Extreme Money Saving Ideas

During my Money Saving Budget Tips series, I shared some tips and tricks I use in my everyday life to save money and reduce costs, such as groceries. I loved giving you all some tips that you could use. However, the thing I enjoyed the most about the series was learning about the many wonderful and wacky ways you all saved your money – I was blown away by the responses, some funny and others very clever.

I asked this question on Facebook  ‘What extremes have you done or heard of that people go to, to save money’? I really wanted to share some of these ideas with you!

Extreme Money Saving Ideas

There were so many creative and extreme ways that my readers or people they knew did to save money, even if it’s just a couple of cents.

• I wash out ziplock bags. – Cathy
• Eating before they go out to eat. – Tania
• No data on phone (not me of course!) – Lyndsey
• I lived on only the coins in my wallet for a week, could only buy what I could afford with the coins. You become very creative. – Sarah
• Limit take away food. Carry your own water bottles. Buy items in bulk when on special. – Carlee
• My school friend’s nan used to wash and dry glad wrap. – Nicole
• Buying horrible toilet paper so the kids use less! – Vanessa
• My husband’s elderly grandparents don’t use their heater as much as they should in winter to save on their electricity bill  – Emmalee
• I don’t have cable or satellite, just regular antenna. I also have the old flip phone no data, no internet on it – just talk and text. I can [eat] everything from my garden for the winter. There is no paper towels, we just use old towels that I turned into rags to wash things off with. – Lisa
• My hubby uses 1 teabag all day at work. Has about 6-7 cups with it… – Tina
• I started using lentils in place of meat occasionally. – Janis
• We use cloth diapers/nappies. And then because they grow so quickly anyway anything else we need for the kids (furniture, clothes, books, toys) is from a thrift shop or second hand. Except underwear of course. – Sara
• A friend once told me she’d heard of a couple who showered together (to save water etc) but also, on hair washing day would share the shampoo lather! One would lather up their hair then pass the shampoo lather on to the other one to use. – Kara
• I used to work at a newsagency and one of our customers used to save the plastic wrap from his newspaper to use as cling wrap in the microwave! – Kate
• Cutting dishwashing tablets in half to get 2 washes!! – Hayley
• I heard of someone that would pull their wipers up when parking in the sun so as to protect the windscreen wiper rubber. Allegedly he would also not shut his doors properly so as to “look after” the door seals too – Renee
• My tip for saving money is to get one of those money boxes you have to use can opener to get open and put every $5 note in it that you get, it adds up really quickly. Also one for gold coins, they add up so quickly and you don’t really miss the small change. – Yvette
• Only shop for clothes once a year. You only need a few things and it saves you money in the long run as everything you buy coordinates and is what you need. It includes two dozen pairs of knickers….you throw the old ones out as you need. – Lindell
• I switched to a menstrual Cup. Saves me a $40-$50 every month.- Robin
• Community dinners! Get together with other families and have dinner together. Cheaper to feed lots from the same pot. – Robin
• My mum sharpens her tweezers so doesn’t need to replace. – Geraldine
• I help run a Pay It Forward FB page in my area. Haven’t had to spend much on my kids clothes and the items I get are in great condition. I am then able to pass them on. – Tenille
• We don’t buy groceries until all the food in the house has been eaten. It saves on wasting food or expiring – Rebecca
• Go without medication. Cut back to just one car. Shower less frequently. No extra-curricular activities for the kids, no outings, no parties, no excursions, all second hand clothes, so many ways… – Angie
• My mum and grandma use to wash freezer bags and reuse them. I assume to save money or maybe the environment. – Erin
• Definitely grow my own veg and make a pot of soup in slow cooker out of any leftovers, we freeze by serve in zip lock bags and have this instead of takeaway!. – Jill
• Coupon, go on a budget, cut cable, buy items on sale. Buy quality items using sales and coupons so that last longer. – Laura

What is your best extreme money saving tip?

A few top posts from the Money Saving Budget Series

View the full series here.