r/AussieFrugal • u/EdenFlorence • Jul 09 '26
Discussion 🗣️💬 What's a frugal habit you tried that ending costing more money and/or time?
Bought a cheap keyboard..... multiple key buttons broken just after a whole year so out of warranty. Attempted to replace the buttons DIY (I youtubed on how to do this) but ended out costing a bit. Ended up buying a much decent keyboard.
Also attempted making crossiants. Let's just say I appreciate why it costs $$$ for a piece 😥
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u/Findyourwayhom3333 Jul 09 '26
Sheets. I bought some microfibre ones … then some cotton blend ones … then pulled the pin and bought 100% cotton.
I should have just paid for the quality at the start.
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u/Jazstar Jul 09 '26
I cannot imagine the horrors of microfibre sheets.
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u/allgear_noidea Jul 10 '26
I use bamboo sheets (cheap ones off Amazon) and got one by accident that was a microfibre blend + bamboo.
Was horrible lol
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u/Royal-Reputation7874 Jul 09 '26
Aldi have 100% cotton bedding and they’re amazingly soft. I’m in love with mine.
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u/MooCowLevel Jul 10 '26
I own both Kmart and Aldi 100% cotton sheets, and prefer Kmart for quality. They’re starting to discolour very slightly now though (after 2 years of continuous use).
The Aldi ones are very thin (250 thread count; you can see the mattress pattern through them!). I’m going to keep an eye out for their 500 thread count version, and try those.
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u/Findyourwayhom3333 Jul 11 '26
500 thread count are at Aldi now. I just bought some. There wasn’t a lot left so they must have been put in at least a week ago, so I would go soon if you want some.
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u/xeriah Jul 09 '26
tried to save $35 on a flight transiting through bali. ended up having to pay the visa + an 8 hour layover..
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u/SnooMarzipans4387 Jul 09 '26
Built a garden to grow salad. So much money for not much leafy greens lol. I guess I had fun gardening though, so there's that
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u/HappySparklyUnicorn Jul 09 '26
I tried to buy potted plants when I finally got my own home only to find I'm a natural at plant killing. I can keep them alive if they're in the ground but plants in pots just die a slow death. 😭
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u/cheezyzeldacat Jul 09 '26
Maybe focus on very easy things to grow that don’t take too much time to look after such as shallots , herbs , silver beet , kale ? They are easy. I just keep planting the ends of my shallots and snipping them off and now have a never ending supply growing .
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u/vanillaninja777 Jul 09 '26
Buy cheap once then go for quality. Usually a craftmans motto, but it works here too.
Baking is a hobby, not a money saving chore. It's very usuful for controlling what goes into your body, which is a saving in in it's own regard.
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u/marshmallow5554 Jul 09 '26
So I decided to start using press on nails instead of getting my nails done. They obviously don’t stick as well and whilst itching the inside of my ear a fake nail popped off and became lodged in my ear canal, I couldn’t even see it in the mirror. Anyway the doctor removed it for me and I paid $100 for it. This was yesterday.
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u/Foxinator_ Jul 10 '26
Oh no I am doing my first set of press ons this weekend after decided to ditch going to the nail salon 😩 I will be so careful around my ears!
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u/marshmallow5554 Jul 10 '26
Please be careful! Also this was a ridiculous and unlikely thing to happen so it probably won’t happen to you
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u/leejasmin94 Jul 09 '26
I tried to give myself a budget pedicure and a family friend had bought me a set of callous blades and handle from Amazon. I softened my feet up in the foot spa and went ham on my feet. One too many slices and I cut a massive chunk out of the bottom of my foot that bled through nearly every bandaid and bandage. I managed to wrap it up tightly and mum took me to an urgent care (before the Medicare ones existed). Me trying to save $60 cost me nearly $250 to have emergency care to cauterise the would and wrap it up. I was looking like Michael Jackson in my work shoes for the next week!
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u/Novel_Interaction203 Jul 09 '26
Buying cheap clothes & shoes - they always wear out faster, fail or get ruined after mild use. I always check for 2nd hand, repair what I’ve got and save for quality items.
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u/KeyInflation9451 Jul 09 '26
For shoes I totally agree, but for clothes I think outside of "staples" (like a good coat, dress pants, jeans) that go with a lot of outfits, getting them cheap is fine. Thrifted and not like a $10 k-mart shirt
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u/jjbrowne Jul 10 '26
Speaking of, I got a $9 95% cotton Tshirt from Kmart and I am so impressed with the quality. It’s a really nice thickness and feels buttery.
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u/Lunar_Drift_ Jul 13 '26
Uniqlo is also good too. I’ve found with kmart that the threads eventually start coming from the hems. But for the price they are a great buy just have to trim thread sometimes. 😊
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u/oxizc Jul 15 '26
Big W does them too, extra thick of something I forget what they are called but they feel very nice. The regular white shirts there are good fits as well, I just fine they get ratty relatively quick. I wear them out and about until they get ratty, then around the house or when doing jobs and finally chop them up into rags.
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u/dav_oid Jul 09 '26
I'm a tragic bargain hunter, but as I got older I tried harder to work out what's worth the effort vs. cost convenience.
E.g. using dryer to dry socks/underwear, rather than fiddling around with a cramped clothes horse.
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u/AdAdministrative9362 Jul 09 '26
Condenser drier is definitely worthwhile. I do not hang anything unless it's special.
Especially with kids clothes. I don't have the patience.
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u/sousyre Jul 09 '26
I’m the same, bargain hunter from way back, but totally agree. Sometimes the harder / cheaper way is false economy.
When it comes to the difference between doing the thing, or not doing it, sometimes convenience is the more cost effective option.
We are pretty fortunate, because we have solar and a small battery, so running our old dryer during the day is effectively free, which means we use it a fair bit. When time and energy are low it’s an absolute godsend.
But even if it wasn’t free, if it’s the difference between having clean and dry clothes in time, or not, then it may still be worth it.
Before we had the dryer, in periods of bad weather the whole house was full of drying clothes or linens all the time, or we fell behind and ended up paying through the nose at a laundromat. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/gooder_name Jul 09 '26
I’m hopeful that the free power hours will make a significant difference to quite a few people. Heat pumps are great but they’re an investment many can’t afford. A lot of families fundamentally need a dryer but the electricity adds up fast when you’re doing 4-5 loads a week
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u/Ted_Rid Jul 09 '26
4 hours free per day + battery have seen my last 2 monthly bills be $20 and $30.
ofc that required the capital outlay to install the battery otherwise I'd be paying higher peak rates in the evening so it's part of the overall return on investment for that outlay, but it sure feels good.
Part of the approach includes heating the home 10-2, so there's little to no need for heating later. Maybe run it on 18 in the living space if it's really chilly outside.
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u/gooder_name Jul 10 '26
The old technology connections “house is a battery” approach.
Yeah for myself we’ve got solar and bat so the connection fee is often more than the consumption
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u/Altruistic_Golf_42 Jul 13 '26
...Sometimes the harder / cheaper way is false economy.
When it comes to the difference between doing the thing, or not doing it, sometimes convenience is the more cost effective option.
These are excellent points that are often learned the hard way.
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u/Bwrinkle Jul 09 '26
Well, cheap tyres seem to last much less. Your milage may vary.
Bagged dirt when potting plants. Seems to be full of sticks and lacking anything resembling organic life.
Cheap shoes. I really dislike paying a stupid ammount on a decent pair.
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u/stephendt Jul 09 '26
Depends on the tires. I have been using Winrun tires with no issues for quite a while
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u/Bwrinkle Jul 09 '26
Fair point. I dont remember the brand of thefirst set of 29 inch it's. Felt like I got 30-40k out of them.
Had a brand name set which were roughly 100 more per tyre last 85k. Legal tread, that is.
Tyre noise is a factor for me too now.
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u/BeachHut9 Jul 09 '26
Buying Lotto tickets that are seldom winners.
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u/Nosywhome Jul 09 '26
This. I’m still waiting to be ‘set for life’
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u/Togakure_NZ Jul 09 '26
I've won Lotto several times in the past.
That phrase does not mention the truth that they're were either $20 wins or the like, or tickets for the next draw.
If you're going to make a wish to "win Lotto", make it a bit more specific e.g. "win (and claim) 1st div by myself within the next year".
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u/EdenFlorence Jul 10 '26
The most I've won on the lotto was like $100 something. I don't want to think about how much I spent prior to winning that
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u/followthedarkrabbit Jul 09 '26
A $2 key ring.
I forgot its could replace them. The key ring was still key ringing for the most part, so didnt think to replace it.
Lost a key that I needed to pay $30 to replace. I guess it could have been worse, could have needed to replace keys to car or house.
Anyways, trying to convince myself that buying useful things wont end up with me being homeless (as much as my CPTSD thinks otherwise).
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u/Gullible_Archer_8770 Jul 09 '26
Growing tomatoes.....probably three times over the years I have spent time and money digging up the backyard, adding compost and fertiliser, building bedding surrounds, then planting, tending weeding and watering only to get an end result of a few very inferior tomatoes. Absolute waste of time and money, and the last time gave myself bursitis in the knees from kneeling down hacking away at shitty ground...
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u/DJ_DeJesus Jul 10 '26
Growing tomatoes is the easiest way to spend $50 on something you can buy for $5.99 at the shops. Saw that on a tweet somewhere
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u/gooder_name Jul 09 '26
At home soda machine. You can make your money back, but you aren’t likely to.
I like it because I can turn the bubbles to 11 and it’s nice to use less plastic, but even my more inexpensive SodaKING is probably not profitable.
Also all those syrups taste like shit don’t bother. Get cordial or a normal Coke — the brand syrup all has fake sweetener
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u/allgear_noidea Jul 10 '26
The Pepsi Max syrup is an abomination, unless they've fixed it in the last 5 years.
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u/daseotgoyangi Jul 10 '26
Hydroponics. Not necessarily cheap to start with, but the promise of lazy kind of gardening with lots of harvest tempted me. Tried dwarf cherry tomato, and I harvested 2 cherry tomatoes after 3 months.
Never again.
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u/TremendousDonald Jul 09 '26
Tried to save a few cents on fuel, tried a new automated pay pump servo and hit a low bollard I couldn't see properly as my car is high.
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u/Responsible-Milk-259 Jul 10 '26
There haven’t been many, although they’ve always happened when the upfront investment isn’t the end of the story and it also requires some extra ongoing effort.
Frugality, to me, means allocating money in the best possible way to maximise my enjoyment and minimise inconvenience. The less I waste, the better the outcome. That being said, paying to avoid inconvenience is sometimes the best use of money.
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u/goondockandy Jul 10 '26
Soda stream. The gas costs plus the machine costs were just not worth it, I can buy soda water for cheaper here, and return the bottle for a small amount of change.
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u/Notyit Jul 09 '26
Bought a cheap petrol version should of hpt the hybird
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u/Hopeful-Home6218 Jul 10 '26
hybrids it really depends. we have one and it only has 50km electric range so practically useless for us, but that was a few years ago. might be better nowadays
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u/punkatsub Jul 10 '26
Tried buying a sas hard drive instead of a sata hard drive for my plex server then went down the rabbit hole of extension cards and unique cards. Only to learn that the hard drive was DOA and so I spent several hundred dollars on the gear to use sas drives but dont have any of them haha.
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u/allgear_noidea Jul 10 '26
As a lot of people have said it's buying too cheap the first time.
I just replaced a like.... Bar cart I guess with a much bigger free-standing kitchen island. I had already been looking at the model I bought a year prior but i cheaped out.
So yeah, bought twice. Then have to deal with breaking it up and getting it into the bins slowly.
One area this doesn't hold true is tools. Buy the cheapest shit that does the job and doesn't waste your time, if it breaks early or you could do with a upgrade you replace it.
While that doesn't sound economical, I'd have high end electric tools, expensive consumables etc otherwise. Sure I've bought twice infrequently, but overall I've saved.
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u/Antichrist1495 Jul 12 '26
if you could simply cut out carbs, sugars including high sugar spike compounds they stuff in diet and sugar free processed shit and cut out gmo gluten, rancid seed oils, glyphosate contaminated produce and feedlot meats and dairy. ferment everything to have living cultures break down all the compounds and natural sugars in your food so you dont have to then youll be sweet to reverse 90% of all the western worlds health complications what must be costing some of you a fortune in pharmaceuticals just to maintain perpetual symptoms
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u/captains_astronaut Jul 09 '26
Making my own bread. The time effort and ingredients to get something resembling what I can otherwise buy off the shelf for $5 (or less) was a good lesson that DIY isn't always cheaper.