What Is the Cheapest Thing You Do?

We have two old cars. a 1994 and a 2000. I will drive these cars until they die. I hate having car payments! I don't care if the car is new and shiny and has all the gadgets and whistles. I care if it gets me from point A to point B. So I save $200-$500 every month by not having a car payment.
When my kids were younger and it was easier to find....garage sale shopping!! GAH! I love that. My daughter is still little enough that I can find cute dresses and outfits for 1-$2. Love that. Darn those boys for getting bigger! ha.
I like to go to the back of my grocery store where they have the cart of "damaged" food. You know...the boxes are smooshed, the cans are dented, there is a cut accross the box from when they opened the box it was shipped in with a box cutter, someone stole a roll of toilet paper...you know what I mean! Those things are 50-75% off! I scoop them up.
I am on a facebook page, BuyNothing, where people give away things for free. I give away things and receive things. GOOD THINGS! it's awesome.
There's probably more...but those are my big ones.

Anytime I want to get away, I don't go to a resort or go out of town. I go camping. It's easy, cheap and only a 2 hr drive.

stay married to my husband who can fix pretty much anything.
i used to be the queen of frugal. now i'm old and tired and would much rather pay someone to do things.
other than my horses. i want to do them all by myself.
and i clean my own pool, although it's small.
currently cleaning my own house since the last cleaning lady was too deep into the crazies to keep on. but i'm sure looking for another one.
i guess the biggest cheap thing i do now is to buy up groceries and household supplies when they're on sale. oh wait, that's not cheap, that's just crazy. no household of two REALLY needs two refrigerators and a deep freeze and a big downstairs pantry.........
i blame my survivalist mormon heritage.
khairete
S.

we grow our own food and i preserve it myself. for a few bucks i have all the jars of greenbeans carrots potatoes cherries, peaches grape jam apples sauce, pear sauce and tomato sauce that we will use for about 18 months. we raise chickens for fresh eggs, and we do it all organically drastically cutting back our food bills.dh is talking about getting a goat for goats milk too... i think thats cheap of us. and i will repair clothing till its more patches than original material and darn socks till its mostly darning and no original sock left...

When we get a bill and there is an envelope inside which we don't use, I save those envelopes and use them to pay our sitter. I use 6 dryer balls in our clothes dryer. I never, ever order a non-infinite refills at a restaurant. I will add things to my cart for Brooks Brothers, and then keep them there until there is a sale on the items I want. I take all my clothes to consignment stores (with the exception of very casual clothes.) I save the rubber bands that come on advertising flyers. I'll cut off the top of a squeeze bottle to reach in and get the dredges. I never buy storage containers, I just use Amazon boxes for drawer containers or closet storage. I grew up in a working class family, and we didn't consider ourselves cheap...you just didn't waste anything.

(Chuckling to myself as I recall this:)

Well, I remember getting all excited one time when I realized how much money I could make from recycling, and I dug through the trash at my kid's soccer tournament for plastic bottles. But then I felt bad for taking the trash away from the homeless people who usually take it, and people were staring at me funny, so I stopped.

I'm thrifty in some areas so I can splurge in others. For example, I reuse butter tubs instead of buying Tupperware, gave up the stylist I used for a long time to go to the walk-in cheap place, and shop at second hand stores for clothes. But I pay someone to clean my house. It's all about priorities.

It seems I am the only one who asks my kids friends to pay their own way when I take them on outings! Oh my!

I do a lot of frugal things, everything from conserving water, gas and electricity, to thrift store shopping, to using coupons, to doing things for myself (cleaning, cooking, nails, yard work/gardening, pet grooming, painting, repairs, renovations etc), to using the public library, to collecting credit card rewards to use towards luxury purchases and gifts, to reusing and repurposing items, to selling clothes, toys and household goods were are no longer using.

I do a lot of things myself but nothing cheap. The last time we had a repairman here was replacing our AC and furnace. If we couldn't do a better job than most repairmen we would hire someone. Cheap just screams halfassed to me. That may not be what you are going for, just my feeling on the word cheap.

A lot of this is driven by time issues more than saving money as well. I don't have time to spend half the day waiting for someone to show up. I do my own hair but again, I don't have time to sit around waiting.

Oh and I clean my own pool.

uhh.. uuhhhh...
Still thinking.

I clean my own pool??

I'm sure that's not what you were after, but...

--ETA-
Oh ok. Well, yes, I've done a few home repair things. I've painted plenty of walls at home (though we have a painter coming out tomorrow to look at my son's room to repaint it. It's a dark barn red, and I'm skeptical of getting it right with covering up the dark red doing it on my own. Plus all the wall damage in there... he just moved to a college dorm, and there are pin holes from thumbtacks all over everywhere). I've painted the breakfast room. The guest bath. Master bedroom (did that during toddler naps), guest room, dining room, and master bath of our former home. Bought unfinished wood and stained it (desk and 6 foot book shelf). Built/painted/hung vertical hook storage in my laundry room (for backpacks, dog leashes, tennis rackets, etc). Do some of my own landscape work. Pressure wash the pool deck and screen and drive/porch/sidewalk myself. I've made my own laundry soap in the past.
I've repaired a jammed sink disposal (with help from an online mom group, no men involved). Removed and replaced an outside water spigot that the knob had broken off of completely (again, with moral support and tips from my mom group). Opened my front loader and cleaned out the drain filter when it clogged up and refused to drain (googled how). I do my own computer stuff, for the most part. My last one crashed/died, and I replaced it. But rather than take them in to a specialist shop to switch over my backup, I reinstalled what I needed on my own from my backup drive. On previous systems, I've bought (online) additional memory and physically installed it myself.

That sort of thing. I am fairly industrious about doing the things that I *can* do, even if I've never done them before. I can't sew very well, so I don't make clothes. But I shop carefully and buy quality that will last (which also tends to mean classic lines more than trendy passing fads). I bathe my dog/trim her nails. I don't use a groomer. I took up running rather than paying a gym membership. And yes, I buy spendy running shoes that are name brand to do it in. It's worth it to save trips to the doctor for injuries. The running clothes I wear? I shop the sales for those, and use coupons.

But I don't care to shop thrift shops normally. I take our rarely worn, or outgrown things TO them, though. :)

I restored antique patio furniture myself, even when the Home Depot guy said it'd be too much trouble and I could just gift it to him (I saw right through that one!). I clip coupons and take advantage of the Subway buy one get one sandwiches so I knock out lunch and dinner in one shot, for under $6.00. One of our local fast food places for grilled chicken, Pollo Tropical, gives you a free meal for completing an online survey, so I do that as well. Sometimes, I have used that free meal to feed a homeless person. Panda Express gives you a free third entree for completing an online survey, so I do those too, and the ones Subway gives, for the free cookies. It's a great treat for the kiddo when she behaves in school. We sometimes go to the free outdoor movies too or take advantage of special free park entry days, or free zoo admission for kids. Lots of free stuff out there if you look for it.

As to stuff at home, I have fixed clogged sinks, fixed electrical wiring, redid the grout on the bathtub, changed the water filters on my fridge and mom's, buy all my cleaning supplies and batteries at the dollar store, reuse tea bags up to two times, I buy secondhand clothes from eBay, buy shoes from the $5.99+ shoe store, polish my own nails (with dollar store nail polish!) and get a pedicure and manicure only once every 3 months, do my own planting, trim my own bangs and color my hair at the beauty school, clean my own house, I reuse takeout plastic containers as tupperware, sometimes buy the $1 Banquet TV dinners for lunch, paint my own doors, I have fixed many pairs of shoes with Shoe Goo instead of dumping them, I take home the leftover spaghetti sauce from restaurants and make a second meal out of it, and I don't change my car, electronics or furniture just for the heck of it or went out of fashion... only when they break down, and can no longer be used. I get a lot of criticism, especially on my vehicle, because my family is into leasing and getting a new car every 3 years. Oh well :)

Right now .. my husband is painting our house. We live in a wooden house. Right now there is a line half way horizontally along my whole house. He painted the bottom first, then will set up scaffolding to do the top in September.

My freezer is full of food that was marked down.

I buy clothes on 50% off sales with coupons. My kids have the brands they want but at end of season. So long as they have the shoes and bags and hats they want (have to be current) I save where I can.

My couch at full price I never would have been able to afford. I got the floor model. My kids will destroy everything once I get it home - so I buy everything this way. I don't want to be the mom who says no you can't do that on that ... I just don't have the patience. So if it's a tad worn on the back when I buy it at 50% off, all the better.

We go out for brunch to the places we like. Dinners out with wine .. once in a while.

I'm pretty good at figuring out ways to have what you want, just in a different way, so it's affordable.

I do a lot of frugal things, such as doing my nails, sometimes my haircuts, matching coupons with sales, getting books and movies from the library, using left-over food creatively. But then I also splurge by having someone clean my home and enjoying dinners out. Go figure!

My friend has me beat by a mile. He uses his k-cups twice before tossing!

Right now our time is worth more than our money. We outsource a lot. The things we save money on we do because they are green (and happen to save money). We reuse ziplock bags, we clean with rags and not paper towels, we compost, we juice at home, we cook once or twice a week and eat left overs with fruit and veg and salad.

Best F. B.

I recently turned into my mother and started enjoying thrift store shopping. My wardrobe is now full of brand name clothing that is even better quality and more interesting than when I shopped retail. I have also converted my husband after he went there one day and got 8 high quality work outfits for under $100. I cut my own hair and do my own color. I do my own nails. I cut my kids' hair, and am getting much better at that. I ask for gift cards to shoe stores so we can get our shoes for free or low cost. I try to repurpose everything I can before getting rid of it. I reorganized my drawers with shoeboxes instead of buying drawer dividers. I recently got rid of our house cleaner, since I can do it now that I don't have back pain. We got rid of cable years ago. I plan our meals and shop at the lower cost grocery store, Trader Joes and Costco. I try to keep our food bill as close to $100/week as possible. I use up travel and sample beauty products before buying more. The only thing we splurge on is weekly landscapers. My husband isn't one for lawn upkeep and I don't want to try to work that into my schedule. I love trying to save money and it has become a game to me.

As a general rule, I don't pay people to do things that I can do myself or can figure out how to do (thank you, YouTube!). I have repaired and replaced plumbing, changed out light switches, hardwired ceiling fixtures and a bathroom heat lamp, installed carpeting, rebuilt the filter on my old pool, repaired the pool pump motor many times, opened and closed my pool, did my own yardwork, tons of interior painting, screen replacements, bike repairs, etc.

I get one or two pedicures a year and don't need to color my hair but I do pay for a decent haircut every few months. I'll probably color from a box when the time comes.

I've found it worth it to invest in quality clothing for work but will wait for a sale - my favorite dress pants are $145 but I'll wait for a 40-50% off sale before buying them. I also pay a lot for running shoes as there are a couple of brands/styles where paying $125 every 12-18 months is worth saving myself the pain of achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis, and my running pants/capris are pretty expensive too but there is only one brand/style that fits really well on my overweight self. But for casual clothes, I buy from the clearance racks of Target and Kohl's. My kids wear tons of hand-me-downs but if I didn't have a pipeline of free clothes already, I'd shop thrift stores for them along with clearance sales.

I love this question and I don't consider you a cheapskate for what you do!

On the practical side: When I go to the grocery store I often look for the "manager's special" in the meat department. This meat is often right at the "sell by" date and is marked down to a much lower price. If I can't use the meat immediately, I freeze it for later use. I don't have a huge reserve of meat, just what we can use in a reasonable amount of time.

On a more fun said, but still practical: I make almost all of our own bread. I love doing it, I find it rewarding, it's fun, it takes better than store bought, plus it saves money.

I'm enjoying everyone else's responses! I hope to see more!

I clean my own house and weed/trim the gardens around my house.

I paint too but not the rooms with the cathedral ceilings...I don't do outdoor trim painting either.

I also only go clothes shopping when I have a coupon or there is a good end of season sale.

We also save a lot of money by not going out to dinner as much as we have in the past.

I don't buy new electronics until mine DIE!!!

i take kids to pizza places where kids eat free with paying adults. that's the cheapest thing i do.

I don't consider myself a big spender, but I don't do most of the things listed in the responses. I do my own cleaning (most friends have a cleaning lady). We don't eat out much (2-3 times a month) because it's just easier to cook. We just moved and I did all of the interior painting myself. I shop mostly at outlets instead of regular stores.

I love thrift store shopping, couponing, paying less than half price at the movies, doing my own pedicures from start to finish, shape my own brows, and buy from eBay.