Tell Me Your Favorite Non-Consumer Hack!
by Katy on July 12, 2025 · 40 comments
Today I turn the tables and ask you, dear readers to share your favorite non-consumer hack. That clever little thing you do to:
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Save money
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Make something last longer
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Repurpose
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Repair
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Help your life run smoothly
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Etc.
Here, I’ll get you started. My favorite nonconsumery thing I do is to live with a less than ideal item until I can source a higher quality replacement for free or almost free. Call them “place holders,” but this mindset has saved me thousands of dollars over the years. Whether it was cheap-o plastic outdoor furniture or a dining room light fixture. I practice the art of patience and end up with solutions that might not have occurred to me had I shelled out the big bucks from the get go.
Now your turn, what non-consumer hacks are you most proud of?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
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{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
I DIY my own foaming hand soap. (Regular liquid hand soap + water. You can Google various “recipes” for it.) A friend gave us a 20 oz liquid hand siap she wasn’t taking with her when she moved. That one bottle made enough foaming hand soap to last us almost 1 1/2 years.
I do the exact same thing. I use at least as much water as liquid hand soap (which I buy in large bottles). I also bring home leftover hotel soap bars (if we have used them during our stay) and use them to wash my hands. My hands find bar soap gentler on my skin.
I started to do the same thing recently and I couldn’t believe how long those little soaps last! I used a tiny bar for hand soap in the bathroom and it lasted weeks and weeks!
We bring home all the “trinkets” from hotel and hospital stays (toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, bar soap, plastic bedpans, “puke basins”, no-slip socks, etc.) The socks go to Salvation Army. There is a local charity that deals with medical supplies (crutches, walkers, bedpans, cpap supplies, etc). They take new (like you have excess supplies because the person who used them died) or you have used things you no longer need (walkers, crutches, etc). The organization then gives the items to people who need them and can’t afford them. We give bedpans to them. The other items we use at home.
We too have a local medical supply non-profit that is staffed by volunteers. They have a website where you can ”shop” for a large variety of medical equipment and accessories. Once your cart is complete, you submit and can pick up in person within a day or two usually. I have used them for elderly relative’s needs and for post-surgery items too. It is a wonderful service.
A 4 meal beef chilli made 8 with the addition of a few vegetables from the garden – silverbeet, dried garlic chives, dried capsicum and frozen tomato
I sew. I learned at 13 from my mother (a depression era child who made her own wardrobe). I can sew anything and if I need to, it can be a second income, as it was when I was working at my county library. I didn’t charge a lot, so continued business came in. These days, as a retired person, sewing comforts me, and fills my days, helping me with the burden of my grief, as my only child died at age 32, from cancer. I belong to the local Hospice sewing group, and get out of the house once a month for 4 hours of sewing for Hospice patients.
Trish,
I am sorry for the loss of your child. I am glad that sewing for hospice patients is helpful. Bless you for doing that.
Oh Trish, I’m so sorry for your pain. I can see why sewing is such a comfort for you.
Oh, Trish, I am so sad to hear about your only child.
Hospice is such a great place for people to volunteer. As you are demonstrating, there are needs outside of direct communications with folk who are grieving, and a sewing group would do that – however I can also see that it would be a grand supportive community of like-hearted people, too.
Bless you for doing that sewing!
Memory eternal. ((((hug))))
What a wonderful service you are providing to hospice patients/families. I volunteer at an American Cancer Society Discovery Shop and we have volunteers who do mending so that otherwise worthwhile items can be put out on the floor for sale. Bless you for channeling your grief in a productive manner that benefits others.
Trish,I am so glad you are getting out of the house. Your sewing skills are helping many also receive comfort.I am so sorry for the loss of your child.I almost lost our grown son during Covid,had to be his caregiver, neuro and heart problems, and also his mental health suffered greatly at that time.. for 2 years.He thankfully (mostly) recovered but that feeling will never leave me , of worry and grief. You must have a big heart and I am surrounding you with hugs.
Thank you for sharing your talent to help others and to have comfort from the sewing you do. Peace be with you.
To turn your grief into service for others…honestly, it made my day to hear about this. So easy to feel like no one is doing anything kind for anyone these days. Thank you.
I received a nice stainless steel thermal cup as a door prize. I carry it with me and avoid using disposable plastic cups at church and the neighhood center.. I have a small cloth bag I use to carry it.
I make sure to wash it before heading out.
I spend very little time or money on clothes. I accept clothes from others and I wear the same ones for years on end. I wash most clothes in cold water on a delicate cycle and only spin them on low in the dryer long enough to get the major wrinkles out then hang them to dry. I wear clothing items more than one day before washing them, if they are not dirty or smelly. I tend to stay the same size so I mostly replace clothes when something wears out.
We upcycled the individual small ashtrays we inherited from my in-laws as coasters. I wear mismatched socks around the house.
I never put anything with elastic in the dryer, and seldom use it for the rest of my laundry. Heat kills elastic. My bras and underwear last at least 3x as long, and other clothes last longer, too.
I use cloth napkins, nicer to use, less waste. Cloth dish towels. They take seconds to fold, save money and waste.
I make friends with neighbors and we check on each others’ pets, water plants, etc. Community is a nicer way to live.
1. Didn’t buy an $8 million handbag.
2. Not planning to buy Conde Nast.
3. My favorite hobby is reading, and I prefer old books, so mostly free.
4. Fixing things on my own.
5. Being a very good cook whose food can match most restaurants. That said, I feel utterly rotten today so dinner will be either cereal or buttered noodles with parm.
6. Buying things for life.
Being open-minded is a real benefit. I sold a fairly old looking hose reel box for $20 because it never worked in the space we had it. Once it was gone, I saw a different place where one could go, and very serendipitously, our neighbors put a hose reel box out for free the very day that I sold ours. It was a much nice box and I put it in the newly envisioned spot, and am super happy! $20 in my pocket AND a nicer hose reel box.
At home I keep a bulletin board of community resources that I come across-free lawyers at the library, free paint disposal, etc. It is SO useful when a need comes up for me or a friend.
It’s just my husband and me at home, no pets (so ymmv). We have a small wicker basket-type trash can in the kitchen. I ask on my Buy Nothing group every so often, “Anyone got a pile o’ plastic bags?” I always get dozens of grocery and Target bags. I use those for the trash. We save most small plastic bags (cereal, bread, etc.) and wrap stinky things in them before tossing in the kitchen basket. Because the trash can is small, we take out the trash very often so it never smells…at least inside the house! It takes a good month most of the time for us to accumulate anything like enough trash to bother putting the big black can on the curb.
But I think a much bigger thing for us is, we just don’t shop recreationally. When we do shop, it’s extremely thoughtfully, like purchasing an heirloom quality Amish-made dining table to replace the table we gave to my husband’s daughter when she set up her own home. In the interim, we used a tiny “occasional” table and had fun joking about our “bistro.”
I am in permanent sticker shock over the cost of lamps these days. (A hundred bucks? Are you outta your mind?) So all my table lamps and floor lamps are either hand-me-downs from my parents’ estate or secondhand. I trash-picked 2 floor lamps, one from the curb and one from an apartment complex dumpster. Both still worked! The latter lamp didn’t have a harp so I had to find a shade that had a built-in one; I finally had to get it at Targets (admittedly not very frugal, but it made the lamp presentable). I’ve thrifted several lamps and shades, and often mix and match the shades. I also got 2 floor lamps, the kind with 3 lights on them, for $5 each at a thrift store. I’ve been complimented on my lamps/decor; little did my guests know the lamps’ humble origins!
One gooseneck desk light serves a unique purpose. When my microwave went on the fritz, I couldn’t find a secondhand one so I got one 60% off at Target. When I opened it up, I realized why: you can’t see the buttons. But you can if there is a light directly shining on the control panel. So the gooseneck lamp was brought out of retirement and put on the counter next to the microwave. Its light is positioned to shine on the control panel and now we can use the microwave just fine!
Another slick trick I’ve employed is to use what I have in new ways. Remember the days when microwave ovens were ginormous and too heavy to lift? I had an Amana Radar range and a very sturdy microwave oven cart. The latter now serves as a nightstand. I also upcycled a sewing machine cabinet (sans sewing machine) as a bedside table; it’s tall enough to use beside my very tall king-sized bed. (The frame, headboard, footboard and box springs were from Craigslist. Only the mattress was new and I got it cheap from Sears during a holiday weekend mattress sale.)
And another microwave ($20 from a garage sale and used for 6 or 7 years) that died had a large frosted glass turntable. Coupled with a plant stand, the turntable is now half of a patio table.
A couple of years ago, stores such as Pier One and Kirkland sold wall art that was really a bunch of fancy plates put together. I laughed my head off at that one! Bc in various rooms of my various homes, I’ve done this with actual plates that were from Grandma’s house or thrifted. Some are hand-painted with landscape scenes on them. I’ve found plates make dandy wall art for bathrooms, since the steam won’t harm them.
You know those cheap plastic hanging baskets for plants? I make my patio look extra fancy by hooking thrifted rattan or straw baskets onto the basket part. I usually use binder clips from my desk to do this. I try to trail a vine over the clip, so that it appears that I planted the flowers in the basket. (Note: the fancy baskets will eventually wear out, they don’t weather well, only last a year or two, but they’re a garage sale staple and easy to replace.)
I also upcycle clear Xmas tree lights as patio lights on my covered patio. I can get all I want super cheap at Goodwill or at post-Xmas sales.
Prior to it being hauled off, I took bins from my dead refrigerator and am using them as extra storage.
I save 20-ounce soft drink bottles and reuse them for my brown bag lunches. If I want another soft drink, I just pour it from a 2 L bottle. Much cheaper than buying a soda from an overpriced break room machine! My sandwiches are carried in a (thrifted) plastic Wonderbread container, inside a thrifted cloth lunch bag. Other foods are in leftover plastic containers, like they make fun of on that “turning into your parents” insurance commercial.
Old political campaign signs and Vacation Bible School signs can be redone and used as garage sale signs. Or yard signs protesting against the 34x Felon and his MAGAts.
oooo, your ‘cover the plastic planter with a thrifted basket’ idea has me excited. now to ‘thrift’ in my supply of baskets…. or think of other ways to cover the plant pots. HUH, never occurred to me.
I splurged quite a lot on two 1940s lamps for the cottage rental, but to be honest? They have delighted me way more than their cost. Plus they really just make the living room.
like these
https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images3/1/0923/09/1940-channel-marker-buoy-27-lamp-set_1_b36c24111be5e5f01103e808186b159d.jpg
The red one has a red blinky bulb in the fresnel lens and the black one has a green bulb. Plus the bells ring, I just adore them.
For you landlubbers who’ve never seen a channel marker buoy, here’s a real one.
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/red-channel-marker-navigational-buoy-boston-2496604277
Red right return. Green is on the left, red is on the right.
Learning to do things is probably my best frugal hack: sew, cook from scratch, clean house efficiently, grow a small veggie garden, do household painting, give simple hair cuts, and groom our long-haired dogs and cat. My husband has basic carpentry skills, can rewire lamps, is an excellent gardener, and loves sharpening tools and the lawn mower blade.
In a nutshell, I suppose that my best non-consumer hack is having a very high threshold for boredom.
I don’t go recreationally shopping for retail goods, either IRL or online. (My idea of a big shopping spree is a hot run on the three weekly discounted tag colors at my Salvation Army superstore!)
I don’t have cable TV, or even a TV, period. (My recent big entertainment upgrade was moving my old iMac from my office to the living room to serve as my new DVD player; yes, the iMac is that old.)
And I don’t subscribe to any streaming services, unless you count PBS Passport. (As I told my JASNA and other Anglophile friends when Netflix announced a new Pride and Prejudice, “I didn’t get Netflix for The Crown; I didn’t get it for the Harry and Meghan tell-all; I didn’t get it for the 2022 Persuasion; and I’m damned well not getting it for this one.”)
The daily thing I do that I think adds up over time is the small measuring cup that I use for laundry (1/8th cup works for us). I think if you just eyeball what you think is the right amount, you will use way more.
I’ve been looking for a simple stationary bike for months. I was at my local Goodwill and ran into a thrifty sister. I asked her to keep a lookout for me and we exchanged numbers. Before I even left the store she called and found one on FB Marketplace for $20! So I would say one hack is “putting the word out” as referenced in the Tightwad Gazette.
I have a network of family and friends. We do this all the time. It is wonderful. Going away to college, moving into first apartment of first house, divorce, house fire. People always have stuff they are willing to give away.
I am constantly using paper at work, which is now scrap paper. We have a local printing place that will cut the paper to your specific size for free, so I utilize this for work. Also, if I want to save the paper to be reused again, I will wrap wide clear tape around it so that I don’t have to write this note again (I call it redneck laminating). I have been taking my lunch to work with me since 2010, and now I am making casseroles to cut into squares and take with me. When I want coffee, I drink what is at work and only on M-F, and for the summer, I am bringing in a bucket of ice so that I can have cold coffee and another coworker can have ice for their drink that they bring.
I put my phone on grayscale. It’s easy and makes my phone look like what it really is. A lifeless brain sucking vortex.
I carry cash so I can get a10% discount at a favorite restaurant.
I buy gas at Costco or Sam’s Club and look for them if they are conveniently located when we travel.
I use single ply toilet paper (but also keep the “soft stuff” available for family/guests whose tush’s require it).
I sometimes play the CVS discount/coupon game to my advantage.
I send personal notes vs greeting cards when I can. Sometimes only a certain card will do, but otherwise I just use less expensive stationary that I purchase at thrift stores when I can.
A couple of things I do are:
* I get two haircuts a year for $8.99 at Great Clips. The time in-between I trim my own bangs. I tried cutting my own hair once. Needless to say, paying $22 a year for my hair being cut by a professional is well worth it!
*I have bought lotion on 75% off sale. I cut the tube in half when the tube is pretty much done. It gives me about 10-14 days’ worth of lotion to still use.
*I use the library for a bunch of things… free yoga class once a week, listening to area artists play music, go to speaker events, borrow music and DVDs, and books. I don’t buy books anymore.
The library is my home away from home.
I have 2.
#1 is I learned to ask or speak up. Does anyone want leftovers? Yes please. I am now know as someone who will always take leftovers and lots of times if its fruit or veggies I will make it into something else (like muffins) and share. After Halloween, I come home to pumpkins on my stoop. Sometimes I get a text, sometimes I have to guess who left them. Hubby finds spotted bananas on his desk at work all the time because his boss’s know I will make banana muffins with them and compost the peels. For my daughter’s bridal shower and wedding I was not shy about asking to borrow things: purse, hair accessories, dress for rehearsal dinner etc. I would do a group text and get sent lots of pictures. I made sure everything was cleaned and returned quickly.
#2. I stopped caring what other people thought. In my 20’s I would have died if I thought someone saw me dumpster diving the college dorms. Now I offer stuff to friends and family,things I won’t use. If I see a garage pile and am driving friend’s. I stop. People ask where I got a shirt? Happy to say the thrift store. Older me doesn’t care what people think. Probably because my circle of family and friends are good people. In my 20’s I wasn’t as smart.
Marybeth, I’m all in on both of yours, especially your #2. As I’ve noted in comments on earlier posts, one of the joys of aging is being able to say or think, “You’ve obviously mistaken me for someone who gives a @#$%.” And, like you, I possess a circle of understanding friends and neighbors. Anyone who does not understand gets a short but memorable lesson in non-consumerism. 😀
Cooking at home, almost all mealls is my boiggest frugal hack.Not super creative, but it IS the hack that saves the msot money!! WShen we DO go out to eat I can’t BELIEVE the cost of a meal, the portions (at least I get enough for 1-2 more meals at home) and the amount of fat, butter or oil in the recipes,even in a nice restaurant.It’s just cheaper and healthier to eat at home!
Another hack is having cooking be a HOBBY- -this comes natural to me, but is worth cultivating. You can have FUN in your kitchen learning how to make maybe 10 different basic, yummy meals, the rotating your meals. Cookbooks formt he library make fun reading! I have file folders full of recipes I have learned and love over the years! I still make a frugal tuna pie with cucumber sauce that was a hit during our student days, 40 years ago!!
Thrift stores: I have found Deseret, the Mormon church store near me, to be waaaay cheaper than Goodwill or Savers so that’s the one I go to.I find NYD jeans, pretty tops, shoes, books that are new that I give as gifts..I got my husband a Book of BEST SHORT STORIES for $1.50. for his birthday. When we wanted a monopoly game to play during covid,I found one for $2.00 at Deseret.
ANOTHER FAVE HACK: MAKE “REGULAR LIFE” SPECIAL.I set a table with nice dishes,cloth napkins, and candles and put on a playlist of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra for our Italian dinner nights (spaghetti,homemade meatballs and a salad.) . Patio night dates include playing music on our outdoor speaker and floating in pool,talking. Play loud MOTOWN MUSIC while cleaning the kitchen and dance a little.Just make life more fun! For free!
Learn to love NATURE: Walk, hike, ride a bike.Good for the spirit, good for date days with your partner, and good for your health which all adds us to FRUGAL!
This one is a bit silly but he doesn’t mind: I do a pedicure at home,soak my feet, clip toenails,put lotion on, then I have MY HUSBAND PAINT MY toes for me.I can’t reach and he does a good job. And we giggle. Hey! Free fun,free pedicure.
Frugal date night: Assign each other to find 2 TED TALKS EACH—before Saturday night then play them all with a glass of Trader Joe wine (get the 6 dollar bottle, the 2 buck chuck is truly undrinkable..) and snacks for a date night in front of TV while you learn something or listen to something cool.ALways a surprise the topics my husband will pick.
I am still eating on my card table my momma had when I was five years old. I am 65…. lol. I will eventually replace it with a tiny table that is right sized for my tiny kitchen of one. I am also still using my free stove I was given 13 yrs ago by my ex husband. Only one stove eye works but the oven is still ok. So I agree with Katy. I do the good enough until something shows up for free
or cheap.
My favorite “hack” is to buy structurally sound house ($25,000) in good central location for work, but in a rural not popular location, and to buy cheapest Toyota with good gas mileage I can find, which is a Corolla, since I drive a gazillion miles for work in the five counties I sometimes cover.My other fav hack is to pack my lunch for work. I will add the caveat that I live in a food desert and gas is higher here than bigger towns but I have managed to make it work with a Dollar General in town and with supermarket 20 miles away without usually resorting to Walmart which is 20 miles away in other direction. Oh my fav sleeping hack is to get a sleeping bag rated for ten degrees and sleep in it with either a quilt or wool blanket over it. In the summer my favorite hack is a fan with frozen water bottle or ice cubes in front of it, close all the curtains, open windows with screens, and turn off air conditioner. Clothing is optional.
The truth is that the best frugal hack I did was marry a guy who can fix anything, will eat the same leftovers three days in a row, and does not drink or smoke. We are not opposed to drinking, neither one of us likes the flavor enough to spend money buying any.
My personal frugal hacks are cutting husband’s hair and having him cut mine, not caring about fashion (it certainly helps to live in the colder part of Alaska, where fashion comes second to freezing to death), and having cooking skills. I have never cared about having matching anything in the house, so great savings there. I have a large garden where I grow vegetables that are very expensive in the store, such as leeks, herbs and peas. Finally, I let people know I am happy to be given things, and that if I don’t use them I will pass them on to someone who will. This also includes food items, like potluck leftovers.