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

(Xfinity has charged about $14 to $15 a month to rent its gateway, but plans introduced in 2025 bundle it into the price, so check your plan. A compatible modem usually costs more than $50 upfront.)

“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 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 are acceptable if they do the 1 thing better than anything else”. Example: Those plastic pulled pork meat claw things are not better than a fork for the task of shredding meat, but a good mandolin slicer is much faster and probably safer overall than a knife, and rice cookers can cook rice exceptionally well, even if that’s all they do.” – Ryutso

“Needles and threads. You can fix anything material with small rips or tears. I’ve extended the life of clothes, bags, and kids stuffed animals by years.” – baldbutthairy

“I know this sounds crazy, but realizing I could buy more than one of something (e.g. bath mats, reading glasses, chargers, etc.) I had to really work on changing my thinking around this due to past financial challenges.” – SomeTangerine1184

From the kitchen to bed and bath, and........

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