Frugal living

Being frugal seems to be becoming more fashionable.

We now have TV programs about spending less but living well.

But what about the traditional frugal living tips that can help you stop living beyond your means and save money?

These traditional skills were actually just the normal way of life for our grandparents both before and after they retired.

Yet these frugal skills had a big impact on our grandparents ability to successfully live on a low income and make ends meet.

They didn’t have labor saving devices that you spent half a week’s wages on.

Their wages were too low to buy convenience so they had to live cheaply.

What they had was the knowledge of how to live frugally and spend less than they earned. 

These traditional skills are now seen as the latest and best frugal living tips yet were previously handed down from generation to generation as normal activities to do in your daily life.

Over the years many of us have lost these traditional skills as more time saving gadgets have been invented and I think we are poorer as a result.

Poorer of knowledge because we don’t know these skills and poorer in money because we have to pay for something or someone else to do them instead.

More and more of us are living paycheck to paycheck and with that comes the worry about every bill that comes through the door.

If you can learn these skills and adopt them in your life then the worry will go away and you will be on target to successfully living within your means.

7 Benefits Of Living Frugally: The Gains You Make

 

 

12 Traditional Frugal Living Tips To Supercharge Your Savings

Thankfully you can make a start on being more frugal using these traditional skills straight away.

They are all easy to learn and will have a big impact on your ability to make ends meet and manage your finances.

Living a frugal life and altering the way you think about things can take a little getting used to.

Convenience comes at a price.

If you’re not willing or able to pay for convenience then taking a little time to learn from your grandparents will help you cut your spending down to more frugal levels.

The most important aspect in this is to not automatically reach for your wallet or purse when something happens.

Think differently:

How can I deal with this without spending money?

What would my grandparents have done?

All of these tips are actions that were the absolute norm 50 years ago. They are certainly not in the realms of extreme frugality. 

Extreme frugal living is not ordinary, not then, not now.

Not that there is anything wrong with going to extremes – but let’s concentrate on just being normal frugal for now!

 

 

“Make Do And Mend”

Mending

We now live in a world where you can get a brand new t-shirt for a couple of quid.

People think nothing of getting rid of clothes after a few wears in order to make room for the latest must have item.

Sewing your own clothes is an art and can be quite expensive these days as the price of fabric is not cheap.

However mending what you already have is one of the best tips I can give you to help you become more frugal by stretching your money and making your clothes last longer.

When DD1 first started school I was too lazy to sew her buttons back on if they came off.

I knew how to do it having been taught in school just couldn’t get myself organised enough to put this frugal tip into practice. Shameful!

Now that I have embraced the frugal lifestyle I sew buttons on and take up trousers if necessary.

I’ve even undertaken a sewing course to increase my mending knowledge.

Many mending jobs don’t even need a sewing machine, just a needle, thread and your willingness to get stuck in.

 

 

Making Do

Making do is at the very heart of learning how to live within your means. Yet I feel it is something many people have lost.

Making do is about accepting what you have even if it isn’t as much as what others have.

It’s about knowing when you have enough.

It’s about not always wanting the latest and best technology or chucking something out just because one corner needs fixing.

Our TV is 10 years old but we make do with it because it works, the picture is good and why not keep it?

No it’s not HD or 3D or 60” but we like it, it does exactly what we need it to do so why would we spend hundreds of pounds on a replacement?

We can get bombarded with adverts for the latest must haves along with adverts on how to buy everything NOW by paying for it later.

But this is not going to help you be more frugal, it comes with a cost – paying interest and lack of savings.

I like my TV and I like the savings I have in the bank. Why would I get rid of both just because there is a bigger and ‘better’ TV out there?

You may also like: Frugal Living Strategies – How To Make Frugality A Success

 

Come and follow me on Pinterest for more money saving hints and frugal tips!

 

 

Baking

The older generations knew how to bake. Not just bread but cakes, biscuits, pies and crumbles.

There really is no comparison between home baked bread and supermarket bread.

Making bread the traditional way is a multi step process including allowing your dough to rise, bashing it down again before allowing a 2^nd rise.

But the smell!

Oh my, I think the smell of freshly baked bread is one of the best things about being frugal.

There are also recipes for artisan and sour dough breads that do not take so long from start to finish.

Indeed Mr2p makes 5 minute artisan bread which smells just as divine coming out of the oven.

Baking enables you to know exactly what ingredients are going into your food and keep the additives and preservatives to a minimum.

For families with allergies baking at home allows you to remove those allergens from your food and kitchen completely and have food that can otherwise be very difficult or expensive to buy.

67 Cheap And Easy Savory Snacks To Make At Home

 

 

Cooking From Scratch

I once worked with someone who never cooked. When I say never, I really do mean never!

She bought microwave meals for her family of four for every night of the week including a roast dinner meal on Sundays.

I’m not the best cook in the world but if there is one tip for living more frugally I try my best to follow, it’s cooking from scratch.

And of course not buying a bunch of convenience food.

Cooking your meals from cheap frugal foods and basic ingredients enables you to use what you have in the cupboards and stretch some items further than if you were buying it ready made.

For instance when Mr2p makes lasagna he stretches the meat to make a very large dish of lasagna padding it out with fresh seasonal vegetables (think cheap).

Meat can be expensive when you are living on a budget so stretching it further helps you to be frugal with money.

You can also make extremely frugal meals to make the most of foods that are in season saving you money on your groceries.

Meal Planning On A Budget: 8 Tips For Success

7 Meal Planning Strategies All Beginners Should Know

 

 

Bartering

Bartering is an age old tradition and pretty much pre-dates actual money.

It’s all about exchanging something of yours for something of someone else’s.

It could be your time, your skills or goods that you have produced.

You might be a dab hand at fixing cars and could exchange time spent fixing your neighbors car for produce from their garden.

Perhaps you need a babysitter or the use of a leaf blower?

Your friends might have invested in a leaf blower themselves but want to use your lawn mower.

Bartering is alive and kicking in some communities but much less so in cities.

Frugal living tips such as bartering really are an easy way to save money.

No need to buy every expensive tool you need as you can share what you have in exchange for what others have.

 

 

Batch cooking

Cooking from scratch combined with batch cooking are two of the most useful frugal living tips I can recommend to you.

Batch cooking will provide you with a home cooked meal on a busy night within a few minutes.

Cook big batches of your favorite foods such as bolognese, chili and casseroles and freeze in family size portions.

You just need to pull the meal out from the freezer in the morning and reheat when you get home.

Batch cooking will save you time when you most need it.

9 Meal Planning Mistakes You Need Solutions For

 

 

 

Paying cash

In times gone by credit cards hadn’t been invented, everyone got paid in cash and if you didn’t have the cash you couldn’t spend.

Now we have credit cards and contactless payments now so you can spend on your cards without ever seeing cash.

The problem with that is your spending is hidden and you are much more likely to spend more.

When you are in debt or on a tight budget paying by cash is an excellent way to not overspend.

If you want help in sticking to your budget each month then using the cash envelope system is something I highly recommend.

I still use it myself when I need to refocus my spending habits.

There is something about having to hand over physical money that makes it that much harder to spend too much.

How To Start Saving Money: 7 Tricks You Can Easily Do

 

 

Foraging

Foraging for blackberries is something I look forward to every year but did you know there are many other plants you can forage for?

Wild garlic is lovely and abundant in woodlands in May.

Beech nuts are another favorite but you’ll have to fight the squirrels for them!

It has become quite the in thing to forage for herbs such as wild garlic and sorrel and they are used on trendy restaurant menus.

More experienced, fabulously frugal folk forage for mushrooms but you really have to know what you are looking for.

So many mushrooms can look the same but are poisonous.

I may love being frugal with money but I don’t know one fungi from another.

If you want to delve further into foraging why don’t you look into getting on a foraging course of some sort run by an expert?

There’s nothing like having real life examples being shown to you rather than using a reference book.

 

 

Gardening

One of the reasons I haven’t investigated foraging as much as perhaps I could is that we have an allotment and grow a lot of our own vegetables.

Even if you don’t have a large garden you can grow many vegetables in pots on a patio or balcony.

Plants such as tomatoes, beans and potatoes all work well grown this way.

A large punnet of tomatoes will cost the same as one packet of tomato seeds.

Yet that packet will provide you with hundreds of tomatoes over many weeks.

Growing your own garden is one of my favorite things about being frugal.

You get great food, moderate exercise and it’s an integral part of the frugal lifestyle. What’s not to love?

 

Preserving

The art of preserving is an integral part of the homesteading movement.

You preserve the food you have grown to use it during the winter months to feed your family.

But you don’t have to be a homesteader or a gardener to make preserving part of your frugal lifestyle.

When you find a ton of produce reduce to clear you want to be able to buy and use it.

Preserving is the frugal way to save money and turn that produce into food for your family.

Preserving takes many forms but the most common are:

• freezing
• canning
• dehydrating
• pickling & making jams

You don’t need any special equipment to freeze food or make pickles and jams.

Although a jam pan and jam thermometer can make the process of jam making a little easier.

This is great frugal recipe to get you started if you’ve got green tomatoes that need using.

 

 

Keeping chickens/ducks/guinea fowl

We looked into keeping chickens and ducks last year with a view to getting some once we moved to the Lake District.

They require very little hands on work mainly keeping them safe from foxes.

You need to shut them up at night and let them out during the day.

Keeping birds isn’t one of the best frugal living tips as the cost of the feed and pellets you need cancel out the savings you make from not paying for your eggs.

But you do get the most wonderful eggs for almost free.

These days you cannot feed your chickens on kitchen scraps if you intend to sell or give away any excess eggs (UK rules).

However if you are living on a budget and have the space then you’ll get the most delicious free range eggs at little or no cost from keeping birds.

 

Fishing (and maybe hunting?)

Did you know that fishing is the most popular sport in the UK?

The sport of fishing does not include keeping the fish to eat but you can fish to eat in many places.

Mr2p loves sea fishing when he gets a chance and can bring home a few mackerel if we’re lucky.

It’s his job to fillet the fish though – not my thing!

Hunting and fishing are traditional skills taking us right back to our ancestral times.

Humans started out as hunter gatherers and it’s a skill you can use when you are living on a budget.

Meat and fish bought from the supermarket can be exceedingly expensive if you want something other than fish fingers or mince!

 

 

Frugal Living Tips For Today’s World

When you are wanting to learn about how to live frugally and save money, these traditional skills can help to supercharge your savings.

Not all of them will suit you and your situation. Why not choose the ones that are the best fit and start saving money today?

What frugal living tips do you use? Do you have another tip to share?

 

The benefits of living frugally are many but being a millionaire is not usually one of them. (Sorry about that!)

Why would I say that?

Because it’s true.

Sure there are plenty of millionaire who are frugal, check out Warren Buffett or the book Millionaire Next Door for your proof.

But there are more frugal people who are normal people like you and I than those who have millions.

Frugal folk really are exactly the same as you, they’ve just made a few different decisions along the way.

The best thing about this is it means you too can be frugal.

You can be living a frugal life and enjoying it if that is what you choose. The choice is firmly in your court.

 

 

Financially Frugal

Being frugal means making good, sensible decisions about your money.

It means not going into debt and getting out of it if that is where you are.

If you are currently in debt then this is your frugal 101 – things have to change.

You cannot be in debt forever, it’s soul destroying and stressful. You don’t need that in your life.

Getting into debt and staying there means you are spending more than you earn.

For what? Stuff? For a lifestyle that doesn’t make you truly happy?

If this is you then this post is for you. I love being frugal and would love it if you and everyone else also loved being frugal.

What do I have to do to convince you to that frugal living is the way to go?

How about these 7 benefits of living frugally for starters?

Of course these aren’t the only benefits but I think they make a great case for everyone to start being more frugal don’t you?

The Best Money Saving Tips Of 30 Frugal Living Bloggers

 

If you are new to basic frugality then why not take advantage of my free email course where I help you build your frugal foundations?

 

Is It Worth Being Frugal?

Too right it is!

You only have to look at these 7 benefits of living frugally to see it is worth it.

These are not the only benefits, why not make a start and see for yourself?

 

Why Is It Important To Be Frugal?

I believe that you should be able to make life decisions based on what is best for you and your family.

Not based on earning a certain income or even being chained to a job forever.

Frugal living helps you break free from those chains.

10 Secrets To Lasting Frugal Success

 

Come and follow me on Pinterest for more money saving hints and frugal tips!

 

The 7 Best Benefits Of Living Frugally

 

1. Less Reliant On Each And Every Paycheck

Lurching from paycheck to paycheck is not a fun place to be.

When you spend every penny of what you earn you only ever a paycheck from disaster, and that leads to stress and worry.

Living below your means allows you to free up a portion of your money to be put to good use elsewhere, like:

• Paying off debt
• Building an emergency fund
• Saving for retirement
• Saving for future purchases

How To Pay Off Debt Fast And Still Have A Life

 

Difficult Times

It also means when difficult times hit you have a cushion.

Firstly it means you can survive on less money because you don’t spend every paycheck.

Secondly it means you have that emergency fund to fall back on. You have no debt repayments you must meet.

For this reason alone it’s got to be worth considering frugal living surely?

How To Live On Less Money In Difficult Times

 

 

2. Helps You To Define What Is Important To You

I didn’t use to be frugal. Like most people I had debt, a low income and too much month for my money.

I had to get frugal to make ends meet.

It wasn’t until a few years later that I actually embraced frugal living rather than wanting to spend more as soon as I earned more (I was a slow learner).

I realized that I had choices and working (or not) until I was 67 was one of them.

So I chose not to and prioritized saving as a result.

Whether you have your frugal 101 moment or it creeps up on you like it did me, deciding on your priorities is an incredibly important part of frugal living.

When you commit to frugal living and living below your means you know that you are going to have to prioritize your spending.

You cannot go impulse buying things whenever you feel like it, therein lies the way back to debt.

You need to work out what is important to you.

Is having the latest gadget important enough to have less money in your retirement account?

Is being able to live on one income more important that eating out twice a week?

The benefit of living frugally is that your decision making is made easier.

No matter what you earn, you only have a finite pot of money so choices have to be made.

Work out what your priorities are so you can focus your spending and saving on them.

Impulse purchases go down and your bank balance goes up.

10 Of The Best Financial Goals You Should Have

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3. Frees Up Time

Frugal living can often mean undertaking tasks and chores the old fashioned way.

Like making your own bread and mending clothes.

So you might wonder why one of the benefits of frugal living is that it frees up time.

Being on the merry-go-round of constantly spending and wanting new things takes up an enormous amount of time and energy.

Shopping at the mall can take all day and set you back some serious cash.

Even if you only spent $20, think how much time it took?

Being frugal in your outlook means you won’t be chasing every hour of overtime, because you can live on what you already make.

You’re not constantly scouring the internet for the next best gadget to buy, the latest fashions and the new trend in interior design.

You can let go of all of that.

It’s not that you won’t spend money, of course you will. But you will plan it and prepare for it at the right time.

 

 

4. Opportunity To Learn New Skills

These days you could out-source almost every household task if you wanted to.

From having meals delivered to garden maintenance to DIY (by someone else) you can have the convenience of someone else doing those chores.

But you have to pay for them.

Being frugal means you are much more likely to not outsource these tasks and instead do them yourself.

Sure you might not know how to do some of the DIY tasks that crop up but these are opportunities to learn new skills.

Why pay someone to do something for you that you can do for yourself?

Developing your skills is extremely satisfying too.

Who wouldn’t get a great sense of satisfaction when they fixed something broken or redecorated their house themselves?

12 Traditional Frugal Living Tips To Supercharge Your Savings

 

 

5. Helps You Become More Self Sufficient

If you can fix things and make things for yourself, you are less reliant upon others.

Relying on others not only costs money, it doesn’t always result in the job being done exactly as you wanted it does it?

Living on less money enables you to save money toward your future allowing you to be less reliant upon working in later life.

Learning new skills and doing your own tasks means you are less reliant upon others to live your life.

You can just crack on and do.

 

 

6. Reduces Waste

We now live in a very wasteful time.

We think nothing of buying a takeout coffee on our way to work when we could easily make it at home.

We regularly buy new clothes, not because our old ones have worn out but because we feel like it.

The amount of rubbish each UK adult throws away has increased such we now throw away our own body weight in rubbish every 7 weeks!

In our grandparents time the motto was ‘waste not, want not’.

We now waste a lot and want more.

But when you are frugal you will be more mindful of what you buy and what you throw away.

You look to see if you can use something for an alternative use.

Like toilet roll inners as seedling planters.

Or old t-shirts as floor cloths.

You don’t have a cupboard full of cleaning products, having streamlined it to just a few.

You might even make your own homemade cleaning products.

And you use all your food leftovers to reduce your grocery bill.

Why do this? Because reducing waste just makes sense.

If you waste less you buy less to replace it. Thereby spending less money.

Related reading:

How To Save Money By Cutting Your Food Waste To A Minimum

How To Reduce Your Grocery Bill: 10 Steps To Cut Right Back

 

 

7. Complements A Simpler Lifestyle

Creating less waste, reusing what you have, doing your own DIY and other tasks around the home all result in a simpler lifestyle.

You are not constantly out spending money, seeking some form of paid entertainment.

You are enjoying time at home, gaining satisfaction in a job well done.

A nice loaf of homemade bread smells wonderful but tastes all the better for you having actually made it.

Frugal living is partly about adopting a simpler lifestyle.

You spend less money therefore you usually have less stuff. I’m not talking minimalism but definitely less.

You enjoy simple pleasures like growing your own tomatoes, your own herbs on your windowsill.

21 benefits of having an allotment and growing your own

 

 

More Benefits Of Living Frugally

Needless to say these aren’t the only benefits of being frugal.

They’re just the ones I think will help you sit up and take notice.

They are my sales pitch to you for being financially frugal.

If you like the idea of these positives then think about all of these ones too:

• Able to give more generously
• Being debt free
• Financially confident
• You have financial security
• Retiring early
• More time for you to do what you want to do
• Free exercise
• Set a great example for friends who are struggling financially and kids
• Strengthens your relationships (money problems being the 2^nd biggest reason for divorce)
• You have less stress
• You are no longer envious of what others have

How To Love Living Within Your Means Every Day

 

 

I love Being Frugal

With all of these benefits of living frugally what is there not to love about frugal living?

If you hadn’t already guess I love being frugal. I have been living a frugal life and enjoying it for many years.

Full disclosure though – I started out being frugal because I HAD to be.

Because I didn’t have enough money and it ran out before my next paycheck. Every time.

If you are brand new to frugal living then I’d love to say you’ll love it from day one and every day thereafter but I wouldn’t be being totally honest.

Because being frugal means living life a little different to others.

And if you have been regularly overspending and have debt then you have got to change your lifestyle to become financially frugal.

Frugal Living For Beginners: How To Get Started

The 3 Biggest Mistakes People Make Trying To Be Frugal

 

 

Downsides To Being Frugal

Nothing is perfect, even frugal living isn’t perfect.

You gain a huge amount in being frugal but there is a cost.

And the cost is parts of your old life.

Because obviously you haven’t been frugal up until now so something has to change to get you there.

So you need to consider these changes:

• Not shopping as a leisure activity
• Paying off your debt (as fast as possible preferably)
• Spending less than you earn
• Not thinking that you should or must have what everyone else has (they have debt remember)
• Saying no to others and yourself when the money isn’t there

How To Embrace The Joy Of Being Frugal

The One Thing That Will Change Your Money Life For Ever

 

 

Enjoy Being Frugal

The truth is you don’t need millions to enjoy life, there are many things in my life that I cannot put a monetary value on.

Things like retiring early, moving to my favorite location in the countryside.

I couldn’t do these if I still had a mortgage, still had to work to earn money to pay my bills.

These are the benefits of living frugally that were important to us.

By being frugal we were able to achieve our goals.

And no, we are not, have never been and never will be, millionaires.

We are financially frugal and love our frugal life.

Now I want that for you. Sign up for my free 5 day email course and start building your frugal foundations.

 

Frugal living strategies make the art of living frugally so much easier.

Being frugal you are going against many of the expected spending norms we now have.

You aren’t focused on having the biggest house, the latest gadget and spending all your paycheck (and some) just to satisfy other people’s view of what you ‘should’ be doing.

But going against the norm, doing things differently can take a little getting used to.

Which is where your frugal living strategies come in.

They are your structure for being frugal.

They are less about saving a dollar or buying used, and more about how you approach living frugally.

With a frugal structure to work within you are no longer lurching from one money saving tip to another.

Strategies and structure help you become organized.

And being organized you are best placed to maximize saving money.

Use these strategies as your frugal backbone, upon which you can add as many of the best frugal living tips that work for you.

 

 

Frugal Questions You Might Be Thinking

How do you become really frugal? Luckily there are no secrets to becoming really frugal. It’s all about saving a little bit of money here and there.

Practice saving money, not shopping every day, finding ways to do things more cheaply.

Frugal Living For Beginners: How To Get Started

 

Can being frugal make you rich? Define rich! Rich enough to have everything you want, yes.

Millions of dollars in the bank without earning six figures? Maybe not. But you don’t need millions to enjoy a rich and fulfilling (frugal) life.

11 Simple Things That Rich People Do (And So Can You)

 

How can I be frugal? Being frugal is a way of life that everyone can embrace. 

If you are new to frugal living then why not take advantage of my free email course where I help you build your frugal foundations?

 

 

7 Frugal Living Strategies For Ongoing Success

 

1. Frugal Mindset

The most important thing you need to be successful in becoming really frugal is your mindset.

I can tell you and show you all the best frugal living strategies and encourage you to follow them.

But without a frugal mindset to keep you focused on your long term goals I cannot guarantee your success.

Without working on you, your thoughts and ultimately your frugal mindset I don’t think you can ever be really frugal.

Because you (and your thoughts) will likely sabotage your success if deep down you don’t actually want to be frugal.

You are the key to your success in following these key strategies and all the best frugal living tips you find.

Becoming frugal is not something that gets done to you, it’s what you will choose to do, willingly.

Which is a good thing!

It means you are in control of your success, of how frugal you choose to be.

How To Stay Frugal And Avoid Temptations

 

Come and follow me on Pinterest for more money saving hints and frugal tips!

 

2. Focus On The Little Things

There is a saying in the UK – “Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves”.

This saying nicely encompasses exactly what frugal living is all about.

Frugal living is simply about focusing on the little things.

It’s not about shaving hundreds off your mortgage (because being frugal you wouldn’t ever be paying over the odds).

Or saving thousands of dollars every month (because most of us don’t earn that kind of money).

Never think a few cents here, a few pennies there are not worth your bother. They absolutely are.

Because they add up into dollars and pounds.

Think of it this way.

Save a few pennies on every single item you buy in the grocery store, online, at the mall and it soon adds up.

In a month you’ll see a nice little figure.

In 12 months you’ll be looking at 4 figures.

In 5 years the sum is looking very healthy.

What I love most about focusing on the little things is that you don’t just save once on each thing.

You get into a groove and find another way to save a few more pennies on the exact same thing.

Whether that’s through using a discount code, another store, bulk buying, waiting for a sale, buying used.

This is one of the best frugal living strategies, because it never ends.

As you build your frugal muscles you become adept at finding new frugal living ideas.

New ways to save a little more money. New ways to be living a frugal life, and enjoying it of course!

9 Tiny Frugal Ideas To Save Money Every Day

 

 

3. Don’t Buy Bigger Than You Need

The average size of our homes has increased by 40% since 1973.

Yet the number of people living in them has not.

40+ years ago the norm was for children of the same gender to share a room and babies slept in with their parents.

Nowadays even babies have their own room and parents use intercoms to hear them cry, snuffle and sleep.

But the new norm comes at a cost.

Most families need both adults to work in order to fund the mortgage and the more expensive lifestyle.

Frugal folk have rejected the new norm. They don’t buy thousands of square footage they don’t need.

They don’t buy larger vans and cars as soon as their first child comes along.

Buying bigger and ‘better’ houses, cars and vacations all come at huge cost in both money and time.

11 Things Frugal People Just Do Not Do

 

 

4. Patience

Patience is a virtue.

It’s also one of the hardest frugal living strategies to be successful with, in my experience anyway.

Maybe I’m just not a patient person!

This strategy is about knowing what you want, but being willing to wait a long time to get the exact right item at the right price.

I’m not just talking about waiting for a sale on canned tomatoes to stock your pantry.

I’m talking about knowing that you are going to be in the market for a new item but you don’t rush out and buy it straight away.

You don’t even go and buy it when your old one starts playing up.

You exercise patience, day after day, week after week, until the right item at the right price turns up.

This is especially true when you are focused on buying items used.

It’s one thing to pop to the charity shop for something new to you to wear.

It’s another thing entirely when you want to buy a used garden tool. You have to wait until someone is selling one.

Being patient like this though will pay dividends.

Because you decide when the time and price is right and you can save all the money you didn’t spend on it’s more expensive, new equivalent.

The One Thing That Will Change Your Money Life For Ever

 

 

5. Plan Long Term

Going hand in hand with patience is getting used to planning well in advance.

Knowing what you are going to want to buy and working out a plan on how you are going to pay for it is a the perfect frugal strategy for not getting into debt.

How many times in the past have you gone out shopping and suddenly decided you needed a certain something?

To be the best frugalista you can, you need to work on suppressing those spending urges.

Think more instead.

About what you are going to need in the future.

About what you might want to spend your hard earned money on.

Impulse purchases give us a temporary high but don’t always deliver on the long term feel good factor.

Whereas planning ahead and delaying your spending helps you appreciate what you buy all the more.

Planning ahead is perfect for the bigger items like a new to you car or home improvements.

Possibly not so necessary for something that only costs $50.

Sinking funds are the perfect place to save money for future purchases.

Sinking funds (personally I call them money pots because I don’t like the sound of funds sinking!) are used to put money away for expected expenses.

They are separate to an emergency fund which is designed for unexpected expenses.

How To Stop Spending Money: 11 Tips To Prevent Wasting Your Cash

How To Stop Spending Money You Really Don’t Have

 

 

6. Buy Once

Another one of the frugal living strategies that links nicely to planning ahead is having the foresight to buy once and keep.

Many frugal folk will spend a decent chunk of money on something but then keep it for a very long time.

I’m talking cars for 10-15 years, houses forever.

Rather than trading in every few years for a bigger, newer model, choose wisely and keep.

This doesn’t just apply to cars and houses, it can apply to almost anything.

When you buy something and keep it, you have no need to declutter,

You have no need to be throwing things away as you are not endlessly replacing them.

And sometimes this strategy is about spending more in the first place rather than buying cheap and buying twice.

Best 11 Habits Of Frugal People That You Need To Know

 

 

7. Shop At Reduction Time

Your grocery budget is one of the most flexible areas of your budget.

It can vary from week to week depending on your spending strategies.

Meal planning and using a shopping list are always mentioned as being among the best frugal living tips.

And with good reason.

However, do not be a slave to that shopping list!

Once you have got your grocery budget firmly under control, you can look to increase your savings by utilizing the clearance section of your local store.

Here in the UK it is often referred to as the yellow sticker section (bet you can guess why!).

The clearance section houses all the produce that is going out of date that day.

Stores slowly reduce the price of these items starting in the morning with perhaps a 10-20% reduction.

Later on it will hit 50% and if there is anything left after that it can reach 90% reduction in price.

A great strategy you can use to slash your grocery budget still further is to find out your local stores reduction times and plan to shop at that time.

For my local Asda Walmart it’s around 5pm when they increase the reduction to 50%.

Whereas my local Lidl cut 30% off first thing in the morning and rarely increase it, because they don’t need to.

Make a point of always checking the clearance section first before you then stick to your shopping list.

If there are any reduced items that you could buy instead of something on your list then swap them out.

Remember – just because something is reduced doesn’t mean it’s a bargain. 

It could still be more expensive than the generic brand or what you were intending to buy.

How To Reduce Your Grocery Bill: 10 Steps To Cut Right Back

18 Things We Cut From Our Food Shopping List To Save Big Money

 

 

Frugal Living Strategies To Maximize Savings

To be success in living a frugal life AND enjoying it, you need to work out what works for you.

You need to create strategies that make sense and work for your life. 

For example I used to focus on shopping at reduction time as a way to save money because those extra pennies saved made a real difference to us.

But in recent years I no longer time my visit to the store to coincide with the best reduction time.

A different job meant I was usually at work for another 2 hours so it didn’t work out.

However I still always check the reduced section of every store I visit because there are still bargains to be had if you look hard enough.

Strategies make life easier, they give you a structure to work to.

Choose the frugal living strategies that work for you.

 

For more help in planning your new frugal life and creating your own strategies for saving money join my free 5 day Frugal Foundations Bootcamp.

 

 

You might consider me to be a pro at being frugal but I still find it helpful to revisit basic frugality every so often.

Because although I’ve been frugal for a long time it is just so easy to slip back into bad habits isn’t it?

Sometimes life just gets busy and complicated and things happen that mean you aren’t focused on your money as much as you might want to.

You don’t always have the time to concentrate on keeping every plate spinning and you can easily lose sight of why you want to.

Getting back to basics with simple frugal living gives us a chance to take a little time out and focus on those basics.

There are hundreds of different ways to practice frugality, but in my book the basics can be counted on your fingers.

 

 

Basic Frugality

Is it ok to be frugal? Absolutely! Frugal is not cheap nor something that is bad.

Frugal living is about focusing on what is most important to you and spending your money on that.

Some of the richest people on earth are frugal.

If you want to know more check out what rich people do.

How can I be frugal? Being frugal is a way of life that everyone can embrace.

If you are new to basic frugality then why not take advantage of my free email course where I help you build your frugal foundations.

If you want to know the differences between frugal and cheap then check these posts.

How To Be Frugal Without Being Cheap

5 Frugal Myths And Why Frugal People Hate Cheapskates

 

Come and follow me on Pinterest for more money saving hints and frugal tips!

 

7 Ways To Get Back To Basics With Frugal Living

(This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read more here)

1. Make Your Own Food

We all need food and we often use food as a way to reward and treat ourselves.

Pay day means having a meal out.

Friday night is takeout night.

Stressed about work? A chocolate bar is just the ticket.

In fairness I never need an excuse to have chocolate!

Meal planning is one of the most basic frugality tips I would encourage you to adopt.

When you meal plan successfully you eat at home.

You use the food you have in your pantry and don’t end up with a huge unnecessary stockpile.

More importantly meal planning helps you to keep your grocery bill  low as you will eat at home more.

If meal planning is not your thing or you always end up resorting to a meal out part way through your meal plan then what you need is the $5 meals plan.

For just $5 a month you get a weekly meal plan and associated shopping list.

The meals are not repeated more than once every 3 months (no more spaghetti every 3^rd day) and the best part is you can try before you buy with their 14 day free trial.

For more help on the 7 best strategies to make your meal planning a success why not have a read of this post:

7 Meal Planning Strategies All Beginners Should Know

 

 

2. Use Every Last Drop

Every time I buy something in a bottle or jar I look at it and wonder just exactly how much am I going to end up wasting.

Some sauces lend themselves to getting every last drop out yet others are more of a challenge.

Mayonnaise is my personal bugbear to the point where I often buy it in wide necked jars, precisely so I can get every last bit out with a spoon.

When you buy products in jars and bottles you are paying for all of its contents.

So why would you willingly leave 10% behind?

I swear manufacturers design their bottles precisely so that last 10% is a struggle to get out.

If you don’t persevere and get it out you are paying 10% more for every bottle and jar you buy.

Basic frugality is about the little things. The basic things. Like using up every last drop.

Because why wouldn’t you when you have paid for it?

Frugal tip – add a little vinegar or water to the bottle and swish around. This will encourage that last 10% out.

Eco tip – Given we want to be recycling all these jars and bottles, we are usually required to wash them out before adding to the recycling bin. Don’t wash that 10% away – use it.

50 Frugal Habits That Are Also Eco Friendly

 

 

3. Don’t Waste Energy (Or Water)

Unless you live off grid (kudos if you do!) then you will have regular utility bills.

Both energy bills (gas, electricity, oil) and water bills.

Your utility bills are a flexible part of your budget but they are a permanent feature so it’s easy to get a little lax about them give you pay them every month.

Your energy bill is about how much energy you actually use. If you use more, you pay more.

But reducing these bills can be done with a tiny effort. Energy frugality examples are:

• Switch lights off when you leave the room
• Unplug chargers
• Reduce your thermostat a degree or two
• Use a power strip for your electronics
• Wear an extra layer on cold days

 

You’ll also want to ensure you are with the cheapest energy supplier.

In the UK, Look After My Bills helps you not only switch to the cheapest supplier.

They keep an eye on your account and automatically switch you to another cheaper supplier when your deal runs out.

 

 

If you are in the US then TRIM will negotiate on your behalf to switch and lower bills such as your internet, cable, phone AND medical bills.

TRIM also helps you save money by finding old and unwanted subscriptions.

 

4. Pay Attention To The Small Things

Have you fallen into the habit of saying “It’s only $x” as you justify buying something that perhaps you wouldn’t usually?

Do you not worry about spending a few extra cents/pennies in order to gain some convenience.

Basic frugality is about keeping every cent and penny you have a prisoner.

Until you must let it go (and be spent on something).

There is a saying in the UK – “Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves”.

This actually encompasses exactly what frugal living is all about.

Frugal living is simply about focusing on the little things.

It’s not about shaving hundreds off your mortgage (because being frugal you wouldn’t ever be paying over the odds).

Never think a few cents here, a few pennies there are not worth your bother. They are.

Because they add up into dollars and pounds.

Frugal tip – if you can get something a dollar cheaper by crossing the road to another store then do it.

Do that once a week and in a year you’ll have saved $52. And that is not to be sniffed at.

9 Tiny Frugal Ideas To Save Money Every Day

 

 

5. Stretch Your Comfort Zone

Getting back to basic frugality means getting back out of your comfort zone. Do things a little different.

Maybe you’ve got a little too comfortable with paying someone to wash your car each week.

Maybe you’ve slipped into the habit of buying lunch at work a bit more often than you did before.

Getting back to basics gives you the opportunity to save that money instead.

Wash the car yourself.

Pack your lunch more often.

Frugal living is often about doing things the old fashioned way.

You don’t pay for convenience of someone or something doing a job for you. You do it yourself.

Wash your car, mow your lawn, try a different (cheaper?) recipe.

12 Traditional Frugal Living Tips To Supercharge Your Savings

11 Things Frugal People Just Do Not Do

 

 

6. Reset Spending

When you are newly frugal, you are often hyper conscious of every time you spend but over time that focus can dim a little and extra spending can creep in bit by bit.

A trick to get back to simple frugal living is to reset your spending.

How to reset your spending?

Sometimes just making more of an effort to think about when and if you need to spend is enough to get back on track.

Alternatively you can help your self with a no spend challenge.

I like no spend days because they give you a sense of achievement after just one day.

These are especially helpful if you have slipped into bad habits of spending a few times each day.

For more focus on not spending you could also try a no spend challenge for a longer period, say a weekend, a week or even a month. (Not for the faint-hearted!)

How To Be Successful With A No Spend Challenge

How To Make No Spend Days Successful (And When Not To)

 

 

7. Know Your Why

Many people turn to frugal living deliberately. Often because you are having difficulty paying all your bills or have debt to clear.

But once you have cleared your debt and have embraced living below your means then to keep practicing frugality you need another reason.

Your reason is your why. Why so you want to be living frugally?

I came to frugal living through the usual route of not enough money to pay my bills and basically feeling poor every month.

Eventually I had spare money each month but it took me years to get to that point.

And then I had to make the decision as what I wanted.

Did I want to continue to frugal living and saving money, or did I want to increase my spending?

I chose frugal living because it meant I could save more money and aim to do more with my money.

Like retiring early, moving to the countryside.

Knowing my why helped me keep focused on being frugal.

When I got a pay rise I saved it. When I saved money on car insurance I saved it.

Because I knew what I was saving for.

You need to know why you are being frugal so you can remember it when you get tempted to spend a little more.

10 Secrets To Lasting Frugal Success

 

 

Frugality Fresh Start

Getting back to basics is like resetting the clock. It helps you to take a fresh look at why you are intent on frugal living.

It helps you to reconnect with your why and to strengthen your frugal mindset in order to practice basic frugality at home and at work.

Are you are interested in being more frugal, more deliberate with your money, making your money stretch further?

Then sign up for my free email course where you will learn how to build the strong frugal foundations you need.

 

 

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

 

Being frugal is not just about reducing big bills, it’s about the small frugal ideas that you can do every day to save money.

Tiny frugal habits that add up to a whole frugal life, one where you do things just a little bit differently than others.

Many of us start out being frugal because we have to be. Because we are in debt, or have too many bills for our income.

And we look to cut all the bills as fast and by as much as possible.

But being frugal doesn’t stop there. There are probably a million and one frugal living tips that can each save you a tiny bit of money.

If each tip saved you just one cent, a million tips would help you save a lot of money.

Some frugal ideas are less about saving money and more about doing things in a different way.

Perhaps because you want to use less plastic or have less of an impact on the environment.

Or perhaps because you treasure the old fashioned ways of doing things. When frugal living was about living simply.

The key for me is that frugal ideas come in all shapes and sizes.

And some of the easiest ones to adopt are the small, simple ideas.  Simple and effective.

12 Traditional Frugal Living Tips To Supercharge Your Savings

 

Come and follow me on Pinterest for more money saving hints and frugal tips!

 

9 Tiny Frugal Ideas To Save Money Every Day

(This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read more here)

 

1. Use It All Up

Being frugal, you want to get value for money for everything you buy. 

One way to do this is to ensure that you use every last drop of the things you buy.

When you buy 500g of ketchup, you expect to receive 500g of ketchup. So why not make sure you actually use all 500g?

I don’t know about you but I can get frustrated with packaging that makes it difficult to get the final 10% of a product out.

Instead of getting annoyed, I get creative and determined to not throw that final 10% away.

For toothpaste, lotions etc I used to spend minutes daily flattening and squeezing the remaining contents up toward the top.

To make life easier I purchased a tube squeezer for a few pounds. I definitely get more out using this tool than doing so by hand.

For sauces, ketchup, mayonnaise etc you can add a tiny amount of either water or vinegar to thin the contents slightly which helps them move down the bottle.

 

 

2. Save Leftovers

Leftovers can form an entire meal in their own right if you batch cook or make too much.

But what about the leftovers that amount to a small pot or only a 1/4 portion? Do you throw them away?

The idea of being frugal is about using all your leftovers no matter the size left.

Small amounts can be added together to create a unique, one off meal.

Alternatively you can have a tapas type meal of various leftovers, all super small portions.

You bought the food, don’t waste it!

 

 

3. Be (Very) Patient

Saving up in order to buy something without credit is a sensible piece of financial advice that I hope you follow wherever possible.

That requires you to be patient and wait until you have the full amount.

One step on from that is to exercise more patience and wait until you can get what you want at the right price.

Frugal folk often buy used items and willingly wait for a long time, months, in order to get what they want at the right price for them.

It’s one of the frugal ideas that can take a bit of getting used to as once you’ve made the decision to buy something, it’s natural to want it fairly soon.

The 30 Day Rule: How To Save (More) Money

How To Be Successful With A No Spend Challenge

How To Make No Spend Days Successful (And When Not To)

 

 

4. Freeze Food

If you are not going to eat it, freeze it. Better that than to waste it.

Whether you’ve got leftovers, limp vegetables lurking at the bottom of your refrigerator, bread or meat you were going to cook but haven’t yet.

By freezing food you are effectively freezing time, time you can get back when you make a plan to use your frozen food.

Having little to no food waste means you are keeping your grocery spend as low as possible and is an integral part of the frugal lifestyle.

How To Save Money By Cutting Your Food Waste To A Minimum

 

5. Drink Water

This is one of the simplest frugal ideas that you can follow at no cost at all. Water is basically free from your faucet/tap at home.

In some countries like the UK you pay for the water you use but it’s a tiny cost in comparison to buying bottled water.

Water can taste different according to it’s source, whether it’s filtered through chalk or picked up minerals along it’s way.

Different doesn’t equal better or worse, just different. 

Drinking water from your home instead of soda, cordials, coffee, tea or alcohol could be one of the best frugal living tips you embrace.

Just consider how much you spend each month on drinks and drink additives.

And it doesn’t just need to be when you are home. Take water with you, wherever you go using an insulated water bottle. It keeps water refreshingly cold for hours.

10 Ways To Save Money On Your Water Bill

 

 

6. Ask For A Discount

You can take it as read that a mainstream frugal tip is to shop around to find the best price for anything you are considering buying.

In additional to this, a simple frugal idea to get a better deal is to be upfront and ask for a discount.

Finding the best price is not just about your research, you can go one better when you ask.

As the saying goes – there is always a deal to be done.

 

7. Shop At Reduction Time

Frugal folk make great use of planning meals but they are not a slave to their meal plan because you never know when you could save money by not following it.

What do I mean?

Humans are creatures of habit and one habit we have is doing our grocery shopping at the same time and on the same day. 

We tend to work out what is easiest, whether that going to the store on the way home from work or taking a separate trip on our day off.

We follow patterns because there is less to think about.

A simple and effective way to reduce your grocery spend is not to shop when it fits in with your existing schedule.

Instead you should shop at very specific times, specific to your particular stores.

 

 

Clearance Bargains

Going to the grocery store at the time when they are reducing their clearance items is one of the frugal ideas many folk forget.

Most stores have a clearance section for products near their use by date with the marked down price starting off fairly small.

Later in the day though, goods gets marked down again because the store has to either sell them or bin them by the end of the day.

This second mark down tends to be in the region of 50% of the full price.

If items are still not sold after this price reduction then in the last hour or so of closing they will be marked down again, often to 90% or more off.

Timing your grocery shop to fit in with your stores reduction times can lead you to some great bargains.

Change your meal plan to take advantage of your bargains or freeze them for a future meal.

You are of course going to be among other frugal folk who are doing the exact same thing. 

To get the best bargains you would need to visit your store on a more regular basis, like 2-4 times a week.

Living near your store or driving past at the right time will definitely help.

Before we moved I would drive past my grocery store at least 5 times a week, now I have to make a special effort to get within 5 miles of it.

It’s a great way to be more frugal, but only if your time, location and finances say it works.

There is little point in going out of your way and using more fuel only to find there are no bargains that day.

10 Simple Reasons Your Grocery Bill Is So High & How To Cut It

 

 

8. Avoid Late Night Online Shopping

Online shopping has revolutionized our shopping habits and allows us to find the best price at the click of a button.

But it has it’s downsides.

One click of a button and you have spent money, possibly money better used elsewhere.

Shopping online means you can shop any time of the day or night. But this comes with risks.

Late night browsing is likely to lead to poor shopping decisions.

You’re tired, you’ve had a long day, perhaps you are not in the best mood.

If you were going to the mall, you perhaps wouldn’t bother going as far as getting out of the car.

But shopping online means you can scroll and click whilst half asleep and not paying full attention.

To save money and keep your frugal goals intact, avoid all late night shopping.

Your purse will thank you later. 

How To Stop Shopping: 9 Tips For Success

 

9. Pack Snacks

It can feel slightly easier to be frugal when you stay at home, compared to venturing out.

But with a little planning and forethought you can keep on being frugal out of the home.

Whether going out to work or out to play, take food and drinks with you so you don’t need to spend money on expensive food.

Snacks can be homemade, they don’t need to be store bought, ready to go style snacks.

And your drinks could be your water bottle or a nice flask of tea (I am a Brit so it’s always tea for me) .

67 Cheap And Easy Savory Snacks To Make At Home

 

 

How To Become Really Frugal

Wanting to become really frugal is not about doing a bunch of one off big things.

It’s about the little things, its about how you approach going about your normal day.

Having a strong frugal mindset helps you to become more frugal over time.

 

How can I be frugal without being cheap?

Being frugal is about getting value for your money and making good money decisions.

Being cheap is about getting something as cheaply as possible without considering the impact on others.

You can be extremely frugal without ever impacting negatively on others.

How To Be Frugal Without Being Cheap

 

 

How To Start Being Frugal

Starting your frugal journey is about taking one step at a time. Few people are successful at becoming frugal right from the get go.

You need to find what works for you as not every frugal living tip will.

A classic example of this is cutting cable. Every article I read about saving money talks about cutting cable and using alternatives.

But for us the alternatives do not add up to a cost saving that fits into our lives.

Watching TV via cable is a source of cheap entertainment for us. And Mr2p likes watching sports – that are only available in the UK via cable.

We are very frugal in many ways but cutting cable is a step too far for us.

Frugal Living For Beginners: How To Get Started

Basic Frugality: How To Reset Your Frugal Life

 

Another Tiny Frugal Idea

If you are interested in being more frugal, more deliberate with your money, making your money stretch further.

Then sign up for my free email course where you will learn how to build the strong frugal foundations you need.

 

 

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.