Frugal people open up about how they save money.
Saving money is never a bad thing. And for those looking for economical solutions for how to cut back on spending, a smart place to start is taking an inventory of your spending habits and what you buy.
In an online forum of frugal people, member TS1664 posed the question to fellow savvy financial members: "What’s something you stopped buying completely and don’t miss at all?"
They continued, "For me it’s paper towels. Switched to rags and microfiber cloths a year ago and haven’t looked back. I used to go through a roll a week without thinking, now I just toss the cloths in with regular laundry. Saves money and space."
And they ended the post with some more insight. "It made me realize how many things I was buying out of habit, not need. What things others have cut out completely that turned out to be no big deal or even better without. Could use some inspiration!"
The callout garnered some excellent real-life advice from frugal people. These are 30 things that thrifty people shared they stopped buying completely that helped save them money.
Make It Rain Money GIF by A Little Late With Lilly SinghGiphy
"Dryer sheets." Super-Examination594
"Starbucks - bought an espresso machine, took some time to learn how to dial it in and pull a proper shot. It’s been 4+ Years and don’t miss it one bit." Fox_137
"Makeup! Used to wear it every day and buy tons of it to try new products and such. Now I only wear it for special occasions. It works great — even just a little bit of makeup really pops when you hardly ever wear any." VerschwendeMeineZeit
"Soda. Too expensive now. Pre-pandemic, sometimes Kroger would have a sale (4) 12-packs for $10." NotJimIrsay
"Cigarettes 😊." rickety_picket
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"Bottled water." WorriedPermission872
"Most fast food but especially McDonald's and bk. When I paid $20 for two adults' meals, it stopped making sense, and I'll cook better burgers and better sides fries at home for less." diegothengineer
"Cable tv subscription." nombreusuario
"Pizza delivery service. Frozen meals are just as unhealthy, but much cheaper." The_Keri2
"We started our pizza making journey by buying dough (under $2) at trader joe's. it really lowered the barrier to entry. once we kind of perfected the bake etc, we started playing with dough recipes until we found one we loved. it sounds painful but it was a good learning experience and fun to do together." suddenlymary
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"I stopped buying scented candles. I used to grab them all the time on impulse, but they’re expensive, don’t last that long, and honestly gave me headaches half the time. Now I just open a window or boil some citrus peels with cloves if I want the place to smell nice." HollisWhitten
"Cigarettes and nicotine pouches! Been smoke free since august 2021 and pouch free since July 2024 :)." HueLord3000
"Amazon Prime. We stopped paying for the privilege of shopping and making money for Bozo. Now, we just put stuff in the cart until there is enough for free shipping. I don’t miss Prime, I never found anything on Prime video I wanted to watch once that wasn’t a rental. We live in a rural village, so online is cheaper than driving 25 to 50 miles to a store." cwsjr2323
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"Lottery tickets." evissamnoisis
"Hair color. I’ve embraced the gray!" phishinfordory
"I’ll add sandwich bread. I started making my own. It costs just over $1 for me to make a small loaf that’s just enough for the 2 of us for a week. Plus no additives or preservatives." BeerWench13TheOrig
"Books. I go to the library." Significant-Emu1855
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"Broth. Have an ongoing 'broth bag' going in the freezer. Once I run out of frozen broth cubes, I make another round." Colorfulplaid123
"New clothes from shops! I'm now a charity shop and Vinted gal, my clothes are so much better quality and I spend less." CorinaPhoto
"Bidet toilet seat is cheap, easy to install, much easier and faster to use, and most importantly will keep you far cleaner while not wasting any toilet paper." hopopo
"Menstrual products. Bought a menstrual cup back in 2016 and have not looked back." simply-misc
"Chip clips. I buy cheap old wooden clothespins! Works great and if they break, no biggie. It’s $2 for 24. I also use clear shower caps for dishes I have no lids for or it’s something that can’t have a lid, like deviled eggs. I use the shower caps. Much cheaper than those bowl covers they sell 8-12 in a pack for $1.25. Those bowl covers are kind of pricey and you get 1 large and 2 mediums and a bunch of tiny ones!!" Florida1974
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"Alcohol." Fit_Artichoke_523
"Baked beans in the can, I literally keep everything on hand to make it so it was an excess purchase. Instant rice packs, I make regular rice, 20 minutes is not that long 😆 We keep getting gifted napkins but we don’t purchase them." Miss_Pouncealot
"Soap in a pump bottle. Switched to bars (Costco). So much value, less trash and plastic, and a better experience. Why did we invent pump bottle soap??" thebiglebowskiisfine
Michael Butler saved his family from a fatal house fire in October 2024.
Five-year-old Michael Butler is a hero. Early in the morning on October 2, 2024, the family’s trailer in rural Jonesville, Louisiana, had caught on fire, quickly engulfing it in flames. Michael woke from a deep sleep after hearing a message from God.
“Michael told us he received a message from God that said he needed to go wake his mama and daddy up,” Chaya Butler, Michael’s mother tells Upworthy. His dad, Trenten, adds, “We were woken up by him screaming.”
Michael had run from the far end of the trailer through fire to reach his parents bedroom, suffering burns on his back from melting nails in the roof and to his face after falling into a melted plastic laundry basket on his parent’s bedroom floor. The hand he used to open the bedroom door was scalded, but none of it stopped him.
Trenten and Chaya Butler pose with their children.GoFundMe
“After he woke us up, we struggled to get out of the bedroom. We couldn’t see anything because the smoke was so thick and we went to the wrong door 3 times thinking it was our bedroom door [and way out],” Chaya says.
“It was terrifying. The only thing on my mind was getting my family out,” says Trenten.
Chaya and Trenten were able to get Michael's little sister out of the home, as well as two other family members who were staying with them. However, two other family members did not survive, as well as four family pets.
The devastating night could have resulted in an even more catastrophic outcome and the family credits Michael’s faith with saving their lives. “We had been going to church every Sunday. Never missed a service,” says Trenten. “We had gotten baptized, and we were heavy with the Holy Ghost. Michael was praising the Lord, praying and going to the altar. He would pray before eating and going to bed.”
Michael escaped with severe burns that required him to undergo four different surgeries, including skin grafts, at The Manning Family Children's Burn Center in New Orleans. (His family also suffered burns that have left scars.) However, Michael’s feet were spared–something his family calls miraculous.
Michael Butler poses at the The Manning Family Children's Burn Center.The Manning Family Children's Burn Center
“Michael was barefoot. There is no way he walked through the house without burns on his feet without God. God’s protection was over him the whole way,” says Trenten.
During his recovery, Michael continued to persevere. “He had a cast on for a while, but he was resilient; he didn't let it slow him down or stop him,” adds Trenten.
The family has slowly been rebuilding their life and coping with lasting nightmares from October 2, 2024. (The family has started GoFundMe.)
“It has definitely been a journey. There are a lot of questions that haven’t been answered. Why us?” says Trenten. “God gives his toughest battles to His strongest warriors. We will never be back to ‘normal’ but we are making our own normal. We’re slowly getting there. Rock bottom isn't always the bottom–you can always come back up. We definitely hit that. But having your life is just as beautiful. ”
However, they hope others will be inspired by their story and their son Michael’s strong spiritual connection.
“Even if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, God is always with you,” says Chaya.
The evolution of candles from lighting necessity to scented ambience creator is kind of funny. For thousands of years, people relied on candles and oil lamps for light, but with the invention of the light bulb in 1879, fire was no longer needed for light. At that time, people were probably relieved to not have to set something on fire every time they wanted to see in the dark, and now here we are spending tons of money to do it just for funsies.
We love lighting candles for coziness and romance, relishing their warm, soft light as we shrink from the fluorescent bulb craze of the early 2000s. Many people use candles for adding scent to a room, and there are entire candle companies just for this purpose (Yankee Candles, anyone?). As of 2022, candles were an $11 billion business. Michael Scott once said they're the number one fastest growing product in the scent aroma market.
Bonfire, James Bonfire!Giphy
With their widespread use, you'd think we'd know a thing or two about candles, but as it turns out, a whole bunch of us have been burning candles wrong our entire lives without knowing it.
A recent post on Twitter X started the education session:
"Just learned that my fiancé, who buys candles all the time and we literally always have candles burning, did not actually know how they work and blew out a medium first burn candle 30 minutes after I lit it when I wasn’t paying attention and ruined it," the user wrote.
Many people had no idea what she was talking about. In fact, the original since-deleted post went viral with hundreds of people asking: Huh? So the OP explained.
"If a candle is not burned for long enough on first burn to melt edge to edge it will create a 'memory ring.' Once a candle has a memory ring, it will continue to tunnel and never burn all the way across."
Now THAT'S something almost everyone has experienced. Candles are pretty expensive, so it's frustrating when all that delicious-smelling wax gets left behind. Apparently, a short first burn (in this case, just 30 minutes) is one of the main culprits of a ruined candle.
Tunneling is the name of the phenomenon where a narrow tube-shaped area of candle continues to burn deeper and deeper, leaving lots of "waste" wax around its edges. Experts agree that the first burn should last 2-4 hours at least to avoid an uneven or narrow memory ring. (But don't burn a candle for over 10 hours at a time or you risk too much carbon buildup on your wicks.)
"If a candle is not burned for long enough on first burn to melt edge to edge it will create a 'memory ring.' Once a candle has a memory ring, it will continue to tunnel and never burn all the way across."
Witches must have really known the ins and outs of candle burning.Giphy
"This is why you should not light a large candle at night, which is unlikely to burn all the way across before you need to blow out to go to bed. Allow at least one hour per inch of candle width," she went on.
So that's why candles always end up with a hole in the middle, making us think the candle companies are just running a scam to make us go through candles faster. Nope. It's user error, and many people were flabbergasted by this realization.
"This is the most useful information I’ve been given my entire adult life," wrote one person.
"This skill should be taught in schools," shared another. "The amount I’ve wasted on half burnt candles is outrageous, the amount of times I’ve used Algebra since leaving school = 0."
"When I worked at Pier 1 in the 90s I got to go to some candle workshop that taught us the correct way to use (and therefore sell) candles and that is probably some of the most useful knowledge I've carried in my head this long life," shared another.
Well, never say 'never,' because here's the good news: a tunneled candle can be fixed!
Probably the easiest way is to avoid tunneling your candles in the first place by burning them long enough upon first burn to liquify the entire top layer of wax. Again, that's usually 2-4 hours.
It also helps to care for the wicks regularly! Good wicks allow for a clean, even burn. Trim the burnt ends before lighting the candle and, if possible, use a snuffer instead of blowing out the flames with your mouth. Using a candle warmer is another way to get an even melt; with the added perk of making the scented wax last much, much longer.
But even if you do accidentally "ruin" a candle, it can be recovered. Placing a ring of foil around the candle with just a small opening at the top for the flame will help trap heat and help the edges of the wax melt on the next burn. Once the memory ring evens out, you can burn the candle like normal again.
(In fact, you can even use a candle warmer to melt the wax back to even and then resume burning. Some clever candlers even put candles on the hot pad of their coffee makers as a DIY hack.)
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
The candle posts also prompted a separate discussion about candles and indoor air quality and the volatile organic compounds that are released when they are burned.
Some people equated burning candles with having a small engine running in your living room, though according to the Cleveland Clinic, there's scant evidence that the amount of toxins released by burning candles is actually hazardous to your health, especially if you use high quality candles in a well-ventilated area.
Don't worry, a tunneled candle can be recovered again. Photo by Rebecca Peterson-Hall on Unsplash
How do you know if a candle is "high quality"? First, check the wick for metal. Lead in wicks is not nearly as common as it used to be, but best not to risk it if you find metal in the wick. Second, choose soy, beeswax, palm or coconut wax candles instead of paraffin, which is petroleum-based product and more likely to put off soot and smoke particles. Everyone reacts differently to different amounts of particulates in the air, so if you find yourself getting headaches or respiratory symptoms when using candles, it's probably best to avoid them.
But if you tolerate them, feel free to enjoy as recommended,—just make sure that first burn melts the wax all the way to the edges to avoid the dreaded tunneling.
This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.
A doctor is analyzing brain scans.
Death remains one of the greatest mysteries of life. It’s impossible to know what happens as a person passes and whether there’s anything afterward because no one has ever been able to report what happens from beyond the grave. Of course, if you ask those with a keen interest in the supernatural, they may say otherwise.
However, in 2021, researcher Dr. Raul Vicente and his colleagues at the University of Tartu, Estonia, became the first people ever to record the brainwaves of someone in the process of dying, and what they’ve come to realize should be very comforting to everyone. “We measured 900 seconds of brain activity around the time of death and set a specific focus to investigate what happened in the 30 seconds before and after the heart stopped beating,” Dr. Ajmal Zemmar, a neurosurgeon at the University of Louisville, US, who organized the study, told Frontiers.
The patient who died while having his brain waves measured was 87 years old and had epilepsy. While researchers were studying his brain to learn more about the condition, the man had a heart attack and passed away. “Just before and after the heart stopped working, we saw changes in a specific band of neural oscillations, so-called gamma oscillations, but also in others such as delta, theta, alpha, and beta oscillations,” Zemmar said.
The different types of brain oscillations that occurred in the patient before and after the heart attack were associated with high cognitive functions, including dreaming, concentrating, memory retrieval, and memory flashbacks. Therefore, it’s possible that as the patient was dying, they had their life flash before their eyes. What an amazing and comforting experience right before leaving this mortal coil.
A woman in a black void confronts a great light.Canva Photos
“Through generating oscillations involved in memory retrieval, the brain may be playing a last recall of important life events just before we die, similar to the ones reported in near-death experiences,” Zemmar speculated. “These findings challenge our understanding of when exactly life ends and generate important subsequent questions, such as those related to the timing of organ donation.”
How long are people conscious after they are technically dead?
Science has found that people can remain conscious up to 20 seconds after they are declared dead. Even after the heart and breathing have stopped, the cerebral cortex can hang on for a little while without oxygen. So, some people may experience the moment when they hear themselves declared dead, but they aren’t able to move or react to the news. In cases where someone performs CPR on the deceased person, the blood pumped by the compressions can temporarily keep the brain alive as well.
Although the experience of death will probably always remain a mystery, we should take solace in the idea that, in many cases, it may not necessarily be a miserable experience but an ecstatic final burst of consciousness that welcomes us into the great beyond. “Something we may learn from this research is: although our loved ones have their eyes closed and are ready to leave us to rest, their brains may be replaying some of the nicest moments they experienced in their lives,” Zemmar concludes.
A man peacefully passes away. Canva Photos
This article originally appeared in February.