscure_origin · 4 months

Chinatown bus! It gets you between most major cities on the east and west coasts, it's incredibly cheap, and the drivers are only terrifying every once in a while. Barebones business model at its very best.

4 months

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OrcaNoodle · 4 months

Netflix streaming. Now I don't spend $50 a month on DVDs and it doesn't clutter up my house.

dkythdg · 4 months

Mostly for Americans- most cities have health clinics in which your bill is based on a sliding scale- ours offers general doctors, psychiatric care , dentists, pediatricians,a pharmacy, OB and High risk OB care. My brother doesn't have health insurance -so he went there and ended up paying $10 for a doctor visit, blood work, and getting a prescription filled. At a normal doctors office- it would have been upwards of $200. Also they got him in the same day.

ETA- All the doctors that work there are board certified and most donate their time, also they are open till 8:30 on week nights. But it might be different elsewhere

feosman · 4 months

Tapatio. One of my favorite hot sauces and only .86 cents at your local grocery store.

Feetos · 4 months

Bar soap for the shower. I had been using shower gel or liquid bath soap on one of those mesh bath sponges, because it made the most soap suds. Then, I forgot to bring it to a hotel with me and used the bar soap on the meth sponge, and HOLY CANOLI, it works just the same! So, I stopped buying $8/bottle soap that lasts for 3 months, and started buying a pack of 16 bars for $8, and I haven't had to buy more soap in over a year. Woot!

tgeliot · 4 months

Massage schools. I can go to the Denver School of Massage Therapy's weekend clinic and get a pretty good massage from a student for $25; towards the end of the semester when students really need the hours they do 2-for-1 -- bring a friend and you each get an hour-long massage for $12.50.

The downside is that you can't make an appointment, it's first-come, first-served. So bring a book. Also, students have a way of being rather tentative, so I have to stress to each one that they really need to lean into it and work hard.

OriginalSyn · 4 months

I buy the gel (glycerin based) body wash soap then I mix a squirt of it with water and put it in one of those relatively expensive foam soap dispensers for by the sinks. A large bottle of body wash has lasted me a year.

me0341 · 4 months

Hair conditioner instead of shaving cream/gel. Barely need any to shave and its 1000x better.

burrite · 4 months

Bon Ami. Super cheap cleaning powder that's also natural and nontoxic, and just happens to work better than almost any of of its poisonous, expensive modern competitors.

puffybaba · 4 months

A couple come to mind:

Moka pot coffee brewer

This style of coffee brewing results in a stronger, more satisfying brew, comparable to espresso. The cost of a Moka pot is much smaller than that of an expresso maker, and if you get a quality stainless steel one, it will last forever if you take care of it. It's a good idea to scrub out the inside after each brew, with just water and a brush dedicated to this task; no soap.

Desktop linux

I paid nothing for my OS, yet it affords me a great deal of freedom, and it runs faster than Windows would on my old, used laptop I picked up from ebay. This is not for everyone; it helps to naturally be an algorithmic thinker and tinkerer, and to not need proprietary platform-limited tools like Adobe CS, AutoCAD, etc.

Mexican or Guatemalan refried beans

After buying these, I can no longer tolerate Rosarita. Vast improvement in quality and taste.

bulk loose-leaf tea

If you live in a big city, find someplace that sells loose-leaf tea in bulk from big jars. The quality of the tea is much better and less expensive than lipton from the grocery store. Loose leaf is not hard to deal with at all; here's how it's done:

boil some water in a kettle
pour a little in a 16oz ceramic cup and swish around to warm it up
empty the cup, add 2 tsp loose leaf tea (1 tsp per 8oz), then pour in the boiling water, and cover it with a small plate or something
wait 5 minutes, pour the tea through a strainer into a smaller cup, and add any milk or sugar, etc.

MagiesNoms · 4 months

At-home haircuts. I bought a clipper about a year back, so I give my husband and son hair cuts at home. It probably saves about $180 a year (6 haircuts a year for each, $15 a haircut), plus the time and gas it would take to go to a salon.

ew_dorky_gilbert · 4 months

So I feel juvenile posting about this of all things, but Buzzbee Air Blasters and their darts are generally far better than NERF brand, and a third of the price.

HSMOM · 4 months

For the Ladies: ELF makeup, not everything is great, but most of it is, and it's really inexpensive.

4 months

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rafkamodie · 4 months

Witch Hazel. Works for ANYTHING on your skin (not tested on diseases such as Chicken Pox), but pretty much anything normal. Bug bites (prefer lemon juice actually) and DEFINITELY ingrown hairs and pimples. Practically magical and cost a few hundred pennies, without all the hype. (Too tired to read all the comments, hope I didn't repeat, sorry if I did.) P.S. Swear by witch hazel for all skin ailments. P.P.S. And swear by vinegar for cleaning anything household---and also heartburn. Pretty much swear by Carl Sagan, Witch Hazel, and White Vinegar.

michpeo · 4 months

Gmail.

AnonymousChicken · 4 months

100 blades for $8?! Where are you getting your blades?

mulcahey · 4 months

I maintain that somewhere here in NYC (probably in some rich person hood like the Upper West Side), someone is going to throw away a perfectly good 42" flat screen TV w/ a 60 Hz refresh rate. And when that day comes... she will be mine.

expedient · 4 months

Chicken leg quarters. $0.59/lb. I like thighs and drumsticks best, anyway.

stoned_kitty · 4 months

Find your local farmer's market and buy fruits/veggies that are in season. Buy more than you need, learn to make new recipes, freeze/can the rest. This fall I was buying 10 lb bags of carrots for $2.50 and pounds of cranberries for super cheap.

bobroberts7441 · 4 months

Buy an ODBII Scanner. Every car sold in the US since 1996 has an ODBII port, generally located just under the dash behind the steering wheel.

OBD=On Board Diagnostics. It is where you read the error log for your cars computer. You can buy cheep and look the codes up online or spend a few bucks more and get them in descriptive terms. You can use it to reset your check engine light and it will tell you why the check engine light is lit. It reports the status of every engine control sensor, your oxygen sensors, coolant temp, throttle position, crank shaft/cam shaft position (this one will stop your car dead), engine knock and various other. If nothing else this information will help you discuss repairs with a mechanic, used well it will save you much in unnecessary repairs.

code45man · 4 months

This might not correctly answering your question but... For the car maintenance beyond what we can do ourselves, we have a Goodyear service place near my parents that we have frequented for 10 or so years. They have never been under quoted whether by other places or manufacturer dealership service centers. They know myself, my dad, and mom by name and on numerous occasions have had to chance to rip us off (like an inspection on a used car my younger sister bought) that came back clean and they waive the fee on top of that knowing we will are good business.

edit: As far as my car goes they've never had a questionable repair either that needed to be reworked or came back as bad.

tetralih · 4 months

For girls, the Schick greyishblue and white razors. They used to be in the male section but some stores now have them in the female section. They are the cheapest package but shave better than the competition and the blades last a long time.

devlavaca · 4 months

Homemade corn tortillas. The flavor is incredible. You can never go back to store tortillas. (And a tortillera makes it much easier).
Home-cooking everything. Every restaurant is disappointing (except sushi... sometimes).
Straight razor.
Bicycle with fenders and panniers.
Barefoot running.
Gardening.

So many more....

EDIT:

Cast iron cookware!

vvpan · 4 months

Ebook reader + Project Gutenberg.

ChaosFront · 4 months

Old Crow bourbon. Eleven bucks a liter but as good as/better than Jack Daniels or any other non-fancy American bourbon. Beats the shit out of any other whisky at its price range.

JesseMckaneWilson · 4 months

growing a beard. never pay for shaves.

yeropinionman · 4 months

America's Test Kitchen did a bunch of tests and found that they liked a $25 chef's knife the best out of the ones they tested. It's the forschner victorinox fibrox chef's knife. I don't own it because I already owned a good but more expensive one when I found out about this.

FatDrewLo · 4 months

For those who have their vices there are still frugal ways to enjoy them. I roll my own cigarettes with cigarette tubes and cigar tobacco. I also brew my own beer. Beer averages out to $0.46 bottle and smokes are $0.05 each.

I also have a micro-farm. Having 5 hens to lay eggs cost about $6.50/mo and we average 4 eggs a day.

lvm1357 · 4 months

Baking soda. It can clean anything, including people (I use it to wash my hair).

DiseasedFromCatRape · 4 months

Linux

jtwilkins · 4 months

Target Diapers have been the best quality and one of the cheapest we have found. You don't have to waste time trying to chase coupons and sales to get them.

Target disposable 3 blade woman's razors. They are about .40 each but have been the cheapest effective razor I can find.

Target Credit Card save 5% off every purchase

Amazon Prime for free streaming and shipping paired with an amazon credit card for daily use.

Gentleman_Named_Funk · 4 months

Kroger store brand red bell pepper pasta sauce. It's fucking delicious, and it costs like a buck fifty. And there's enough for two or three pizzas (yes I know it's pasta sauce but it's good on pizza, too).

mephilen · 4 months

Its called "LA's totally awesome" its a yellow cleaning liquid in a cheap spray bottle. I find it at dollar stores mostly. IT IS REALLY AWESOME. Cleans everything, good, fast and cheap. I use it on everything but dishes.

Argy · 4 months

Borax is an awesome all-purpose cleaner. I put half a cup in with every load of laundry with regular detergent, and the colors come out brighter. Put a quarter-cup in the dishwasher, and no more hard water stains. Mix it with baking soda and some essential oil for fragrance and sprinkle on the carpet -- bam, pre-vacuum powder.

Death_Machine · 4 months

When travelling I use carpooling and couchsurfing, I meet amazing people have the best trips in my life and pay close to nothing! Last time I went on a three day trip to NY from Montreal and I payed like 30$ barring what I spent there.

timklotz · 4 months

Avast Antivirus.

pineappleday · 4 months

Ubuntu for my laptop.

Hand knit rather than store bought winter accessories ( rather than buying a 10 euro acrylic hat at H&M I buy 10 euros worth of alpaca yarn and knit one, much nicer quality, warmer, usually easier to repair if necessary (provided you have some leftover wool) and it will age better).

Nwnatural · 4 months

Goodwill, definitely. I buy almost everything there.

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