MY FAVORITE FRUGAL LIVING TIPS

WHY FRUGAL LIVING?

To me, a frugal life is one where you are intentional about where your money goes so that you can use it for the things that are most important to you. In this post, I am not going to go over things like tracking expenses, budgeting, emergency funds, staying out of debt, etc. While those things are definitely key to a frugal life.  I have separate blog posts and podcast episodes on those topics that hopefully can help if you are looking for more information in those areas.  I will definitely cover those topics again in the future. Today, I will share with you some of my favorite frugal living tips.

SAVING MONEY ON FOOD

One of the things that have had the biggest impact on my budget over the years has been meal planning.  I think this is probably #1 on my favorite frugal living tips list! It helps save money by allowing you to purchase only what you need for the week, and not buying extra things that you think you might need, but then end up not using.

Besides the impact that meal planning alone has, you can go a little further with it which can help save additional money. Before planning what you will eat during the week, check what you already have on hand.  Often, we have meat in the freezer, some rice or pasta in the cabinet.  See what you have that can become part of a meal.  Use up what you have before buying more groceries to help avoid things going to waste.

Plan your meals in a way that you can use up fresh ingredients shortly after going grocery shopping.  This will make it much less likely that they will go bad before using them.

If you have to skip a planned meal for any reason, rearrange the rest of the week’s meals to use up fresh ingredients.  For example, if you were going to make a big salad on a night you ended up not cooking, make sure to use the salad the next night.  Save the frozen vegetables for another night.

ORGANIZE YOUR FOODS SO THAT YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE

Isn’t it the worst when you go to the store and buy things to find out while you are putting them away that you already had more than you needed? Even if you are checking what you have before you go grocery shopping, if there isn’t you don’t have good organization, you might not see that you did already have something.

A good example of this is how I used to store things in my chest freezer.  Every time I would buy meat, I would divide it up into freezer bags and throw it in the chest freezer, along with a variety of other frozen items. When it came time to see what I already had on hand, it was so hard to see what was actually in there.  It just became a big pile of stuff, and seeing what was at the very bottom was almost impossible without taking everything out that was on top. So, I would often purchase meat that I didn’t even need because I didn’t know what I had.

To fix this, I started using reusable grocery bags to keep like items together.  If I needed to see what was in the bags in the bottom, I could easily lift the ones on top out of the freezer, and see everything that was in there.  Now, I know exactly what I have before I create my grocery list.

SPEND LESS MONEY ON THINGS TO DRINK

We do drink soda and juice occasionally, but it’s usually reserved for a treat or special occasion.  It really adds up when you buy a lot of things to drink on a regular basis. When we go out to eat (which is usually just for special occasions), we very rarely get anything but water.  We are a family of five, and buying everyone a drink, plus tax and tip can add another $20 to the bill.

KEEP A LIST OF PRICES WITH YOU FOR COMPARING SALES PRICE

When I first started trying to be really frugal about our purchases, I was often concerned that I wasn’t getting things for the best price. A lot of times you could be in a store and something is advertised as a great sale, but if you don’t know what you typically pay, it’s hard to make a good decision.

What I started doing is keeping a simple list in the notes section of my phone for items that I typically purchased.  I would have things like price per pound for chicken, beef, pork chops.  Cost of paper towels, toilet paper, etc. Then when something was on sale, I could at least have some point of reference to know if the sale was a good deal for me.

I honestly don’t refer to the list that much anymore, because I have really gotten to know my prices, but it’s still a good resource to have when needed.

USE LESS PAPER PRODUCTS

Before I really started being more intentional about where our money went, we always had a full stock of paper plates, plastic cups, and plastic utensils in our kitchen. I was spending a lot of money to keep them constantly restocked.  Especially with a family with 3 kids. I still keep a stock of these items in our basement, but they are not in daily use like they used to be.  We use them only when needed.  Mostly if we have someone over say for pizza or a party or something like that.

Another paper product that I have really cut back on spending money on is paper towels.  I know some people have gone completely paper towel-less.  We have not gone that far, but we have saved a lot of money by having cloth napkins kept in a little basket on our kitchen cabinet to use, instead of constantly grabbing paper towels.

USE LESS LAUNDRY DETERGENT

I have read so many times that using less detergent is actually better for your clothes.  I probably could cut back more, as I still use close to what the lowest suggested amount is, but I have definitely cut back on the amount that I put in the load of laundry, which makes the detergent last longer.

In addition to using less detergent for each load, I try to limit the amount of laundry by wearing clothes at least two times.  I think this is one of my favorite frugal living tips, because not only does it save money but it also saves time. If you think about it, unless you are working in certain environments, or are working out, your clothes aren’t really getting that dirty that they need to be thoroughly cleaned each time you wear them.

SAVE UP FOR THINGS

Another one of my favorite frugal living tips that has had a big impact on me is saving up for things. Sometimes it might be for something specific, for example, I save up a couple of dollars each week so that when Bath & Body Works has their semi-annual sale. I really love their products, so it allows me to have some money put aside to stock up at the best prices.

Sometimes it might be for something less specific, for example, I also stick aside a little money if there is anything left in the budget for “family fun”. That could be anything from getting a Starbucks drink, to getting a snack while we are out shopping, picking up a new puzzle, whatever might be a little fun.  I know it’s there and I won’t need to pull from my current week’s budget.

Keep in mind what things come up that always mess up your budget, and see if you can put a little aside for those things here and there, assuming they are important to you.

REALLY CONSIDER IF YOU NEED SOMETHING RIGHT NOW OR CAN WAIT AND SAVE FOR IT

For example, our A/C broke at the end of the summer last year.  We didn’t have the money to fix it at the time, but we had a plan in place to build our emergency fund.

So, we decided that in the spring when we had the money saved up, we would get it done then.  Yes, there were still quite a few hot days, but we survived and didn’t put the repair on a credit card as we may have in the past.

Sometimes we consider things to be emergencies or urgent, when if we really think about it we can come up with alternatives, or wait until we can save up.

FIND FUN THINGS TO DO THAT AREN’T EXPENSIVE:

Make it a point to find things that you like to do that don’t cost a lot. A few things that I can think of that I really like are:

• Use the library app, or the library in person!
• Make your own fancy coffee
• Find free local events – we often find things on Facebook

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic to check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!