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I owe my financial stability to following these 17 tips regularly. But many people have misunderstood what it’s really like to live frugally. Practical Frugal Living Tips aren’t about denying yourself or being stingy; they’re about making smart financial choices, maximizing value, and saving money where you can. By focusing on mindful spending and cutting unnecessary costs, you can enjoy a fulfilling lifestyle without financial stress.
But I’ll admit that going from spending recklessly to being frugal won’t happen overnight. You have to research to know the best tips and have sources of inspiration that help keep you committed to living a more financially prudent lifestyle. However, the benefits are well worth it.
It can help you live within your means, get out of debt, build up your savings, and reach financial freedom. These are the practices we found most sustainable and most beneficial to our monthly budget.
Shop Sales at the Grocery Store
Food takes up a sizeable chunk of most household budgets. The easiest way to save money at the supermarket is to buy items on sale. Grocery stores have sales every week. Go through the sales flyer and make your shopping list based on what’s on sale. By not paying full price, the savings are automatic.
Meat tends to be the most expensive ingredient we buy regularly, so check out this article for my best tips to save money on meat. If you want to spend less on groceries, here’s a list of cheap foods to buy when you’re broke.
Buy in Bulk
When we buy in bulk, it’s not uncommon for us to save 20 to 50 percent on our purchases. But buying in bulk isn’t always a great deal. The key to determining if buying in bulk is a better deal is looking at the unit price rather than the individual item price. Compare prices per ounce or unit with the calculator on your phone.
As long as you have enough storage space and whatever you buy in bulk won’t go bad before you use it, you can save a lot of money. You also make fewer trips to the store, which will help you spend less.
Stop Being Loyal to Brands
Brand loyalty is great for companies. For consumers, not so much. You usually pay full price if you have to have a particular brand every time. You don’t consider products that offer comparable quality or better value. Brand loyalty is expensive. Give it up. The companies you love don’t love you back.
Buy Used Items
Besides selling your gently used items, there are plenty of things you can buy used as well. We’ve received tons of compliments on the outdoor furniture we purchased from a couple moving away. They used the set for less than one season. We bought it at a fraction of the original price.
Some other things we’ve bought used include:
- Cars
- Furniture
- Computers
- Books
- Power tools
- Baby gear
Buy an Affordable Car
There’s no simple formula for how much to spend on a car. The conventional wisdom is that your car payment should be no more than 10% of your take-home pay for a used car and up to 15% for a new car. That doesn’t seem like much, but you must factor in maintenance, insurance, gas, and other expenses.
Monthly car payments don’t have to be a fact of life, though. The alternative is to save up and buy a used car outright. You might spend more on maintenance, but you should still make out ahead if you’re not burdened with a monthly car payment.
Keep up With Auto Maintenance
You might overlook getting your car serviced unless there’s a problem. Cheap preventative car maintenance can save you from much larger repair bills. Better safe than sorry. Get the most out of your vehicle by using your owner’s manual and following the recommended maintenance schedule.
Some maintenance tasks you can do on your own. You can handle changing wiper blades, maintaining tire pressure, and checking fluid levels. You can track when to get an oil change, rotate and balance your tires, and replace air and fuel filters.
Switch to Led Light Bulbs
LED light bulbs cost more than the incandescent bulbs you might be used to, but they save you money. They use less energy and last years longer. According to Consumer Reports, LED bulbs use 80 to 85 percent less electricity than incandescent. Factor in the 23 years LEDs claim to last, and the bulbs pay for themselves.
Get Rid of Cable
We took advantage of a sweet package deal for new subscribers when we moved to our new house. We weren’t paying attention when the introductory offer expired. For a little while, we were paying for hundreds of channels we never watched.
We cut the cord entirely and saved $115 per month. Between Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and a cheap indoor antenna for local channels, we don’t feel like we’re missing out. The money we saved is going straight into our savings.
Cancel Unnecessary Subscriptions
You can pay a monthly fee to gain access or have many things shipped to you automatically. Food, coffee, clothes, video games, movies, audiobooks, razor blades, and anything else you can think of.
But is any of that necessary? Take a long, hard look at the subscriptions you’re currently paying for. If you’re not using it or paying for something that doesn’t solve a pressing problem or add much value, cancel it.
Travel for Less
You don’t need to be wealthy to travel. If you’re creative, traveling on a budget is possible.
If you travel off-season, shop around for the best price on airfare and accommodations, and avoid tourist traps, you can travel cheaply. We’ve done relatively cheap trips, flown off-peak, stayed in an Airbnb, and cooked most of our own meals.
Cut back on Salon Visits
Is the $10 box of DIY hair color as good as the $120 salon treatment? No, but the salon isn’t $110 better when you’re focused on paying off debt and saving for the future.
Say you get your hair done every eight weeks, your eyebrows and nails every two weeks, and your toes once a month. That adds up. Maybe that’s extreme, but even $60 monthly for salon visits totes $720 annually. Is it really worth it?
Make Coffee at Home
Your favorite beans and a travel mug will save you a lot of money if you’re in the habit of buying coffee on the way to work every morning. No, you won’t get rich by giving up coffee, despite what some money gurus say. But not buying coffee out could put over $1,000 back in your wallet every year if you’re hitting coffee shops regularly.
Make Instead of Buy
You already know that some things are almost always better homemade, especially food. Things like tomato sauce, mac and cheese, and guacamole.
But there are also tons of useful household products you can make yourself. These are things that are simple to make, cheaper, healthier, and just as good or better than the familiar brands. You can make things like dog treats and beauty or cleaning products.
Give Homemade Gifts
I appreciate and remember handmade gifts more. They’re a lot more thoughtful than a gift card. And making gifts will save you from blowing up your budget during the holidays.
Some homemade gifts I’ve given or received include bath bombs, photo collages, sugar scrub, a candy bouquet, peppermint bark, wooden coasters, and fudge. Pinterest is an excellent resource for inspiration.
Start a Vegetable Garden
Growing your own vegetables is fun and rewarding. If you prefer organic produce, you can have a steady supply without paying the high grocery store prices for organics.
You don’t need a lot of land to grow things like herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce. You can also grow herbs and vegetables indoors if you lack space.
Pay Down Debt
Carrying debt makes your life harder. Debt makes it hard to save money, reach your financial goals, and sleep easily at night. High-interest credit card debt is toxic. Make getting out of debt one of your top priorities.
Consider Moving
Find lower rent nearby or downsize within your area to save on monthly rent or mortgage payments. Moving to a place that is just $100 a month cheaper will put $1200 back in your wallet each year. Downsizing will have the added benefits of lower utilities and taxes in addition to lower payments.
You could also consider moving further away to a cheaper area. But there are several factors you’ll have to think about:
- Moving costs
- Employment opportunities
- Housing
- Health care
- Education
- Transportation
- Climate
- Family ties
Find Ways to Increase Your Income
There are plenty of frugal ways to save money, but you can only lower your spending so far. Making more money solves a lot of financial issues faster. You can earn more money by asking for a raise. But that’s always easier said than done, and there are no guarantees.
You could also take on a second job, freelance, or find gig work. But remember, there is only so much time in a day, so juggling quality time with family and managing your energy and well-being should also be considered.
41 Shocking Ways You’re Throwing Money Down the Drain
There are many ways to increase the money in your bank account. Many people start by looking at ways to make more money. And, of course, that is a great solution. But it isn’t always the easiest. A better, easier way may be to examine your spending habits. By tracking your spending and seeing where every dollar goes, you’ll likely find several instances of spending money you don’t have to. It could be little things that add up or recurring monthly expenses that are an utter waste of money.
Once you eliminate your bad spending habits, that money can go toward your emergency fund, paying off debt, or other essential things. Here are the 41 biggest wastes of money to look out for:
10 Practical Ways to Be Frugal Without Being Cheap
You can be frugal without being cheap by understanding the difference between price and value. A cheap person cares only about getting the lowest price. Frugal people look at price as one factor that determines value.
