Frugal living is often looked at as something that can be picked up and dropped whenever someone wants to, but the truth is that living a frugal lifestyle is exactly that; a lifestyle. It is something that you will do on a daily basis for as long as you’re looking to save money. It is also often viewed as something that is hard to do. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, but it is very easy to overwhelm yourself if you’re new to frugal living.
These 17 frugal living tips for the frugal beginner are a great place to start if you’re new to saving money. Tackle them one at a time until you’ve got them all down and then move onto more advanced ways to save.
17 Frugal Living Tips for the Frugal Beginner
Buy Only What You Need – Obviously if you’re looking to save money, the very first thing you should do is to stop buying so much. Knowing the difference between a want and need is so important to living frugally. Buying only what you need and letting your wants wait until you can afford them will help get your frugal journey off on the right start.
Shop with a list – When you shop without a list, you end up buying things willy-nilly and adding whatever happens to look or sound good to your cart. It is a fantastic way to lose money. Instead, never step foot in a store without a list and you’ll save more than you could imagine.
Use cash envelopes – When you go out to run errands, do you often find yourself spending more money than you meant to? If so, cash envelopes are a great option. Fill your envelope with no more money than you want to spend. When the money’s gone? Your spending is done.
Use less – Along with buying less comes using less. When you use less in every area that you possibly can, you save more money. Use less soap. Use less gasoline. Eat healthy portion sizes instead of double. Use less water and so on. The more you can use less of, the more money you’ll save.
Make more – Again, along with buying less comes making more yourself. These days, you can buy the supplies needed to make almost every single item that you buy on a regular basis. Convenience foods, beauty products, cleaning products and more are all fantastic places to start. If you need ideas or help, Pinterest is a great place to search.
Learn to say no – Sometimes, especially if you’re a parent, saying no can be an extremely hard thing to do. If you can’t say no though, you’re very likely costing yourself quite a bit of money each month. Learn to tell people no when you’re not able to do something or spend money on something. Your budget will be much more comfortable.
Use coupons – Coupons are a great way to save money and if you’re not using them on products that you already use, you’re costing yourself money that you don’t need to spend. You don’t need to become an extreme couponer to save, but using a few here and there will only help your budget.
What other ways have you found to save money when you’re just starting your frugal journey? Please share so others can save too!
My husband gets frustrated with any coupon sites that require you to download anything. Is there a site you can recommend that doesn’t require downloading anything and is safe?
Price matching is great too. I use the Flipp app, no more having to bring flyers to the grocery store. Not all stores price match, but if you find a store that does, you could save alot of $$$ 🙂