Some things you love are just so overpriced. Take heavy cream for example. It costs me $6.99 for a 32-ounce carton. I use it a lot what with all my baking and cooking. Turns out, you can buy shelf stable powdered heavy cream at an impressive 66% cost reduction. Cost per cup is $3.50 a cup for the liquid version versus .44 a cup from the powdered version. I fiddled with it and learned that all I had to do is chill the powdered version really well after making it. The powdered stuff lasts basically forever whereas liquid heavy cream goes bad pretty quickly. Another benefit is that I can make one cup at a time with the powdered version which, again, lasts pretty much forever. Since I use so much of it with my baking, there is real savings to be had. Annual savings is more than $110 a year and that is only if you assume the liquid version never goes bad which, honestly? It does.
My local diner offers free drink refills to go with every meal. I always take them up on the offer for coffee and bring it home, freeze it and eventually it ends up in my cold brew coffees or specialty homemade lattes. Cost is basically free or nearly so when I add sweetener or flavorings.
These are frugal or free examples of swaps/freebies that cost me nothing or save me money and when you do them frequently and swap a number of things out, the savings do really add up.
I also use microfibers instead of paper towels. Paper towels are bad for the environment, cost money but microfibers are a one-time cost and last years. Another favorite swap is exchanging Zip-top bags with reusable silicone bags which are washable and last forever. And don’t forget that store brands are usually identical to name-brand pantry staples like flour, sugar, rice, pasta, and canned goods.
Try baking soda + dish soap + peroxide works on most stains. Much cheaper than buying a name brand version. And rechargeable batteries are much more cost effective and better for the environment than the usual kind which often end up in landfill.
Switch to bar soap because it is often 3–5× cheaper per use than posh body wash and gels. And wool dryer balls last years and reduce dryer time over dryer sheets.
Finally, goes without saying if you love seasonal decor, hit your local thrift shops, never buy new.
The point is, keep seeking out cheaper and more frugal options for daily consumables and the cost savings will add up over time.
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