What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[saysfaa]

This might be a dumb question, but what does self-insuring entail?

In a nutshell, accepting the risk instead of paying for someone else to take the risk.

Accepting the risk = paying for the repair or replacement or doing without the thing if something goes wrong with it.

Some people make a separate account or column in their budget for it. Or for some types - cars, for example. But that is just to help people see where their money is and what it is doing. It isn't needed for the concept.

Edit - I type slow. This isn't instead of gtaus' explanation.

 

[FrostRanger]

More of a warning of what not to do, but don't install any browser extensions that claim to find you deals or help you coupon. Very often they don't work and are also very often a major source of malware

Honey is a recent example of one of these extensions that was heavily promoted by many youtubers and they turned out to not only not find you deals, but they sold people's browsing data and stole affiliate links.
It's a wild world on the internet, be safe out there

 

[Molpet]

After I paid off my first truck, I put the same amount into a savings account. When That truck rusted out I had more than enough money to buy a new one. I bought 4 trucks in 40 years this way. I am overdue for another but can't find a half ton, regular cab, 8ft bed and a plow.
But interest rates were much higher than now so compounding interest was greater than the inflation cost of a new one.

 

[gtaus]

More of a warning of what not to do, but don't install any browser extensions that claim to find you deals or help you coupon. Very often they don't work and are also very often a major source of malware

Honey is a recent example of one of these extensions that was heavily promoted by many youtubers and they turned out to not only not find you deals, but they sold people's browsing data and stole affiliate links.
It's a wild world on the internet, be safe out there

I used to use a browser called "Honey" and it saved me some money on a few purchases ~2 years ago. I don't see it pop up anymore. Maybe it was banned/discontinued by my browser in an update?

I have not used a shopping extension for a long time. About a year ago, one of those extensions linked me to a scam website that was selling $100 products for something like $20. Yeah, total scam company with no physical address or valid telephone numbers. I lost interest in those extensions after that. If they cannot refer you to real companies, you are better off not chasing down those bogus links.

At least I never got hit with Malware from the Honey browser extension. But you are right about the warning. Good point.

 

[FrostRanger]

I used to use a browser called "Honey" and it saved me some money on a few purchases ~2 years ago. I don't see it pop up anymore. Maybe it was banned/discontinued by my browser in an update?

I have not used a shopping extension for a long time. About a year ago, one of those extensions linked me to a scam website that was selling $100 products for something like $20. Yeah, total scam company with no physical address or valid telephone numbers. I lost interest in those extensions after that. If they cannot refer you to real companies, you are better off not chasing down those bogus links.

At least I never got hit with Malware from the Honey browser extension. But you are right about the warning. Good point.

It is indeed banned, there's a whole fiasco around that and I am aware of at least 1 class action suit that's being filed. Idk what the progress is on that, and I am absolutely not a lawyer but given all the junk they were involved in, I imagine the people suing have a good chance

 

[gtaus]

After I paid off my first truck, I put the same amount into a savings account. When That truck rusted out I had more than enough money to buy a new one. I bought 4 trucks in 40 years this way.

Yeah, I have, and still use, a 30+ year old pickup. I only insure it for part of the year. In the winter, I take off the insurance. It only gets about 14 mpg, but it's a good work vehicle and I drive it maybe only 1,000 miles per year. So, mpg is not a major concern. Insurance on the old pickup is less than $15.00 per month. Great vehicle for towing my utility trailer in the summer months. That is its main job.

I'm at an age where some rust on my old pickup does not bother me. I'll drive that pickup until it dies, then just be thankful for the years of good service I got out of it.

So far, I spend maybe $200-$300 per year in maintenance if an old part needs to be replaced. That's much cheaper than replacing the whole pickup.

I have not had monthly car payments for over 40 years. In other words, I have saved a lot of money NOT paying interest on car loans. I don't drive the newest cars on the block, but I really don't care.

 

[gtaus]

It [Honey app] is indeed banned, there's a whole fiasco around that and I am aware of at least 1 class action suit that's being filed.

Well, I did not know that. It just disappeared from my browser, so I assumed they killed it for some reason. I never used it much and I don't miss it.

One of my new strategies to save money is to go to some of these websites, look for items that I might want to purchase, and put them in my wish list. Many of the companies send me out a notice if/when my wish list item goes on sale or the price drops. That has saved me more money than anything else lately. That can work if you don't need something immediately - at any price.

 

[TOMTE]

Yeah, I have, and still use, a 30+ year old pickup. I only insure it for part of the year. In the winter, I take off the insurance. It only gets about 14 mpg, but it's a good work vehicle and I drive it maybe only 1,000 miles per year. So, mpg is not a major concern. Insurance on the old pickup is less than $15.00 per month. Great vehicle for towing my utility trailer in the summer months. That is its main job.

I'm at an age where some rust on my old pickup does not bother me. I'll drive that pickup until it dies, then just be thankful for the years of good service I got out of it.

So far, I spend maybe $200-$300 per year in maintenance if an old part needs to be replaced. That's much cheaper than replacing the whole pickup.

I have not had monthly car payments for over 40 years. In other words, I have saved a lot of money NOT paying interest on car loans. I don't drive the newest cars on the block, but I really don't care.

IF I ever drive, I'd rather have an Old Reliable than a newer car. New cars are ugly but also waaaaay too expensive. I'll take a rusty old camry or tacoma over anything they're putting out nowadays.

My dad does want a new tacoma though. He's obsessed LOL

 

[Sally PB]

Our Jeep (still has the extended warrantee! ) has some body rust. I'm sure part of the floor is rusted through. There are places where the top is leaking by the body.

But wow, can it go through snow with its 4 wheel drive and the high clearance. And it can pull a trailer full of wood through the field. We have it for that kind of use. For the rest of our driving, we use a MUCH more fuel efficient car.

The right tool (car) for the job.

We will be VERY sad when that Jeep gives up its ghost.

 

[gtaus]

The right tool (car) for the job.

When I grew up, we only had one car for our family of mom, dad, and 5 kids. It was a big deal for us when mom got a car of her own when I was in high school! Flash forward to today, where Dear Wife and I have four cars to use - just for the two of us. Two of those cars are in winter storage, but in the summertime, I have all our cars, pickups, SUV's insured and on the road. Four in total. But three of those cars have minimal insurance costs so it does not cost too much. But yes, each car is used for a different type of job.

One of the advantages to living outside the city, where I have lots of garage and storage space to park my cars, is that I am able to keep those older cars that I only use in the summertime. Most of our life we lived in town, in apartments, with limited parking and maybe only one or two parking spots (no garage).

Who would have thought that I would be raising chickens, gardening, spending more time on riding lawn mowers than in a car, and loving every minute of it?