3 of the Most Extreme Things I've Ever Done to Save Money

To some degree, I'm not proud of these…but to another degree, I am. 

Saving money has always been important to me. But because I have a decent amount of money in my savings account, at this point in my life, I don't go to extremes to eke out a little extra. 

Sure, I might decide to cut back on takeout meals to spend less on food. And I may decide to road trip it rather than fly to spend less on a vacation. But none of these decisions are really so out there. 

Back in the day, however, I've done some pretty…let's call them interesting things to save money. And while I'm not necessarily proud of these moves, I'm also not too ashamed to share them.

1. Stealing dining hall napkins in college and using them as toilet paper

College was a rough period for me financially. Money was perpetually tight because I was paying for my education and not earning much at the various part-time jobs I held down. As such, there were times I had to be creative to keep my credit card bills to a minimum. And one habit I got into was taking extra napkins from the dining hall and bringing them home so I wouldn't have to buy my own. 

Only I didn't just use them as napkins. Sometimes, they doubled as toilet paper when I was feeling a little too frugal for my own good.

2. Eating lunch at Costco by loading up on free samples

When I first moved to the suburbs to live with my now-husband, I'd quit my full-time job and moved over to freelancing. I had a nice amount of savings, but I also didn't have the most steady lineup of work. And because we weren't married yet, I was paying a lot for health insurance since I couldn't get on his company's plan. 

One day, we were shopping at Costco when I realized I was super hungry. Only instead of spending a couple dollars at the Costco food court, I loaded up on free samples until I was full. And the next time I went to Costco, I intentionally skipped lunch and fell back on samples instead.

3. Traveling with strangers to save on a rental car

Before I met my husband, I lived in a large city and didn't have a car. A friend and I were desperate to get away for a holiday weekend but we were both strapped for cash and couldn't swing a rental. So instead, we decided to accept an invitation to take a nine-hour road trip with two strangers we met kayaking the week before. 

Now to be fair, these strangers were friends of friends, so I didn't think we were risking our safety by accepting their offer. But had money been less tight, my preference would've been to rent our own car rather than hop in one belonging to a person we'd only known for roughly 90 minutes.

We've all no doubt done things in our day to boost our personal finances. And while I don't think I'm ready to repeat them, I can at least give myself credit for thinking outside the box.