Sometimes you have to spend money to save money, and people who live a budget-conscious, frugal lifestyle have perfectly mastered how to do it.

In a Reddit post, member jul_on_ice posed the question: “What’s one small upgrade (under $50) that saved you more money than you expected?”

They continued, “Talking about small wins that compounded over time over one thing that made a drastic difference. Frugality is often about not spending but sometimes investments can pay off. Maybe something that made work easier. Made life better. Made you more comfortable. Or something bought once that replaced lots of things you once had to spend on.”

Small purchases, big long-term payoff

Fellow frugal people had lots of money saving hacks to share. These are 28 things that frugal people spent less than $50 on that have saved them lots of money.

“Vacuum sealer. I’m single and most shopping/recipes are four or five meals for me. Often I would have food waste because I no longer wanted the food after the third meal. Now I cook, have the leftovers I want, and vacuum seal the rest in portions. Keeps the food fresh and saves room in my freezer.” – mercfan3

“Don’t rent the modem/router combo from Comcast. Just buy your own.” – Dove_of_Doves

“A couple of incredibly mundane purchases that I should have made years earlier: having extra sets of measuring spoons (~ $3 per set) makes cooking so much easier; a digital cooking thermometer (~ $15); and a tire inflator that plugs into the car’s cigarette lighter ($35) so I can top up the tires at home, rather than trying to find a place with a working air hose. ETA: A french press ($20) and electric kettle ($25). Have used the same french press for more than a decade, and get better tasting coffee without buying filters or K-cups. An electric kettle is surprisingly useful.” – Taggart3629

“$9 3-cup rice cooker.” – CeleronHubbard

“Popsicle molds. I live in the desert and we eat so many popsicles. Making them myself has saved money and they’re healthier.” – Adventurous-Fig-5179

“Dropped cable, kept internet only. Pay for separate Netflix and Disney and all total we save $35 a month over the cable bundle. We did not watch 90% of the channels included. Definite win for us.” – GarudaMamie

“Adding an over-the-air antenna. Is a great addition to cutting that “cable tv” cord. It is much easier than you think.” –williamtrose367

“We got a renter friendly bidet and it has saved us SO MUCH in toilet paper usage.” – Specific_Wait_8006

“We went with cloth diapers when the kids were little it saved us a bunch and kept a bunch of garbage out of the landfill. Once they were potty trained we were able to sell a lot of them.” – Responsible-Charge27

“Maybe not a quantifiable dollar amount of a change, but I switched my mindset from “Unitaskers are bad” to “Unitaskers........

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