10 Tough Budget-Boosting Decisions People Made

Saving money is good, but sometimes the advice on how to do so can be extreme. Have you been given a ridiculous money-saving tip that caused an internal eye roll?

Recently while scrolling an online forum, I uncovered some questionable advice. From freezing toothpaste to using iron water to make tea, these tips will make you laugh or cringe and question their practicality.

1. Sacrificing Enjoyment and Stop Socializing

10 Tough Budget-Boosting Decisions People Made — Image Credit: Shutterstock.

The most ridiculous money-saving tip people have recently encountered is to cancel all subscriptions and stop socializing altogether, essentially sacrificing the enjoyment of life to save a few bucks. They find it tiring when people are told to be miserable to save money or become wealthy.

2. Turning Down Promotions

The number of people who believe turning down a salary raise because it would put them in a higher tax bracket is astounding. One asked, “Why do people think your whole wage would be taxed at 40%?”

3. Stop Buying Avocado Toast

Okay, this sounds like the stop-drinking coffee outside-of-the-home tip. Somebody read a ridiculous money-saving tip that if they stop buying avocado toast, they’ll be able to buy a house, as an Australian journalist said a few years ago. Still, calculations showed that it would take 900 years to save enough for an average Sydney house.

4. Freezing Toothpaste for After-Dinner Mints

Okay, this one is weird. A money-saving tip from a women’s magazine allegedly suggested freezing toothpaste and cutting it into small slices to serve as after-dinner mints. Many expressed disbelief and suggested people shouldn’t host a dinner party if they couldn’t afford $2.99 after-dinner mints.

5. Baking Your Own Bread

“Make your own bread. It’s like free bread!” One user screamed, “NO, it isn’t!” The idea behind making bread to save money was absurd to many in the thread. One noted that you must buy a breadmaker and purchase all the ingredients, then make it yourself, which is hard work and time-consuming.

6. Reusing Water from an Iron to Make Tea

One user confessed to watching a video of a man who demonstrated saving water and electricity by recycling the water in his iron after ironing shirts into a mug for tea! “It was weird in and of itself, but he had to put the cuppa into the microwave for ten seconds to heat it properly.”

7. Get a Better Paying Job

Well, isn’t this one duh dumb? Gee, Sherlock, why didn’t I think of that? People who say this are disconnected from the reality of that statement. What happens when we all get “better jobs.” How about we start paying living wages?

8. Charge Electronics at Work

Once, someone was advised to charge their phone and battery banks at work to save on electricity costs but pointed out that the cost of charging a phone for a year is relatively low. Additionally, they cautioned against buying new appliances like air fryers solely for energy savings.

9. Upgrading Appliances for Cost Savings

Although newer machines may be more energy-efficient, the savings in running costs will take years to recoup the additional capital spent on a new machine. Hence, replacing an appliance that is still working well is not worth replacing for minuscule savings on energy efficiency.

10. The Necessity of Basic Comforts

Finally, a person was vehemently against the idea of denying oneself necessities like warm showers to save money, arguing that there must be something fundamentally wrong with a society that expects people to live in such misery.