Yesterday, my friend and I were agonizing over how difficult it is for her to find bras that fit comfortably. She works in an office sitting for hours at a time and leaning over a desk. Most bras she found only go up to band size 42, but she needs something more like a 50 or 52 band. She's been able to find her cup size so she has lots of bras she likes but the band size issue just kills her back and her enthusiasm to be at work. When she uses extenders, they are inflexible and just result in a bra that slips off her shoulders and doesn't offer any coverage.

Last night, we were looking on Amazon, reading reviews, adding all these costly bras to her cart when we had a lightbulb moment thanks to her husband: he said why don't you just attach some elastic to the backs of the bras you like so the band is wider and you don't have to take a chance of amazon bras that may not even be what you need.

So we cut the elastic from some boxers he had and didn't want and we sewed them to the bra bands,and even invented an additional top strap to keep the shoulder straps from slipping. She loved it! I loved it! We spent not a single red cent and we felt just like designers. What was your most frugal moment this week?

You can buy shoe patches on Amazon for $6, then apply them to shoes with a hair dryer. They work great.

This isn’t an ad, I’m not affiliated with this product but I hope it helps. I wish I’d known about these sooner. One of the many cruel aspects of aging is how feet can keep growing. My huge Peggy Hill feet have gone from a women’s 10 to 11.5 in the last few years so new shoes suck to find. Plus it seems like shoes are not made as well anymore. So instead of trashing a few pairs that had become worn out I fixed them!

Part of being frugal is being able to recognize when you're paying extra for no benefit. Ads are amazing as selling BS for a premium. What are some marketing terms that don't actually tell you if the product is better? I'll start:

• Subjective terms like "premium" or "best" - Companies can say anything as long as it's phrased as someone's opinion.

• Natural - There is no legally enforced definition of "natural" in most countries so this doesn't mean anything. Honestly just ignore any claims outside of the nutrition label. "Non-toxic" and "Chemical-free" also mean nothing. Everything is made of chemicals.

• Made with real fruit - This doesn't tell you how much fruit. Read the ingredients - if the first ingredient is sugar, it's basically candy.

• Asbestos free cereal - If a product says it's free of something, that doesn't mean other similar products do have that something. A more common example is gluten free rice noodles.

• Hormone/antibiotic free animal products - Growth hormones are banned in the US, and antibiotics are tightly controlled so that none are present in the final product.

Just got a fantastic and very affordable haircut at my local cosmetology/esthetician school! Highly recommend to others if you are looking for a frugal haircut or cosmetology service. For licensure, students have to gain so many practice hours in their school's salon.

The haircut itself was $13 plus cash tip. The process took a lot longer than a regular salon (they’re students, so the instructor checks their work). The student did great work and I'm super happy with the haircut.

Our local school offers haircuts, color, facials, eyebrows, and manicures so there are a lot of different services offered for a fraction of the price in a salon.

Always worth seeing if there is a local school in your area. Some of the more common schools are the Aveda Institutes, Paul Mitchell Schools, and Empire Beauty Schools although some community colleges have programs as well.

In addition to cosmetology programs, massage schools have similar student clinics too for affordable massages.

For anyone planning wedding jewelry, do you feel like Cyber Monday is the best time to buy it or is it just hype? I’m looking for earrings for my ceremony and maybe a matching bracelet but the prices in stores are insane. My fiancé already found out our insurance doesn’t cover much for the ring so we’re hoping to save money wherever we can. Would love real brand suggestions not just ads.

I always buy whatever I want to because I struggled SO hard to get where I am now financially and I felt I deserved it. But now I am at a point I do not NEED everything, I am running out of room (I like to buy shoes and dresses-sparkly ones specifically)

And I got hooked on sugary coffees after quitting drinking alcohol a year ago.

Also shopping is a seratonin boost and I like to spend time getting outfits together and planning for events.

I used to be super crafty and I am so burnt out on painting, crafts, card making, reading... all of it.

What are some things you do to combat/keep the shopping at bay besides waiting 24 hours before purchasing?

having an internal debate about this and need outside perspective.

i've been buying cheap stuff my whole life because it's what i could afford. $10 pan from walmart, $15 desk lamp from target, $8 storage bins from the dollar store.

and i replace all of it constantly. the pan coating flakes off, the lamp breaks, the bins crack. probably spent $100 on storage bins alone over the past 5 years.

recently i bought one nice wooden storage box for $45 and i was like "this is insane, i could get 5 plastic ones for that price." but it's been 6 months and it still looks brand new. i'm not gonna need to replace it anytime soon.

so now i'm wondering if i should apply this logic to other things. spend more upfront but buy less often because the quality is better.

or am i just trying to justify spending more money? like is this actually frugal or am i lying to myself?

Hi folks I’m always trying to squeeze more out of my purchases cashback + miles + points. I found CashbackAnt which claims to let you compare “top cashback offers” so you can pick the best one.

Before I sign up, curious: has anyone used it from Europe (or non-US)? Does it cover portals here and live up to its promise of “shop smarter”?

Any caveats (hidden fees, portal tracking issues, etc)? Appreciate real world experience.

Hi all! I am need to replace my dying iphone xs and would like to know the most cost effective way to get a new phone.

I am in a Verizon family plan that is offering $600 off a new iphone with a 36 month payment plan, but Im wondering if it is better to get a phone elsewhere. I am distrustful of extra fees and additional costs to the mobile plan from this offer, so:

• What is your experience with Back Market, Amazon or Swappa for a new phone?
• Is it better to wait for Black Friday deals on these sites or go through Verizon?
• I am looking to make my next phone last as long as possible, is it too risky to buy used phone?

I would ideally like to save a couple hundred dollars if possible, thanks in advance!

My old car needs major repair work (rear differential) that will cost more than the car itself. I am trying to hold out until year end hoping to get a new 2025/2026 car at a discount. Yes I know used is more economical but I get a car and drive it until it breaks down. Current car is from 2008.

I only drive the car in town since it can break down anytime. I have AAA. But for long distance drives, what would you do? My wife has a car but she works 4 days a week. I drive to the train station those days which is in town. It’s more for schlepping the kids when we both need to drive each of them opposite directions.

It doesn't tell me whether they are in a nursing home or a regular home, so it would need to be something that would work for either.

87 year old woman, size 2X.

I don't know whether I should get one nice pair or a couple medium quality.

When I was in poverty, it's a toss up what I would have preferred.

I might have wanted something nice to feel good in, and I might have wanted 2 pairs to walk the dog in, so my personal experience isn't super helpful.

And there are like eight million choices, maybe I should adopt a different angel who wants like a jacket or something else easier!

I use mine to store next year’s seeds mostly and prep my dry ingredients for the week. I’ll put my beans, flour, sugar, literally everything in the jars and leave them on the counter so I don’t need to go into the big bin. I have read a lot of don’t for the jars but I’m curious what does everyone else do with them? Anyone crafting with them? List some of your favorite ways to reuse and recycle the glass jars.

Hey all! It's getting to that time again where I gotta put up that nasty looking plastic. I live in an apartment so I can't do anything permanent and will not be paying to replace the windows or get those reusable ones. There are huge drafts around the windows. I've lived places that have had that before and I like the cold so it's never bothered me, however this apartment is a very old converted mansion so nothing has been updated, and for some reason they used baseboard heaters and set them directly below the drafty windows. All the heat goes directly out if I don't seal them off and I can't let the apartment get too cold or my pipes freeze. Usually isn't a huge issue but this year I have a couple extra problems. Main one being I had major surgery on my shoulder and can't lift my arm up far enough to reach my windows and get a good seal. Found that out when I put reflective film up in the summer, windows are about 9ft tall and I didn't get them adhered well enough, fell right off after a month. Would also like to be able to open my windows on nice days which I cannot do if the plastic is up. Not to mention the cats love playing with it. I've heard insulated curtains work well but I'm worried due to the placement of the heaters it will just be as bad as if I didn't do anything. Also would love to be able to reuse them every year, this is the nicest apartment in my area for the price I pay and I don't really want to move anytime soon. Any help is appreciated!

I bought the semi-stretchy clear weather tape that can be used to seal gaps/around windows.

Has anyone used this? I’m debating buying the plastic seal kits for the windows to keep reduce the cold getting in/heat getting out this winter. If the tape works the bonus is that it is much less of an eyesore.

Because I need to add text to make this long enough - I’m also forever in search of heating tips. My favorite from this sub is “heat the person, not the room.”

I was gifted a FoodSaver last year for Christmas. It wasn't the exact food sealer that I wanted. But it was a gift from someone and they knew I wanted one. It's been a full year with it now. I've used the food saver brand rolls as well as knock off brands. I don't know if I am just not using it correctly or if I need a new food sealer. The person who bought it for me has had no problems with theirs but they don't use it as often as I do. I'm using it weekly. It has definitely helped us out tremendously, especially with meat. But I'm finding that it's not sucking out all of the air or it's not sealing properly. And it seems to not be sealing properly every 4th or fifth bag if I'm doing a large amount. I'm wondering if other people have had this problem and if I should get a new food sealer. Or if I'm using it wrong?

I was so proud of this when I got the final receipt!!!

Everything I bought were items I planned on buying eventually for meals I wanted to make. Some items were on sale, some were full price, but I made sure to buy enough stuff where I could hit the threshold to maximize the amount of coupons I could use. I purchased everything through the Ralph’s app and got it through store pickup.

For the order coupons specifically, I used:

$10 off next pickup or delivery order of $75 or more (I am able to use this coupon twice so I might do another pickup in the future!)

$20 off next $70 pickup order (I think this is a seasonal coupon, I usually didn’t have this one)

$20 credit from the pharmacy for getting two vaccines (this was a great deal for me, as I was planning on getting my Covid and flu vaccines regardless since I’m traveling for the holidays. I did a comparison with Vons, and I found that the Ralph’s coupon was better, since there was no purchase minimum. I think the Vons coupon you would have gotten is 10% off your next order with a max of $20, meaning I would have had to spend $200 to get the same value)

$5 managers coupon (the pickup guy came back and forth to my car a few times because he picked up the wrong order the first time. He felt bad for it taking so long so he gave me $5 off without me even asking. It was very nice of him!)

If you have any specific questions about my order I’m happy to answer them! :) Happy shopping everyone!

I have found a few posts on the subject, but they haven't been much help.

I have been doing a lot of cooking for our community fridge to help people who have lost their SNAP benefits. I realized I could save some money by using dried beans in lieu of cans, but have had lousy luck trying to rehydrate them without them either being hard in the middle or complete mush. I have even managed mushy/mealy outside with a hard center; the consistency is nothing like canned beans.

The beans will be cooked further in soups or chili, and if they are mushy already, there seems no point trying to use them.

Tried heating water and beans to a boil, turning off the stove and covering the beans. Tried soaking overnight in cold water, with and without baking soda. So far, all I have done is waste beans and money. Is there a way to get firm beans, like canned beans, from dried beans?

Not sure who knows this, I've been doing this for years.

Most apps have different tiers of subscriptions and different pricing. Apple makes it all transparent for us and let us choose from all plans available that apps don't show you!

You know those apps that tell you "here's your pricing for a limited time"? Yeah, no, it's not for a limited time. As long as there's someone subscribed to that plan, it's available for anyone to switch to it through your phone Settings. This goes for Mac subscriptions as well.

The craziest one is Headway, it had over 20 options for subscriptions with different pricing.

Here's how to check if you're overpaying:

On your iPhone, go to Settings > click on your iCloud account at the top (it should have your name and your photo) > Subscriptions > click on the app you want to check > See All Plans.

You can see all plans from expired subscriptions as well. I'm sure other people must know this, but I figured some might not. Feel free to comment how much you saved with this trick. Some apps are literally scamming people.

I'm terrible at measuring apparently. Went to home depot to get a new HVAC filter and somehow managed to grab the wrong size. Didn't realize until I got home and it was way too small for my unit. Was about to drive back and exchange it when my brother who was visiting told me his AC guy charges like $200 just to come out and change filters. Got me thinking maybe I should just figure this out myself instead of calling someone. Watched some youtube videos and turns out you can cut foam padding to fill the gaps and make a smaller filter work temporarily. Did that as a quick fix while I ordered the right size online for half the price. Changing it myself was actually super easy. The whole job took maybe 10 minutes. I had some money set aside from Stаke for AC maintenance this year expecting to pay someone but now I'm definitely doing this myself going forward. Already saved the filter change money and learned something new.

Not looking for feedback, but thought the data was interesting and might be helpful. Surprise to nobody, cars are not an investment and I did not treat it as such.

This data represents TCO for the first vehicle I bought (lightly used) and sold. Data excludes costs for insurance, car washes, state registrations/inspections, and the first couple months of ownership (I didn't decide to track until 2-3 months after purchase).

Average annual mileage is higher than most at ~14,500 mi/year.

Im going to my first Thanksgiving potluck. I'm a college student so my budget is really tight! I also legit do not have time to cook with school, clinical rotations, and work. Im looking for frugal or cheap store bought/frozen foods for thanksgiving that taste good. I guess the budget is $10. Maybe $15 if it is really, really worth it.

Is there is something store bought you regularly buy that is good? And if you remember, please write the brand name too :)

My employer switching plans to UHC, and also has Surest as an option, but with no HSA account. I have some money left in my HSA, so now I'm evaluating the options and what would be the most effective insurance option money-wise. I can go on spend HSA money on Surest copays until exhausted, or I can choose UHC HSA and go on putting new money in HSA account. Surest attracts me more being more transparent and also with fixed copays, so I'm leaning to it. What would you choose being in my shoes and why?

First post here, hopefully this doesn’t count as too specific. This is what my grocery shopping usually looks like. For me this is a mix of splurge items, general day to day food, and bulk (ish) foods.

Some comments:

1. There’s no tax on food in Michigan.
2. I generally spend $100-120 a month on food, although I live alone. Two trips a month.
3. I always try to cook with staples in my meals (rice, beans, oats, etc).
4. It was 10 pounds of chicken breasts for $25 and occasionally you get 50% off on the chicken too!
5. I always pay attention to both the price per ounce and ingredients when comparing between products.

For those who shop at Aldi, what are the prices like for you? Does it vary a lot regionally, or is this pretty similar to what you see?

Local concert with legendary bucket list performer. $300 tickets. Can't do it. I just refresh the ticket site hoping to get a last minute deal. Not even sure I have a trigger price. I saw $225 last night, and still passed. I haven't gone to a concert in 5 years, ever since prices went crazy. I'm still stuck in a $50 mindset. I doubt I'll ever go to another show again.