15 Frugal Living Tips to Save You Money
Frugal Living Tips to Save You Money
When people think of the word frugal, it means being a cheap stake. However, that is far from the truth.
To be frugal, you must understand the value of what something is worth and not be afraid to pay extra money for it. A cheap person spends very minimally without understanding the value of what they purchase.
Let’s use the example of purchasing work boots. A frugal person would consider the features and quality of a work boot.
They inspect the boot if it’s steel-toed (Protect the toes with metal within that area of the shoe), long-lasting durability, and other features required for a specific job.
A cheap person would only consider what boot is the lowest price, but by doing so, they may face future consequences.
Such as replacing it multiple times when it’s worn out, non-slipped soles, and ignoring having steel toe protection.
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Here are some tips to be frugal and save you some money along the way.
Table of Contents
1.) Cancel Your Subscriptions/ Memberships
Many of us sign up for memberships and subscriptions, but we don’t use it after a few months or forget about it.
If you don’t use your membership or subscription, then you’re wasting money. Use what you’d sign up for, whether it be Netflix, gym memberships, or music apps (Spotify, Amazon Music, Pandora).
You can find cheaper or free resources to replace your subscriptions/ memberships. An example is instead of paying for a gym membership, you can workout without equipment or buy your gym equipment.
The amount of money you save will add up after you cancel subscriptions/ memberships you no longer need or use anymore. Then you can have better use of your money.
2.) Eat Most of Groceries Before You Go Grocery Shopping
Before you go grocery shopping, check your fridge. Identify what is going to expire or have already gone bad.
Most people buy too many groceries and let them go to waste, thus wasting money on food that’s hasn’t been eaten or finished.
Set a limit on the kinds of food you are going to buy. If you already have dessert at your home and it’s not finished, then you don’t need to buy more desserts.
It disciplines you to eat everything you already have before it goes to waste and saves you money on groceries.
3.) Don’t Buy Brand Name Items if You Can Buy Generic
Brand name items are marked up to account for marketing, research, and other costs. Also, if a brand is well-known to the public, then they can mark it up to a higher amount.
It’s why Apple can sell their products at a higher price, more than Microsoft because consumers are willing to pay more for Apple’s products.
However, recognize the value between brand name and generic. Apple’s iPhone is known for its simple navigation and interface than Android phones which, are more customizable and can be confusing to non-techy people.
Products such as household items, foods, and drugs can more often than not be purchase as a generic because there’s barely or no difference than the brand name.
Pharmaceutical drugs are highly regulated, including generic drugs, as they will provide the same results as brand name drugs.
Or a food item such as Heinz Ketchup vs. a store name ketchup has little difference in ingredients and content.
Save yourself some money and buy store-name or generic items, but compare if the brand name item provides more value than generic.
4.) Cook at Home Instead of Eating Out
Cooking at home is an overused tip, but it makes a big difference. A study done by Priceonomics shows on average, it costs five times more to eat out the same food than it does cooking the same food at home.
Data source: wellio. Chart created with Onomics.
It’s easier to eat out and let someone else cooks for you, but there are other drawbacks besides being more expensive.
The portion size of eating out is higher calories, and the ingredients are unknown and unhealthy for consumers.
Continuously eating out will result in more weight gain and health issues in the future. Thus, your health cost will increase too.
It’s not wrong to eat out once in a while, as long as it’s not almost every day. Take the time to learn how to cook and eat most of your time.
You save money, eat healthier in the process, and have better clarity and mindset from the healthy foods you eat.
Use a crockpot to cook healthier foods and save time and save money.
5.) Research Before You Buy
If you find something you wish to purchase, then take the time and search online for multiple offers. The same product can be cheaper on other websites, thus saving you money.
All you need to do is to type in the same product name in the search bar or let Google find your offers.
Steps to Google Product Research:
You can search for alternative products at a lower price that provides the same value.
- Go to Google.com
- Type the product you wish to look up, and search
- After searching you should see and icon called “Shopping” underneath the search bar
- Adjust your shopping settings on items you want to search up
6.) Buy Reusable Products
There’s no need to waste extra money buying the same thing if you can safely reuse it over and over.
Examples of Reusable vs Non-Reusable:
- Water Filter vs Water Bottle Case
- Rechargeable Batteries vs Regular Batteries
- Cotton Coffee Filters vs Paper Coffee Filters
You’re not only saving money by buying reusable products but reducing landfill waste and eliminate materials to produce it.
7.) Set an Allowance on Yourself
Often people overspend too much and spend more than they earn. It leads to more debt and sets yourself to living paycheck by paycheck.
Limit to how much you are allowed to spend in different categories after paying for living expenses.
Some of these categories are:
- Eating out
- Entertainment
- Luxury Clothing/ Apparel
- Technology
- Vacation
An example of limiting your spending is you can only spend $50 per week on eating out. For the rest of the week, you must cook at home.
Limiting yourself builds discipline to understand the value of money and not overspend. Also, you’ll find alternative ways to use your money.
8.) Wait for Discounts
Some items you can wait a few months before it’s on a good discount. Unless it’s a necessary thing that you need right now, then you can wait till later for a better deal.
Before making a purchase online, set it in your shopping cart, or wait until the next day.
More than likely, you’ll rethink your decision and ask yourself, “Why do I need it?”. Don’t let buying impulses take over.
Yearly Deals to Lookout For:
- Black Friday
- Cyber Monday
- Post Holiday products
9.) Buy Items in Bulk
Reconsider purchasing everyday consumable items in bulk. The cost of buying in bulk is less than if you’d buy the same amount of item individually as the bulk.
Before buying in bulk, recognize if you can use it up before it goes expires or if you can store it longer.
Items to Buy in Bulk:
- Canned Foods
- Cleaning Products
- Laundry Detergent
- Personal Hygiene
- Vitamin/ Supplements
However, don’t buy items that you aren’t going to consume, or you’ll waste space and money.
You don’t need to purchase items that are quickly perishable foods, spices, or something that you know you can’t finish in bulk.
It’s good to save money but don’t buy it for the sake of how low the price is and if you’re not going to use it.
10.) Learn to Research and Negotiate for Better Opportunities
Take some time to compare multiple options to save money now and in the future.
For example, when you are searching for an apartment, take time to look at many apartments, and compare if the price is worth the value.
Also, learn how to negotiate with company representatives for better deals. Often you can negotiate with your cable provider by calling a representative.
It never hurts to try, but you must do your research on how to negotiate with companies to prepare yourself.
By reducing your monthly expenses even by a small amount, you’ll have more money left over than you thought.
11.) Sell What You Don’t Need
If you have something lying around that has some value, then sell it. You’ll make more space in your home and have money in return.
However, consider whatever you’re selling is something you would consider purchasing yourself. No one would want to buy something broken or worn out.
Selling something will take time and effort. You’ll have to consider how to take pictures, how much you should sell it for, and the cost for shipment and online seller’s fee.
Sometimes it may be better to throw away the item instead after taking the time to consider.
12.) Invest in Your Health
Maintaining a healthy body will save you a lot of money and health issues.
What you can do to start having a healthy body is to reduce eating process foods, have moderate exercises, and keeping up with your hygiene.
You’ll reduce your doctor’s visits, and you can choose a lower health insurance premium.
Besides the doctor’s visits, your food costs will be cheaper as you’ll be more inclined to cook in than eating out.
You’ll feel much better about yourself with fewer health issues and, you’ll have a better perspective and mentality.
Eventually, you’ll build a healthy habit by sticking to a routine for at least 3 months. It’s a long time, but the payoff will be rewarding for yourself.
13.) Learn Financial Literacy
The education system doesn’t prepare young adults to manage their financials after graduating from school.
In the United States, up to 78% of Americans are living paycheck by paycheck, and both the credit card debt and student loan debt are up to 1 trillion dollars.
Also, 1/10 high-incomes earners making +$100,000 salary are living paycheck to paycheck due to the amount of debt they owe.
It can be boring learning personal finance and investing terms, but it will benefit your understanding and your way of managing your money.
You’ll learn to use your money for better uses by saving and investing.
14.) Do It Yourself (DIY)
It’s tempting to hire someone else to fix something for you, but for most jobs, you can do it yourself and buy materials to fix it.
Some examples of DIY are doing car maintenance and home maintenance.
In some jobs, you cannot DIY because you need to have a level of expertise and skills that an average person doesn’t have.
Look up online or YouTube to see if there’s a DIY work and review the complexity of it.
Don’t start a DIY without understanding the possible consequences of not hiring someone. Use your best judgment.
15.) Build a Budget
Starting a budget is an overused tip, but it’s one of the best ways to be frugal. It will help you build a habit of managing how you’ll spend your money.
Be sure to adjust your budget should any significant changes that happened in your life. It includes medical issues, starting your child’s college fund, or purchasing a house.
Review your monthly income and monthly expense and structure your budget around it.
By following a well-planned budget, you’ll have financial stability and wealth.
Closing Thoughts
Being frugal can be both difficult and easy, but you’ll be rewarding yourself. Not only by saving money but improve yourself overall as a person.
You’ll learn new things, make better choices, and know the value of your purchases.
Start with one tip, then move onto the next after you have mastered that tip. You’ll progressively be on your way to be very frugal and grow your financial wealth.
