Frugal People Are Sharing The One Practice That Saved Them The Most Money In 2025

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“Each action is small on its own, but adds up. I seek out methods that won’t add too much to my time commitment. It’s very easy to go ‘underwater’ in this respect if a professional could have done it cheaper/faster/better.”

“1) Cut out all subscription streaming services. No Spotify or YouTube music either. Experimented with Plex. Estimated $250 saved.

2) Playing the coupon and loyalty game at Meijer, then cashing in their points for $1 off per gallon of gas, then filling up both my car, my wife’s car, and extra gas cans in one transaction. An estimated $390 was saved on fuel in 2025.

3) Meijer mPerks reports that we had $3,738 in savings for 2025 across their deals, BOGOs, clearances, coupons, etc. I don’t hold much faith in this number since it’s a simple difference between MSRP.

4) Started cutting my own hair. $180 saved for a simple fade cut (assuming $30 every other month).

5) DIYing all car maintenance (oil, brakes, filters, etc) on my and my wife’s similar make/model/year cars. Makes replacing parts very easy, since it can go into either. For example, I buy a 12-quart bag of Mobil 1 oil at a time. Estimated 50% savings. My own labor is free, but the parts aren’t cheaper.

6) DIYing most home repairs and maintenance. Fixed the leaky garbage disposal for free, replaced the dishwasher control panel from eBay instead of paying a repairman, replaced a bad GFCI outlet, fixed the storm door, and cleaned backed-up gutters. The only repair I hired out was the failed garage door spring on account of safety.

7) Enrolled in budget billing for our gas bill, making it far easier to budget in the winter ($60 every month instead of the jump from $30 to $120+ when it gets cold).

8) I set our HVAC on a schedule so that it’s cooling and heating optimally when we are sleeping or not at home. Our ComEd ‘neighbor’ comparison shows that we are frequently using either the same amount of electricity or less than our most efficient neighbors.

9) When the gas mower finally died, I went with a corded electric mower for our 1/8th acre yard. I measured it at 0.33 kWh per use, totalling 5 cents each. No additional time needed. For all the screwing around with fuel and diagnosing carburetor/spark/throttle issues with the gas mower, this is about the same amount of time as spooling/unspooling the extension cord. I use a mulching blade for the health of the yard, and it also saves me from having to purchase yard waste stickers for garbage collection.

10) Vacuum sealing and freezing extra portions of meals for zero effort when I need them later. $20 for the Aldi kit. I’m unable to estimate the savings, but the time investment feels worthwhile. I plan on graduating to Souper Cubes.”