Many people scoff at the idea of applying frugal living hacks to their daily routines because each individual hack might only save you a few pennies. It hardly seems worth the time and effort, some might say.

But, let me tell you, when you get into the habit of using many of these frugal hacks, you could easily save over $100 a month and, in many cases, far more than that. The savings add up quickly! The key is to stack your hacks to maximize savings.

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  1. Make your own laundry detergent.
  2. Make your own all-purpose cleaner.
  3. Go vegetarian completely or for just a few days a week.
  4. Cook more casseroles to save on expensive meat.
  5. Shop sales.
  6. Plant a simple garden. You can grow herbs and vegetables in a simple container garden on your porch or balcony.
  7. Stop eating lunch out during the workweek. Brown bag it instead.
  8. Buy clothes second-hand.
  9. Use the ibotta app to get earn cash back at the grocery store or for purchases at many online retailers.
  10. Learn to make your own specialty coffee drinks for when you need that special indulgence.
  11. Use cloth napkins and dishtowels instead of paper products.
  12. Use wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets.
  13. Adjust your thermostat. The Department of Energy says, “You can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by simply turning your thermostat back 7°-10°F for 8 hours a day from its normal setting.”
  14. Open curtains and blinds during the day to light your home without turning on the lamps.
  15. Unplug appliances, devices, and chargers when not in use.
  16. Wash clothes in cold water.
  17. Hang clothes to dry.
  18. Buy hair accessories, greeting cards, and kitchen utensils at the dollar store.
  19. Buy generic whenever possible.
  20. Use your grocery store shopper’s card to get special offers and discounts, even coupons for items you buy regularly.
  21. Meal plan. Check out my post How to Use Meal Planning to Cut Your Grocery Budget to get ideas on how to make meal planning work for you.
  22. Negotiate utility costs.
  23. Cancel cable.
  24. Downgrade your cell phone plan.
  25. Invest in Amazon Prime to access free shipping, free music, and Amazon Prime video for watching TV and movies.
  26. Instead of going out to eat, take a picnic to the park, or even just to the backyard.
  27. Get a library card and use it to check out books for pleasure reading, as well as how-to books for fixing and maintaining your home and car. Also, many libraries now offer DVDs, musical instruments, and even tools to check out.
  28. Make your own spice mixes i.e. taco, chili, Italian, etc.
  29. Learn to mend your own clothes.
  30. Use Youtube videos to learn how to repair items. My husband was able to replace a doohickey in my van by watching some how-to videos and saved us over $600!
  31. Shop around for car and home insurance. Or, just call your current agent and ask if you are eligible for a discount.
  32. Shop garage sales for home décor, power tools, and yard equipment.
  33. Make your own carpet cleaner and remove stains yourself.
  34. Ditch sodas and drink more water. It’s cheaper, better for you, and better for the environment!
  35. Brew coffee instead of using K-cups. I LOVE my Keurig coffee maker but opted to go back to a standard 12-cup coffee maker and it has cut our coffee budget by more than half. I now only use the Keurig for making cups of tea.
  36. Take advantage of the free health and dental checkups that come with your insurance. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
  37. Stock up on tape, glue, and paper for household use during Back-to-School sales.
  38. Buy off-season. Not just clothing, but patio furniture and other outdoor items, Christmas decorations, even vacations!
  39. Make your own soap.
  40. Make your own body scrub.
  41. If you have credit card debt, transfer to an interest-free card.
  42. Change your air filters monthly.
  43. Cut out the pricey convenience foods.
  44. Run your dishwasher at night to save on electricity, gas, and water costs.
  45. Use LED light bulbs. They last longer and use less energy.
  46. Set a strict budget for Christmas and birthdays and stick to it!
  47. Make your own greeting cards.
  48. Use your grill or Crock-Pot in the summer, so the oven will not heat up your house.
  49. In the winter, leave your oven slightly open when you turn it off after cooking. This will help heat your home.
  50. Buy scratch and dent or out-of-box appliances. This can save you hundreds of dollars.
  51. Refinance your house to lower your monthly payment and reduce overall finance charges.
  52. Use the roundup feature if your bank offers it. They will round up to the nearest dollar and place the extra in your savings account. This is a great way to save for Christmas and birthday gifts!
  53. Use the Acorn app. They round up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invest the extra money in stocks.
  54. If you do eat out, split one meal between two, even three, people. For extra savings, drink water instead of sodas or pricey bar drinks.
  55. Take advantage of college athletic events if you’re looking for cheap entertainment. Our local state university offers track and field, swimming and diving, equestrian, gymnastics, baseball, softball, and hockey event tickets for super-cheap. Like free to about $8 cheap! It’s like having the Olympics in your backyard.
  56. Google your city’s name and “free events” to get a listing of all your town has to offer.
  57. Make your own dog and cat treats. If all goes well, you could even turn this into a side hustle business and sell online or at local farmer’s markets and craft fairs.
  58. Turn down the temperature on your water heater. The Department of Energy says, “Savings resulting from turning down your water heater temperature are based on two components: reduced standby losses (heat lost from water heater into surrounding basement area); and consumption (from water demand or use in your home). Set too high, or at 140ºF, your water heater can waste anywhere from $36 to $61 annually in standby heat losses and more than $400 in demand losses.”
  59. Don’t waste food. Make one meal a week a leftover feast.
  60. Sign up for overdraft protection with your bank. If you are prone to over-drafting your account, this will save you big time in the long run.
  61. Use your senior, student, military, disability or birthday discounts when you can.
  62. If you can’t live without internet service at your home, at least consider cutting your plan. You might not need a high Mbps plan. When we moved out to the country, the only wired internet we could get was a plan with only up to 10 Mbps. We were used to having 100 Mbps speed! We almost backed out of buying the house, because we didn’t think that would be nearly enough for all the simultaneous streaming and working from home that we do. Turns out, it is just enough for us. We worried for nothing.
  63. Stop using credit cards. You’re only digging a hole for yourself that will be difficult to crawl out of.
  64. Stop drinking bottled water.
  65. Do basic car maintenance yourself. i.e. oil changes, tire rotation, etc. Yes, I’m looking at you, Betty! Don’t just leave it to the men. You got this!
  66. Don’t buy the nice, fresh, pre-cut fruit and veggies from the produce department. You can cut it up at home.
  67. Or, just buy frozen. It’s cheaper and will last longer.
  68. Only grocery shop once each paycheck or less. Those little trips to the store to pick up a few things here and there add up fast.
  69. Ditch your bad habits. i.e. drinking, smoking, gambling, golf.
  70. Take free or low-cost classes at your library or community center.
  71. Cut your gym membership. Use YouTube videos instead.
  72. Take free Cousera courses to add to your personal knowledge as well as to bump up your resume.
  73. Print free coloring pages for your children, or for yourself. Just Google “free coloring pages”.
  74. Ask if your car and home insurance company offers a discount for automatic drafts.
  75. Create your own wall calendars on Canva or download one for free from the internet.
  76. Learn to refinish your own furniture to bring new life to your home.
  77. Wash/groom your pets at home.
  78. Plan your errands out to save on gas.
  79. Buy gift cards on eBay. Many people sell their gift cards for a discount when they would rather just have the cash.
  80. Sell your used clothes to a store that offers store credit. Think Plato’s Closet.
  81. Only buy shampoo, conditioner, razors, toothpaste, and deodorant on sale. You can always find these products on sale. Bonus if you can buy in bulk while these items are on sale.
  82. Stop buying toys for your children! A recent study by the University of Toledo found that “When toddlers had exposure to fewer toys, they played twice as long with the toys they had and in more sophisticated ways.”
  83. Invest in rechargeable batteries and a charger.
  84. Take advantage of your Health Savings Account if you have access. Your pre-tax dollars are automatically deducted from your paycheck and deposited into an account you can access for all your healthcare expenses. This definitely comes in handy when you have to make a trip to the doctor or the urgent care.
  85. Download Honey to find discounts, cheaper prices, and coupon codes when shopping online. When you search online for an item, a Honey popup will appear if it finds the same item for less on another site, or will give you a coupon code to use on your current shopping site.
  86. Increase your insurance deductibles. Warning: only do this if you have an emergency fund ready to cover your deductible costs in an accident, or in a medical emergency.
  87. Take shorter showers. It will save on your water, electricity, and gas costs.
  88. Adjust the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer. The Department of Energy recommends you keep your refrigerator at 35-38 degrees Fahrenheit, and your freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
  89. Check out the Manager’s Special section at your grocery store. If you do not know where it is, or if it even exists, just ask. Most stores will have a small shelf or end-cap with overstocked items, seasonal items that are out of season (think pumpkin spice anything in the Springtime), and scratch and dent items.
  90. Learn when your grocery store marks down their meat. It’s okay to just ask the people working in the meat department. They’re not trying to keep it a big secret and it could save you hundreds of dollars a year.
  91. Clean your tub, shower, and toilet with baking soda. It is a natural, gentle abrasive cleaner that usually costs less than a dollar a box. Baking soda is also great for cleaning coffee stains out of mugs and off silverware, and for cleaning scorch marks off pots and pans. Simply pour a little baking soda on a damp cloth and scrub away. Rinse well afterward.
  92. Take a minimalist approach to holiday decorating. Less can be more.
  93. Practice no-spend weekends, or pick two days a week and never spend any money on those days.
  94. Check the insulation in your attic and around pipes in your crawlspace or basement. Replace or top off if need be.
  95. Use low-flow showerheads.
  96. Start composting. You will have less need to buy fertilizer for your plants and yard landscaping throughout the year.
  97. If you haven’t already, ditch the landline phone. 2017 was the first year that those still using a landline phone in their homes in the U.S. dropped below 50% of the population. The number of landline users is dropping at a rapid rate and some predict they will be obsolete in the very near future.
  98. Use Smart power strips, especially for electronics that use multiple plugins i.e. Computers with printer, screen and sound system add-ons, TVs with a soundboard, DVD player, game system add-ons. A Smart power strip will automatically turn off power to items not in use, or they allow you to schedule when to turn off items.
  99. Ditch the cell phone data plan and use WiFi instead.
  100. Always comparison shop before making a big purchase.
  101. Be a good steward of what you have. Taking care of what you own means it will need to be replaced less often.

Have you used some of these frugal living hacks? Do you have any tried and true frugal living hacks? Let us know in the comments below.

Extra loose change on a countertop