Frugal Dad wrote a post talking about the five craziest things he has done to save money. Since I’m often accused of being too frugal I decided to come up with my own post. This was harder than I thought because most of the the things I do to save money that seem crazy to others don’t seem crazy to me. Here is what I came up with but I’m probably leaving something crazier off the list.
- Cut my own hair- This is one I share with Frugal Dad. I know I’ve seen a few other PF bloggers mention it also. When you buzz cut your hair it is hard to justify paying to have it cut.
- Turned off my hot water- Last year I turned off my hot water during the summer due to my gas company’s customer charge of $25 whether you use any gas or not. This resulted in a bill of about $40 a month just for hot water. I just showered at the gym or took cold showers. I saved about $160 by having my hot water off over four months. I got hot water again when I moved to a new apartment. I had to have gas then because it was getting cold outside and I needed the gas heat.
- Dumpster Diving- I haven’t actually crawled into the dumpster and pulled stuff out but I would for the right stuff. My dumpster diving has consisted of pulling coupons for free meals and other valuable coupons out of the junk mail bin by the apartment mailboxes. I even managed to sell some of the coupons and make a little money.
- Spent $30 total for food in 1 month- Last May I decided to see how little I could spend on food. I wanted to spend even less than $30 on food but I didn’t have quite enough willpower. It helped that I work in a pizza restaurant and get a few free meals every week.
- Drive a Hoopty- I don’t really think this is crazy at all but some people do. I love my 94 Toyota Corolla. My friend keeps asking me when I’m going to get a better car. I don’t plan on replacing mine soon. It looks ugly but runs fine. Also, it gets 30 mpg in town which is a great feature with the high cost of gas.
I’m sure I’ve left out some crazier stuff than I’ve listed. What are some crazy things you’ve done to save money?
That stuff doesn’t sound crazy at all. It so totally makes sense!! I like the idea about turning off hot water. But if you turn off the gas, doesn’t that mean you can’t use the oven?? Also, I’m amazed that you managed to spend only $30 in a month for food. I’d be interested in reading another post about what you bought/cooked!
I sold plasma to get money. I was in college and very broke and a friend told me about it. I went twice a week for about 5 months and then stopped because one day I passed out.
I also returned a vacuum cleaner I had so I could use the money to get bread and milk.
Mike- I couldn’t use the oven but I got by with the microwave and a George Foreman grill. I don’t cook a lot anyway. I’ve posted on that at “Grocery Challenge“. That is the final post, just do a search for grocery challenge and you’ll see the other ones.
lulugal11- I’ve done the plasma thing too but I consider that a crazy way to make money rather than save money. I’ve also been a guinea pig for drug research. I’ve got a post on that “Alternative Income:Be a Guinea Pig“.
During the winter I would not turn on the heater for the apartment. I bought a small space heater and carried it from room to room. I wore sweaters over my clothes to sleep, along with two pairs of socks.
Yeah the nutty plasma days were to make money to pay for food.
lulugal11- I did the same thing with the heater this winter. I’ve got a studio apartment so I didn’t need to move the heater around much.
Ah, you are me! I drive a 94 toyota tercel, my mom cuts my hair, I eat cheaply when I can and have thought about all of your other ideas. I think I am just a little bit younger than you. (I still live at home so my mom cuts my hair) I don’t think these things are crazy 🙂
David- I’m actually quite a bit older than you. We have one more thing in common. My first name is David also but I go by Andy from my middle name.