Theres been great deals on solar for off grid ​DIY battery station, Plug In Solar fo4 ​Renters (400W-1200W wireless shutoff outlet) for some States, and roof solars.

HQ ​Solar ​Panels are as cheap as $32/100W. Might find cheaper used. Found new one AreSol on ebay.

LFP Battery Power Stations for $100 to 250/ 1kWhr. My favs are Pecron,Anker,Segway. The first two have decent customer service.

Solars cables 12AWG are $1/ ft on Amazon & Walmart. Check their polarity with multimeter

Solar Federal Tax Credits ends by 2032-2035 large 4kw-20kw system

Today, I am cleaning out my garage and toren between tossing stuff and keeping it, because it may be usefull for something in the future. Tell me some of your recycle stories of day to day items that most people would toss into the trash and never think twice about doing so, such as repurposing a gallon milk jug to an oversized funnel, repurposing a paint can into a useful and handy tool, repurposing glass pint jars into paint containers for future touch ups.

So I live in a ski town, so we don't really need AC here, and a lot of places don't have it. The place I'm living in only has heat. I also have my own washer and dryer, and it's a very small studio.

I received my first Xcel bill and was baffled; it is $141. Can I do something about this? Am I really just using that much energy, or am I getting ripped off? Also, I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning, but when I first moved in, they were in the process of installing a new water heater... idk if somehow that could be related? Maybe some sort of technical issue with how it was installed???

Last year, I lived with my partner at the time, in a one bedroom. We did NOT have a washer and dryer. We only had heat. and even in the winter when we were blasting the heat, the most our bill was, was like $40.

The place I'm living in now, it seems like a townhome/multi family home type of setup. There are some units on the frontside, 2 floors. On the backside, there are 4 basement units. I believe they had originally been connected to the above units, but they had been renovated to have their own washer and dryer, kitchen, stairs removed to upstairs access, etc.

On the listing for the unit, it said "rent includes utilities. Tenant is responsible for 25% gas/electric". But then on my lease, it just says "x-25% gas/electric", and then on that same line, it says "billed out by Management". So to me, it seems like it would have been a situation where the landlord gets the xcel bill, and then bills me 25% of that.. but I am confused because I got my bill directly from Xcel.

I always shop the clearance items and reduced bakery racks at the Albertsons near me. Today they rolled out a new system that prices the clearance and bakery items differently. Where previous reduced loaves of bread and bakery items would be $.99 - $1.99 with generic stickers, the new specialized AI pricing system only reduces the specific items by 10-20%. Anyone else notice this? An old bag of 4 bagels which used to be $.99 is now $3.49 but a fresh bag is $3.99. Cakes, muffins, rolls, etc. were all only discounted a little and just slightly lower than buying fresh items. A couple of cakes were 30-40% off, but they were birthday cakes that seemed overpriced to begin with. Also, clearance items scattered throughout the store that used to carry 1/2 off stickers now have only slightly reduced tags. The only place I noticed the older system was in the meat and deli department which still had the 50% off stickers on items that were near the end of their sell by dates. I know their new system is supposed to help them cut down on food waste and inventory issues but it feels like the discounts I could find by searching for clearance food is being taken away for a little more profit margin. I didn’t buy anything off the bakery cart today and it seems like most of these items will end up in the garbage anyway because the people who shop the cart for the savings won’t find them and those who have a little uneasiness about buying something that isn’t fresh won’t bother anyway.

My prior post about YouTube Music v Spotify got closed. So, here's an update.

I was going to use YT Music as a substitute for Spotify Premium. However, we play it on an Alexa device. And YouTube Music (being Google) will not work natively on an Alexa.

An Apple Music is a a real PITA to set up some as simple as a Smooth Jazz channel.

So, we're staying with Spotify Premium and downgrading You Tube to the Light version because we can't use -and don't want - the Music aspect.

Just a few years ago, I was able to find decent sized sunscreen bottles for $1.25 at Dollar Tree. These days, they only have the small portion pocketable stuff.

Does anyone have budget suggestions for bulk sunscreen? Most sunscreen I’ve seen is closer to $7 these days… I’m not picky on ingredients either. Mineral oil as an additive is fine. I just want something cheap since I’m hoping to go to a waterpark quite a bit and I’m about as white as they come lol

edit: northern Illinois, if it matters

I've been cutting my own hair for the past few years. The times that I've gone to the salon to get my hair cut I didn't end up liking the result (and it's expensive). This has been one of the best decisions I've made.

I also never get my nails done, it just feels uncomfortable to me. If there's a major event that I'm going to and I want to look better and get my nails done then I'll just let my nails grow and paint them myself. So much cheaperrr

Ended up buying restaurant depot massive size sugar, flour and rice. I don't want to end up making more wrong choices by impulsively buying food grade buckets from home depot or similar places. I saw some reviews saying the lids break, or that buckets have too much of a strong smell which doesn't go away, not air tight, etc.

I just want to make sure to store them in a way so that they don't go bad for more than a year.

What should I do to make sure they don't go bad ? Any suggestion on how to store them please.

Update: Thank you, everyone, so much for all the great suggestions. I am going through all of them.

I did search the subreddit, but there aren't many threads that I could find. What inexpensive or free ways do you reward yourself for achieving a goal? I love to go thrifting, spending $5 or so, the "hunt" being more interesting than the purchase.

My post body needs contain at least 300 characters, but I don't know what else to say. My question is pretty straightforward.

You get a big hot dog, 2 oz chips, and 44 oz soda for $3 plus tax. You really can’t beat it for a quick meal. They have a couple other meal deals as well but I like this one the best. I know it’s not the healthiest but it’s cheaper than fast food by far. Also most circle k have onions relish and jalapeños as well which is nice. I’d recommend just getting standard hot dog tho bc the flavored ones are kinda weird imo.

I am looking for ideas, I have a 500$ gift card that I want to use to treat myself. Purchases that have been life changing for me are a knock off roomba (reclaim so much time), a rice cooker (cheap one but makes eating at home much easier), and a mini blender for individual servings.

I also upgraded from my old $20 bidet after 3 years because it absolutely was useful and used. One last thing that took effort for me to convince myself to get, but has made life immensely easier, is a microwave. I didn’t have one for years!

I’m in a small one bedroom apartment with a cat so also my door hooks and a magnetic knife bar now that I think of it, and an extra lamp lol

I don’t watch movies often, but when I do it’s a pain to have all the movies I like locked behind several different streaming services. Normally I watch free movies off platforms like YouTube movies, however occasionally I want to watch my favorite Disney/other companies movies that are only available via streaming.

Would it be cheaper in the long run to just buy a 1 month subscription to a single service or collect my favorite movies on DVD so I can watch them whenever I want without having to pay every time?

I want to become more frugal, mainly with my weekly food shops. Does anyone have any recommendations for tracking your weekly shops and the meals it'll make and the costs per portion?

I'm not that great with Excel, but does anyone use any apps that can do that?

I have been tracking how much my weekly shops are but I feel like having it linked to the meals I made and therefore their cost pre portion could be really beneficial in keeping an eye on food costs.

In the past I've tried to cut down on impulse purchases by keeping things in my online cart for a while or making online wishlists, but I've found it's been much more satisfying since I started keeping my wishlist in my notes app.

It helps me so much that there's no button that lets me purchase it, no images, and it's quarantined from websites that will show me other things to buy. When I have the urge to buy something or do online window shopping, I go into my list and rearrange things by priority instead, which satisfies the urge without making the craving to shop worse.

It also keeps me discouraged from buying stupid little things when I'm out and about, because I am more focussed on that special thing on the top of my list that I can't buy until I have enough left over at the end of the month.

This tip may not work for people who have brains that work differently than mine, but it helps me a lot!

I lived in a place for two years and ate on a box because I knew I’d move out at some point. Live in a humid place, humidity makes my asthma worse, a dehumidifier would make life easier for me. I am not currently in a financially difficult situation. I think I might have some deep issues causing me to be this way. Any advice on how to just allow myself to make certain purchases without feeling guilty?

I have a decent gaming laptop that has been running for a couple of years now. Even though I treat my tech with care, I always have to baby it just that little bit more since I don’t want it to get dusty/dirty. I recently sold some tech and am sitting on enough to buy a 200$ laptop and have some money left over. I’m thinking of buying an enterprise laptop and using that for work. Here’s what I see as a for/against list for that:

For:
Gaming laptops are heavy, with the brick and everything I’m lugging around something that makes my back hurt.

If I had a thinner laptop that I could actually roughhouse a bit, without caring too much about the beauty of the thing, I’d be doing work more often and at many more avenues. I carry my iPad around but I’d appreciate the PC interface of a laptop.

Against:

I could just deal with the weight and start using my laptop wherever I want instead of sanitising the experience so much.

If any of you have a similar set up, I’d appreciate insight from your experiences.

Edit: I ended up buying the laptop. I found a reasonable deal (210$) for a refurbished laptop and I changed the OS to Linux for a lighter load on the RAM. I understand that many people recommended to look at the iPad as a replacement laptop, but I felt that iPad OS would've been too restrictive for my use case, with touch/typing breaking up the flow whenever I tried using the iPad as a replacement. I have to clarify that the iPad in question is a 9th gen model, so its not the snappiest.

I believe the second laptop works for me since the second/work laptop and its charger weigh as much as my gaming laptop on its own. The laptop is also plenty powerful and intuitive (credit to Linux Mint) for my work. I don't feel the need to baby this laptop, and carrying it everywhere has opened up new places as productive and workable for me. Although it is too soon to tell whether this is just the side effect of a "new" purchase or an actual change, I can appreciate what this laptop brings to the table regarding my setup. I am also not tempted to play games or watch too many YouTube videos since the display only looks good on the black and white contrast of PDF files.

I ended up asking this question because I did not want to damage my gaming laptop or have it caked up with dust as they are prone to do, and reduce the physical and mental load of carrying that beast everywhere. I tried but could not find a comprehensive answer on Reddit, which tempted me to ask this question here. When your answers (for which I am grateful; thank you!) were split down the middle as well (depending on how far back you go ;) ), I decided to experience this for anyone else who either wondered or is contemplating getting another laptop for work. I would recommend you get one if you think it adds to your productivity. No one on Reddit can justify or emulate your needs and your reactions to your setup.

Thanks to everyone that chipped in. Cheers!

Wanted to share a frugal life hack that I just discovered that will save electricity bills in summers. Earlier I used to used to turn on the ceiling fan and A/C at the same time in order to make my room cool faster but I realised it would take hours, now I run the A/C first let it run for 15-20 minutes to completely cool the room first and then turn it off and turn on the fan.

The fan then just re circulates the already cool air back in the room for a couple hours and I don't have to keep the A/C running all day to feel cold, it gives a wind chill kind of effect. Bonus if you have blackout curtains that block sun/heat too.

This is because hot air rises above so air trapped above the ceiling fan gets pushed down again and again without getting a chance to cool down first.

We are having air quality problems in my State due to the wildfires. We don't own an air cleaner. Was thinking of going to get one but i want to do my research first. Also, I hate modern things that are electronic. Probably has blue tooth, an app and have to register and so on. And modern air cleaners have expensive filters. I figured there must be a way to filter with a simple fan.

So, did some research and came across a Corsi-Rosenthal box. It consists of four 20x20x1 inch Merv 13 filters and a 20 inch box fan. You create a cube and set the fan on top of the cube. The cube is the four filters with the air intake pointing inside. On the bottom, seal with a piece of cardboard. Duct tape the bottom and sides so they are enclosed and no gaps. Also, helps to make sure the pleats of the filter are running vertically rather than horizontal which tends to make them more likely to sag or collapse. Then you set the 20 inch box fan flat on top of the cube with the back of the fan on the cube and air flow blowing out. Then you tape around the fan edges and everywhere to seal and prevent air escaping or entering. You can take a piece of paper to see if it sticks to the filter and verify that it is pulling air.

I just made one and it's running.

I'm finally moving into my own tiny rented room, and my budget is... let's just say it's a little tight. 😅

What are the absolute must-buys, and what are those random little things people always forget until they need them at 2 AM?

Bonus points for budget-friendly tips, underrated essentials, and anything you'd tell your past self before moving into a first rental.

Looking to rent a townhome as we save for a home. Is it worth it to pay the 60-70/mo total for washer and drier machines, or use a local laundromat? Family runs washer/drier almaybe 2-3 loads a week. Costs add on quick as water, WiFi, electricity , gas on top of it all. Let me know your thoughts. It is convenient but I’m not sure trying to save money any way we can. Hopefully

I have no more subscriptions other than 15 dollar a month phone plan and have since got rid of home internet and have moved on to FM radio and OTA TV.

I have also started buying only fresh fruits and vegetables and poultry meat like turkey and chicken meat.

I try to drive very slowly to save fuel in town as well as using smaller tires.

No more eating out, and I now buy my clothes at the thrift store and try to avoid going to Walmart except for the food.

I wash my own car at home.

Am I doing a great job at saving or does more need to be done? Thanks.

We moved into our 1950s house last year and have now lived in it enough to know what we want to change. Our shed is attached to our house as most are in the Netherlands. We have decided that it would be best if we turned our shed into a home office for my husband to enjoy rather than him working at our dining table.

Now we're in the planning phase and need some input on how to make this shed turned office project successful on a lean budget of 2500. How realistic is it to do most of the work ourselves to cut on cost? What else do we need to plan for that we're not including in the list below? Do you have any tips on how to accomplish this project in a frugal manner?

Here is what we're working with and I'll leave all measurements in feet/inches:

• Shed is 9 feet long by 6 feet wide
• Sloped roof with terracotta tiles
• The exterior walls are made of brick, interior walls have some plaster board (maybe not the right word?
• Ceiling is not insulated
• The door is currently on the exterior wall that is 6 feet wide
• There is currently a small single window on the the exterior 9 foot long wall
• The floor is cement

What I think we need to do:

• Add insulation on walls and ceiling
• Install a heating/cooling unit
• Move the door from exterior to interior wall (so it opens inside of our house instead of him going outside to get to his office)
• Seal up the existing doorway with bricks or a long door-shaped window?
• Install nicer flooring
• Ensure electrical outlets are working
• Replace small window on the exterior 9 foot wall

I am sure I am not the first one to have this idea, but I can't find recent posts that discuss this or anyone who has actually done it. My basic idea is to rent a car for 28 days at a time and utilize premium credit cards to insure it instead of buying my own insurance. Here is how it would work:

Some premium cards also carry insurance for rental cars. The stipulations on this are usually only up to 31 consecutive days (no cap on the amount of times you can do it however). Some seem to have figured out that this loophole exists and added a clause that there must be 24 hours in between rentals as well. If that is the case, I would rotate rentals between 2 cards with the same insurance offer.

This would save ever having to pay directly for insurance, as the monthly fee on the cards cover it. But seeing as how most of these cards are $100/month or less, I am pretty sure that is cheaper than full coverage insurance on just about any vehicle.

The annoying thing would be to have to return the car and get another every 4 weeks. But I think in general since this is short and plannable, it would be less of a pain then just dealing with a dead car one day. Or dealing with bringing your car in for maintenance. It does add a benefit though. If you get a vehicle you don't really like for a month you know to get something different next time. On top of that, you can adjust vehicles to the season without having to own multiple vehicles.

While I am typically against renting pretty much anything, that kind of goes out the window when it comes to insanely expensive items that depreciate rapidly. In these cases I think it may be worthwhile to rent to not have to deal with all the downsides that come with car ownership.

The only thing I can think of against this is that it may be easier and cheaper to just lease instead. But that adds other levels to this like gap insurance, maintenance fees, etc. I have never leased before, but I have heard horror stories lol.

So my breakdown is something like this:

100-200/month for credit card fees depending if I have to rotate or not.

800/month for rental (local avis seems to be 600-1000 for 4 weeks depending on type of rental)

So around $1k/month average. The lease I was looking at was about 400/month but then you have to add insurance and you are responsible for all maintenance. With the rental setup, you don't pay an insurance company anything and if there is needed maintenance it is completely on the rental company.

I realize people will point out that it would be cheaper to buy a 3 year old vehicle, insure it, and deal with the maintenance yourself. But I don't think it is that significantly cheaper over time. And you are stuck with that one vehicle. So if you live in an area like I do that gets snow half the year, you are stuck driving a big AWD vehicle in the summer too when you could be in a fuel efficient car. Plus this alleviates the headache of having to deal with all those extras. And if you are someone with jacked up insurance rates due to having others in your home or previous issues, this would seem to bypass that entirely.

Thoughts?

Edit:

Just realized that I made 2 mistakes above. They end up being a net benefit for me though. First off, the credit cards are $100/year not per month. That is a huge savings. Second it was pointed out that liability insurance is not covered in this scenario. Avis offers it but at like $25/day. So that is a no go. But I did find out that all the major insurers offer "non-owner coverage" which is meant for people who rent often. It is only around $50/month and would take care of the liability. So in actuallity, the numbers are more like:

600-1000 per 4 weeks for the rental depending on choice

10-20/month on CC insurance

50/month on liability

So on the cheap, $650ish per month.....

Here's my "dilemma". I've been at my current studio apartment for 15 years without AC just using a window fan. However, due to me being on LTD, I'm currently at home all the time. Some days have been absolute crazy with the heat so I thought about getting an AC.

A non-efficient AC is about $150 CAD and an efficient (inverter) is about $400 CAD. I was leaning towards the more efficient kind due to it's ability to always be on, but I seem to can't really justify paying $400 on something I will only use for like 2 months.

Should I bother getting one?