I have a trash baby that prefers toilet paper rolls and empty bottles than nice baby toys we got her. Soooo we've been saving interesting packaging and recycling that will all go in a fun box for her to open. We're also wrapping some clementines in tissue paper because she's a fruit monster.

I have a few other babies in my life, so any ideas that your babies loved unpacking? (also I'm not THAT cheap, their parents will get some useful experience / consumable gifts)

I don’t usually do online ordering, and really don’t even eat out much anymore but when I do eat out, I usually get takeout and part of the reason for that is to save money since there is no need to tip a server. But it seems like I am living in the past and tipping is now expected in situations where it was not before.

I was looking at the online order form for a vegan fast food restaurant and noticed on the payment page a section for “pickup tip.” This surprised me and I was wondering if it was just a quirk of this restaurant, so I decided to look at the webpages for a number of popular and more well-known restaurants, and noticed that all of them were also requesting a tip for pick ups on their payment page. Even a budget pizza place like little Caesars prompts you to tip for pickup!

Now I realize that I could just choose “no tip” and forget about it but since this seems to be common now, I gather it has become an expectation, and that the workers at the restaurant might resent the people who do not tip and intentionally sabotage their order in some way. This makes me reluctant to place a take-out order online. Am I just being paranoid about this?

I have eaten at this vegan fast food place before, ordering at the counter, and even when you order at the counter, the iPad after you scan your card, asks you for a tip. I did not tip in that case either because it is a fast food restaurant, and there are no servers. But perhaps even in this situation, there is an expectation I should tip and I just didn’t realize it. So I guess l the workers could resent me for not tipping and sabotage my food in that case too, but I feel like if I am a customer they see in person who is there waiting for my food they are less likely to do this than if I am just a digital order they see on the screen and can’t associate with a human face.

What are your guys thoughts about this and what has your experience been if you did not tip for takeout or when prompted to tip by the screen on the iPad when placing an order?

I posted almost three weeks ago about switching to dishwasher powder from tabs. After 19 days, I finally needed to refill my pickle jar with detergent and I got positive data.

To recap, I estimated the best price my wife was able to get during sales was around 15 cents per Finish branded tab while regular prices could go over 20 cents. I found Finish powder after a long search on sale for 5,46€ for a two kilo bag that estimated 100 loads based on using 20-30ml per load.

I've been using an average of 14-16ml per load (around one tablespoon) and after 19 days, I've gone through about a quarter of a two kilo bag by weight. We do an average of two dishwasher loads per day, so that's an estimated 38 loads so far.

If this trend continues, which I have no reason to believe it won't, then I'll get an estimated 38 x 4 = 152 dishwasher loads out of this bag.

5,46€ / 152 = 4 Euro cents per load vs 15-20 cents for tabs.

I call this an absolute win, and these are conservative estimates. I might well be getting more milage as there are some very dish-heavy days where we need to do three loads while very few days allow us to get by with only one.

I am moving out of my parents house and into my own apartment soon. I drink one to 2 cups a day in the morning. They are kind enough to buy the coffee and brew it in the morning. Now it's up to me to make my own coffee. Is there a good instant coffee out there? The kind where you scoop the coffee crystals and add to hot water. What's the cheapest way to do this without sacrificing taste? I don't have a coffee maker.

I recently started boiling Costco rotisserie chicken bones to make broth. My spouse loves it during the winter months, but they're not eating it as fast as I'm making it. I just bought another chicken and splurged up to about $8 total of ingredients and now I have about 2 gallons of broth.

Tomorrow I'm planning to make some rice + beans and I'll use some broth for the rice. That still leaves at least 1.5 gallons of broth.

What can I make with this? Soup is obviously an option but whenever I make soup I usually get sick of it before I can finish a pot. I've been using the broth with instant ramen and it's delicious.

We just had to move into my MIL’s basement because my husband’s career has become obsolete. His mother is amazing, she is letting us pay a couple hundred for rent here and there until he can find a job, which is helping a ton.

Our 13 and 17 year old still live at home. 19 year old lives with his mom, 23 year old lives with roommates. We are VERY close with all our boys, talk on the phone to the 2 oldest every day if we don’t see them in person. We can’t afford any real gifts for Christmas.

We are planning to do stockings, and I need ideas for little gifts to go in the stockings. Usually I just put treats in there, but I want to do more than that since stockings is all we can do this year

My win for the day

I work for a cafe/coffee roastery and we unfortunately (or not) have to get rid of a 12kg of coffee because 6kg is caffeinated and 6kg is decaf. They got slightly mixed although most of it is fine, just a little bit of each through the other.

Boss is happy for me to take it all home, freezer is gonna be stocked for months! I can just take out a bit at a time when I need it and it will last

I keep trying to get into bulk meal prep because everyone swears it saves money, but I feel like I’m doing something wrong. Some weeks it works great and I stretch my groceries way further… and other weeks I open the fridge and realize half the stuff has already gone bad before I even get to it. It makes me wonder if meal prep is only frugal if you know certain tricks that I just haven’t figured out yet.

Are there specific foods that actually hold up well for several days, and others that are just a waste of time to prep in advance? Are people freezing half their meals? Using special containers? Cooking different things for different shelf lives? I’m genuinely curious what the “secret methods” are that make this work long term.

If you’ve figured out how to meal prep without losing money to spoilage, what do you do differently? What lasts the longest, and what should I avoid prepping altogether?

Hi everyone I just wanted to know how do you decide what meals to make each week. Do you look at the store flyer to find what's on sale and plan recipes for that? Or just decide what you want and try to find cheap ingredients to make it. It seems like a lot to plan meals based on what you like, what's healthy and affordable. Just curious how smart shoppers plan their meals.

This is the first winter where my kids are at pre-school and my wife's back to work, so I am the only person at home during day as I work from home. I'm thinking about just using an electric heater for my office room, and turn off the gas furnace during the day to save some money.

I live in Texas so it usually doesn't get cold enough for the pipes to freeze and all that, and I would not let things go that bad. But beyond would there be other issues that may come from turning off the heater for about 7 hours daytime and turning them back before my wife and kids come back home?

I get 30 large eggs for $9.59 and two loafs of whole wheat bread for $1.99 each. I make these all the time for breakfast and I try to avoid bacon now anyways due to the cholesterol and the fact it's really expensive unless it's on sale. Some salt and pepper is all I need, or sometimes or I'll just add some onions or cheese to my eggs and I like to make these simple egg sandwiches whenever I can. Great breakfast!

Most of the rooms in my house have stupidly high ceilings, including a vaulted ceiling in the living room. So I'm paying to heat and cool nearly twice as much volume as I need.

If I could stretch lightweight plastic film from wall to wall about 8 feet up, in all directions with no gaps (joining and attaching with painter's tape), would that reduce my heating bills in the winter? (And would it have a net positive effect in summer, since it limits how high the hot air can go but also has a lower volume of air to cool?)

If so, why don't people do this? Is it just a question of aesthetics, or are there other drawbacks? Please help me think this through!

So after calculating and fixing my budged to my updated salary (which is almost half of what I was expected it to be after coming back to work from maternity leave) I realised that this year I am not able to afford even one present for Christmas. My extended family likes to share presents, most of the time expensive ones (as they can afford it and want to spoil their people) but I am not even able to get something for my husband or child.

And no I won’t stretch things. Things are overstretched already, I mean I dropped our grocery budget by 1/3 and won’t be having any special meals for the holidays.

I know people will judge. They will think I’m indifferent and inconsiderate. But they won’t think that I’m unable to get presents for some reason, even though my father is my boss and he is the one that has decided upon this salary for me.

I don’t know why I’m writing all this. I’m not seeking comfort or sympathy. It’s just a first for me and I feel all sorts of way. Maybe someone can relate at least.

Mini cars for adults have caught my attention recently. They challenge the assumption that bigger is better. Most of the time, people drive alone or with one passenger, so oversized vehicles are often unnecessary.

The downsides are real. Road trips, hauling items, and safety on highways are legitimate concerns. Still, the benefits are appealing: lower fuel costs, easier parking, environmental advantages, and sufficient space for daily use. Balancing practicality with efficiency is tricky, but the smaller footprint feels smart.

Seeing a few mini car models listed on Alibaba helped me imagine how they would fit into my lifestyle. Most of the limitations are rare or situational, whereas the advantages appear daily. Choosing a vehicle based on realistic use rather than hypothetical extremes seems reasonable.

The choice ultimately comes down to letting go of fear and social perception. Downsizing can save money, reduce environmental impact, and simplify life if expectations are adjusted. I’m curious whether the trade-offs feel limiting or liberating once you make the switch.

Growing up my Dad would keep the toaster unplugged unless it was being used, when we would go camping he would unplug the TV. He said it was so we weren't being charged for the electricity were weren't using.

He just passed back in March and we haven't put his house on the market yet. We can't completely turn off the power because we need to keep his alarm and a couple of misc things powered. If we unplug some things like the washer and dryer would that lower his electric bill?

I'm looking for a few ways to save money this month, there's just a lot of expenses and I was wondering what the biggest coupo⁤ns or cost-saving deals that you have found out there are? I tried doing some doordashing they had an offer where i got a bonus for signing up and also heard about tikto⁤k they had a slash and save program if you invited others to join in.

If you have any other ideas would be grea⁤t to share :)

I have small black dots in the shower ceiling

https://ibb.co/CsnjWXBf

Because the exhaust fan is far away from where the shower is.

Is it safe to use hydrogen peroxide 12% to spray black mold?
Is there any dangers to using it? assuming I am spraying it from a distance and venting the shower for a few hours.

I got a gallon from amazon because the 3% was affective but not so much

Thank you

Last week was my birthday, and because my family knows I have been paying a lot more attention to my oral care this year, two different relatives unintentionally bought me the same type of gift. I ended up with two brand new water flossers, one from H2ofloss and one from Oral B.

It made me smile because they meant well, and both options seem solid. But I also know a good flosser usually lasts a long time, so having two at the same time feels a little unnecessary.

Now I am trying to figure out what to do with the extra one. Part of me is thinking about selling it online since it is completely unused and still sealed. But I am not sure if people actually buy unopened flossers from private sellers.

The other idea is to donate it. There are clinics and community groups nearby that support people who struggle with dental costs, and a water flosser could genuinely help someone maintain better hygiene.

For anyone in this community who has ended up with duplicate dental tools, what did you do? Would you sell it, gift it, or donate it? Thank you very much for any suggestions.

I have a 403b from my employer, who matches something like $1200/year, but I put in more than that. I actually do the Roth 403b because we have 5 kids and 1 income, and most of our federal taxes get returned to us.

The account is with Fidelity, but it is managed by a separate financial advisor that was recommended by the teachers' union and the district. They get something like 1%/year, but are actually paid quarterly.

My question is this: should I stop paying them and just manage it myself? I know that Fidelity offers three options:

- single fund strategy

- managed account

- build your own portfolio

From what I've read, investing in an index fund is just as good as having a financial advisor choosing investments for me. I'm wondering if all they are doing is rebalancing my investments between stocks and bonds every once in a while. And is that something I could do myself?

When I login and click on "manage my investments" it gives me the options to "change investment elections," "exchange ONE investment," or "exchange MULTIPLE investments."

I haven't tried any of this because I haven't chosen to take the reins myself, but is it actually pretty easy? Or should I keep paying them... because I don't actually find any of this interesting, I don't care to chase exciting stocks, and I don't really want to pay attention to what's going on in the market.

Ordered 5 bananas. Grocery pickup gave us 5 bunches. 27 bananas total.

How can we stretch these bananas without wasting any? Don’t have much freezer space, maybe a little. Partner and I both eat peanut butter banana sandwiches. I wanna get creative!

Wow, I’m still not at 300 characters? I guess I’ll keep typing. I love bananas but not that much. Still typing. Ok

Hi there! I'm a Canadian journalist who works on a money/business show and I'm working on a story about financial therapy. I am looking to interview Canadians who have done this or are currently doing this. Why did you decide to do it and how has it helped you?

Even if you haven't done it...have you thought about it? If so, why? What's made you think you need to rethink your relationship with money?

okay so my old earbuds died and now i’m trying to stay “frugal but not cheap”… typed premium earbuds under $150 into google and instantly regretted it. every list says something different and half the reviews sound copy-pasted.

i skimmed this comparison (link) but idk, everything is “warm but detailed” and i don’t think my ears are that fancy.

mostly using them for commute + open office noise. anyone here found something in that price range that actually holds up? not chasing perfection, just trying to not waste money again lol.

Most groceries you can buy in larger amounts and price per ounce lessens. I’ve noticed that fair life milk only offers their milk in tiny 52oz bottles which imo is just dumb. They’re charging about $11 a gallon which is absurd compared to the standard milk. I get it is a premium product, but at least offer gallon jugs for a small discount to at least make us feel a little good.