10 Frugal Tips to Incorporate Everyday to Save Money
Today I am excited to share 10 frugal tips to incorporate everyday to save money. I live by these tips and they really have made such a huge difference in our lives.
The main reason I decided to share 10 frugal tips to incorporate everyday to save money is to show you that freedom with your time is truly a possibility. I know so many that work hard at different jobs just to afford certain lifestyles or things that never seem to truly satisfy them. All of the stress and hours poured into a job that only monopolizes their time and lives and some don’t even truly enjoy what they are doing. I really hope these tips can help you in some way because they have helped us so much!
1. Meal Plan
Meal planning seems like a tedious task, but it truly does save money. Constant trips to the grocery store and restaurant visits can really add up. I try to purchase everything I need two weeks at a time and meal planning really helps to make sure I have items I need for each meal I plan to prepare.
I write down every single item I will need on my list for each recipe and be sure to plan around what I already have in my pantry. I try to prepare meals that will give me leftovers too. For example, this oven roasted chicken recipe you can find here not only serves us dinner, but the leftovers can be shredded for delicious BBQ chicken sandwiches for lunches which can really help save us money as well!
2. Purchase Whole Foods
Sometimes processed foods seem like such a quick and easy filler for lunch boxes, busy evenings and weekends, but most of the time these foods are filled with empty calories that leave you still hungry. Whole foods filled with calories that can give your body real energy go such a long way and really don’t take that much effort to put together. We try to stick to fruits, baby carrots, celery and foods that are more sustainable. I also bake a lot of items and incorporate ingredients to keep my boys full, which I love to share often in my Instagram stories!
I am not saying don’t ever enjoy junk food, we do indulge once in a while. Last week on vacation we enjoyed plenty of it haha, but it was a reminder that it is not only useless calories, but also an expensive part of a grocery budget as well.
3. Don’t Overspend on Clothing
It is important to me to look nice and be presentable. I know several people think I am a stay at home mom, so I can just wear sweatpants haha – but I truly try to get dressed each day and put myself together. The clothes that I wear, however, are mostly from Goodwill and sale items I have found. I have a simple staple wardrobe to choose from and don’t spend a lot on clothing ever! Even the clothing for my boys and husband is mostly thrifted items. You would be shocked to see how many brand new items you can find with tags still on at goodwill for just a few dollars a piece!
This year has really challenged me with my boys home with me during the day to focus on their inward appearance over their outward appearance. What type of young men am I raising for the future? They won’t remember if they had name brand clothes when they were five years old, and I have really worked to change my focus on that not only with them but for myself as well. Clothes are so temporary, a splash of bleach or tear can ruin them instantly! To me they just aren’t worth spending hundreds of dollars on each month. You can still look nice though, even when you budget!
4. Pay with Cash
We always, always pay with cash. Debt is something we want to avoid at all costs, and I’ve seen it control so many of my friends’ lives. Just recently my husband and I finally broke down and got a credit card, but we only did this because of the benefits associated with it (cash back on groceries, gas, etc. for example). But we never purchase anything with the card that we couldn’t purchase with cash. We have paid with cash for all of our projects, and save up for bigger items that we have purchased as well.
5. Take Care of Your Things
It is so important to try to maintain the items that you have rather than just throwing it out the moment it stops working and buying a new one. Sometimes that is all you can do, but choosing to try to fix it first can save you so much! We try to fix everything before we break down and purchase new, even toys! It is also important to stay consistent with the upkeep of your home. Keep it clean and tidy, maintain appliances, and use products that will help everything last longer.
6. Do Not Impulse Buy
Recently I read the average American spends $200 a month on impulse buys! Swipe up items on social media, end cap items in grocery stores and “must have” items in advertisements. That is crazy to me! Create a budget for yourself and stick to it. Ask yourself do I really NEED this or do I just want this before you purchase.
7. DIY
Haircuts, home projects, yard work etc. can be daunting, but I try to always remember where there is a will there is a way! Everything you determine to do yourself in your home can save you money. Sometimes it is more time consuming yes, but learning to do it yourself not only saves you money, but gives you a sense of gratification after the project is done.
Home projects especially can be difficult and I recently wrote a blog post about that you can read here. I challenge you to really try to learn stuff! You would be surprised at how much you are capable of!
8. Try to Sell Before You Buy
Looking to purchase a new couch? What do you plan to do with your old one? Before we make any large purchases in our home, we always try to sell things towards the purchase of the new item. Every few years I will also have a garage sale and I post on Facebook Marketplace often as well. Every little sale adds up!
9. Focus on the Little Things
Simplifying life this year and keeping my boys at home to homeschool them has really helped me to focus on the little things. It is so easy to get swept up in all the things you feel that you need while scrolling and comparing on social media, but really most of these items are not going to satisfy us. Focusing on the good in the day to day really changes your perspective. A walk around the block, a trip to the beach or the playground, an afternoon bike ride…you don’t need thousands of dollars to find joy.
10. Finding Contentment
Take a look around you, look at all you have. There are so many things we take for granted and most of the time we have all that we need. Instead of focusing on more things and spending more to make you happy, try finding contentment in what you have. Go play with your kids, enjoy their sweet giggles. Enjoy the sunshine in your backyard, take a break from social media and find a hobby you can do to fill your time. There are endless options there that we overlook that can really bring so much happiness.
I really hope these 10 frugal tips to incorporate everyday to save money have helped you. Freedom in your life and more time really can be an option and living frugally doesn’t mean living deprived. Find what works best for you, separate your wants and your needs and find that sweet contentment that is so fulfilling in life.
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Hi Andrea, I totally agree with all your tips. I was shocked at the average spend on impulse buys, what an astonishing amount! I think buying a packet of seeds instead of going to a plant nursery is also a good way to save money. Buying garden plants can become costly if you have a big garden to fill. Plus you get all the joy of seeing the seeds sprout into life xxx
This is a great tip! I love it, and yes how much we spend on items sometimes is crazy!
Andrea,
Thanks so much for the great advice!
Anita
Of course, thank you for your encouraging words!
Really on point! Great advice.
Thank you so so much!
Andrea, I admire so many things about you, but perhaps what I admire and respect most is that you have your priorities straight. That was so demonstrated by today’s video on being frugal. I too was a stay at home Mom and with only one salary coming in, I had to find ways to save money. As far as food goes, I make everything from scratch. Packaged, processed, convenience foods are not part of our diet. As you’ve noted, it saves plenty of money and it also provides much better nutrition.
Love this Andrea. I’ve always admired the way you cleverly create such beautiful spaces without spending a lot of money. I have learned a lot from you. xo
Thank you so much Amy, you are so sweet!
I just love that picture of your son!! it makes me smile with tears in my eyes!! Please, keep posting it!
And your tips are awesome–common sense, but the article is a great reminder!! thank you.
I love it SO much too haha! That is why I keep using it! I am so glad you enjoyed the post, thank you for your sweet words!
I love all your ideas and plan on reading them over and over to keep myself on track. One thing I’m noticing is that our area supermarkets only seem to have good deals on processed foods. In most cases I hardly ever bother with the sale circulars . I buy whole foods and rotate recipes every 3 weeks. That helps me know what items I really need to buy. Less temptation.P.S. I love your blog.
Hi Andrea…. those are the tips we have always lived by. Married fifty three years and still doing it all from scratch. My boys used to trade their homemade things for other kids packaged items. We still laugh about it. Now have grandchildren trying to start their lives. Four boys and a girl. They all try to maintain paying and saving for things they want. Except of course they really huge items which they have not got to yet. Keep up the good work. It is very helpful for the young people in this day and age.
Love this list! My hubby always tries to fix everything he can first, which I have to say, can sometimes make me anxious. Believe it or not that was the thing on your list that made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Thank you for that.
I have gotten most things for our home from thrift stores. I only look elsewhere if I can’t get it at a thrift store first. I wait, too. I wanted the right thing to be the living room coffee table. I didn’t have an exact idea, but knew when I saw it, I would know what would be right. I knew it would honestly cost more to buy the “temporary placeho!der coffee table” and then to buy the thing I really wanted later. So I used an end table I already had as a coffee table, and I was going to keep it to use in another spot, then waited about 8 months until one day I walked into a thrift store and saw this cute trunk that I HAD to get. It looks like I paid $500 or so. It was marked $24.99. The end table had looked terrible as a coffee table, but the money saving was worth it, and once I saw the trunk that was perfect, it cost so little. I moved the end table backto be an end table again, and it looks good in the room again. The 8 month wait for the dream item was worth it. I think we are in the pressure of a “get it instantly” culture. Our grandparents waited for special things, and treasured the items. :). I think our home looks more personal and lining up with the inner vision I had because it has been a slow process to get each thing, and often that is cheaper anyway. I bought the lifetime dining table and other pieces I love period. Thrift stores often have better made furniture for cheaper than furniture sold in some department stores.
I am trying very hard to meal plan. My Husband and I spend way too much money on food. It’s just the two of us, but, this week alone, I bought over 200$ on one trip to the supermarket! I try very hard not to order out. When we sit down for dinner, I break it down to how much our meal just cost for the two of us. That seems to sink into his head. Thank You very much! Meal planning is our best bet.
Yes, I would agree. Meal planning is very important and saves so much!
I do my Husband’s hair, nails and all of his grooming needs. Unfortunately, he cannot do the same for me. But, he does trim my hair. I color it myself. I do my own facials. I even do my own self tanning. Really the only grooming thing that I must pay for is my nails. Instead of going for fill ins every other week, I use a fantastic top coat! I also paint my tips white so you really cannot tell that I am not going for fill ins.
These are all very good tips! Learning to cut your husbands hair makes a huge difference too! I cut my husbands and boys hair!