How are you cheap?

Where I’m cheap is paying people to do things. I’ll do everything I possibly can by myself and use the money I saved to purchase higher quality materials and/or finishes.
This. I enjoy learning new skills, both large and small.

I also keep an eye out for crazy deals and don’t hesitate to buy multiple years worth of something if I know I’m saving 70%.

All LED lights
Save amazon shipping envelopes and boxes to ship stuff myself
Wife buys scented candles at Michaels for $2.50 vs $20 from Yankee candle
Dropped cable 8yr ago
Share streaming services with family
Synthetic motor oil for gun lube
Do all of my own auto maintenance and some repairs
Shop at Aldi

Nothing too extreme for me, I definitely enjoy a good balance of saving $$ vs treating myself.
 
I buy STEEL ammo. That's how cheap I am lol



In all honesty, I do buy some brass, but if I can save a few cents or so a round and it still fires fine then why the heck not.
 
This. I enjoy learning new skills, both large and small.

I also keep an eye out for crazy deals and don’t hesitate to buy multiple years worth of something if I know I’m saving 70%.

All LED lights
Save amazon shipping envelopes and boxes to ship stuff myself
Wife buys scented candles at Michaels for $2.50 vs $20 from Yankee candle
Dropped cable 8yr ago
Share streaming services with family
Synthetic motor oil for gun lube
Do all of my own auto maintenance and some repairs
Shop at Aldi

Nothing too extreme for me, I definitely enjoy a good balance of saving $$ vs treating myself.


Im sure she knows about the Michaels/ACMoore/Hobby Lobby coupons -typically 40% off each week.
I love craft stores and, like your wife, aint spending that much on certain things like candles. Plus I can get stuff for small projects around the house and for the car
 
Im sure she knows about the Michaels/ACMoore/Hobby Lobby coupons -typically 40% off each week.
I love craft stores and, like your wife, aint spending that much on certain things like candles. Plus I can get stuff for small projects around the house and for the car
Oh yeah, I’ve instilled in her a joy for getting great deals. And of course getting the teacher discount on the things that don’t qualify for coupons. Almost makes up for the crap pay... said no one ever lol.
 
When we moved into a bigger house I new things would be a tad more expensive so some things had to give.
- got rid of cable and only have WiFi. Antenna and firestik is fine.
- got rid of home phone. The hell we need that for?
- water bill was cut in half cause of the city move.
- got rid of chemlawn service.
- I only buy brass ammo if it’s 16 cents or under. (HP not included).
- never go to movies at night and never buy any food while there.
- any appliance that breaks I look at YouTube to see if I can figure out what’s wrong and then determine if I can fix it. Have repaired dishwasher, dryer x2 and washer without having to call repair man.
 
And don’t get me started on the wife wasting those last 2-3 squares of TP just because they’re glued to the cardboard roll!!
The cardboard roll with those last couple of sheets is about the same shape as what folks in colonial times used, and probably a whole lot softer.
Corncob-Toilet-Paper-i862475538.jpg
 
I know this is in the firearms section but I’m gonna take this as a general question.

How I am cheap:
I switched all my bulbs to LED
I drive a tiny car because 44 MPG on the highway. I buy used and used them up.
My computer is 12 years old
I cut up worn out socks and tee-shirts (washed) to make rags and cleaning patches
I use cardboard and craft paper from shipping boxes for clean targets & backers.
Sometimes I eat lunch at Costco. $1.50 for a coke and a foot-long can’t be beat.
I buy glasses online
I don’t go on expensive vacations.


Where I’m NOT cheap:
Shoes & boots
Belts and holsters
Coffee
Doctors
Christmas and Birthday for the Wife
I have a yard service
I know my DIY limitations. When it’s time to call the man, call the man.


Sorry, I had to do it.




.
 
yup. I'm 40 now, and i'm getting pretty good at knowing what jobs around the house are very important, which job I can do in my spare time, which jobs i can get done if i spend a little more spare time on them, and which ones to call in the experts.

Wife is starting to appreciate it too because we're in the first house SHE has had ownership in (i had our other house before i had her) and she's seeing what an expensive pain in the butt things are. She's now seen the "quality" of work from other people that don't know their limits and I get to triage/repair/outsource all the repairs now.
 
I use Anderson lowers

I wear underwear until they are “well ventilated”

I mend my own clothes if they get torn seams

I guess I would go down as “frugal”. I’ll spend a lot of time seeking the best value for the price items. As I. I’ll buy Morakniv knives as opposed to more expensive ones because I know Moras are good, and suit my purposes. I’ll shoot steel/aluminum ammo. I’ll go with Primary Arms over top shelf optics.

The few places I won’t “skimp” are exercise shoes, bad shoes lead to major health issues. Trail shoes included. I’ll straight up go to fleet feet and pay extra to be fitted and measured and get something that works than just “buying some sneakers.”

I’ll buy cheap steel shot shells to shoot cripples, but use expensive shells normally.

We pay extra for two ply toilet paper...none of that cheap single ply stuff. And no store brand soup. It’s all been horrible that we have tried.


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I use Anderson lowers
I wear underwear until they are “well ventilated”
I mend my own clothes if they get torn seams
...
The few places I won’t “skimp” are exercise shoes, bad shoes lead to major health issues. Trail shoes included. I’ll straight up go to fleet feet and pay extra to be fitted and measured and get something that works than just “buying some sneakers.”
...
We pay extra for two ply toilet paper...none of that cheap single ply stuff. And no store brand soup. It’s all been horrible that we have tried.

You're almost me. except for the steel ammo - i generally don't buy that.

I'll add that I don't believe most food expires.
If it's 3yrs past its "best by" date, that just means it might not be quite as good as it could have been, but it's still good.
If it's 3yrs past its "use by" date, you don't tell me what to do.
My wife buys in bulk (great savings that way) but we tend to not use 100% of the packages before the dates printed on the labels. She doesn't want to use it long past for her own health reasons... so she just puts them in a big box for me, and that's what I eat when she's not around to make dinner.

Then again, I was raised to just rip the moldy parts off of bread and cheese and keep eating. I thought we were poor when i was growing up right until i saw my dad's check stubs when I was applying for college financial aid (hint - i didn't qualify).
 
I typically buy a new vehicle (without all the bells and whistles) which is not cheap......but I will maintain and drive it until the wheels fall off which is cheap.

I look for closeout models whenever possible.
 
I use Anderson lowers

I wear underwear until they are “well ventilated”

I mend my own clothes if they get torn seams

I guess I would go down as “frugal”. I’ll spend a lot of time seeking the best value for the price items. As I. I’ll buy Morakniv knives as opposed to more expensive ones because I know Moras are good, and suit my purposes. I’ll shoot steel/aluminum ammo. I’ll go with Primary Arms over top shelf optics.

The few places I won’t “skimp” are exercise shoes, bad shoes lead to major health issues. Trail shoes included. I’ll straight up go to fleet feet and pay extra to be fitted and measured and get something that works than just “buying some sneakers.”

I’ll buy cheap steel shot shells to shoot cripples, but use expensive shells normally.

We pay extra for two ply toilet paper...none of that cheap single ply stuff. And no store brand soup. It’s all been horrible that we have tried.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cannot recall last time I bought underwear.
 
I save money everywhere I can.. At restaurants I ask for senior citizen discounts,shop around for cheapest gas prices,quit buying major brands ,shop at Aldi for groceries, reload my ammo,do my own car maintenance.I don't skimp on my firearms,only buy quality brands and take great care in keeping them in tip top shape.I only get 2 haircuts a year and cut it myself between barber visits. I changed all light bulbs inside and out to led bulbs.Dollar tree has them for a steal,like 2 for a dollar .Like someone else said I cut up my old t- shirts to make cleaning patches. .I was raised by my grandparents that taught me the value of a doller. Grandmother always said" Waste not,want not" . I've always lived by those words.Saving money anyway I can gives me more $ for my G&A addiction:rolleyes:
 
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We pay extra for two ply toilet paper...none of that cheap single ply stuff. And no store brand soup. It’s all been horrible that we have tried.


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Let me tell you my toilet paper story.
When I bought my house my parents bought me a HUGE package of toilet paper and paper towels from Costco or Sams, Im not sure which. Good tp, thick, two ply.
Anyway, after a year or so they asked me if I needed anything as they were about to go to the store and I said, no, I still had some. They were shocked.

Well, I told this to a friend of mine too, as he was tlaking about his son's use of tp, and using too much for the job.
And I told him how I figured how how to make a huge case last, seemingly, forever.

About a month later I was house sitting for my parents and realized how I made that tp last so long. I was taking a 9roll pack twice a year or so from their pantry/closet thing (they keep tp, paper towels, bars of soap, packs of qtips etc in an under-stairs closet).
Yeah, so that, ulitmately, was the secret.

It wasnt malicious, I just though, "I'll grab some on the way home" and took some.

Ive still yet to buy any.
 
I drink Sams diet soda, many generic foods are just as good (trial and error) order reloading supplies in bulk. save all the brass I pick up at the range 22lr and worn out brass go to the scrap yard. print targets on used papers (wife is a teacher so plenty of paper) use a black and white laser printer (huge ink savings). fix as much as I can myself . buy and shoot 22lr replicas of many of my guns. use lee dies and powder measures in my Dillon xl650. for pistol I use mainly Winchester 231 and unique I also use unique in my 28 ga loads so I buy it in 8 lb kegs I can also spend money as my skeet gun is a Krieghoff K80 Briley tube set
 
I drink Sams diet soda, many generic foods are just as good (trial and error) order reloading supplies in bulk. save all the brass I pick up at the range 22lr and worn out brass go to the scrap yard. print targets on used papers (wife is a teacher so plenty of paper) use a black and white laser printer (huge ink savings). fix as much as I can myself . buy and shoot 22lr replicas of many of my guns. use lee dies and powder measures in my Dillon xl650. for pistol I use mainly Winchester 231 and unique I also use unique in my 28 ga loads so I buy it in 8 lb kegs I can also spend money as my skeet gun is a Krieghoff K80 Briley tube set
On top of that, you save a lot of time not hitting shift to capitalize the first word in a sentence!! :D

(Yet you take the time to do it with proper nouns...weird)
 
I live in a van down by the river, rinse and reuse my toilet handkerchief.

I sweep up at ranges and use a magnifying glass and tweezers to pick the grains of unburned powder out of the dirt. Takes a long time, but it saves me a ton on my powder costs.

Dig used bullets out of the berm, and I roll them around on a concrete floor to get 'em back round again so they can be reused. Sometimes they need a few love taps from a hammer.

Don't buy groceries when all the food you could ever want can be found in the food lion or walmart dumpster for free.
 
print targets on used papers (wife is a teacher so plenty of paper) use a black and white laser printer (huge ink savings).
Big one right there. I see people spending $1+ per target at the range. While I appreciate the fact that they're helping to keep the lights on, that's not for me. You'll frequently see me taping together a few sheets of paper (usually new because I can't take used paper for work for legal reasons). one sheet vertically for a "head" and 2 sheets sideways below it for a center mass area. Pennies.

Also, I just moved (on the company's dime) and my wife is a little grumpy about all the cardboard boxes I'm holding on to :-D We buy a lot of stuff from amazon, and plenty of those boxes have found their way into my target stack too.

I won't lie though, if there's a 8.5x11" target I like, I sometimes print a few at work... But since I work almost entirely paperless, I could print 50 a day and still be using less company paper than some people.
 
Gun related:
  • Like my fellow old-farts around here, my old t-shirts get cut up to become gun cleaning rags & patches.
  • Not picky about powders. Will buy whatever is on clearance and then search the manual to find a recipe for that powder.
  • Not picky about projectiles. Will buy whatever is on clearance, including cast boolits -- even for the glocks.
  • Won't buy expensive gun oils and lubes. After using Hoppes for 40+ years, I don't see a reason to change just because some company sells a new lube with a cute name and good marketing.
Non-gun related:
  • I don't buy "pool" chemicals. Instead I buy ordinary household cleaning products like liquid bleach & borax. Once you learn what's in the ready-made pool chemicals, you can save a lot of money.
  • The wife doesn't buy plants at the nursery. She collects leaves or clippings that have fallen to the ground in the nursery, then takes them home and roots them. She also collects the seeds from good tomatoes in salads and brings them home to grow her own.
  • We don't buy campfire "starters". We save candle remnants and dryer lint, then make our own starters.
  • We donate all of our outgrown clothes and any unwanted home goods to the local battered women's shelter - and then while we're there we shop for new clothes for the kids.
 
A roll of white freezer paper and a can of spray paint works as targets for me. I tried the brown wrapping paper but could not see the holes as well. Political campaign signs work fairly well as target stands.
 
I am extremely cheap about most things. I do all sorts of things on a daily basis to save money. I don't wear expensive clothes. No expensive furniture. I mow my own lawn with a push mover. I have painted my last 2 house by myself. I don't eat out on a regular basis. Never buy coffee out. Etc.... I use coupons and buy things on sale. I reuse Zip lock bags. The list goes on and on. I use makers to make these targets on the back of free targets I get from the range or on cardboard from Amazon.

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I always try to find the best deal on just about everything I buy. I do this so I can spend money on the things "I want".
  • Guns
  • Cars
  • Vacations involving food.
 
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I never buy targets anymore. I’ll save paper and old folders from the dumpster at work. I just need to make holes in it before it goes right back in the trash.
 
Most of my tarets are reactive and are free or last long time. I make lots of targets from repurposed cardboard and cover holes with masking tape. Plate rack is cardboard. Gotta go now. Toilet paper drying on the clothes line and it's starting to rain 20191015_122628.jpg 20190520_080013.jpg
 
Not sure if this is just frugal in general or gun related but I'll go with the latter:

I shoot .22lr more than any other round, and I have more rimfire guns than everything else combined because 1. cheap to shoot 2. easy to stack it deep 3. easy to teach newbs how to shoot 4. just plain enjoyable as it has been since I was a kid

I pick up the lead from underneath steel targets, melt it down and turn it into moar boolits. I've picked up wheelweights in parking lots and at stoplights before.

I have recycled entire cans of old useless ammo by pulling the bullets with a hammer-style puller, dumping the sludge out, and cleaning the brass. I got quite a bit of .45LC and .32 ACP like this when my kids found an old 10# can full of crap ammo outdoors.

I take ALL the brass the one or 2 times I have been to an indoor range in the past 5 years. And a few outdoor ones. I also police all the brass on my own range, but I might share. I only share with new reloaders though lol.

Anytime we get a new appliance or really anything metal, I recycle it myself - this bit me in the butt this past summer when metal prices plummeted. Should've paid the man to haul it off.

I keep every sour cream container for reloading containers. I keep ALOT of containers that my wife tries to throw out.

I shoot steel, because everything else sucks and costs. I buy the 99 cent 10oz spray paint at lowes and it lasts a while at repainting targets. They need to carry red.
 
I haven't paid for a haircut since 1997. Not that I have a full head of hair to cut these days, but the barber doesn't give you a discount based on Sq/in.

I make my own holsters :).
 
Not that I have a full head of hair to cut these days,
Um, I've got lotsa hair*, wanna trade for a holster? Win - win sitiation.















*It might not all be head hair. Prolly still good for fiber reinforcement if you're makin yer own plas - I mean, polymer for holsters.
 
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