“Cheapskate” is a pejorative assigned to the guy who didn’t buy the large enough diamond ring or the mother who makes her kids panhandle in their spare time. In reality, these money-preserving (or generating) habits are admirable.

OK, maybe if you’re violating child labor laws and rubbing dirt on your kids’ faces, you’re on a bridge too far. You get the point, though. It’s time to destigmatize money-saving. There are at least 15 habits you’ve long derided as “poor people stuff,” and it’s now time to embrace them.

Your financial well-being demands it. The broken-down economy demands it. We demand it, for that matter.

1, Taking Up Cooking (or, At Least, Sandwich-Making)

One figure suggests that you save about $12 per meal by eating at home rather than eating food someone else made. Add in the trend of delivery, and that gap could be even greater.

That’s $36 lost per day for those who almost never cook. That would be more than $13,000 per year, if someone were really dedicated to not cooking. In other words, if you’re wondering where your paycheck keeps disappearing, check your food order history. 

2. Pitting Insurers Against One Another

Many of us rationalize our tolerance of ever-rising insurance premiums. “In the time it takes to call the insurance company, I could have earned the difference in savings anyway.”

The truth is, we’re scared. We’re scared of making the phone call, of haggling, of being told, “Sorry, sir or ma’am, there is no better offer to be had.” The most financially savvy put their fear aside, make the call, and often secure lower premiums as a reward.

3. Treating Credit Cards Like Lepers

Credit cards were the original vicious cycle. It starts with covering the plumber’s visit with your first credit card. Next thing you know… 

Like an alcoholic not tolerating booze in their house or a Weight Watcher skipping the candy aisle, anyone with a healthy fear of insolvency throws the credit card offers right in the trash. There is no albatross quite as heavy as out-of-control card debt, so start spending like you’re creditless.

4. Avoiding, Monitoring, and Axing Subscriptions

Few sights are more horrifying than the random bank statement entry from “Grammarly Premium” or “Daily Yoga”.While a twelve-dollar Starz free trial you forgot to cancel is cringe-inducing, the six-figure annual subscriptions have you cursing yourself.

Frugal people know what subscriptions they currently have, when they renew, and exactly how they’ll avoid paying for something they don’t need. These people will save mucho dinero.

5. Eating Before Leaving (or Packing a Sandwich)

Eating food prepared outside the house is one of the largest holes in our collective fiscal ship. It’s easy to make excuses for stopping at Panera or ordering a pizza on your way home. The truth is, though, we set ourselves up for failure.

For those who have a personal finance epiphany, eating a grilled chicken breast before leaving the house will save hundreds (or thousands, depending on your appetite) per year. The same is true of bringing homemade food on the go,rather than wasting money on fast food.

6. Reusing Bags and Zip-Locs

The habit of throwing out used Zip-Locs “because they’re icky” or because it’s too bothersome to wash and dry? That’s poverty behavior.

According to one source, the average US household goes through 500 Ziploc bags per year. That’s downright egregious, even for a family of eight. While my math suggests you’ll pay around $100 for 500 Ziplocs, there’s just no reason to toss them after a single use (except in the grimiest cases).

7. Buying One and Getting One

What would you do for a 50% Black Friday sale on a flatscreen TV or 50% off the expensive stroller you bought for your kid? Because that’s what Buy One, Get One Off is—a 50% discount.

Over time, embracing BOGO at the grocery store will net you savings that rival that of a 50% sale on strollers. You should naturally be skeptical when anyone offers a half-off deal, so do your homework on the ingredients (and other ulterior motives), but then buy in bulk.

8. Using Public Transportation (or Your Own Low-Cost Transport) If the Alternative Is Debt

You used to hear the line on Jerry Springer all the time, “I can’t get a job because I don’t have a car.” Almost without fail, Jerry would float obvious proposals like “taking the bus” or “getting a ride from a friend.” 

Car debt appears to have become a American practice as common as (and destructive as) betting on sports or binge-eating apple pie. Q1 2024 saw total American auto loan balances hit a record $1.62 trillion, The worst part? Most of the cars aren’t even cool. Is a bus or a bike any less fashionable than a Hyundai Sonata financed at 18% interest? 

9. Freezing Food

We don’t just mean frozen pizza, either. 

Freezing your food serves several purposes. For one, when you can buy one and get one for freeze-able food, you’re saving money (obviously). Second, a freezer full of food makes ordering in or eating out less justifiable.

While the quality of a frozen block of cheese or steak degrades somewhat, it’s preferable to your bank account degrading. Plus, there are some legit frozen pizzas out there.

10. Taking Care of What You Already Have

Disposable income has Americans all like, “It ain’t a thing if my lawnmower craps out due to neglect and laziness. I’ll just buy a new one.” 

This outlook, which applies to virtually everything from pets to vehicles, comes from the naive belief that abundance lasts forever. The truth is, taking care of the items you already have is one of the soundest financial decisions you can make. Buying a new one is almost always far more expensive than paying to (whether in effort or money) maintain what you have.

11. Taking Advantage of Free Trials and Return Periods

The greatest difference between the wealthy and the chronically broke, one might argue, is self-discipline. Sure, AppleTV+ just dropped a show you want to watch, but that same show will be there in two months when it releases another series you want to watch.

In the era where the average US household spends $61 per month for four services, those who use the free trial, binge the series they want to watch, create a new email, rinse and repeat are saving several hundred dollars per year.

12. Doing Certain Chores Yourself

Some time-management experts teach that if you make $80 per hour and only pay a maid $30 per hour, then it’s worth hiring a maid. However, if you’re paying the maid $30 at the same time you’re paying the landscaper $30 and the handyman $30, all of a sudden, you are losing money.

You can outsource certain chores, especially if you dread them or don’t have the skill to do them yourself. That said, get in the habit of spending downtime doing routine chores (like cleaning). Then, you can’t even make the excuse that “I could be working if I’d paid someone to do this”—it’s free time you’d otherwise be spending watching Netflix.

13. Waiting a Couple Days Before Making Purchases

Impulsivity is the enemy of financial freedom. 

Throw that ottoman or back massager in your Amazon cart, but don’t complete the purchase. You might even “Save for Later,” and find out later that you really needed to save that money rather than spend it.

It turns out, you didn’t really need a third winter coat, nor did your cat need that Catwoman costume you were thiiiiisclose to buying. A night or two’s worth of sleep can bring clarity, and also frugality.

14. Avoiding Contracts and Warranties (Except for Exceptions)

Once you’re locked into a contract, they have you dead to rights. Once you agree to a warranty, there’s no getting out. 

Frugality means having options. If you discover that Verizon’s customer service is terrible and its rates vary at the company’s whim, that contract makes you a prisoner. If you’re month-to-month with Cricket Wireless, you hold the leverage to demand better service or leave.

15. Becoming a Teetotaler 

Many Americans could not envision a life without booze or the occasional toke. As those who have gone straight edge can attest, though, they'd find that life is still worth living without Jack and Jane. In fact, life has gotten far less financially stressful for many who cut out the drink and their drug(s) of preference.

The Alcohol Spending Calculator shows that if you drank three days a week, drinking six beers per day, at $2 per beer, you’d spend almost $1,900 per year. Many people drink well more than that, but odds are they’ve never used the Alcohol Spending Calculator…or extrapolated those annual spendings over a decade or three.