Let’s take a look at 20 funny ways to save money.
Honestly this list is a little cringe, but you know what, I’m here for the journey.
This list is based on things I’ve done to save money over the years. Though some are pretty crazy, I think we can all look back and laugh at our ramen-noodle-soup-for-dinner college days. You feel me?
Hopefully, you laugh and maybe you’ll even be inspired to get a little creative with your own savings journey.
1. Stood in line for 12 hours for a $300 designer wedding dress
Starting with a bang. This was probably one of the craziest things I’ve ever done to save money.
Looking back, it was kind of pathetic that I did this.
In the same breath though, the joke is on me because I did end up finding my wedding dress nearly 12 hours later. We woke up before 4 am to line up at the bridal store that had declared bankruptcy and dresses for all for $300, no matter the original price. It was about 2 pm when we finally walked out of the shop with a dress because of how many others had shown up to get in line (which we did not expect).
I should also mention that we stood in line to get the chance to get a dress. After hours of waiting, once inside, we had to struggle to get a dressing room and joined 30+ other brides and their moms looking for a dress. The situation that had started as a fun idea to potentially get a deal on a dress had turned into something completely different, but there was no turning back in our minds.
If I hadn’t been horrible at decisions, I would have already picked a dress. But I couldn’t decide even after trying too many dresses to count. This was mainly because of price point felt like too much to justify. Thankfully, I finally decided to pick a dress that I did like. It was two sizes too big, but I was able to get it altered. With alterations, it ended up costing right around $500.
Alfred Angelo was the designer that had gone bankrupt. I can’t even remember what the original price was. We may have saved $1,000, I’m honestly not even sure at this point. I can now say this is one of the
2. Worked until 5 AM filling up water containers to save $160
One of my favorite hobbies is dancing. It is a partnered dance that is not as street as hip hop, but not as rigid as ballroom dance.
Anyway, I like attending competitions and social dancing the night away at events across the U.S. These events tend to add up pretty quickly in price. One time, I volunteered to work the social dance floor from midnight to 5 am for two nights to get a free pass. My duties entailed carting water from the back of the hotel kitchen area and refilling all the water jugs around the entire ballroom. I only had to fill up the water a few times each.
I ended up saving $160 for those 10 ish hours. It wasn’t a constant job monitoring and refilling containers, so I could still dance and enjoy the event.
3. Waited for something to go on sale at a thrift store
This is a simple one, but funny nonetheless. Weekly visits to the thrift store were something my mom and I shared when I was younger. We went so often I could trend sales and sometimes chose to wait for items to go on sale the following week before purchasing. This works for department stores as well.
I have saved tons of money on clothes doing this throughout the years. It takes time and patience and you win some and lose some, but we don’t ever actually need the clothes so it’s a risk worth taking.
4. Paid $800 worth of my internet bill to hit a credit card minimum spend
This is a great life hack when using credit cards to travel hack. When I signed up for my Southwest Credit Card, I had to spend $5,000 in 4 months to get the sign-on bonus. We ended up pre-paying quite a few bills to reach this goal and were able to get free flights to Maui in doing so.
The hack is to choose a bill you’ll pay all year anyway. Then you can call and pre-pay for the rest of the year. This way you aren’t spending the extra money to get your bonus, just frontloading things. The bill will come out of the credit in your account.
Pro tip: Make sure to turn off automatic payments when you do this and turn them back on after your pre-paid amount is over. While a somewhat funny way to save money, this is a solid travel hack.
5. Petitioned my college dean to allow me to take upper-level college classes
I found out I could graduate college faster and cheaper using CLEP once I was already in college. This meant I needed to skip taking many freshmen-level courses while I was a freshman to test out of the general ed classes on the list. To fill my schedule, I had to petition the Dean to allow me to register for sophomore and junior level classes my first few semesters so I could study and test out of the lower level classes between semesters. This was a rather odd petition but ended up saving thousands of dollars.
6. Studied between semesters to test out of general ed classes
The next phase of this plan was putting in the work to study and take CLEP exams between my regular semesters. This approach made perfect sense to me at the time, but it was certainly a funny notion to others.
I enjoyed cutting off a year of my Bachelor’s degree by studying to take CLEP exams. Many people like to use the first year of general ed classes to truly figure out what they want to do. While I did struggle with knowing what to major in, I still thought it would be beneficial to test out of the basic classes so I could make room to take more upper-level classes to help me figure out my future.
7. I almost always book the cheapest nonstop flight
Unless it’s a flight that arrives at 1 am the following day, I always book the cheapest nonstop flight going and coming. This usually means, staying out of town for 4 -5 hours more than I really need to, but it’s just too much for me to spend the extra $100 – $140 dollars for the perfect sweet spot afternoon flight home on a Sunday. I always choose to wait around until 7 or 8:30 p.m. to save the money. I realize time is money, but this choice also makes my trip a little less hectic.
8. Gone to dinner with friends and just ordered tap water
I haven’t ever sought to do this, but on road trips with friends, I have found myself at dinner without any intention of ordering anything. The times I had plans to meal prep to save money during a trip sometimes meant going to dinner with the group and just not ordering. I’d eat beforehand and just go to hang out.
9. Pumped gas in $5 increments to hit a certain number of swipes on a card
This is more about making money than saving. We run a checking account that requires at least 15 $5 swipes a month to get a 4% return on up to 10k in the checking account a year. We don’t naturally swipe the card that much, so many times I find myself swiping away at the gas pump in $5 increments. It’s worth the extra time to get 4% a year on that money.
10. Eaten trail mix for dinner more times than I can count
Trail Mix for dinner? Don’t mind if I do. Trail mix isn’t cheap, but it is a good bang for a buck in terms of calorie density and longevity. The theme of leveraging my meals and nutrition to save money is not my proudest moment, but this is the reality of what I did to save 75% of my income at my entry-level job.
11. Slept on a pool float to split a hotel room with 5 girls
Hotels tend to add up. So, at a couple of west coast swing events, I slept on a pool float so we could fit 5 girls in one hotel room. This was one of many creative ways we found to save money doing dance events. The sleep wasn’t the best, but the savings and the chance to go to more events were worth it at the time.
12. Stayed in hostels on my first backpacking trip to Europe
I visited Europe with my brother right after I graduated college. I was 20 and had been extremely frugal my entire life. The Europe trip was the most money I had ever spent (around $4,000). Needless to say, I overthought spending every penny and came up with all kinds of ways to save money. The main one was staying in hostels. Although we never felt comfortable enough to stay in the open bunk areas that are the cheapest options in hostels, we settled for the rudimentary rooms that hostel living allowed and saved on hotel costs.
13. Slept in a rental car to save on a hostel stay in Europe
This was really dumb. I’m not sure why I was so adamant that we spend at least one night in the rental car. I think I was seriously shell-shocked at spending so much money and wanted to offset all the (not even expensive) hostel and bed and breakfast stays.
The lights in the parking garage were bright, but we slept fine all things considered. It was the next morning waking up at 6 am desperately needing to pee that was the kicker. We drove around for an hour waiting for cafes to open so we could pee and brush our teeth.
14. Bought only one fork to eat Ravioli while backpacking Europe
Let’s see. How does this story go? I think I was so enamored with cutting corners to save money the whole Europe trip that when it came to buying 4 cans of ravioli at the gas station in Ireland to replace a couple of meals, I convinced my brother that we only needed one fork. This is probably the dumbest thing on this list. We ate two meals each of ravioli with that one fork.
While we did get our fair share of croissants and cappuccinos, we honestly didn’t buy a ton of sit-down meals while in Europe to avoid the cost. If I could go back, I’d definitely tell myself to chill out. It wasn’t like I didn’t have money. I had been a saver my whole life. I had the money but was too nervous to spend too much since I hadn’t found my ‘big girl’ job yet after graduation. The single fork has become sort of a running joke.
15. Booked off-season tickets and still went swimming in Cinque Terre
Let’s stick with this European trend we have going. The second time I went to Europe was years later with my husband. We went during the fall when the weather begins to be a little cooler in mid to late October. And if you’re wondering, yes, we ate our way through Europe, including a few bottles of wine.
The October tickets happened to be the best deal I could find since it’s considered the shoulder season. I just also really hoped to be able to swim while we were there. The frigid water didn’t stop us. Italian cold plunge anyone? We just froze a little and made good memories regardless.
16. Asked for a Discount on Thrifted Clothes
I am notorious for always asking for a discount or deal on a thrifted item if I find a defect, which is often, I mean, it’s thrifted for a reason. If the defect is small enough that I still want the item, I will almost always ask for a discount. Sometimes they say yes, and sometimes they say no. It never hurts to ask. Sometimes I put the item back and sometimes I go through with buying it, depending on the answer.
17. Taken a Free Cooking Class to Get a 3 Course Meal in Samples
My local supermarket had a free cooking class hosted every Tuesday evening during the summer. It was a fun time learning about cooking. The chef was very entertaining and we’d all get to sample little bits of the three courses he cooked. This was usually enough to save me dinner.
18. Asked for a Labor Day deal that had already passed
One time I called Zappos the day after the Labor Day sale ended and got them to give me the deal. I’m not sure if it was just Zappos’s stellar customer service, or if this would have worked with other suppliers, but don’t hesitate to ask for that discount.
In my case, I saved 20% on an almost $200 Osprey backpack that I planned to bring with me on my second Italy trip.
19. Asked for discounted overnight shipping
I pulled a similar move on a sweater jacket that I ended up buying in the wrong size. I needed the jacket for my trip so I needed overnight shipping. The cost was a little outrageous, so I ended up calling the customer service line and getting a discounted rate on the shipping.
Keep in mind this won’t always work. It’s usually a good idea to call early and be persistent. Customer service reps usually have a set amount they can give without having to check with their manager. This is the sweet spot you’re trying to hit.
20. Not Flush the Toilet Every Trip to Save on Water
This can obviously only work in certain situations and should be relegated to a home-only practice. Peeing frequently doesn’t have to mean dumping a gallon of water every 45 minutes. I can’t say I’ve seen the savings on my water bill, but the idea is there and it feels less wasteful.
Funny Ways to Save Money Round Up
So there we have it. Some fun and maybe odd ideas for saving money.
I think many times doing the inconvenient thing to save money is seen as pathetic or not “living life”, but I’d argue living life looking for ways to save money while doing the things you enjoy is a smart way to live.
We don’t always have to book out-of-season vacations or work during an event, but developing an eye for ways to save money and not being afraid to put in a little work can go a long way. I like to see choices to save as little adjustments that don’t detract too much from life, but that adds up when it comes to your bank account.
Leveraging the Ridiculous
And yes, there are some ridiculous things on the list, but sometimes we have to do ridiculous things to get ahead. Like leveraging our comforts to save money. When you’re just starting out, you can’t travel and have everything the way you’d want it to be. At least in my case, I couldn’t justify overspending when there were ways to save.
And of course, we don’t always have to live a life that is so leveraged. At some point in life when we’re better off, working a better job and working an investment strategy, we naturally reach a point where it’s time to trade more money for more nutrition or more money for comfort or convenience.
I’m starting to enjoy that stage over the past few years. It is funny to look back on the early days of scraping by being creative with our money. I think most of us have lived through that stage.
