THINGS WE DON’T BUY WHILE LIVING OUR FRUGAL LIFE

THINGS WE DON’T BUY ANYMORE

Today I thought it would be fun to talk about things we don’t buy while living our frugal life! Some of these are to save money and others we just don’t find value in. Living a frugal life encourages you to really think about how your money is spent. By putting effort into spending your money to support what is most important to you, often you will find more ways to cut in other areas. These are some of the things that we do not spend money on, or spend very little money on:

• Cards that cost more than $1 – I purchase bulk cards on amazon. They cost less than $0.50 per card, and they are really cute! I buy blank birthday cards that I can write my own message in. I don’t have to worry about giving someone the same card twice. The package that I purchased is made up of all unique cards! I also buy a package of generic cards that can be used for other non-birthday occasions. Just write a nice message in side and you’re all set!
• Seasonal Throw pillows – I buy pillow covers on amazon for the holidays throughout the year, and then I just buy cute patterns for the rest of the year. By purchasing pillow covers, I can change up the decor without having to store all of these pillows! I just store the pillow cover which folds up to take up hardly any space.
• Books – The library app is great for borrowing e-books and audio books from my local library. There are so many books available for free, so no need to purchase books or pay for a subscription like audible.
• Paper plates & plastic utensils – We used to keep a constant supply of paper plates and plastic utensils available for everyday use in our kitchen. Mostly our family used them for lunches and snacks throughout the day. I would buy them in bulk and always keep them stocked up. One day I realized how quickly I had to keep replacing them and how much I was spending on these items just to throw them out. I do still keep a supply, but they are stored in our basement and are only used as needed. Usually if we have someone over and order pizza or something like that!
• Kids school lunches – I used to put money on a school lunch card so that my kids could purchase school lunch every day. With three kids in school at the time, it was costing me a fortune! Especially when they would often purchase an extra snack or drink on top of their lunch (which they were not allowed to do, by the way!). I decided to purchase some really nice wide mouth Thermos containers that kept the food hot or cold until they had lunch. We started making mac and cheese, burritos, pasta salad, dinner leftovers, etc. I packed their lunch every day and it saved a ton of money!
• Prechopped fruit or veggies – The prices of these are crazy! We always purchase whole fruits and vegetables and chop them ourselves.
• Paper Towels – So, paper towels I do still actually purchase. However, I have cut way back on how much I used to spend on paper towels. I started keeping cloth napkins in our kitchen that anyone can easily grab. For cleaning up a mess that might be really gross we still will use the paper towels. Otherwise, we try to use the cloth napkins most of the time. My kids do still use the paper towels more than they should, but even with my husband and I using the cloth napkins the majority of the time, it has made a big difference.
• Cable TV – I know many of us no longer subscribe to cable TV. We have not had it for years! It was not even really intentional when we canceled it. Hoping to get a better deal, I told the customer service rep that I wanted to cancel. Instead he went ahead and canceled our service. We never went back since then!
• New Furniture – It is so expensive to purchase well made brand new furniture. I don’t want to spend money on something less expensive only to have to replace it a couple of years later. We buy high quality second hand furniture. I recently got a beautiful wellmade sectionional couch on Facebook marketplace that originally went for over $5,000 for $1,300. It had hardly been used! The woman said that it didn’t go with the style she was looking for! I didn’t see it, but I was happy to get the couch!
• New Cars – We have never purchased a new car, and I don’t really ever plan to purchase one. We have bought low milage used cars our entire life and have never had a problem with them. They are just about new when we purchase them. We aren’t picky about options that the car might have. So I just don’t see the need to pay the extra cost of purchasing it new.
• Clothes that I do not absolutely love – I recently really got into the idea of having a minimal wardrobe. I really try to have each item in my drawer be something that I really love. So that I can reach in and basically grab anything and be happy with it. I am now really selective if I purchase a clothing item at the store. I have to totally love the way it looks, feels and fits, otherwise I will not buy it.
• Fast Food – We very rarely spend money on fast food. If we do, it’s usually if we are on a long distance road trip. It is very expensive to buy fast food!! One of my daughter’s asked me to take her to McDonald’s the other day to get a mcnugget meal. I said OK because she had just gotten off of work and we had an hour to wait until my younger daughter was finished working. It was over $8!! Then I remembered that’s why we really avoid fast food, it’s expensive and not that good!
• Going to out dinner – As a family of 5, with the youngest being 15, going out to dinner even at a lower cost restaurant is really expensive! We do go out for special occasions or while on vacation, but that is pretty much it.
• Drinks at restaurants and at home – On the rare occasion when we do go out to dinner, I ask my family to get water for their drinks. Drinks really add a lot to the bill. I would rather spend that on an appetizer or desert that we could share, then to just drink it! We also do not buy drinks for the house such as iced teas, juices, soda, etc. as part of our regular grocery shopping. I do buy them once and a while, but it is usually more of a treat. Say for a holiday weekend, a birthday, or something fun like that!

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!

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