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Home / Business / Personal Finance

Savvy savers confess how low they go to save a buck

By Olivia Lambert
news.com.au·
12 May, 2016 10:30 PM3 mins to read

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Ssome money-savvy people have shared their secrets on how they manage to hold onto a couple of bucks. Photo / Getty Images

Ssome money-savvy people have shared their secrets on how they manage to hold onto a couple of bucks. Photo / Getty Images

We all know it's not so easy to live in today's economy.

Housing prices continue to rise, cigarettes cost a bomb, even just buying the groceries can break the bank.

But some money-savvy people have shared their secrets on how they manage to hold onto a couple of bucks, and you'd be surprised by the lengths they go to.

Some of their saving hacks are disturbing and at times even a little gross. Check out the best below.

Cheap consumption

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Sometimes the McDonald's 'loose change' menu just isn't cheap enough.

One user posted to Reddit about how their mother used to save money - by taking her own cheese to Maccas to make her own cheeseburgers.

Others also said they took their own fizzy drink cans to save a couple of dollars.

While some people eat, others tend to skip meals with one Reddit user admitting to fasting on Fridays.

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Another smart saver said she took advantage of the free refills at her usual coffee shop.

"I took the same cup to Starbucks for two weeks straight," she said.

"I had to get rid of the cup when it started falling apart."

Hygiene hacks

Would you use the same razor for six months to save money? Photo / iStock
Would you use the same razor for six months to save money? Photo / iStock

This is where things get a little bit gross.

One person admitted to Reddit they had used the same disposable razor for six months.

They also confessed to wearing the same contact lenses for more than two months - they were only meant to last two weeks.

Worse than that, one woman said she stopped buying tampons and sanitary pads.
She revealed she rolled up toilet paper into a makeshift pad.

She also said she repaired really old leggings by putting electrical tape on the inside of the holes. At least she admitted it was shameful.

We all know sometimes deodorant isn't that cheap, but it's an absolute necessity.

One money savvy person said they refused to waste one drop of their roll-on.

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"Using a sharp knife, I made a speed stick deodorant last an extra month by scraping out bits with the knife and hand applying it to my underarms," they said.

"You'd be amazed at how much is wedged in the applicator holes."

This is possibly the most hilarious and creative way to save a bit of money.

A group of people used to hang around theatres where The Rocky Horror Picture Show was performed on stage.

They did this purely to collect the skerricks of toilet paper that were thrown by character Brad Majors when he yells "Great Scott!".

Dodgy deals

"I laminated fake IDs when I was in college to get children's discounts at places that offered cheaper prices for kids." Photo / iStock
"I laminated fake IDs when I was in college to get children's discounts at places that offered cheaper prices for kids." Photo / iStock

One man admitted to cheating the system to get cheap prices.

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Usually people make fake IDs to pretend they're older, but this man made one to make him seem younger.

"I laminated fake IDs when I was in college to get children's discounts at places that offered cheaper prices for kids under 18," he said.

This might not be the best plan however, as it backfired on him when he got caught at a ski resort.

"I had to pay the difference in front of all my friends," he said.

The lift operator was scanning his friend's adult tickets and then raised his eyebrows when he saw a children's ticket in the mix.

The college student was trying to pass himself off as a 17-year-old.

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