What frugal things do you do that might get you on "Extreme Cheapskates"?

[lucenzo11]

I re-use wrapping paper. My family expects creases on their packages. When I was a kid, the family wrapping stash included several distinctive pieces of paper that were prized above the others, and part of the fun of Christmas day was seeing who got a present wrapped in the coveted ones.

Ooh, I had this going for several years with a relative. It was good quality paper, one of the nieces or nephews sold it as a school fundraiser. I don't know who ended up with it last; I eventually trained everyone to not send me gifts anymore.

My wife and i have made our own wrapping paper using paper bags. Kind of like this: https://www.instructables.com/Brown-Paper-Bag-Wrapping-Paper/
We did use some stamps we had and some bingo duabers. Added a marker hook to make them look like ornamnets. Only problem is that regular tape doesn't really hold well so I use packing tape. We also get some small rips on the edges but in general it's very durable and we've reused it for a few years now.

[Just Joe]

We just keep everything forever and repair it until it can't be repaired any more.

I have a cordless drill for example. Only 12V and 10+ years old. Replacement batteries are x2 for $25 on the web. When the direction button prevented it from working, I took it apart and repaired it. Was just a piece of plastic in the trigger assembly that was mis-behaving.

I repair my 52 year old electric lawn tractor when necessary. It hardly ever needs any attention. This winter I'll tear down the mower deck motors (x3) and clean the commutators and check the bearings and brushes. Parts are quite affordable if parts are needed. Also one of the reverse speeds is a bit flaky. I know from experience it just needs a $2 microswitch. And the transmission is leaking a little. That'll be a $10 shaft seal that needs replacement. Easy task. Good for another season come spring.

Do similar things with our cars. Younger teen's car needs a water pump. $150 for parts and we'll do the task over the weekend. ~2 hours according to several videos I've watched about the task. Teen asked why I didn't just take it to a shop and was horrified to hear what it might cost to have someone else do the work. Apparently shops charge 4 hours to do this task at $100+ per hour around here plus parts.

We both wear our clothes until they are no longer presentable - and then wear them more around the house. They are truly just rags when we give up on them. Same with furniture and other household goods.

The savings adds up. Pay attention to how often other people buy stuff. Sometimes seems like other people shop every week for clothing or household things or some other doo-dad.

[ixtap]

The savings adds up. Pay attention to how often other people buy stuff. Sometimes seems like other people shop every week for clothing or household things or some other doo-dad.

I once followed a no spend challenge here where we counted up the no spend days in a month. That was.when I was still eating out when I was otherwise out running errands and it was still easier to count my spend days than my no spend days. That reminds me: I do need to spend on my sister in law's Park pass for Christmas soon!